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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, July 23, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
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Circulation Manager
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Advertising Sales Manager
BEHIND THE NEWS
‘So when does it become illegal to be human?’
F
ive years after Astoria created a homelessness
solutions task force, the city has made little
progress.
Volunteers, advocates and nonprofits have stepped
into the gap between talk and action through outreach
like the Astoria Warming Center at First United Meth-
odist Church, Helping Hands in Uniontown and LiFE-
Boat Services on Commercial Street.
While the warming center and Helping Hands have
faced challenges, LiFEBoat, which opened last sum-
mer, has been the focal point of back-
lash at a time when homeless people
have become more visible downtown.
“We need to fix the health care infra-
structure in this country if we ever
want to make any headway on our
houselessness issue,” said Osarch Orak,
LiFEBoat’s executive director.
DERRICK
Orak brings his own experiences
DePLEDGE
with homelessness and crime in Port-
land and Astoria to his outreach work.
LiFEBoat Services includes Filling Empty Bellies,
a meal program for the homeless, and Beacon Club-
house, a members-only space for people with mental
illness. LiFEBoat is working toward providing year-
round overnight shelter for the homeless.
In an interview, Orak discussed some of the criti-
cism LiFEBoat has encountered, the city’s homeless
camping ordinance, the need for a year-round shelter
and the wisdom of chronic nuisance or exclusion zone
ordinances.
Q: LiFEBoat Services opened last August down-
town. What’s the biggest lesson you have learned
over the past year?
A: We tried to be as inclusive as possible, intro-
ducing ourselves when we first moved in to let people
know exactly what we were going to be doing down
there and giving people options on who contact if they
had issues.
Which, of course, they didn’t. They went straight
to the police and 911, writing letters to the mayor and
what not.
I guess the biggest lesson is to stay off social media,
for me. It never helps to try to shoot back, no matter
how productive you’re trying to be. Social media is
never a good medium for trying to work stuff out.
Q: There was some early criticism of Filling
Empty Bellies when volunteers were providing free
lunches in the parks because the outreach did not
link homeless people to social services. Now that
LiFEBoat is providing links to services, we are
hearing complaints that it’s a magnet drawing more
homeless people downtown. Do you think providing
social services will increase the number of homeless
people in Astoria?
A: Absolutely not. It hasn’t. There is no proof —
that’s not a thing.
Q: Where do you think that comes from?
A: It’s all fear — fear-mongering.
People look at other cities, especially the bigger cit-
ies, and they don’t want that to happen here. And it’s
never going to.
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Osarch Orak is executive director of LiFEBoat Services, which
provides outreach to the homeless.
‘WHERE IS yOuR lINE FOR
WHEN THIS PERSON IS NO
lONGER WORTH THE AIR THEy
BREATHE ANd THE SERVICES
THAT EVERyONE ElSE —
FOOd ANd SHElTER ANd All
OF THE ABOVE? WE NEEd
TO FIX THE HEAlTH CARE
INFRASTRuCTuRE IN THIS
COuNTRy IF WE EVER WANT TO
MAKE ANy HEAdWAy ON OuR
HOuSElESSNESS ISSuE.’
Osarch Orak | executive director of LiFEBoat Services
At the peak, when we had lot’s of people hang-
ing out over here, it was nowhere near any of the big
cities.
I was born and raised in Portland. If you go to any
of the major cities, including Portland, you see home-
lessness. You come into Astoria, you don’t really see it
— it’s far and few between.
We do have a problem. I’m not going to deny that
we have an issue. It’s just not compared to the big
cities.
Q: Astoria, like many cities, is figuring out how
to allow homeless camping. Federal court rul-
ings — and state law — make it difficult for cities
to prohibit homeless people from camping in pub-
lic places when there are not adequate shelter beds
available. What are your thoughts on how the city
has approached this so far?
A: I think the new ordinance is basically another
do-nothing. It’s unhelpful, as I stated on our social
media. Unhelpful at best.
