We’ve got news in this race today—Charles Lewis was certified as a publicly financed candidate just this afternoon, joining Amanda Fritz as candidates with $150,000 in public funds. The other candidates (except Mike Fahey, who doesn’t respond to these questions) have all filed a request for certification, and are awaiting the auditor’s final call.

On to the 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?

Next week’s question came from a reader. Want to contribute one yourself? Hit me up (like Jeff Bissonnette did in his response). And be sure to check out the archives, and all the election info you can ever want, at portlandmercury.com/2008.

Chris Smith is up first.

Chris Smith
Position sought: Commissioner #1
Website: citizensmith.us
Public financing status: Filed request for certification last Wednesday

The last major project I undertook before starting my Council campaign was helping set up the first Transportation area at Project Homeless Connect. Homeless Connect is a one day event, held twice per year in Portland, that puts a range of services for homeless individuals and families in one location.

This was a great opportunity for me to experience some of the varying faces of homelessness. I think a lot of us have preconceptions about what homelessness looks like, but in reality I saw people in a wide range of situations that ranged from people who were employed, but had temporary housing problems to folks with life-long issues who would be much more successful in coping with their challenges if housed.

The 10-year plan recognizes this range and works to re-focus resources as effectively (and cost-effectively) as possible. For example, it’s much more effective to provide transitional service to a family with short-term financial problems but which is otherwise stable than to allow them to fall into homelessness. Equally, we can provide services much more cost effectively to someone with permanent needs if they are housed than when they are on the street.

The plan has already demonstrated its effectiveness by getting people with some of the most severe needs into permanent housing where they can be served more effectively, freeing up resources to address other aspects of the problem. We may never be completely free of homelessness, but it should always be our goal. The plan is working and we need to stay committed to it.

Charles Lewis
Position sought: Commissioner #1
Website: charleslewis.com
Public financing status: Certified as a publicly financed candidate

John Branam
Position sought: Commissioner #1
Website: john4pdx.org
Public financing status: Filed request for certification last Tuesday

Although there will always be those within our community who periodically experience homelessness, with continued leadership and significant effort our city can end the institution of chronic homelessness. Further, because of visionary and collaborative leadership, Portland is well on its way towards accomplishing this goal.

After more than two years of diligent work, the City’s, and its partners’ results are impressive: more than 1,000 chronically homeless now have homes; more than 700 families have been housed; nearly 500 permanent supportive housing units have been opened; and nearly 400 units of additional permanent supportive housing have been added to the development pipeline. Further, Portland’s “Street Count” demonstrated a 39% decrease in the overall numbers of people who are homeless and sleeping outside and a 70% reduction in the number of chronically homeless people between January of 2005 and 2007. By any standards this effort is a testament to both the strength of Portland’s commitment to ending chronic homelessness and the richness of the collaborative efforts.

Three key tenets stand out as being instrumental in the fight thus far. First, the overall strategy incorporates each of the on-the-ground providers’ expertise. Second, the City has enjoyed healthy partnerships with the Housing Authority, PDC and Multnomah County. Third, Portland’s City Council and Multnomah’s County Commission have demonstrated both the political will and the commitment to this very important effort. Going forward these three tenets must remain in place to help ensure our continued success.

Undoubtedly, however, elements of our efforts will pose significant challenges. The economy will tighten, less land may be available for public housing, health care costs will continue to destabilize families, and our growing population will strain current capacity. Going forward, therefore, it is essential that we have elected officials who are steadfastly committed to ending chronic homelessness, and who will champion the efforts necessary to do so.

As a future City Commissioner I will work diligently to provide the collaborative and visionary leadership to continue Commissioner Sten’s efforts to end chronic homelessness in Portland. To do so I will: 1) hold PDC to its required 30% budgetary commitment to public housing; 2) work with my fellow Commissioners to grow our general fund support for workforce development supports such as BHCD’s Economic Opportunities program; 3) work collaboratively with the many results-oriented non-profits that provide housing, social services support and economic opportunities assistance through the BHCD/ City’s grants; 4) encourage the legislature to pass a real estate transfer tax that will be a state-wide set-aside for public housing; and 5) support home ownership and assistance programs that, in particular, work to close the home ownership gap.

