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Homeless will move to the back burner…I see the new bill that provides health insurance coverage to illegals….talk about a magnet and paid for by the tax payers. Once again, making law abiding citizens pay to reward those that break the law.
So the democrat leadership that has been and is in charge has failed horribly by spending tons of money to attract more homeless yet you call republicans pathetic because they are not in charge but don’t have a plan to your liking. Curious if the republicans are pathetic what is the current leadership?
Agree completely that it should be taken more seriously though, think it will take working together to build a plan that works. I’ve always wondered why they don’t set up housing inland for them where it’s dramatically cheaper and they can be more isolated. After all, millions of illegals work on farms every day in the country. Why can’t we use these farms to help get the homeless working again, off their addictions etc? It would seem to be a win win, especially for the tax payers who are paying for the homeless and illegals.
I don't know that it needs to be more isolated.
In Salem, there was a non-profit group trying to buy the old Hillcrest facility (the old female youth prison) to try and turn it into a homeless treatment/work/job skills facility. It is 207,000 sq feet and is on 44 acres in south Salem where there is wealth, so you can see the problem there. I know the group made an offer on the land, but the state countered. I don't know where things are at with that though.
The Mid-Valley Action Agency didn't want to be involved with it because they don't believe it will work. They serve the homeless population and said that most of the local homeless aren't people that can work but need to get on disability. Between physical issues and mental health issues, they aren't employable. There aren't many facilities like what they are proposing for Hillcrest though, so there really isn't any research on efficacy. There is one in San Antonio that has been working since 2010.
There is also some talk about trying to convert the Mill Creek prison that the Gov closed here to an alcohol and drug treatment facility. Mill Creek is a working farm already and they were required to work and study there to transition back into the community so it is set up for that. This is already off by itself, but not too far off, so it would make a great treatment center.
I think reusing shuttered facilities is the way to go as you will still need staff to run those places and they don't want to live out in the middle of nowhere.
Your feelings are probably common across a lot of people. This presents an opportunity to speak to the voters on issues that resonate. Hopefully a few politicians are smart enough to see that.
I think there is a real opportunity in OR for an intelligent, articulate person (regardless of party) to win the governorship by acknowledging and speaking A LOT about clearing out homelessness, ANTIFA and acknowledging need for law and order.
Trump won a Presidential election because he was able to read the room better than Hillary in 2016 as to "forgotten man" issues like jobs going oversees and illegal immigration. Winning a statewide election in OR requires someone to find a few key points that RESONATE with and MOTIVATE people to vote. If there is no motivation, the D's will win even with a lackluster candidate as the default in populated parts of OR is to vote D.
I think the Democrat's in OR have given someone a real opportunity. The ongoing visuals in this state of tents and garbage everywhere combined with the condition of it's largest city do not help D's. Regardless of political persuasion, I can tell from talking with people that the increase in tents and garbage pisses people off.
If however, OR candidates just speak same ole party rhetoric, likely the Dem candidate will win and nothing will change.
If I could take back my 2018 vote for Kate Brown I would. Buehler probably would have been better through all this mess. He ran a campaign at the time that did not resonate with me and obviously most Oregonians. But we didn't know then what we know now.
The big problem with the liberals in the last few years is that they're too lenient by about 50%. I can understand at first, because of the situation, not to evict homeless from where they are. The pandemic took away everyone's options. But after months and months... especially when the pandemic got into the endgame phase, it was time for them to go. Now they are months overdue from being moved out. Especially now... I have no more sympathy when EVERY business is trying to hire, is advertising no less than $14-15 an hour, often $17-20 plus longevity bonuses, and a homeless person is tweaking out in a tent.
t is also time for the liberals to realize that 65-70% vaccinated is as close to defeating the pandemic as we are ever going to get. They need to calm the F down up in Portland with their masks and restrictions.
And I would vote for less lenient DA and AG type positions. I can also understand the leniency on protestors in the initial breakout of events. But by about late September, October 2020, it was abundantly clear that what was going on were not "protests" in any conventional sense and there needed to be arrests. Like, mass arrests, and then throwing the book at these people. Wheeler finally figured this out about 6-8 months too late.
We need downward pressure on housing costs YESTERDAY. That is going to slow too.
Reopening, homeless, housing costs, getting schools back to normal, public order, environment. I'll vote for a Republican with those priorities; conservative solutions are okay with me if they HAVE a detailed plan that convinces me they'll work. So far none do, but it's early yet.
Last edited by 7th generation; 06-29-2021 at 04:12 AM..
Reason: national political crap
I think it's important to remember that public officials are limited by the courts concerning what they can do to "solve the homeless crisis." No matter what party the next governor belongs to, Martin v. Boise still applies (the 9th Circuit Court has jurisdiction in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington).
