What do the mayoral candidates have to say about this week’s question?

Portland is in year three of the 10-year plan to end homelessness, and the city council is about to lose that plan’s biggest advocate, Erik Sten. Can homelessness actually be ended, and is the 10-year-plan on track to accomplish that goal?

Let’s find out, shall we?

Beryl McNair—a candidate we hadn’t heard from until this week—was the first to respond.

Beryl McNair
Position sought: Mayor
Website: none
Public financing status: Participated, did not submit any contributions

I want to answer the question about homelessness in my view the homeless problem can be solved with vouchers from the Housing Authority of Portland.

The homeless can use the shelters that house them for the short term, use this address and then get housing with the Section 8 program for the long term.

The housing provided by the Housing Authority is in place to help those in need, and the homeless men and women with/without children need somewhere to live in and a place they can call home for the next ten years and pass it alone, to the next generation, as need to be, we must start with the Housing Authority program.

There are many buildings in this city that are boarded up, there are many buildings being renovated.

There are many buildings that are being rehabilitated and the homeless people can benefit from the works off the backs of those who like to change the infrastructures in buildings, i.e. developers, interior designers and the rest of this industyr and make these places the next homes for the underserved the “homeless”.

The tax dollars and the interior designers, real estate developers, other construction companies that build can make a difference in peoples lives who are less fortunate than they are and put their talents into designing and creating homes for others, they will be using their God given talents while partnering with the most creative as well, with the city, county and state to make it possible. The “think green” housing for the community for that matter the less fortunate citizens will be thanking you for what you do a lifetime, and why not give back to a city what God has giving to you in the beginning.

Candidate Beryl McNair

Craig Gier
Position sought: Mayor
Website: myspace.com/craiggierformayor
Public financing status: Not participating

There will never be an end to homelessness, thats just not possible. Anyone who says they can get rid of it all is just plain lying to your face(especially in a ten year time frame). What we can do is try to do our best within our communities to help reduce the number of homeless people. I would like to take money from other areas that don't work and put it to good use helping people that need a little boost. I don't intend to give a free ride to anyone, only the essentials such as job training and placement, day to day living skills, and basic education. These are all things we can help with. This way we can insure that something is actually given back to our city rather than another empty promise from the city council and city hall.

Jim Lee
Position sought: Mayor
Website: blogmayor.com
Public financing status: Not participating

Spent a week in California, visiting friends and biking in San Luis Obispo, and biking in Santa Barbara while reconnoitering Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary for a future visit.

Those islands and surrounding waters are magnificent. Great whales, huge pinnipeds, species of fish and invertebrates without number, birds of every shape, common and rare plants, are at home here, or pass through as migrants. People too made homes here: the oldest human remains in North America lay on Santa Rosa Island for 13,000 years.

The trip home was hard--plane 5 hours late. Then I got shoved out of the bus shelter by a homeless man with a big backpack and a serious attitude. His buddy was on crutches with one foot in a cast and wrapped in a plastic bag; more polite, but still did not want me close. Both hassled me all the way to the Hawthorne district.

I share a nice small house with a good friend--lived there longer than anywhere else. Not nearly so nice as my friends in San Luis, but just as pleasant. I’m pretty lucky.

We can treat the symptoms of homelessness, but we won’t solve the problem until we accept that it’s rich people who cause poor people. During most of my life I’ve been in one camp or the other. Not what I had planned: I don’t want more than anyone else, but I don’t want less, either. The happy middle is what I’ve always aspired to, but seldom realized.

It’s said that Erik Sten has been a great advocate for the homeless. But he has lived well in an expensive house in Irvington and now in an even more expensive house in Southwest. Erik makes me think of the current run of “This Old House:” a couple with two children in a $750,000 house of 4,000 square feet that ABSOLUTELY REQUIRES a $1,500,000 house of 6,000 square feet!

Carl Gustave Jung said that something must be done about our psychology. We are greedy and we are wasteful. Social problems are caused by human societies. This is one we have made all by ourselves.

