News from the Continuum

Revised: January 2019

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

Toilet placed at ARCHES Nov 22 2017

After a little more than two years, the Arta Potties folks have finally thrown in the towel, and the last remaining toilets (behind the Bishop Building and in the ARCHES parking lot) have been removed, and the program shut down, for pretty much the same reasons the City was forced several years ago to close its public restrooms after hours.  The toilet owned by the First Congregational United Church of Christ on Cottage will remain.

According to one of the Arta Potties originators, Rebecca Maitland Courtney, despite discounts from ACE Chemical and the support of downtown businesses, there were just too few owners willing to allow a toilet to be placed on their property to make the program work, resulting in overuse, misuse and vandalism of the two or three toilets that were in operation.  She says the City was also unwilling to allow a toilet on City property.

Tables and fencing under the bridge, courtesy Parks Department

The Parks Department recently put some picnic tables and barriers under the Marion Street Bridge.  Not too sure what the barriers are for, but the folks with Meals Under the Bridge (MUBs) seem very appreciative.  Presumably, they help keep everyone organized somehow.  The move is consistent with the City's gradual adoption of the harm-reduction model in dealing with so-called "quality of life issues."  

HUD announced recently that it will be funding the Mid Willamette Valley Community Action Agency (MWVCAA)'s Rapid Rehousing program for yet another year (about $389K) through its Continuum of Care (CoC) Program.   HUD also will fund Family Promise's (formerly Salem Interfaith Hospitality Network) family self-sufficiency program (about $152K).  Total 2017 CoC Program dollars going to Marion and Polk County projects/programs = $743,673 (including Shangri-La's usual $202K grant), up from $579,075 awarded last year.   

Readers will recall that the CoC Program is how HUD provides homeless assistance to states through local "continuums of care," or CoCs, usually a county or a group of counties centered on a "metro" area.  Oregon used to have eight, but in 2011, the Salem, Marion and Polk CoC merged into the 26-county "Balance of State" (BOS) CoC, because MWVCAA couldn't or wouldn't continue to administer the program.  

Since 2012, local homeless assistance programs have been forced to compete and collaborate with those 26 counties over federal funding and administrative issues, which, not surprisingly, has not improved the delivery of local homeless services.
  
The most detailed report to date on the City's Homeless Rental Assistance Program came out last week in connection with a City Council work session on budget priorities (see "Strategic Plan HRAP Action Update").  More recent figures provided in a report to the monthly meeting of the Health and Housing Workgroup were that 41 are enrolled, 22 have been housed and 14 have been deemed ineligible (including 3 registered sex offenders, 2 "too fragile to live independently", 2 who've died and 3 who can't be located, among them Vincent, the "shopping-cart train" guy, who reportedly left town after a run-in with SPD).  Probably one or two more will have been housed by the time this is published.  The pace definitely has picked up.

Sobering Center Plan Circled in Blue

In the work session, the City Council  renewed its support for the Mayor's sobering center (see Strategic Plan Salem Sobering Center Proposed Action), which is projected to cost the City at least $200K for its share of annual operating costs, which includes rent.  The legislature has been asked for  $367K to "build out" the center in the Mid Willamette Community Action Agency's new building on Commercial Street.

So far, the City has offered no details on how it arrived at estimated annual operating costs of $600K to $700K (Grants Pass's center costs $250K to $300K annually), the arrangement with Bridgeway (who the City says will operate the center), or how much Salem Health, WVCH (the CCO), or either County have said they are or might be willing to contribute annually.  Nor can the City identify any ROI, other than to say it's expected that the center will "benefit the community." (Council approved removing the sobering center initiative from the Council Policy Agenda in 2020.)
  

Salem's SC expected to cost >2x more

Mayor Bennett spoke about the sobering center plan in a recent interview with Willamette Wake Up.  He also talked about the City's emergency warming shelter planning, and the need for a Homeless Programs Coordinator at COG, which will cost the City $45K/yr.

Bennett is in the process of appointing his "Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force", which was born out of the failure of the "sit-lie" ordinance last fall, to be chaired by Councilor Kaser and staffed by Urban Development Department Director Kristin Retherford.  A total of three meetings are planned through March 7.  According to Retherford, Task Force membership will be a blend of advocates, service providers, residents, businesses, and property owners.  It's "scope" will be

to address behavioral issues and propose solutions related to the specific impacts that homelessness is having on downtown vibrancy and livability, including issues such as trash and litter, abandoned property, health and hygiene, and other behaviors that impact perceptions of safety.  Our downtown should be an inviting and welcoming home to all of Salem’s residents, and a place where the rights and needs of customers, visitors, individuals experiencing homelessness, residents, business owners, and property owners are addressed equitably.

Men's Mission Proposed Site

Lastly, the controversy over UGM's application for a conditional use permit continues (see here and here).  The permit would allow UGM to expand to 300 beds and relocate the Men's Mission from its current location on Commercial Street NE and Center, three blocks north to the site of its store.  A hearing officer's decision is expected mid-February, and an appeal to the City Council seems inevitable.  Given the need, it seems highly unlikely that the City Council would not approve the permit application, the only potential issue being the conditions.  CANDO has been asked to take a position, and will take the matter up at its meeting in February.  (CANDO did not take a position.)

 From the October 2017 DAB Meeting Minutes