Especially now... I have no more sympathy when EVERY business is trying to hire, is advertising no less than $14-15 an hour, often $17-20 plus longevity bonuses, and a homeless person is tweaking out in a tent.
It's not nearly as easy at it looks. As a business owner, I'd rather run shorthanded than go through what I went through when I tried to be socially conscious and hire the homeless.
It's not nearly as easy at it looks. As a business owner, I'd rather run shorthanded than go through what I went through when I tried to be socially conscious and hire the homeless.
Oh no doubt.
When I was a kid and worked fast food, I had a socially conscious manager who would hire homeless or near-homeless people now and then, and it never worked out. Most wouldn't last a day. I remember specifically one of them... he seemed like was doing okay for almost a whole week. Then about day 5 or so, he got into a very bad argument with the spatula. He started screaming, throwing things, he screamed at all of us and the customers and stormed out. I saw him on the street about a week after that, right back where he started. He must have been schizophrenic.
But the point is... for many of them it's not strictly a poverty problem or a lack of jobs problem. We're not doing anybody any favors just letting them rot on the streets and in our public spaces.
I think it's important to remember that public officials are limited by the courts concerning what they can do to "solve the homeless crisis." No matter what party the next governor belongs to, Martin v. Boise still applies (the 9th Circuit Court has jurisdiction in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington).
Yes, I don't have much regard for the 9th circuit and was VERY disappointed the Supreme Court did not take that appeal. I hope someone tries again.
However, in says "in absence of alternatives." So to me, that means, build or designate a shelter, THEN you can clear them out. Enterprising local leaders can get around court decisions. The courts have no enforcement. I say designate places for them to go, then clear them out, then let a bunch of homeless people sue & hope it goes to the SCOTUS. If the Court is going to declare that our public spaces, right of ways, parks, etc.. are meant to be living spaces and public defacation sites? Please let them say that.
The courts have no enforcement. I say designate places for them to go, then clear them out, then let a bunch of homeless people sue & hope it goes to the SCOTUS. If the Court is going to declare that our public spaces, right of ways, parks, etc.. are meant to be living spaces and public defacation sites? Please let them say that.
My community in kind of a Catch-22 with this. We don't have a designated homeless shelter, and some of the social justice advocates have been pushing for one for years. There's another faction that believes that providing additional services to the homeless will encourage more of them to come here. There are enough jobs for those who want to work, but the working class has been priced out of this town and there's no housing for them, so I tend to agree that encouraging them to come here is a losing proposition for everyone involved.
Idk what the answer is, but this thing didn't happen overnight, and it won't be fixed overnight, if it all. There's a lot of blame being put on businesses for not paying "livable wages," and I can see some validity in that. The other side of the coin is that the business sector shouldn't be expected to subsidize a runaway real estate market.
Yes, I don't have much regard for the 9th circuit and was VERY disappointed the Supreme Court did not take that appeal. I hope someone tries again.
However, in says "in absence of alternatives." So to me, that means, build or designate a shelter, THEN you can clear them out. Enterprising local leaders can get around court decisions. The courts have no enforcement. I say designate places for them to go, then clear them out, then let a bunch of homeless people sue & hope it goes to the SCOTUS. If the Court is going to declare that our public spaces, right of ways, parks, etc.. are meant to be living spaces and public defacation sites? Please let them say that.
Agree
I believe this was discussed before; An "alternative" can be a fenced vacant lot with a porta potty - Viola, we met the duty as decided by the esteemed 9th circuit. Besides - who made them GOD anyway?
Gov't, politicians, businesses, disregard court judgements every day. Why should this be any different?
Let some slacker "do gooder" atty fight the good fight on their behalf. In the meantime ROUND EM UP!
Reading this thread with a degree of interest and some of the responses, I have frequently ask tough questions about how to avoid this 50 years from now. I ask about this current spate of homeless: how many of them come from unwanted births, unplanned births? How many from homes where the parents were unqualified to parent? These are questions our leaders should be asking, and we are, societally, owed these statistics. Assuming a median age of 30 years old, that means that a generation ago (my own) what the hell were we thinking when we put you know what in you know where without any pragmatism towards using birth control.
I think of reversing this problem, and I think of NORPLANT. I am pretty fiscally conservative, but would happily pay a small income tax increase or sales tax increase, if that $ was put towards free birth control and education to teenagers in high school. The curriculum would be in a very specific form, highlighting how much a child costs in dollars from birth through college and the homeless plague that we are experiencing right now be rolled into that curriculum if, what I suspect is likely true, namely, the stories of the lives of these individuals. I am thinking not many of them came from stable two-parent household environments.
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