Mayor Wilson offers no revisions to plan
Implementation details draw skepticism from packed audience at the armory
Mayor Keith Wilson finally faced the people fighting his proposed overnight shelter in the Pearl District, at least the 600 who filled the armory auditorium Monday night to get some answers.
He drew polite applause and acknowledgment of his idealistic vision, which hit the same notes as his campaign speeches.
The devil was in the details. Confirmation that the 200-bed shelter at Northwest 15th and Northrup will have only two showers did not go over well. When the audience learned that sex offenders will be allowed inside the low-barrier shelter because no one will be checking ID, the crowd guffawed.
And when Wilson redirected a question about management of spillover effects on the surrounding blocks by beginning an anecdote about his neighbor in North Portland, the reaction was so negative that he never finished the story.
Wilson remained poised throughout his 90 minutes on stage and drew modest hand-clapping as he walked off stage. The key takeaway from the evening may have been the fact the mayor offered no course correction or revisions to the plan he has outlined from the start.
In a 15-minute overtime period, District 4 City Councilor Eric Zimmerman said his support for the mayor’s shelter plan has always been contingent on good neighbor agreements involving oversight by affected neighbors.
Councilors Mitch Green and Olivia Clark also expressed their support for Wilson’s goals, if not all the details of the plan to get there.
Last night's meeting at the Armory was packed. And it was incredibly disappointing, demonstrating the mayor's remarkable lack of listening skills or capacity to understand the neighborhoods' concerns. He did not answer our questions, instead offering up anecdotal stories about his neighbors, people on the streets he has helped, his wife's commitment to him as he has committed to this job, bla bla bla.
No one could argue with the platitudes he spoke; who doesn't want to help others? Who doesn't want to end street camping? Who doesn't want to see the people suffering the effects of drug addiction get the care they need? Etc Etc. We could not disagree with his assessment of what's happening in Portland. But the mayor's vision of how to achieve an end to homelessness still ignores what's already happening in the neighborhoods and what this proposed shelter will do to the Pearl.
When the mayor's chief of shelters (or whatever her title is) spoke about the shelter being low-barrier, she said no identification would be asked for. When questioned about people who are registered sex offenders being allowed into the shelter (so close to a school), she/they said offenders would not be allowed in. When asked how they would know if someone was a sex offender when no ID is going to be required, they could not offer an answer.
Yea, a few toilets, TWO showers, they hopefully will install washers and dryers, all to be used between 10pm and 6am, and then let 200 men and women out onto the streets (and over to Safeway to steal food because where else will they go to get the nourishment they need?).
The commander of the downtown police precinct spoke about his partnership with City Hall and how they are committed to patrolling the area (bike cops).
The mayor had to leave at 7; too bad he wasted his first 15 plus minutes saying the same things he has said all along, talking about the issues in Portland and not addressing anything that people have written to him about. When questions were asked, as I mentioned, he responded with platitudes and anecdotes.
Our district 4 councilors spoke afterward for a few minutes. Olivia Clark is supportive but skeptical. Mitch Green is supportive. And Eric Zimmerman seemed kind of resigned to the deal, skeptical and willing to hold the mayor accountable (though how does one do that?). Mr. Zimmerman lives in the Pearl and works in the Pearl (I think that's what he said).
I'd like to hear what others who attended got from it last night. I was so blown away by the dissonance the mayor and his chief of shelters displayed. If a recall could work, if there was a better candidate, I'd put my efforts behind it.
Overnight shelters didn't help my daughter get off the streets. I don't see how this shelter is going to successfully address the ongoing needs of the shelter's overnight occupants. It's just a 10 hour a day bandaid for something that needs a surgical solution.
I took away several concerning insights from the meeting on the proposed 200-bed homeless shelter in the Pearl —beyond the obvious ones.
1. Inadequate Community Engagement
Despite Portland Solutions Director Skyler Brocker-Knapp’s statements about community engagement, the actual process appears backwards: the city selects locations, signs leases, and only afterward—or in this case when information leaks publicly—attempts to involve neighborhood residents and businesses. This contradicts genuine community engagement principles.
2. Insufficient Safety Protocols
The city’s response regarding safety concerns, particularly given the proximity to BodyVox Dance Studio where children attend classes, was inadequate. City officials acknowledged they will not verify identities of shelter residents, meaning they cannot screen out registered sex offenders who would then have unsupervised access to the surrounding neighborhood. This represents a serious gap in public safety planning.
That’s not a safety plan; it’s negligence.
(I spoke last night with the owner of BodyVox, who said the city had never contacted him—despite officials claiming outreach to neighborhood businesses.)
3. There’s no clear accountability. The city has offered no criteria for measuring whether this shelter succeeds or fails—and no plan for what happens if serious neighborhood concerns turn out to be justified. That’s not responsible governance; it’s blind hope disguised as policy.