I think the reality will turn out to be that we as a state, city and county do not now have and will not have in the future, the massive financial resources that "solving" the homeless problem demands. We've thrown a ginormous amount of money at this problem already and seen no improvement. Every answer to the problem of the recalcitrant homeless population involves long-term housing with "wrap-around services", but realistically, how can we afford to put all these people in what is the financial equivalent of rehabilitation care centers, especially when most of them will never be able to leave and live unsupervised in the future?
Most Millennials and Gen Zee-ers are just keeping their heads above water fighting inflation, with very scary prospects for the future and no hope of ever being able to afford their own home. Will we divert hundreds of millions of tax dollars to homeless people and continue to disenfranchise our young people? I myself am on a fixed income: the property tax bill that I received today went up over $750 from last year. Along with increases in our sewer/water bill, garbage service and every other possible fee our local governments extract, I have to wonder how long we can afford to live in the city of my birth. No wonder younger people feel hopeless!
My point is, I think there needs to be a fiscal reality check as to what is possible in helping the homeless and what is not. That's a difficult discussion to have, especially in Portlandia where "compassion" reigns king. But I'm coming to believe that we don't have and won't have enough money to "solve" this largely unsolvable problem, and we need to honestly look at what we have available and work within that budget. And that will likely mean having to settle for far less than what many homeless advocates want.
This was a well-organized and informative forum, and the organizers deserve a lot of credit. I was particularly impressed by the three expert panelists and their thoughtful discussion of the problems with our homelessness and mental health systems. The distinction between “compassionate neglect” and “compassionate respect” was especially compelling. And I always enjoy hearing from Blair Best!
I was considerably less impressed by the candidates. Multnomah County has a $4 billion annual budget, more than 5,700 employees, and a wide range of complex responsibilities. I heard little that gave me confidence in the candidates’ ability to run an organization of that size. Understanding public policy is one thing; successfully managing a large organization is quite another.
This raises a larger question: Should Multnomah County hire an experienced professional to run the county rather than elect a chair? An organization this large needs someone with a proven record of managing people, budgets, and operations, not just political or professional experience. Unfortunately, none of the three candidates has convinced me they have that experience. Voters are left to decide which candidate gives them the fewest concerns.
Portland is in so deep that it will take 10 years to recover from all the neglect of its criminal justice system and mental health system and like most of the country has horrible mental health policy and law. Who gets elected to chair is the least of our problems.
I think the reality will turn out to be that we as a state, city and county do not now have and will not have in the future, the massive financial resources that "solving" the homeless problem demands. We've thrown a ginormous amount of money at this problem already and seen no improvement. Every answer to the problem of the recalcitrant homeless population involves long-term housing with "wrap-around services", but realistically, how can we afford to put all these people in what is the financial equivalent of rehabilitation care centers, especially when most of them will never be able to leave and live unsupervised in the future?
Most Millennials and Gen Zee-ers are just keeping their heads above water fighting inflation, with very scary prospects for the future and no hope of ever being able to afford their own home. Will we divert hundreds of millions of tax dollars to homeless people and continue to disenfranchise our young people? I myself am on a fixed income: the property tax bill that I received today went up over $750 from last year. Along with increases in our sewer/water bill, garbage service and every other possible fee our local governments extract, I have to wonder how long we can afford to live in the city of my birth. No wonder younger people feel hopeless!
My point is, I think there needs to be a fiscal reality check as to what is possible in helping the homeless and what is not. That's a difficult discussion to have, especially in Portlandia where "compassion" reigns king. But I'm coming to believe that we don't have and won't have enough money to "solve" this largely unsolvable problem, and we need to honestly look at what we have available and work within that budget. And that will likely mean having to settle for far less than what many homeless advocates want.
This was a well-organized and informative forum, and the organizers deserve a lot of credit. I was particularly impressed by the three expert panelists and their thoughtful discussion of the problems with our homelessness and mental health systems. The distinction between “compassionate neglect” and “compassionate respect” was especially compelling. And I always enjoy hearing from Blair Best!
I was considerably less impressed by the candidates. Multnomah County has a $4 billion annual budget, more than 5,700 employees, and a wide range of complex responsibilities. I heard little that gave me confidence in the candidates’ ability to run an organization of that size. Understanding public policy is one thing; successfully managing a large organization is quite another.
This raises a larger question: Should Multnomah County hire an experienced professional to run the county rather than elect a chair? An organization this large needs someone with a proven record of managing people, budgets, and operations, not just political or professional experience. Unfortunately, none of the three candidates has convinced me they have that experience. Voters are left to decide which candidate gives them the fewest concerns.
Portland is in so deep that it will take 10 years to recover from all the neglect of its criminal justice system and mental health system and like most of the country has horrible mental health policy and law. Who gets elected to chair is the least of our problems.