It’s been said many times, and in many ways, that a democracy and a city’s health can be determined by the way it treats those on its margins. As a credo I emphatically believe in, my commitment to ending chronic homeless in Portland runs deep. Without question, I look forward to continuing the kind of visionary and collaborative leadership we need to make Portland the kind of city in which all of our citizens can flourish, with roofs over each of our heads.

Jeff Bissonnette
Position sought: Commissioner #1
Website: portlandersforjeff.com
Public financing status: Filed request for certification last Thursday

The question for this week is actually a two-part question, looking both immediate and long-term. One part of the question asks whether the City's 10-year plan to end homelessness is on track and the second part asks whether homelessness can actually be ended. Both are significant questions and deserve fair examination. Let's look at each in turn.

The City's current 10-year plan to end homelessness, adopted in December 2004 with implementation beginning in 2005, is making progress. The plan, which was developed in partnership with Multnomah County - to continue a theme from last week's question, particularly focused on chronically homeless people, those that have been homeless for a year or more. Often, these people need additional services and support, such as drug treatment, mental health treatment and the like, in addition to housing. While chronically homeless people are typically single adults, there are also families and young people that are chronically homeless as well. The 10-year plan has as its foundation the goal of getting chronically homeless people into permanent housing along with needed support services to ensure that they can stay off the streets.

In August 2007, the City Auditor produced a report on progress during the first years of the 10-year plan. The thrust of the report was that, in the short term, the plan is on track. People and families are being moved off the streets and into permanent housing and have, for the most part, been able to stay in that permanent housing. There were specific goals that were either met or where significant progress was being made for the first years of the plan. That judgment can be made because there are very specific short-term goals that are being pursued and can be measured.

However, more long-term measurements and goals are needed to ensure that the plan remains on track and continues to be successful. For instance, some of the long-term goals of the plan are to reduce the length of stay in homeless shelters and to increase the supply of permanent housing. These kinds of goals help to define what success will look like at the end of the 10-year period in 2015. However, the Auditor found, and I agree, that the plan needs to include more measurements that can be examined sooner rather than later so that we can determine if we are on track to meet those ultimate end goals or not.

Now to the question of whether we can actually end homelessness. Even the 10-year plan itself - despite its name - does not suggest that homelessness can be ended in its entirety. What the plan does is outline a vision and specific steps to significantly reduce the number of homeless people. We will always have the people in our community who fall on hard times and find themselves in desperate situations. Job loss, a serious illness with no health coverage, an addiction that is not adequately treated, a dangerous domestic violence situation and a myriad of other factors can result in people suddenly not being able to afford housing on their own. At the same time, increasing housing costs, as we are seeing throughout the city, and overarching economic events like the subprime lending scandal, as we are seeing nationally, and other societal trends can exacerbate the individual factors I just described and can increase the likelihood that an individual or a family might find themselves without a home. The difference we must make is first to help people avoid desperate situations and second to give people who do find themselves in desperate situations somewhere to turn. We must make sure that the local governments (both city and county) can provide the necessary support services - hopefully with some financial assistance from the state and federal governments - to help struggling people get their lives back.

Two of the long-term items included in the 10-year plan highlight the issues ahead of us to make sure we can effectively address chronic homelessness. First is the proposed creation of a resource access center to serve as a one-stop shop to provide housing and rent assistance, guidance into treatment programs, job counseling and the like. While everyone may agree, and I certainly do, that this sort of resource access center is needed, the question of where to put such a center is generating considerable controversy (Amy, you can take this as a suggestion for a future question topic). The same controversy arises on determining how and where to build affordable housing units. Putting theory into practice often runs straight into very real political concerns that require communication and negotiation around a variety of extremely thorny issues.

Second, the plan calls for increased assistance from and coordination with the private sector. I agree with this goal as well. However, the goal assumes a healthy private sector but that cannot be an automatic assumption. As much time and resources as the city correctly puts into effectively addressing social needs such as homelessness, it must also put an equal amount of time, energy and resources into creating a strong private sector that provides opportunities for people to support themselves and creates the resources to address the social needs of the city (Amy, you can take this as another suggestion as a future question topic). Too often, business representatives and social service advocates see themselves on opposing sides of the equation but in reality, their fates are linked.

