News Apr 14, 2011 at 4:00 am

The City's New Homeless Service Center Is in the Home Stretch

Comments

1
Hobo Bellagio is right. A monument to the ego of Portland's political class.
2
Remember when 'Dignity' Village was supposed to be a temporary place to stay while in transition to getting off the street?
3
And we close schools. Yeeesh.
4
"Hobo" ? Really? That's SO not cool.
5
Yeah, kind of a slam on hobo's - who are actually self-sufficient travelers not dependent on handouts from guilty, rich government employees.
6
Can we have Matt Davis back?
7
D: You're not really big on compassion, I see.
8
Best name ever! It kind of looks like a jail, though.

Seriously, though, I hope something good comes from this ambitious investment.
9
Anything to divert the bums from the area around Portland's #1 tourst attraction: Voodoo Doughnuts
10
This isn't going to help much. Though it may help some people, it's those fucking street kids that are the real problem. They actually think they are really cool for their way of life. And we actually accept them! They sit around and hassle people, steal from businesses, drink, do drugs, have sex on the sidewalk. Behave like you owe them something! WTF?!?! They choose to live like disgusting fucking animals, and we should treat them as such. They should be spayed/neutered, or just put down to help curb their feral population. There should be PSA's about it after every Price is Right.
11
@Tayllor-

You have the morals of your father, I see. Stick to sports talk and let us deal with the serious problems-

Apparently Chief Reese found what the Portland postal carrier left behind and delivered it to the City Club, or that was my impression after listening to his anti-marijuana speech on OPB last Friday. Now we know, it's because were all mentally ill or emotionally distressed and we're all self-medicating with marijuana that cops are shooting citizens all over America? And who were the "mental health experts" he referred to? My experience has been that psych majors are always trying to "figure themselves out"...

As a reflection of the intent of those who control society, the Reese propaganda presentation was followed on OPB by a story about this family who proudly paid off their mortgage years ahead of schedule, and had vowed to never, ever buy anything on credit, even their cars. Admirable? The story went on to say that if the family have gambled the same amount of money they saved on their mortgage and other credit on the stock market, based on averages, they would have been "more wealthy" -- no mention of the stress of being in debt adds to one's health. A quick closing caveat by OPB mentioned that this assumes the money was gambled on the right stock, or stocks? And that deceptive propaganda by OPB suggesting that paying interest to anyone is a "good thing", along with the Mike Reese performance last Friday night, really documents how the "Rats" have taken over the ship and we're all doomed!

First, Chief Reese mentioned how bad he felt about all the many dead citizens killed by police over the last 13 months (as if this hasn't been a product of the "Brotherhood of the Strong" for many, many decades here), I was deeply touched by his personal remorse...

Do you notice how The corporate media and the government guns have to always spin the story and paint it as being black and white ("The police are concerned there may be other victims! Call police now if you know this man!"), since they can't cover up the "intent" of their masters as easily as they once did...with more of us watching-

Chief Reese suggested that 95% of his officers are 'excellent servants'. Really? If there are about a thousand officers in Portland, then I would have to begin such a list of "good officers" by excluding every member of the current force who put on a t-shirt that read "I am Chris Humphrey". The public union that represents the police claimed this was an act of solidarity, but it was really about giving the public it's own postal delivery! At the time, the cold-blooded, brutal murder by Chris Humphrey, a Portland police officer, of James Chasse, a severely developmentally disabled man who committed the crime of urinating in public, was still fresh in the minds of almost everyone. The civil suits and "outside" reviews had not yet been completed when the "Brotherhood of the Strong" marched through the streets of Portland -- sticking their middle finger in the face of every disabled man, or racial minority, or poor person in Portland, who can't find a place to urinate. And remember fellas since your parts are not hidden, if anyone claims (and there are cameras every where now) to see you urinating anywhere, and the police don't stomp your head into the ground (while the paramedics drive you around until you're good and dead), then you get to be a 'registered sex offender' for life...and a target of one of Paulson's thugs, like 'Johnny little bit' Strong...
So any sort of honest list of "good officers" by the Chief would have removed about 80% of his hired guns already, although we know that David Willard and other killer cops from other jurisdictions kicked in to the anti-Chasse rally-

