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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022
Homelessness a key challenge for next governor
A crisis that extends
across the state
By LAUREN DAKE
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The legacy of Oregon’s next governor
could hinge largely on a single issue: How
well she handles the state’s growing home-
less crisis.
For years, Oregon has underbuilt hous-
ing, underfunded the mental health system
and, more recently, battled wildfi res that
have wiped out homes. The pandemic dev-
astated already weak safety nets. Now, the
unsheltered crisis has reached every corner
of the state.
The three women hoping to be gover-
nor — Republican Christine Drazan, unaf-
fi liated candidate Betsy Johnson and Dem-
ocrat Tina Kotek — have all promised to
make a substantial dent in the problem.
And voters have signaled repeatedly it is
among their gravest concerns.
Drazan has said she would declare a
state of emergency on homelessness if she
were elected. The move, she said, would
quickly free up money for addiction and
behavioral health services. But Drazan’s
campaign glossed over Kotek’s call for a
statewide emergency declaration two years
ago to allow cities and the state to more
easily site homeless shelters. That same
year, Drazan led her caucus on a walkout
that killed myriad legislation, including
money to increase shelter capacity.
Johnson has promised to tackle the cri-
sis with compassion and accountability.
She vowed to bring together those with dif-
ferent political philosophies. But for a can-
didate who preaches unity, her tone is often
divisive. She calls names and belittles. She
quipped to the New York Times that Port-
land, known as the City of Roses, was
more like the “city of r oaches.” And she
disparaged those who questioned the com-
ment, dismissing them with the popular
right-wing cudgel of being overly “woke.”
No candidate has more experience on
the topic than Kotek, the former longtime
Oregon House speaker. She has muscled
through legislation to make Oregon the
fi rst state in the nation with statewide rent
control, and she championed an eff ort to
eff ectively end single-family zoning in cit-
ies. But that legislative history could also
hurt her if voters connect her lengthy infl u-
ence to an unacceptable status quo.
Drazan: Focus on substance abuse
and mental illness
The state has a housing crisis. But
Drazan said the state’s bigger failure is
THE THREE WOMEN HOPING TO BE GOVERNOR —
REPUBLICAN CHRISTINE DRAZAN, UNAFFILIATED
CANDIDATE BETSY JOHNSON AND DEMOCRAT TINA
KOTEK — HAVE ALL PROMISED TO MAKE A SUBSTANTIAL
DENT IN THE PROBLEM. AND VOTERS HAVE SIGNALED
REPEATEDLY IT IS AMONG THEIR GRAVEST CONCERNS.
not supporting people with substance
abuse and mental health issues.
“My opponents will say a lack of
aff ordable housing is the primary driver,
and while our housing costs are cer-
tainly a factor, a housing fi rst response
is a failed approach that glosses over the
more inconvenient truths about the cri-
sis in our streets,” Drazan said in written
responses to a series of questions from
Oregon Public Broadcasting .
Oregon is short at least 111,000 hous-
ing units, mainly ones that would help
lower-income families.
“When it comes to homelessness, spe-
cifi cally, there is a lot of research that
has come out in the last decade that fun-
damentally homelessness is about the
inability to aff ord housing,” Josh Leh-
ner, an economist with the state , told
Oregon Public Broadcasting in an ear-
lier interview. “It seems self-explanatory,
but I don’t know if that can be repeated
enough. There are other places in the
country that have mental health issues,
drug addiction issues and high poverty
issues, and at the same time they have
lower rates of homelessness … Peo-
ple can still have mental health issues
or drug addiction issues or live in pov-
erty, but still have a roof over their heads
because the housing is more aff ordable in
other places.”
Drazan said she would work to repeal
Measure 110, which voters passed in
2020 to decriminalize the possession of
small amounts of drugs. The measure
also dedicates marijuana tax dollars to
fund addiction recovery services, which
Drazan noted has been bungled so far.
