Portland Homeless: City Hall Floats Idea Of 1,000-Bed Shelters

PORTLAND, OR — Three giant homeless shelters, each of which could house 1,000 people. National Guard members assigned to the shelters. A ban on camping in places that block streets, sidewalks, and other areas that would constitute a violation of the American with Disabilities.

Those are just some of the ideas contained in a memo sent to Governor Brown as well as the leadership of Metro and Multnomah County.

The eight-page memo was written by former Mayor Sam Adams who is now an adviser to Mayor Wheeler. In the memo, Adams says the ideas "are just my own and skew towards the city perspective."

Portland has been under tremendous pressure to do something about what's been a growing presence of the homeless downtown. Recent surveys show a growing displeasure with the quality of life in the city.

The memo states that last year, Portland "received 75,573 houselessness-related complaints and requests for service relating to 250 observed active encampments.

"The city has increased its houselessness-related clean-up and removal funding four-fold in two years."

Despite that, the city's only been able to clean-up between 5 and 7 camps a week compared to between 30 and 40 before the pandemic.

Adams hen describes a process of steps starting June 1, 2022 that would be implemented over the next three years.

The project would:

• Create shelter occupancy for 3000 houseless (number fine-tuned by 2022 count underway).
• Make a face-to-face to every unhoused Portlander, who has resided in Portland for a year, and actionable offer of a warm place to sleep, needed services.
• End need for unsanctioned houseless camps in Portland
• Clean up the local right of ways and public lands.

Not everyone at City Hall is happy with the plan.

Commissioner Carmen Rubio told Willamette Week shat she had never even heard of the memo.

"That idea would never fly with us," she told WW referring to her colleagues on the City Council. "If true, I hope that would be a non-starter for the mayor."