4/16/19 Minutes

Members: Deb Comini, Jim Griggs, M. Bryant Baird, Richard McGinty, Sara Cromwell, Alan Mela, Valerie Freeman

Organizations: Dan Clem, UGM; Troy Brynelson, Salem Reporter; Sam Carroll, Downtown YMCA; Denyc Boles, Salem Health

City and County Representatives: Cara Kaser, Ward 1 Councilor; Gina Courson, Marion County Probation and Parole

Guests: Jon Christianson

The Annual Meeting meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m., on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, at the First Christian Church at 685 Marion Street NE, Salem.  The Chair and Secretary-Treasurer were present.  

The agenda and minutes of the March meeting were approved by unanimous consent.

Councilor Kaser reported that the Council had held a work session on the Sustainable Services Revenue Task Force recommendations and sent three revenue options to itself: operating fee, payroll tax (both would go to General Fund), gas tax (would pay for things like street and sidewalk maintenance).  Kaser said she didn’t like the payroll tax. Several present asked what was being done about people sleeping in alcoves, etc., downtown. Kaser’s reply included advice that alcoves were private property and police could be called to assist if someone refused to move after being asked to do so.     

In interested citizen comments, Jon Christianson shared posters advertising a May 10 concert to raise funds to move the Salem Peace Mosaic.  Richard McGinty, who owns a business at 694 High Street (just south of the Inside Out Church), said he was “here because the homeless issue is out of hand.”  “It’s easy to talk, but it’s smarter to do something”, he said.

Sam Carroll gave a presentation on the status of the project to rebuild the downtown YMCA.  See Lynn, C. “New YMCA building in downtown Salem to start construction in 2019.” (13 June 2018, Statesman Journal.)  See also Lynn, C. “YMCA secures financing, downsizes plans for downtown Salem center.”  (24 February 2019, Statesman Journal.)  The new $20.5M,  51,000 sf facility will replace the 93 year-old building at the corner of Court and Cottage Streets NE.  The 16 tenants of Court Street Apartments, which the YMCA purchased in 1972, will be relocated by July. Abatement work is expected to begin in August, demolition in September, and site/foundation work in mid-October.  The new facility is expected to open in March 2021 and have two levels plus a roof terrace, outdoor track, enclosed community room and warm-water pool.

Dan Clem presented the new site and design plans for the Men’s Mission, which accommodates the acquisition of Mike’s Electric.  The new plans call for an entrance off Division Street through a courtyard. Unchanged are plans for a commercial kitchen, elevator, “hot room”, sick bay, classroom and learning stations, three floors and a roof deck.  The facility will be able to shelter up to 222 in 7-man bays on the second floor, and house 78 in the New Life Fellowship recovery program on the third.  The new plans go before the Planning Commission in May. Demolition is expected to begin by the end of the year.

After the Chair opened the floor for nominations to the Board of Directors, Michael Livingston nominated Neal Kern, Member and Chair, who was re-elected to the Board by unanimous consent.  The Chair then closed the Annual Meeting, called to order a meeting of the board, and opened the floor for nominations of officers. There being none, pursuant to Article VI, Section 3 of CANDO's Bylaws, Neal Kern will be continuing in the position of Chair, Michael Livingston will be continuing in the position of Vice-Chair, and Sarah Owens will continue as Secretary/Treasurer, until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified.

The motion of Michael Livingston to adopt the proposed 2019-2020 Annual Goals passed unanimously.  

There being no other business before the board, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 7:10.  p.m.

Addendum to Minutes

Statement of Ashley Hamilton

Program Director with The ARCHES Project

Thank you for reaching out to us for comment. All very good questions. I have provided responses below in the color green. Please let me know if you need anything further or have additional questions. I’m unsure if I’ll make the CANDO meeting this evening so hopefully these comments will help.

Are meals still being served in the parking lot after hours and how often?

Meals are still being served at ARCHES. We have been working closely with the City and Marion County to create a structured approach to the Benevolent Meal Program (BMP). Currently, we are in the process of collecting copies of Food Handler Permits, County Permits, as well as having organizations sign our Policies and Procedures. Meals are traditionally served after hours at various times/dates (please see attached April Meal Calendar). However, as a part of our restructuring process we are asking providers to adhere to a more concrete timeframe; starting meal services between 5:00-5:30pm. We are still getting providers onboard with this element but I anticipate a more regimented process by month’s end. One particular Thursday does appear to be a “food desert” of sorts, but a few new providers have voiced interest in taking on this day. Though I’m less inclined to adopt new service entities until we can hone our process a bit further.

