In June, the Legislature relaxed some barriers to operating shelters. More bills addressing homelessness could be on the agenda if another special session is called.
Life on the street offers few advantages, but Armando Saldivar said one of them is living off the grid.
Saldivar lives in a tiny house these day in Right 2 Dream Too off North Thunderbird Way in Portland, but he said the self-managed encampment of some 50 people remains far enough beyond the reach of government to be comfortable.
Saldivar distrusts government, he told Street Roots, so he saw little hope emerge from the June 24-26 special session of the Oregon Legislature.
“Most people out here, sleeping out here in the street, they’re worried groups or agencies are going to mismanage the funds,” he said.
“If we leave people like this, it’s going to be greater than the Great Depression,” he said. “I’m thinking it’s a Great Depression already. I don’t see anyone saying, ‘OK, get back to work.’”
Danny Moran, the communications director for House Speaker House Tina Kotek (D-Portland), told Street Roots last month’s session was actually positive. “The Legislature passed several measures to prevent homelessness during the special session,” Moran said.
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Legislators mandated that city governments waive design, planning and zoning regulations that create barriers to operating local homeless shelters. Shelters would still have to comply with applicable building codes, have adequate transportation access, and not pose a public health or safety concern.
Despite such parameters, Mercedes Elizalde told Street Roots she’s pleased with the legislation. Elizalde is the public policy director for Central City Concern, a Portland nonprofit that provides advocacy and services for people experiencing poverty and homelessness.
“It’s not nothing, especially for communities who have trouble getting through land-use processes,” she said. “It’s most beneficial for communities where they don’t have any shelters right now.”
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Elizalde noted the importance of addressing homelessness outside the Portland metro area, with half of Oregon’s homeless population living in other communities.
Lynelle Wilcox, who runs the women’s shelter SafeSleep UNITED in Salem, said the easing of zoning restrictions comes as welcome news for her 6-month-old operation.
“It seems like it would enable us to have more flexibility and have more shelters,” Wilcox told Street Roots. “Because we’re a brand-new shelter and hope to expand, if we can qualify under the House bill, we might be able to expand our shelter to accommodate more than 19 ladies at a time.”
She would at least like to be able to add a bathroom, a laundry room and a shower. “We have 19 ladies with one bathroom, which is crazy,” she said.
A proposal to ease zoning provisions was introduced earlier this year in House Bill 4001 during the Legislature’s regularly scheduled even-year short session. The bill also earmarked millions of dollars to create navigation centers — shelters that connect people with services and benefits — in Salem, Eugene, Bend, Medford and McMinnville.
However, the session ended abruptly in early March in a gridlock over a cap-and-trade bill to limit carbon emissions. House Bill 4001 was left in limbo.
During last month’s emergency session, legislators folded the zoning provisions of the bill into House Bill 4212, an omnibus bill offering a mulligan stew of measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The state has also received an additional $50 million in federal Emergency Solutions Grants and is working with Oregon Housing and Community Services on next steps,” Moran said.
Next steps for the Legislature could include another special session, possibly by the end of this month. Bills specifically addressing homelessness could be on the agenda.
“The speaker is watching the statewide need to support quarantine shelter and distanced shelter beds, particularly as we are seeing an increase in coronavirus cases,” Moran said.
Elizalde said her primary concern is state funding in general for people pushed to the edge — and over the edge — by the pandemic.
“What really needs to happen is that the Legislature needs to protect current human services,” she said. “I understand the state is under a lot of stress, but we have to protect people who are the most in need. We have to invest more in those areas.
“If we cut back on those things, we’re really taking people who are already struggling and pushing them backwards,” she said. “All that is going to cost the system more money anyway.”
If for no other reason, Elizalde said, legislators need to meet to address the budget. It falls to them to make sure services are adequately funded.
“If we wait too long on some of that stuff, all we have is the governor’s cross-the-board cuts, and what we need is protection of the services we already have,” she said.
Sal Peralta, the founder and secretary of the Oregon Independent Party, sees a rising tide of right-wing extremism in the state’s rural areas and worries it might hamper future legislative efforts.
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“My fear is that we are going to see right-wing populism continue to grow, and I am worried what that will mean for marginalized communities and the prospects for services,” Peralta told Street Roots.
“There is still a huge deficit in rural communities for mental health services and the other kinds of care that we really need and, of course, the nut of the problem, at least before COVID-19, was tied to housing costs,” he said. “Those fundamentals have not really changed.”
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Most of last month’s special session involved efforts to curb police brutality, efforts that were met with mixed reviews at best. Peralta said policing issues cannot be separated from homelessness.
“We need a civil rights commission to investigate allegations of extremism in policing,” he said. “That affects all marginalized communities.”
Meanwhile, Moran said the special session was basically good news for struggling Oregonians, with lawmakers giving their legal blessing to Gov. Kate Brown’s residential and commercial eviction moratorium and extending its protection to Sept. 30.
The extension also gives renters until March 31, 2021, to pay back rent without any late fees or being turned over to bill collectors.
“This measure created a statewide grace period for repayment and notice requirements so landlords and tenants can have certainty about paying arrears,” Moran said. “The Legislature also passed House Bill 4204 to prevent people from losing their homes when they are making payments to own them.”
Brown could call another special session at any time.
“I’ve heard everything from sometime in July to sometime in September,” Elizalde said. (Street Roots will post updates as they become available.)
When lawmakers return to Salem, she said, they may well need to dip into Oregon’s rainy-day funds and other reserves.
“We don’t know how long this economic downturn will last, but that needs to be on the table,” Elizalde said.
During the short session early this year, Kotek urged lawmakers to declare a state of emergency to help the 10,000 people experiencing homelessness in Oregon.
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“If a natural disaster struck and displaced the number of people I’ve just referenced, we would take immediate action and do something to get Oregonians into temporary shelter or permanent housing,” she told members of the House Committee on Rules in written testimony Feb. 21. “We must have an emergency mindset to take on this challenge.
That would be nice, Saldivar said.
“The streets are flooded with homeless people,” he said. “If just one site or one agency gets grants, there are still going to be camps and camps of people all over the place. I don’t see how we can leave this many people on the street.”
Email Reporter Tom Henderson at thenderson@streetroots.org .
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