Addressing homelessness is a resource-intensive undertaking and those resources need to be well-coordinated. As a community, we need to develop the political will to create an overall economic environment that provides Portlanders with some level of economic security to be able to deal with crisis situations. We also need a healthy economic environment to generate the resources we need to help people who are facing crisis situations. We must have the collective commitment to ensure adequate resources are in place to help people because if they are not, it will be more expensive for us to meet these social needs on an emergency basis.

If elected to the City Council, I will take office at the halfway point of implementing the 10-year plan. On my first day in office, I will request the most recent review of the 10-year plan and a full briefing on the plan's progress. I will be a leader on the council to make sure that the support and resources exist to help Portlanders who are facing dire situations and assist them not only out of homelessness but in avoiding homelessness altogether.

Amanda Fritz
Position sought: Commissioner #1
Website: amandafritzforcitycouncil.com
Public financing status: Certified as a publicly financed candidate

This is a long answer, because there isn't a simple one.

To end homelessness, Portland must provide:

1. Housing for the thousands of people currently living on the streets
2. Affordable rental/home-ownership opportunities and living wage jobs with benefits so that more residents don't become homeless
3. Shelter and services for emergencies

The "10 Year Plan to End Homelessness" is an aspirational goal. The federal government pushed local jurisdictions to develop the plan, and provided additional money. Portland and Multnomah County have a long history of joint planning for homeless services, starting in the early 1980s with the McKinney Act funding cycle. The 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness follows many other plans completed over the years, but differs in the utilization of Housing First as the driving force. "Housing First" is a proven strategy recognizing people respond better to treatment, social services, and job training/placement after they have a stable place to live. Because the 10 Year Plan follows the Housing First principle, I believe real, tangible progress will be made by the end of its first ten years - not just a re-shuffling of the services and where they are located.

Results are already impressive. In the first two years of the program, the number of people living on the streets decreased by 39%. In the Report issued by project staff in October 2007:

* 221 chronically homeless people moved into permanent housing; more than 80% are still in housing
* 311 homeless families with children moved into permanent housing, including 58 high-resource families
* 191 households were prevented from becoming homeless through the provision of rent assistance

Those numbers represent real improvements in the real lives of real people. The report shows the strategy of Housing First is working, at levels higher than the projected targets and goals.

It is important to recognize community partners. For instance, significant progress in ending homelessness has been made by JOIN community action services. They have always focused on Housing First, using market rental units for their clients, and have demonstrated long term retention. It is this local model that provides the real hope that a dent can be made in homelessness in Portland within 10 years. Central City Concern has also done excellent work combining housing with drug/alcohol/mental health treatment, job training and placement assistance, life skills classes, etc. I've been participating in the Affordable Housing Now network for many years. I am continually impressed with many Community Development non-profits doing excellent work in both advocacy and practical projects. Government, community organizations, and caring citizens working together can solve the toughest problems.

Some core issues:

* Portland and Oregon have no permanent dedicated funding source for affordable housing.

I will continue to advocate for the City to prioritize housing funding within our budget, and for the State to adopt ongoing revenue mechanisms for affordable housing.

* "Affordable housing" includes market-rate rentals and home ownership opportunities. This requires consideration of housing costs in area plans, rezoning, and code amendments.

I am the candidate for Position 1 with skills and experience amending the Zoning Code to allow building and retention of affordable family housing.

For example, the Accessory Dwelling Unit provisions adopted during my service on the Planning Commission, resulted in over 4000 small, affordable, neighborhood-friendly homes scattered all over Portland.

* Housing affordability is related to household income.

I will work to retain and increase living wage jobs with benefits including health care insurance.

No city alone can "end homelessness". There is no static, finite list of "The Homeless". Until we find national, state and local solutions to health care coverage, for example, more than 50% of bankruptcies will likely continue to be due to medical bills. With my leadership, working with the County, City bureaus and Commissions, and many other partners on multiple strategies as well as Housing First, we will come closer to the goal of ending homelessness by 2015.