Most Portland commissioners want out of partnership with county on homelessness

Most Portland city commissioners are telling KATU they’re done with their current partnership with Multnomah County when it comes to tackling the issue of homelessness.

“I’ll tell you, every week I get a report from our outreach folks who tell us how many tents are out there on our sidewalks, and every week the number of tents grow,” said Commissioner Mingus Mapps.

Some voiced concerns about what they say is a lack of necessary progress, in spite of spending millions of dollars on the issue.

Commissioners told the city attorney to draft an ordinance to end the relationship. One reason being the lack of cohesion.

“We’re trying to solve two fundamentally different problems. The city is focused on trying to move people from the sidewalks into shelter. I think the county is trying to prevent people from falling into homelessness,” said Mapps.

Another being what most commissioners say is the lack of results in spite of dumping tens of millions of dollars into the project for years.

“I’d like to see real-time data that shows if someone, I want to see net gains. So when I hear that x amount of people have been housed, but how many people are now on our streets?” said Commissioner Dan Ryan.

Commissioner Rene Gonzalez says the city has an approach that is working.

“One, the city is doing a really good job on Safe Rest, say for us villages and task sites. These are improvements over congregate shelter. We’re getting real placement in housing. We’re doing that well operation. I’d like just to build a lot more, but that is a proven path,” he said.

After uproar about the issues with the county and city’s partnership, the county and the city joined forces to revamp their homelessness response.

“It is a work in progress, and it’s about taking our authority in those conversations and putting hard questions on the table. So for me, I feel like we still do need to see this through,” said Commissioner Carmen Rubio.

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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: October 18, 2024, 3:02 am.

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