Drazan also made the case that the
state needs to stop “enabling homeless-
ness.” Her Democratic opponent, Kotek,
pushed a bill that protects people who
are camping from being fi ned on public
lands if there are no other alternatives.
Drazan said the bill “eff ectively legalized
camping” in the state.
“To solve homelessness in the long
term we have to solve our addiction cri-
sis as a state,” Drazan said.
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Johnson: Blame
feckless politicians
Johnson started serving in the state
H ouse in 2001 and served in the Senate
since 2005 until 2021, when she stepped
down to launch her bid for governor.
Despite holding a position of power
for more than two decades, when asked
what the specifi c causes of Oregon’s
homelessness crisis was, Johnson blamed
politicians.
The reasons for homelessness, she
wrote in response to questions , range from
the failure of our mental health system to
the lack of aff ordable housing.
But it’s become a crisis, she said,
“because we have elected too many feck-
less politicians who would rather talk
about homelessness than do something
about it and who go home at night uncon-
cerned by the number of those who are
sleeping on the streets with destroyed
lives as the problem continues to erode
our communities and their safety.”
Johnson, who was the co-chair of the
powerful budget committee, has carved
out a reputation for fi nancial savvy and
striving for fi scal accountability. She said
that is part of why she opposed Project
Turnkey, an eff ort to turn distressed motels
and hotels into emergency shelters spear-
headed, in part, by her opponent, Kotek.
Johnson called the eff ort a “short-term
idea that is being turned into an ongoing
mistake.”
“Buying out motel and hotel rooms all
over the state and fi lling them with home-
less people only creates more problems,”
Johnson said. “Many of the nonprofi ts
who are being left in charge will likely be
unable to sustain services once the federal
and state funds stop. It is an unsustainable
model.”
Johnson instead threw her support
behind an eff ort to transform the for-
mer unused Wapato J ail into a high-bar-
rier homeless shelter. The shelter has strict
rules for those who stay there, including
a sobriety requirement. Now called Bybee
Lakes Hope Center, Johnson secured a $2
million investment from the state to help
the project become a reality. The project
has so far relied largely on private dona-
tions. When Oregon Public Broadcasting
asked Johnson if she fi nancially scruti-
nized Bybee Lakes, she said she believes
in Alan Evans, the man running the
program.
“I have confi dence in Bybee Lakes
because I know Alan Evans has deep
experience over two decades helping
homeless people get their feet under them
again. I’ve seen it in action,” Johnson
wrote. “The Hope Center is working very
hard to help people, and it’s working.”
Kotek: The longest
track record on housing
In a primary debate with her Dem-
ocratic opponent Tobias Read in April,
Kotek touted her long record of pushing
for money to alleviate Oregon’s housing
crisis.
Read simply replied with: “How’s it
going?”
Read’s point is one Kotek’s foes have
been eager to take up in the general elec-
tion race, as they attempt to tie her to an
unacceptable status quo.
Kotek has a strong housing pitch: More
than any other lawmaker, she’s focused on
housing issues. She’s secured millions for
aff ordable housing projects and perma-
nent supportive housing. She’s pushed to
increase shelter capacity and invest $500
million in rental assistance programs. She
was the loudest champion of including
$75 million to turn distressed motels into
homeless shelters.
Yet, she’s also served as one of the
most powerful politicians in the state for
years and despite the investment and the
infl uence, the state’s homelessness crisis
continues to mount.
Kotek has to convince voters that given
the chance to be governor, that would
change.
The Democrat said if elected she would
make it a goal to end unsheltered home-
lessness for veterans, families with chil-
dren, unaccompanied young adults and
people 65 years and older by 2025.
Within her fi rst 30 days, Kotek said she
would form an emergency management
team to work directly with community
leaders to address the crisis. She said she
would push state agencies to ensure they
are effi ciently using the state dollars they
have been given, and she cited the Ore-
gon Health Authority’s use of $500 mil-
lion to expand the state’s behavioral health
system.
“I will not allow any more excuses
of why local providers and governments
can’t work better together,” Kotek said.