News from the Continuum

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

12/28 SJ Warns Against Misguided Efforts

As often happens during the winter holiday season, there was a substantial uptick in news articles and social media posts about homelessness in the last few weeks of 2017.

Over on the Salem City Council FB page, posts sought to call attention to local residents and issues, asked that more be done, asked for and sometimes offered "solutions", and expressed the hope or desire that local electeds will "step up."

There was so much activity this year that it might even have got the Statesman Journal editors a little worried.  Worried that area residents might start putting their words and ideas into action.  Why should that be worrisome?  Well, according to SJ, giving people food, showers, and tents can be harmful.

Not that SJ bothered to do any local reporting in support of their bias.  They just reprinted an AP story about California's troubles.  What would we do without the SJ looking out for us?

Take heed, you do-gooders, and be careful with those socks and sandwiches.  Things can always get worse!

Just ask UGM.  After all these years, they're finally getting some traction on their plans to build a new men's shelter just north of the current location, across the street from where the City plans to build its new public safety facility.  And what happens?  BAM!  Their application for a conditional use permit gets NIMBYed by former City Council member and real estate developer David Glennie, who wants you to know he's not some uninformed and/or uncaring citizen who just doesn't understand homelessness (and then proceeds to tell you how much he pays every year in property taxes, and how the police won't protect his properties, so he's had to hire security guards, etc., etc.).  Glennie developed Broadway Place (corner Broadway and Market), among other properties.

Ex 1 (Glennie) in Case No. CU-ZC 17-41

Yessir, you're thinking.  He's not some uniformed and/or uncaring citizen who just doesn't understand homelessness.  He's a rich and well-connected citizen who just doesn't understand homelessness.

Or how to make a good NIMBY argument.  Neighbor!  You're telling us the homeless are already there!  How's it gonna hurt you to let UGM provide them shelter?     

Glennie, BTW, is the guy who last May dashed Jon Reeves's (MWVCAA) hopes to relocate The ARCHES Project to Broadway Place, which he (Glennie) claims is "just a stone's throw" from the site of the new Mission.  (Not even with a slingshot.)  Glennie didn't want the ARCHES day shelter, which closed June 28, 2017 and hasn't reopened, in his building.  And now, he doesn't want the Mission in his hood.  Seems to assume it's going to make things worse, not better.  But, whyyyyyyyyyy?  Too many showers?     

New Mission "a stone's throw" from Broadway Place?

Speaking of development, the City Council is set to pass Ordinance Bill 29-17 on Monday.  The  staff report describes the bill as implementing "a Nonprofit Corporation Low Income Housing tax exemption authorized by ORS 307.540 to 307.548" that "will encourage low-income housing preservation and development by lowering costs for non-profit providers of low-income housing." 
 
This exemption make CHDOs (Community Housing Development Organizations or "cho-dos") more viable, which is needed because Salem has only one, the Catholic Community Services Foundation's CHDO.  (As some may recall, in 2014, the CCSF CHDO inherited the inventory of the Salem-Keizer Community Development Corporation (SKCDC) which had for many years provided quality housing for families with incomes 50% and 30% below median income, but was under-capitalized.)   A city the size of Salem should have more than one CHDO.   

Why do we need more CHDOs?  Because we need more housing!  Under the US HUD's HOME program, 15 percent of the HOME funds allocated to every participating jurisdiction (PJ) (city, County, multi-jurisdictional consortium, or state) is set aside for projects developed by CHDOs. The 15 percent CHDO set aside is Congress's explicit effort to direct HOME program funds into the hands of nonprofit developers.  That's a floor, not a ceiling.  The City is deepening that federal subsidy by passing Ordinance Bill 29-17, and you might find that unexciting, but it's the kind of thing that can make a difference in the long run, and pretty much all we got going is the long run.

Speaking of housing, the Salem Housing Authority is reporting that 21 vulnerable, chronically homeless individuals have now been housed through the City's Housing Rental Assistance Program (HRAP), with another 8 enrolled.  To accommodate this success, the program has added another client case manager (employed by MWVCAA's ARCHES Project and assigned to SHA), and, thanks to a 2-year, $150K grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust, will be adding a "service coordinator" case manager to the HRAP team.  But is this the right way to address homelessness?  Does providing for housing for homeless help, or harm? <---- (attempt at wry humor)