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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2018)
Street Roots • Oct. 19-25, 2018 2018 ELECTIONS Page 5 H A RD ESTY, from page 4 My first legislative piece will be to work with my colleagues on the City Council to pull Portland out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Recently, both Commissioners Eudaly and Fritz have expressed support for this action to ensure that PPB will not be embedded in Homeland Security activities. After 9/11, Tom Potter, former Portland Police chief and mayor at the time, made the decision to NOT join the Joint Terrorism Task Force due to his inability to oversee the officers assigned to the task force. Mayor Charlie Hales, however, slipped in this vote to join the JTTF just before he left office, despite two hours of public testimony that was all in opposition to this federal partnership. Today, we cannot ensure the safety of community members as long as Portland Police are cooperating with ICE and other federal entities through the Joint Terrorism Task Force. 3. How should City Council and Portland Police Bureau respond to the high arrest rate - 52 percent in 2017, according to The Oregonian - of people experiencing homelessness? I am committed to supporting housing and shelter alternatives for our houseless community rather then criminalizing people for being houseless. Eighty-six percent of arrests in 2017 were nonviolent, and more than 1,200 arrests were solely for procedural offenses such as missing court or violating probations. It’s time we had a council that is ready to re-focus our priorities and I am ready to do that. People are houseless because it costs too much to live in the city of Portland. We need to conduct a top to bottom audit of our current use o f p ^ f tc ^ 51 safety dollars to see where we can improve using resources to direct support services including garbage cleanup, laundry, showers and hot meals. We should be working with the houseless community to transition individuals back to living indoors at a pace that works for them. 4. From Kenton Women’s Village to Dignity Village, Hazelnut Grove to Right 2 Dream Too, the city has come to support some self-governed camps, rest areas and alternative shelters. Do you support the expansion of this model? j- -------- v a i l ip o u u il L g e t calls from neighboring homes or businesses for I police services. They provide a sense of dignity for the people who need to sleep, live or rest there. However, I believe that these camps should not be spearheaded solely by private investors who have never experienced homelessness or worked with the houseless community. The houseless community needs to be at the forefront of the decision-making table in order to have successful, self- governed camps, rest areas and alternative shelters, which is why I have been strongly against using Wapato jail as a shelter. 5. Does Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s proposal to limit landlords’ ability to conduct criminal and financial background checks on potential tenants go too far? Why or why not? Everyone needs a safe warm place to lay their head at night I support ensuring that the environment is safe for all residents because people are safe when they know their neighbors and have a sense of community to support them, I also believe that criminal and financial background checks can often O a f is e ^ a r iie r^ a u d ^ f e ib ^ F ’ * ® many individuals, especially low income and/or houseless residents in the city. Ultimately, I have not had the opportunity to discuss this proposal with Commissioner Eudaly or with multi-family residential building owners and tenants before committing to a specific strategy. I do support Commissioner Eudaly’s efforts to cap the amount that landlords can charge for security deposits. People should not have to struggle to pay move-in fees for a home that would otherwise fit their budget. SMITH, from page 4 camps, rest areas and alternative shelters. Do you support the expansion of this model? I support this kind of self-governed camp. I believe that we can create more of these, and we must work with social service providers, the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the neighborhoods to make sure these camps work within the city. 5. Does Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s proposal to limit landlords’ ability to conduct criminal and financial background checks on potential tenants go too far? Why or why not? believe that we should look at ways to help house those who face barriers to getting a place to live. But that proposal went too far. What we need is to find a way to help those struggling with poor credit histories by connecting them to programs so they can find housing. I do have real concerns about disqualifying individuals with any criminal backgrounds, but I do think that a landlord has a right to know who will be renting their property. This is not an either/or issue. We need to bring landlords and renters together to hammer out these solutions.
