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| Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force Recommendation 3 |
The City Council never formed the Good Neighbor Partnership, even though the Task Force gave it third highest priority, after toilets and hygiene facilities. See "Bureacratic BS Burying Good Neighbor Partnership."
The City did, however, convene a work group called the "Follow Up Homeless Task Force Meeting" (referring to the Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force) consisting of Neal Kern (CANDO), Cara Kaser (Salem City Council - Ward 1), Nicole Utz (Salem Housing Authority), Kevin Hill (Salem Police Department), Tom Hoffert (Salem Area Chamber), a representative from Salem Main Street Association, Dan Clem (Union Gospel Mission), Paul Logan (Northwest Human Services), and Ashley Hamilton (The ARCHES Project of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency).
As originally conceived, the work group was to meet quarterly, but at the first meeting on June 25, the group decided to meet monthly. According to CANDO's Chair, Neal Kern, they're supposed to generate ideas, but not make decisions (that's what makes it a work group -- which the City believes is not subject to public meetings laws). Kern reported that, at the first meeting, the discussion focused on White Dove Clinic's CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) program in Eugene. (Find news articles about CAHOOTS at the link.) Asked if the group discussed a a sit-lie/camping ban or other "enforcement" measure, he responded that "[t]here was no specific mention of sit/lie. One business owner spoke briefly on a vagrancy ordinance but did not specify what that would entail and there was not much follow up discussion on that topic."
However, in a recent email responding to questions about the City's plan to revisit the sit-lie/camping ban, Urban Development Director Kristin Retherford, who leads the "Follow Up Homeless Task Force Meeting", implied that the group (which she referred to as "the collaboration") had discussed the new ordinance, but could only state that "The subject of what comes next was floated" during the meeting.
Over the last several months, City staff and Councilors have heard increasingly from community members asking for tools to help out with behavioral issues during daytime hours. By September, the City will have implemented most of the recommendations that came out of the Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force. The subject of what comes next was floated recently during the collaboration meeting between service providers, businesses, and city staff.
The conversation explored what tools would be the most helpful, with a focus on daytime hours when businesses are most impacted and when other locations are available to access resources and services. Much thought and care is being given to assure that an ordinance to provide additional tools to help residents and businesses will not create a barrier to receiving services at ARCHES, the UGM, or other service providers in and around downtown. Since the collaboration group discussion, there have been additional conversations with service providers to further discuss the concept and concerns. The City Manager intends to present an ordinance to address daytime behaviors in the public right of way to Council for their consideration on July 22nd.
Kern and Clem have been very clear that the sit-lie ordinance was not discussed at the meeting on June 25, and there have been no subsequent meetings of the group. Logan did not attend the June 25 meeting. Stephen Goins (Northwest Human Services' HOST and HOAP) says he was not consulted about the ordinance. LEAD navigator Josh Lair (who knows by name virtually all those living in the streets downtown) says he was not consulted about the ordinance, which he referred to as "crazy." In fact, the only "additional conversations with service providers" the City held was with Hamilton and MWVCAA's Executive Director, Jimmy Jones.
The meeting with Jones and Hamilton took place last Monday, July 8. Why hold a special meeting with MWVCAA? Call us cynical, but MWVCAA needs the City's CDBG and Urban Renewal dollars to finish renovating the Golden ARCHES Project that was supposed to have been completed in November 2017, and to relieve the burden of having to make substantial mortgage and balloon payments. (See "Urban Renewal to the Rescue" and "MWVCAA Pays Mortgage Debt with Hless Assist $$.") Otherwise, he might be expected to oppose the City on policy and process grounds. Jones was a member of the DHSTF, which disbanded last August 2018. Jones has been noticeably restrained in his comments about the ordinance to the press (see updates below). He is known to be opposed to sit-lie ordinances as they stigmatize if not criminalize homelessness.
Needless to say, the City did not attempt to consult CANDO's board. The City didn't consult CANDO in 2017, either, even though the targeted area is within CANDO, and the people most likely to be affected by any decision are CANDO members.
One might be forgiven for concluding from all this that the City views its task forces and neighborhood associations as rubber stamps, not sources of valuable information that should inform its decisions.
[7/14/19 Update: in a document issued Thursday evening, three days after this post was published, the City claimed -- for the first time -- that the group it had previously referred to as the "Follow Up Homeless Task Force Meeting", and "the collaboration", is in fact the Good Neighbor Partnership.]
The City claims that the ordinance is needed "to provide additional tools to help residents and businesses." "Residents" here, one may assume, does not refer to the ones living in the streets.
When will we learn that “You can’t solve homelessness by addressing housed people’s complaints, you solve homelessness by addressing homeless people’s needs” (Jeff Kositsky)? Ah, but is the City really trying to solve homelessness? "Homelessness is not the City's problem", said City Manager Steve Powers at a recent City Council meeting, "It's the community's problem." Mmm-hmm. Bet he doesn't try to tell that to the "community members asking for tools to help out with behavioral issues during daytime hours." They get an ordinance.
No one we contacted had seen the text of the new ordinance bill, but the City has assured Councilor Hoy that "the problematic pieces" of Ordinance Bill 22-17 have either been removed or altered. For a discussion of those "problematic pieces", see "City Council to Consider Sit-Lie Bill." We shall see. If it's to be presented to the City Council on July 22, it's probably been drafted, but the public probably won't be allowed to see it until the agenda comes out, probably on July 18. See Brynelson, T. "Salem considers banning daytime sleeping on sidewalks." (11 July 2019, Salem Reporter.) Bach, J. "Salem considers sit-lie ordinance to limit sidewalk camping -- again." (12 July 2019, The Statesman Journal.)
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| United Way's mobile shower/laundry unit, ready for wrapping |
Houghton told us Monday that he is currently in the process of securing locations that can accommodate the unit's water/sewer hook ups, and has several in mind.
The trailer cost about $51K, the truck to haul it cost $31K, and annual operating expenses are estimated to run in the neighborhood of $74K. See below for breakdown (just in case other orgs are thinking to replicate, hint hint). The budget accounts for the likelihood that some supplies will be donated. Thanks to Ashley Hamilton, Program Director for The ARCHES Project for the detail.
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| Estimated annual expenses for a MHU |
Under the new contracts, coordinated care organizations will be required to advance the Medicaid agenda of Gov. Kate Brown. Her priorities include improving access to behavioral health care, keeping cost growth below 3.4 percent, shifting to a payment system that rewards positive health outcomes instead of paying per procedure and investing in social determinants of health such as housing and education.
Terry, L. "Breaking News: Health Authority Approves 15 CCO Applications" (9 June 2019, The Lund Report).
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