Is garbage/litter being satisfactorily controlled?

Garbage still remains an issue. Of course, some days are better than others. But we are testing a new techniques on how to control excess garbage. 1) We purchased additional and larger garbage bins that remain outside 24/7. This has notably cut down on the litter outside. 2) We recently installed a mini-safe on the back stairwell which contains our garbage bin keys. Providers are given a code to access the safe so they can use our bins to toss excess garbage and food waste. However, in return for this access we are requiring that providers walk the entire property and collect left behind garbage. This is a very new element to our process so the verdict on its success is still out. 3) In our P&Ps providers sign an agreement to help abate garbage. We are hopeful this will hold providers accountable to their impact on the property. 4) In the end, our goal is to have providers serve their meals indoors. We believe this transition will cut down drastically on waste. A good example is Be Bold Ministries. As a trial run we hosted their monthly “We See You” breakfast this past weekend. Operations went amazingly well; they served 240 persons in 1.5 hours via a rotation system. I was onsite that day and can confirm that service indoors made a notable impact on reducing outdoor garbage.

For how long are the meals expected to continue?  Is there a goal of an end date?

There is no real end date to the BMP. However, we do foresee hosting the meals indoors after rehab completion later this summer. Though I will say that we are going to hold providers accountable, both now or once they move indoors. If we are finding folks acting against our P&Ps then we will conclude our relationship with that specific provider. Of course we want to help churches/business who have a heart for service, but we won’t be jeopardizing our facility or operations to do so.

Is any area of the property posted as no trespassing, and is there a consent letter in place?

We do have No Trespassing signs posted, both in the parking lot and the breezeways. There is also a letter of consent filed with the City of Salem, I believe it expires in July of this year. So we will be renewing that. Security patrols have also been hired. They operate 7 days a weeks in the evenings, 7pm-7am. Over the course of the night, security is contracted to be at ARCHES on three separate occasions at variable times. We did just recently add daytime weekend service as well; with 2 visits between 7am-7pm. I have noticed camping has declined significantly since the introduction of patrols, but of course there are a few outliers in-between visits. For the most part, after our 3pm Day Center close folks seem to be migrating to the park picnic tables.

Is drug dealing known or suspected to be taking place on the premises?

Drug dealing and use has occurred onsite. This is just a nature of the work. However, both of these are not tolerated. As a response, we do take a phased and tailored approach in our actions. Mainly a “ask, tell, and then enforce” model. If we see it, we then ask folks to stop/leave, and if they comply that is the ideal response. Folks are then able to return with a fresh start the next day. But just like with anything else, situations are not always that easy. So we are prepared to issue folks written warnings which detail the violation of our Day Center Agreement. After repeated warnings we will move into longer term service bans (though nothing more than a week or two depending on severity). I will say we try VERY hard not to ban anyone and do provide ample opportunities for folks to comply with our agreement. But overall, our biggest issue is the legal smoking of tobacco within 10 feet of our building rather than drug dealing/using.

Any plans CANDO might want to be aware of?

Over the course of the next few months we do anticipate some service disruptions due to rehab. This can range from Day Center closures to the shutdown of indoor public restrooms, so folks will have to use supplied porta-potties. However, we are working closing with our rehab team to minimize these impacts.  

Lastly, the City is loaning our BMP a park bench and a sanitation station to help our outdoor meal providers as well as improve meal distribution. They should be here by next week.

I am not surprised that word is getting out about us becoming the “after-hours hangout”. When we first adopted the BMP things were a bit touch and go. But our providers believe in the work and we believe in them – so with continued communication operations have improved. I also believe strongly that we are working every angle to combat the “hangout” narrative while also keeping focus on the needs of our unsheltered neighbors. It’s a delicate balancing act and I feel confident that we have seen successes from our newer implementations, and will continue to do so. However, we are still committed to piloting our efforts and will make adjustments when needed.

Post Script:  (from Ashley Hamilton) In relation to our security patrols. We interviewed several companies before we selected our contractor [Elite Security Professionals]. We had to be certain that they would conduct themselves within our operational philosophy of “ask, tell, and then enforce”. It was critical that we did not contribute to the charging of low-quality of life crimes when folks are merely seeking a dry place to stay. To-date, our security personnel have [not] yet needed to contact law enforcement and are generally able to get folks moving along peacefully. They have even saved a life by calling an ambulance for someone in need. Their ability to be client-centered on our behalf provides us with a great sense of assurance with this service moving forward.