In my opinion, only Jim Quackenbush ought to be on that list. Remember, he was the cop who convinced Aaron Campbell to come out of his apartment, walking backwards, with his hands clasped behind his head. If they wanted to, the three excited predators waiting outside (And remember only two of these three co-conspirators were called before the Grand Jury), could have calmly instructed Aaron Campbell about what else they needed him to do to keep everyone safe, and why. Like the way you might treat another human being in distress. They could have spoken to him gently; they knew his brother had just died that morning, and his actions clearly demonstrated Aaron wanted to surrender. But the "Brotherhood of the Strong" immediately began screaming at him, a quick and easy method commonly used by the police to antagonize a potential victim and justify the eventual murder, as they were trained to do in the military against hostile targets.

It is sad that the Chief would suggest that it's okay to brutally kick any person who is obviously sleeping, no matter where they are sleeping or what time it is. The fact that Chief Reese would defend Chris Humphrey and his basketball buddy from Multnomah Corrections by suggesting that this practice is any less than inhuman, is itself both a little sickening and a refection of what our society has become- It also does explain why our government feels justified in torturing Bradley Manning, a true hero for having the courage to demand that as a soldier for America he is only obligated to defend and protect an honest, transparent democracy.

The Chief would argue that because the victim is simply trying to keep warm by using a sleeping bag that it's somehow justifiable to brutally kick another human being, which is exactly how a lot of these Portland cops treat the homeless and the disabled, and exactly how Chris Humphrey murdered James Chasse. Where is Dwight Holton or the inJustice Department when it comes to investigating the cover up of Chasse's murder by the police, and maybe the DA's office?

We do know the DA left the name of the supervising officer off the list of witnesses for the Grand Jury who was investigating the shooting of Aaron Campbell in the back by Ronald Frashour. The Campbell shooting reminded me of a time I once went hunting in Florida with a friend, Tennessee John. He took me into the woods with him once, north of Jacksonville and said, "Ya all walk this way herre, and smack the bushes like this herr. With this stick herr, and start hollarin', and I'll be down over therr, yonder...where I'm gonna shoot dead anything runnin'- So don't start runnin' when I start shootin'! Get that look off your face boy- But don't worry now I ain't gonna shoot ya. Ha, ha, ha, lessin' I want to-"

but the good news is that the Chief will take responsibility or any failure in the "well oiled" system. Great! And he's going to be getting all of his soldiers stronger tazar guns that can shoot you from 80 feet away and can easily penetrate any clothing. And they'll be getting stronger pepper spray so that more people will be disabled when it comes to stopping the "bad guys"...or protesters...or the crowds...when times really get hard for us-

My only question now, is after Carl Rove and Mike Reese have spoken, how can City Club top this and find a more "Lucifearian" figure? I have an idea! How bout Carolyn Tomai?

You can ask her, who is she really working for? Why would she want to exclude men from prosecution who happen to have an extra $20,000 laying around and who are caught trying to buy sex from underage prostitutes? And Carolyn isn't there already laws on the books that punish parents who kill their children by denying them medical care, regardless of their excuses? Why weren't those parents in Clackamas County properly punished for the deaths of those children? Isn't it all about saving the "children" for you? Who was the judge on those cases? Is he a friend of yours too? And what questions might have been raised about the judge's personal life by the defendants' attorneys and the "forth estate" if any serious convictions of those parents had been handed down, as should have been done...

To quote Clear Channel corporate shill Mark mason, "Are you people blind!"
12
Hobo Bellagio more like bum bellagio. Self sufficient travelers??? Apparently you have never been downtown pdx??? doesn't self sufficient mean no hand outs??? or no hand outs except housing...If we got the money for this i want a school voucher.
13
Whistle Blaster, first off, you're pretentious and arrogant. Your statement basically says a person that likes sports, is uneducated, and ignorant. You're also insinuating that sports doesn't belong on this site. Well it might be news to you but the Mercury covers sports too. I am a native Oregonian. I live in a state with an awesome basketball and hockey team, Fucking Roller Derby (swoon) and men and women's rugby! A brand new soccer team, and the number 2 college football team in the country. All that makes me so proud, and it's part of this wonderful state. So be sure not to alienate certain groups before you start on a long-winded political tangent.