Sam Adams
Position sought: Mayor
Website: samforpdx.com
Public financing status: Not participating, capping contributions

We all know that a person or family can work very hard and still not get by. This strikes our hearts more closely today as national markets and economic trends are in flux. Our community does not accept homelessness as a necessary evil. We know that merely recycling people through shelters and short-term programs is expensive and does little to help people off of the street permanently.

The intention of the 10-Year Plan is to end chronic homelessness. It’s a joint City/County effort intended to address individuals or families that have been homeless for more than one year.

The plan is on track. One of the plan's great features is that it has measurable performance goals. These goals hold us all accountable for the plan's success, and our community has been successful.

A recent audit shows that through the first two years of implementation, 660 chronically homeless people and 407 homeless families were moved into permanent housing—well above our goals of 175 individuals and 250 families.

The City should celebrate these results, and we should acknowledge the leadership and contribution of our partner, Multnomah County.

Nevertheless, much work remains. Commissioner Sten has consistently led and challenged us to do more. He helped build the 10-Year Plan as an excellent road map for our community and a model for the nation. We must continue.

Can we end all homelessness? No, because we can't control all of the factors that cause homelessness. We can, however, be a community that does not accept it. The 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness is call to action and I hope that you will join me in answering that call. I am committed to working with all of you (including those who are homeless or have experienced homelessness) to end homelessness in our community one person and one family at a time.

Kyle Burris
Position sought: Mayor
Website: site not up yet
Public financing status: Not participating

Can homelessness actually be ended? Sure. Is Portland going to be doing it any time soon? I don't think so.

The fact is, when you build a capitalistic society like ours - one that's based on winners and losers - you're going to have people that lose. And when you have a government that's spent so much of its time trying to keep the working man in his place, you're going to end up with just that many more people on the edge. Sten's ten year plan - which you can checkout for yourself here - works to treat the symptoms of this system, but dose nothing to deal with the real causes.

We can work to get every person off the streets, and into assisted housing - but then what? Housing prices continue to rise, and living wage jobs for the kind of people who might find themselves homeless are continuing to disappear. Are these people just going to spend the rest of their lives in this housing, as state subsidized wage slaves? And when the next batch of people find themselves suddenly unable to make their next rent check, what then?

The fact is, subsidizing small chunks of the housing market is expensive, and it dose nothing to stop the causes of homelessness. What we really need to be doing is attacking the market, head on. We need to drive down the cost of living, across the board. As mayor, I will implement a two point plan to make this happen.

First, as mentioned before, I plan to ban most cars. This will free up untold amounts of space currently being wasted on parking lots and car dealerships. As mayor, I'll work to create a system that imposes serious taxes on those who leave their lots empty, and offers tax brakes to those who build housing. This will lead to a new housing surplus that will drive down costs for everyone.

Secondly, I want to end the concept of landlordism. As mayor, I will work with any renters, be they commercial or residential, to make them the owners of their own property. I will set up a system in which the city uses the power of eminent domain to take property from the so called owners, and give it to the people who're actually using it. Once these people no longer have to worry about paying rent, they'll be more free to take care of the other aspects of their lives, and they'll be far less likely to find they selves out on the streets.

We can end homelessness, but it's going to require us, as a society, to seriously reconsider how we function. It's going to require real change.

Sho Dozono
Position sought: Mayor
Website: shoformayor.com
Public financing status: Turned in 4,010 contributions and request for certification on 1/31

Yes, I believe that homelessness can end in Portland and the 10 year plan is a great start. Commissioner Sten should be commended for his tireless work on the issue. While he may no longer work for the City, I think he will remain active and continue to work to find solutions. As mayor, I look forward to working with the council to shepard in the end to homelessness for all citizens.

Jeff Taylor
Position sought: Mayor
Website: portland123.com
Public financing status: Participated, has not submitted any contributions

Did not respond by deadline.

Vladislav Davidzon
Position sought: Mayor
Website: ourportland.org
Public financing status: Not participating

Did not respond by deadline.