This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, October 23, 2008
News In Safe Hands
Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 10:31 AM
I was up at 4:30 yesterday to follow the city's Bureau of Housing and Community Development along on a vulnerability survey, looking for the people in Portland most likely to die on the streets over the winter. It's the first time the city has done a survey like this, and there'll be more on it in next week's paper. But in the mean time, I wanted to relate this incident. By 7:15, the volunteers I was with had surveyed about 25 people sleeping on the streets outside the Portland Rescue Mission on West Burnside, when a Clean & Safe van showed up to hose down the sidewalk:
Among those sleeping on the street outside the mission was a barefoot man, whom I'd estimate to be around 55-60 years old, whose hands appeared to be suffering severe infection. He seemed to be suffering, too, from confusion, was very difficult to re-direct, and when asked if he'd seen a doctor, said "God will take care of me." His hands were weeping pus and blood, and covered in these scales:
Nevertheless, come hose time, the Clean & Safe crew made no allowances for the man, and appeared to show no interest whatsoever in his medical welfare. He was forced to stand up and move along, just like everybody else:
About 10 yards further down the sidewalk, the Clean & Safe crew eventually had to stop hosing, while the cops were called to attend to a man who had passed out and at first, didn't seem to be going to wake up. After five minutes he was eventually roused and hauled off in a police car.
On the one hand, I can accept that the city's business leaders want to present an attractive face for downtown consumers. But when they're hosing down the sidewalk outside a shelter that's already full, and showing apparent disregard for the welfare of those on that sidewalk with severe medical conditions, I wonder what messages we're really sending to the suburbs? I wonder whether a Beaverton soccer mom would really be comfortable knowing that by spending money in our downtown shopping malls, she was inadvertently sponsoring that kind of activity?
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If I'm being honest, I don't think she'd care all that much. In my experience of dealing with soccer/hockey moms from the suburbs who come downtown to spend money, they don't want to see or deal with this.
The supposed American dream that tells people EVERYONE can have a house in Beaverton far away from the ails of the city is the same dream that tells her she's earned what she's got and people experiencing homelessness obviously haven't worked hard enough.
I think the PBA is catering to the people who embody the Saks slogan: "WANT IT!"
And the problem is exemplified in the Peterson's/Brooks Brothers situation - the PBA wants downtown to be a playground for the rich, at the expense of *everyone* else.
Homeless people get arrested for sitting on the sidewalk, while working people are vilified for buying their vulgar pop, chips, or smokes instead of expensive clothes.
As a radical question for the class warriors - what do you propose the city do about the homeless mentally ill?
It is illegal to hold someone against their will.
Will you have them stay on your couch?
What exactly do you want for a solution Matt?
I'm a mom. I live in Beaverton. My kid plays soccer. Do I qualify, Matt?
I think the removal of these folks using this means is horrible and ugly. It shows a complete lack of compassion and a disregard for human dignity.
Its also pretty lousy to walk on the sidewalk in some of these areas and be aggressively and constantly harassed for money. Which has happened to me in Portland numerous times.
I don't know the solution. But I also don't think its just "soccer moms from Beaverton" who find the situation untenable. I also think it would be helpful for you to consider what the solutions might be..and offer them up.
I've seen you do great reporting on this issue, exposing what's going on. So how about seeking out effective remedies?
I am curious Matt. Did you attempt to procure medical treatment for the man or, like the guys who wash sidewalks, did you just carry on doing your job and go get breakfast after?
Please help us overcome our cynicism and tell us you took care of the poor chap.
But it is good to hear that you always go to Beaverton to shop and don't spend your money downtown. Or do you think of the Pearl as just another kind of suburb?
CLASSIC MATT DAVIS! Do as I say, not as I do.
You just don't make any sense anymore Matt.
"You just don't make any sense anymore Matt": Not at all. Matt makes sense within his own context, which the previous three comments defined quite nicely. His job is to observe and report, not to help or to propose solutions. That is what journalists are supposed to do, and for a change he's doing it. So don't bug him.
gee whiz the idiots are all coming here to criticize Matt for "reporting" on homeless poor people getting 'hosed'
Let me say THANKS I never knew this was happening in "my city".
Now that is good reporting!!
Thanks for showing the lack of human decency and total disrespectful in the way we treat people who are down on their luck.
Thanks for being "CONCERNED" enough to report about what "most" people don't even want to be told about (hence the heartless comment here as my proof.
Oh did I say "good job" covering this Matt?
Your a reporter not the worlds problem solver.
Your reporting gets 5 stars!
~from joe anybody
Great reporting, Matt! I'd hit anyone who thinks you're not doing your job well with a spray hose.
Jimbo,
As an eye witness to what happened that morning, I can tell you that Matt did not make any phone calls about what happened. I can also tell you that is because I had him digging thru the Rose City Resource Guide looking for numbers for me while I was on the phone with people trying to find some help for the man.
Matt has faults like anyone else, but being uncaring is not amongst them in my eyes.
thanks
Patrick
Oregonian 10-24-08 - Portland suicides spike - Photo - Central Precinct Officer Betty Woodward successfully talked a suicidal man down from the railing on the west end of the Burnside Bridge on Jan. 7 during the weekday lunch hour.
Matt, be interesting to know if there was an intersection between jumpers from the Burnside Bridge and the Clean and Safe rousts. The Beaverton smack talk is a cheap shot, there are no shoppers on that stretch of W Burnside between 4 am and 7 am unless they are looking for crack or hookers. The real instigator for this sudden fastidiousness on West Burnside probably has more to to with the White Stag renovations. Irony of course is that mercy Corp is going in right across the street... and the beat goes on
Keep up the Shit-Sniffing work, Matt!!
You are again a HERO to the PEOPLE
-naysayers be damned-
This is Megan Doern from the Portland Business Alliance. I thought you would be interested to know what happened to the two people who you mentioned in this posting. One of our Clean & Safe officers helped the gentleman with the medical condition on his hands get treatment at Providence and now has some medication. The younger man, who was not arrested but was offered the police car as a place to get warm because he was very cold, was reported missing by his family. With help from the Portland Rescue Mission and the police, he was reunited with his family.
I also wanted to explain a bit about the street cleaning. The Portland Rescue Mission requests that our Clean & Safe team wake the homeless individuals each morning around 7. They are then offered breakfast at the Mission. The cleaners, who are formally homeless and are part of a program we run in conjunction with Central City Concern, then clean the sidewalk. The Mission is very appreciative of this cleaning service. Our cleaners are very conscientious about making sure everyone has moved themselves and their belongings before washing down the sidewalks.
Even though Matt painted a picture of unfair treatment that morning, two people were actually helped. I know many of you may have poor opinions of the Alliance thanks to Matt's writing, but we do a lot for the homeless community in financial support for programs and working with Central City Concern in our homeless to work program. We are also committed to a healthy downtown, which includes supporting the retail community and employers. Downtown is the largest employement hub w/ 84,000 people working there every day so it is important that businesses want to remain there.
I'd be happy to talk to anyone about our Clean & Safe program and other issues downtown.
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