City Pleads with Pringle Hall Neighbors

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

 

606 Church Street SE - Pringle Hall

About 60 people, including City staff and staff of the Salem Housing Authority and Mid-Willamette Community Action Agency (MWVCAA), attended a meeting called by Councilor Andersen to discuss the staff proposal to use Pringle Hall as an emergency overnight warming shelter for 37 people beginning January 23  through March 31.

CANDO and Ward 1 Councilor Kaser were not invited to the meeting, even though Pringle Hall is in CANDO and Ward 1.

Inside the hall, stations had been set up to inform guests of volunteer opportunities and collect questions, comments and concerns.  Copies of a 2-page "Progress Report:  Expanding Warming Shelter Operations from January 1 to March 31" were available at the door. 

According to what was said at the meeting, if approved by Council on January 21, Pringle Hall would be open 7p to 7a, for 69 days.  As with the other shelters in the warming network, the Pringle Hall shelter program would be administered by staff from MWVCAA's The ARCHES Project.  MWVCAA is to provide "armed security" during shelter hours, and City staff are to visit the area during the day "to ensure public safety."  The City is to provide a chemical toilet in addition to the restrooms in Pringle Hall, and one or more storage pods.   

The City originally had planned to hold two briefings, one at 5:10 and one at 6, but Andersen and City Manager Steve Powers were feeling chatty -- nervous chatty, like they feared being beaten if they stopped talking -- so there was just one, very long briefing.  Jimmy Jones, Mayor Bennett and Salem Housing Authority Administrator Nicole Utz also spoke/answered questions. 

Steve Powers speaks with neighbors of Pringle Hall

"This your idea?", one man asked Powers accusingly, as things were getting under way.  "Yes, it was my idea", Powers told him a moment later, and then launched into a long explanation of how things got to this point.  Andersen reprised Monday night's argument that none of it was the Council's fault, but the crowd wasn't into what he was saying.  They just wanted him to stop talking, which he did, eventually.

"Roger" and another man expressed concern about the potential for flooding and the City's liability for personal injury on the premises.  Ernesto Toskovic worried about straining the police force.  One woman suggested the City work with the state to obtain use of the state fairgrounds.  Bennett responded that the City was working with the state, adding that he didn't think Pringle Hall was going to "solve the problem" because most of the folks downtown were not going to use it.

Mayor Bennett tells neighbors the City and State are cooperating

"Mark" said it was important to him that the City was promising the use would be a "one-time deal."  He also said he was disappointed with the City's leadership on this issue. Toskovic expressed concern that Pringle Park would become "popular", prompting a woman to ask what the City would do to discourage loitering.  Another woman asked how shelter guests would be selected, and what would happen if, say, 60 people showed up the first night?  Jones explained how the current warming shelters operate, and gave assurances his staff would be on site a few hours before the 7pm opening to make sure things ran smoothly.

After some slightly off-topic discussion of what happened to the plan to expand the warming network to a duration model, people camping out of sight being harassed, and three neighbors' scary or annoying experiences with "homeless people", someone asked what Salem Hospital and SAIF thought about the proposal.

Powers said he'd met with Salem Hospital's CEO and indicated Salem Hospital was provisionally okay with it.  A woman who said she was with SAIF spoke about SAIF's security measures but did not address the proposal itself.  As the meeting came to a close, Utz offered the crowd one final reassurance, that the Housing Authority is right next door, and is willing to assist neighbors as needed to ensure the success of the program if Council approves it.

Council is probably going to approve it, with or without Councilor "I-haven't-yet-decided" Andersen's vote, and ARCHES Project staff will make sure things go smoothly.

CANDO, Highland, Morningside, SEMCA, South Gateway, SESNA and probably other neighborhoods have all hosted shelters for a long time now, without disastrous effect, despite what some might say without evidence to back it up.  Approving the proposal would mean the neighbors in SCAN would have to tolerate another shelter in CANDO for a mere 69 days.  Doesn't seem like a lot to ask in a time of crisis.  Not at all.