Second. Um huh, my father is a wise man. I am a fairly liberal open minded person. I have lived in this city my entire life, and it's our passive aggression that is hurling Portland into the dumps. Passive aggression that has led to the problems you point out, as well as the problem of people living as if I should care for them. I don't expect you to care for me, others shouldn't expect me to care about them. I don't believe all homeless people suck. My uncle was homeless on and off for about 20 years before his alcoholism got the best of him and he drunkenly drowned in a 2 foot deep stream. Prior, my father, his brother, let him live with us on and off my entire life, and he truly loved him. That's what my father taught me. His death was tragic, really. So before you arrogantly pretend like you know anything, humble yourself, kid. Now maybe you revel in the grime of our streets and the disgust of those that harass others, but I'm not that naive. And it's nothing that should be defended, unless due to mental illness. These street kids I am talking about are around my age. I even went to school with some of them, and I know that (for the most part) the only mental illness they may suffer from is complete stupidity and selfishness.

Also, your entire article is stuff that most people who live in this city and pay attention to knows. I don't think many people are blind to it, but you assume that you are at some peak level of knowledge, and the rest of us should strive to it. Arrogance is ugly and dangerous... You're not changing lives or challenging much with anything that you have written here. But I'm sure you just feel so awesome about yourself every time you post it on a **Portland Mercury Blog. You're a joke.

If one night you find there is an armed burglar inside your house, who are you going to call??
14
$213,000 per bed. Yikes, that's expensive. Not that I have any solutions to offer or anything.
15
WhistleBlaster - why don't you take your beefs to the proper forum?
This is supposed to be a conversation on the new homeless shelter, for the most part anyway.
Off-topic rant.
Yeah, $213,000 per bed is crazy. Why do I feel this will be looked at 10 years from now as a idealistic waste of tax monies that could have been better spent...?
I hope I'm wrong.
16
Yeah, we need mental health solutions, not permanent housing solutions. I have no stomach for supporting people who have thrown their lives away on booze and junk. Treatment? Fine. Supplyign them with a faux-normal life? You've got to be kidding. I can;t help but think that this outlay of funding could be utilized more effectively by the city in any number of ways.
17
The City of Portland will realize that this adventure of "ending homelessness" by coddling the homeless every step of the way will not work. On top of that, Portland especially will never end homelessness with high housing costs and low incomes.

I wonder now that there's a homeless resource center better than every single school in the Portland metro area -- will the city council get tough on addressing loitering, sleeping in doorways/sidewalks, panhandling, and open air substance use by homeless people?

Probably not, they are far too politically correct.

Homelessness is mostly caused by substance abuse. Let's start there, and it will take some personal responsibility amongst the addicted to admit they have a problem.

I know, tough words for people who wish to deny that being a heroin addict could *ever* be the fault of the actual user. It must be some other "societal influence," or whatever made up Portland State 100 level sociological term that we can blame instead. Personal accountability these days is so overrated.

Sure, I'm not saying judge every homeless person this way, but I feel in a good majority of them, I could point out some very stupid decisions they made in their lives where they had time to sit down and think about the consequences.
18
I am moving in there. I am 54 a female paying rent, not a hooker or a drug addict. I was born legally blind and it wasn't discovered until I was 15. Been homeless off and on since age 16.
19
You are twisting everything around to make it sound worse than it is. The commons is two seperate programs a mens day and night homeless shelter with 90 transitional beds and public housing just like all the other public housing with all the same qualifications to get in, and that is 130 studios. not $230,000 units like you're implying.
I believe if you build it they will come, meaning as long as people are getting help and shelter they will keep coming to the 90 bed shelter from all over.
20
OK folks lets take a look at the facts we are beating up on 130 people. How many thousands of people are on subsidized rent in portland 10000 wrong much higher how many thousands of people are in prison costing tax payers 50000a year 50000 so 130 homeless people who are all required to pay rent now are your scapegoats they are the ones who never receied an education have mental and medical problem and still they live by societys rules or they would sue people to live or rob they deserve a roof so fuck tou mercury reporter and your stupid hobo beligaio report

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