NEWS
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2020
Flash survey fi nds support for homeless shelter
not give it any funding,
20.8% said the city should
help pay start-up costs for
a shelter, 18.8% said the
city should help pay ongo-
ing operational costs for a
year-round homeless shel-
ter and the rest said they
were not sure.
Sixty one percent of sur-
vey takers said that there
is “a lot” or “a little” more
homelessness in Herm-
iston compared to a few
years ago, and a major-
ity of respondents reported
seeing instances of people
sleeping on sidewalks and
other signs of homeless-
ness in the area.
When asked what the
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The city of Hermiston’s
fi rst fl ash survey revealed
only 8.9% of respondents
don’t want to see any kind
of year-round homeless
shelter in Hermiston.
The issue was one of fi ve
questions in a brief survey
that 139 people responded
to. The city plans to push
out one survey per month.
In answer to a question
about what kind of shelter
people in Hermiston would
want to see, 8.9% people
said no year-round shelter,
33.7% said the city should
allow a shelter to run but
Photo contributed by Walla Walla Alliance for the Homeless
A proposed emergency shelter for the homeless in Hermiston,
known as Stepping Stones, would be modeled after the sleep
center created by Walla Walla Alliance for the Homeless,
pictured here.
city’s top three funding pri-
ority should be, however,
only 33% listed improving
homeless services as one of
their top three choices. The
top answer was improv-
ing streets, followed by
encouraging more afford-
able housing and improv-
ing infrastructure to attract
more businesses.
The survey provided an
open-ended answer por-
tion, to which residents
gave varying answers.
One stated that homeless-
ness was only going to
grow and the city needed to
stay ahead of the curve in
providing services, while
others stated they were
concerned increased shel-
ter options would draw
more homeless people to
Hermiston.
The city is still recruit-
ing people to take the
monthly surveys through
FlashVote, a third party
service.
Residents who sign up
online at fl ashvote.com/
hermiston will receive
one-minute surveys about
issues of concern in the
city, such as public safety
or recreation offerings.
Those who sign up to par-
ticipate can choose whether
they would like to receive
the surveys through email,
phone or text message.
Surveys are open for 48
hours once sent, and results
will be received by city
staff, elected offi cials and
the public on an anony-
mous basis.
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