A recent 4-1 vote by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners to sign a lease for a new homeless shelter on SE Foster Road was a focus of concern by some citizens and Commissioner Smith, who voted against the lease. “I’m not against having a shelter,” Commissioner Smith said. “My concern is that the community was not given enough leeway to know what their rights are [in the shelter siting decision].”
Commissioner Smith said that a better public siting process would benefit neighbors as well as shelter clients. “We want the new residents of the shelter to be comfortable, and we want the current residents in the neighborhood to feel comfortable. To do that, we need to do more community engagement before we sign a lease.”
Two neighbors who live near the site of the future shelter attended the town hall. They expressed concerns about impacts the shelter may have on neighborhood livability. Commissioner Smith said “there are many things the county can do to help with livability, such as trash clean up near the shelter. Then you start to build trust and community.”
Commissioner Smith also suggested that the county consider creating shelters in county-owned buildings in her district in North and Northeast Portland, such as a building at NE Killingsworth and NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., which houses county services but has ample vacant space. “I’d rather see us invest in buildings we own,” she said. “Let’s put out a request for proposals and give local businesses a chance to bid on it to do the work.”
Other attendees complained about increasing property crimes and the need for more law enforcement in Portland. Malcolm Ricks owns a company that provides transportation for people with disabilities. He said his company’s vehicles in Northeast Portland have been stolen, damaged and broken into. He asked about the possibility of purchasing a county-owned property with secure parking for his fleet.
Commissioner Smith said she wants to make sure local businesses have an opportunity to lease space the county has available. She said that Prosper Portland also has programs to assist local start-up companies looking for financing.
The Portland area is experiencing economic growth, Commissioner Smith noted, but steps need to be taken to ensure these good times benefit all. “I want to make sure that people that look like me can experience some of the wealth building that is going on,” she said.
Senator Frederick said that one way to improve fair distribution of opportunities is for government to fund monitoring programs after bills are passed. “For example, we learned that some subcontractors were not being paid by general contractors for work they did several years earlier. That is illegal. So we passed legislation to make sure public contracts are monitored so that people get paid for the work they do.”
Senator Frederick said that for the short Oregon Legislative Session this February, each senator will be able to introduce one bill, and each representative two bills. His bill would require law enforcement officers to make regular visits to a mental health professional. “Every cop I know has had an experience with post-traumatic stress,” Senator Frederick said. “We need to give officers a chance to talk with someone, as a wellness program. Many other employees already have programs like this through their health insurance.”
Looking forward, Commissioner Smith said that a priority for her is growing the county’s Summer Works program that provides jobs and training to local youth. “We’ve grown Summer Works from 25 youth to 500 youth in a few years,” she said. “I’ve never seen a kid doing a drive-by shooting on their way to work. A job is a very important thing for a young person. And with baby boomers retiring, we will have a labor crisis if we don’t find new workers.”
