Portland Homeless Situation Leads To City Hall Reshuffling

PORTLAND, OR — For the third time in about one month, Mayor Wheeler has signed an executive order addressing the city's growing homeless problem. The order will bring about a significant reshuffling of responsibilities at city hall.

Wheeler said that the executive order was necessary because the city's commission style of government makes it hard to bring about large changes quickly.

Speaking about a chart that he compared to a wiring chart that you might find on an old refrigerator, Wheeler described the current system of dealing with the homeless situation as "a great example of the mess of well-intentioned, systemic, cross-bureau spaghetti.

"It is is unnecessarily wasteful of our staff's time, slow to get results on the ground, and it's very expensive."

Wheeler's executive order takes parts of different city bureaus and gathers them under the newly formed trees Services Coordination Center. Under the new system, four of the city's five commissioners will lose some responsibilities.

The center will oversee the police bureau's Neighborhood Response Teams and Behavioral Health Unit, Portland Fire & Rescue, park rangers, and parking enforcement.

"Today's emergency declaration cuts through our antiquated form of city government," Wheeler said.

The entire operation will be directed by former Portland Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Mike Myers. He has also been Portland's Community Safety Transition Director.

Myers compared the response to what would happen after a natural disaster such as an earthquake, saying that taking these actions "is not something new."

Wheeler added that having a streamlined process will also "make us a much better partner to Multnomah County."

The order closely follows two other recent executive moves by Wheeler.

The first followed a city report that the majority of pedestrian deaths had been homeless people. The order banned camping along the city's high crash corridors.

Last week, City Commissioner Dan Ryan announced that the mayor had signed an order streamlining the permitting process for siting transitional housing.

The moves come as recent surveys have shown a growing disillusionment among residents with the situation downtown and the leadership coming from city hall.