You’re just going to throw some more tickets at
people who can’t afford to pay them. It’s just a way for
them to be able to move people along some more.
That’s not helpful. It’s not going to accomplish
anything.
Q: Why do you think Astoria is not pursuing a
year-round homeless shelter to provide more shel-
ter beds?
A: It’s too much of a hot topic. None of the elected
officials want to go anywhere near it. They don’t want
to touch it with a 10-foot pole because it’s political sui-
cide in this county.
Honestly, I feel like they’re hoping we’re going
to do it, which, we are. The technician’s over draw-
ing plans up for a sprinkler system so that we can do it
legally.
So that’s coming soon. We will be doing overnight
stays year-round.
Q: The former police chief and the former city
manager have talked about the shift in public atti-
tudes toward homelessness over the past year or so.
The shift tracks to when homeless people became
more visible downtown. You have certainly heard
the criticism at LiFEBoat. How has this influenced
your work?
A: It’s definitely made it hard. We’ve had to spend
a lot of time putting out fires and just spreading the
actual truth of the matter.
And the fact of the matter is that homeless peo-
ple became more visible downtown when they started
pushing them out of the woods. They had huge
encampments up there, and I know because when I
was homeless, I stayed up there a couple times.
But they got pushed out of the woods, and where
else are they going to go?
Q: Part of the frustration that we have heard
from business owners, residents and some in law
enforcement involves a small number of homeless
people who consistently cause problems. At what
point, when there are services available, is it fair
to say “enough” and to look at chronic nuisance or
exclusion zone ordinances?
A: That’s a hard question to answer. So many of
them, especially those ‘chronic nuisance’ individuals,
have extreme, severe mental illness that we aren’t able
to address.
So when does it become illegal to be human?
Where is your line for when this person is no longer
worth the air they breathe and the services that every-
one else — food and shelter and all of the above?
We need to fix the health care infrastructure in this
country if we ever want to make any headway on our
houselessness issue.
derrick dePledge is editor of The Astorian.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Many times over
A
nother Fourth of July, another mass shooting.
Given the circumstances, there will be more such
shootings, many times over, until we get the changes
that most Americans want.
My military friends report that every service mem-
ber has personal responsibility for every weapon
issued to them. If any weapon is neglected, misused, or
diverted, the service member is personally and firmly
held accountable. There is no room in our military for
the lax standards introduced to the civilian gun market
by recent decades’ Supreme Court decisions.
Initial reports from a Chicago-area colleague whose
relatives were in the area included this one: “Veterans
of Foreign Wars were in parade nearby when shooting
started, recognized immediately that it was gunfire, and
started running towards it to get people to safety. God
bless our veterans, each and every day.” Amen!
God bless all who volunteer for dangerous duty, in
order to protect the common good. Their sacrifices for
others will save our nation and community!
DAVE CUNDIFF
Ilwaco, Washington
A treat
I
just saw the Peninsula Association of Performing
Artists (PAPA) production of “Letters to Anne of
Green Gables.” What a treat! We are so fortunate to
have such an amazing troupe in our midst. Year after
year, they mount productions that would be impressive
even in a big city, but they’re right here in the charm-
ing and historic theater at Fort Columbia.
This year’s production is no exception. A departure
from the usual musical fare, this play is new (2019),
and is based on the beloved children’s books. It fea-
tures a young girl of today, who discovers the life les-
sons found in Anne’s letters as she’s poking around in
the attic of her new home. The trials and tribulations
experienced by young people growing up are timeless,
and remind us that we have more in common than we
think.
The entire cast was fantastic, but I need to single out
Glenn Ripley, who has been a part of PAPA for years,
but only recently has joined the performers. I hope he
will continue, because he really touched my heart with
his portrayal of “Matthew,” Anne’s adoptive father fig-
ure. I highly recommend getting yourself some tick-
ets before the show closes on July 31. You won’t be
disappointed!
IVONA SCARBOROUGH
Long Beach, Washington