- Dirk VanderHart
- Portland police and city employees sweeping camps near the Springwater Corridor in 2014
One week ago, a collection of SE Portland neighborhood advocates met to discuss the ongoing difficulties neighbors are reporting with homeless camps along the Springwater Corridor. In particular, camping and problematic activity near the Cartlandia food cart pod, where the trail crosses SE 82nd, has spurred outcry.
The advocates—including Erik Wikoff, chair of the Brentwood Darlington Neighborhood Association; Robert McCullough, board president of the powerful Southeast Uplift neighborhood coalition; and several others—discussed what some feel is irresponsible inaction by the city to clean up the situation. They were planning to call a public meeting to discuss problems with the campers. They just didn’t think campers should be invited.
Here’s an excerpt of minutes from the meeting [pdf], obtained by the Mercury (emphasis added):
SE Uplift board members emphasize that houseless individuals and homeless advocacy organizations should not be explicitly invited to the BDNA meeting. The sentiment is that the SE Uplift constituency is middle class people and that this meeting is meant to serve that constituency. Also, inviting houseless/homeless people might take attention to their needs rather than the neighborhood association. It is also noted that this is a public meeting so homeless advocacy groups and houseless individuals may attend and will likely do so.
That’s a great way to think if you want to treat the city’s homelessness crisis as an us-versus-them class conflict. Otherwise it’s terrible.
Thankfully, it’s not how this upcoming session, scheduled for next Thursday, is going to play out. The Mercury asked several of the attendees of last week’s meeting about the minutes. McCullough, the Southeast Uplift president, got back to us. Wikoff hasn’t yet.
McCullough says the sentiment laid out in the minutes isn’t quite accurate.
“We’re sitting there figuring out how we actually get focused on the problem at hand,” he says. “Was the issue raised about who we should invite? Absolutely. We were wondering whether we would get someone who was actually involved in that camp, or whether we would end up with a lot of activists who aren’t involved.”
McCullough also acknowledged that “the folks who are complaining are the middle class and the business people. Those are the calls we’re getting.”
One person who attended last week’s meeting, neighborhood advocate Terry Dublinski-Milton, says the depiction in the minutes is more or less accurate. But he says his “minority opinion” eventually won out. McCullough has reached out to Vahid Brown, a Portland homeless advocate, who’ll attend the meeting. Brown’s the only advocate specifically named in a current draft of meeting plans, which also lays out a list of requests the Brentwood Darlington Neighborhood Association and local businesses plan to make of the city—including garbage service along the Springwater trail, portable toilets, and better coordination among police and the parks bureau to monitor problem activities.
Update, 5:15 pm: Homeless people who are living near the Cartlandia pod will also be invited to attend the meeting, according to Brown.
Original post:
Despite the reversal, the ideas laid out in the meeting minutes have caused concern among some Southeast neighbors, who have been putting together a letter to the Southeast Uplift board saying they’re “deeply disturbed” by the sentiments.
Update, 3:30 pm: Members of four Portland neighborhood associations have signed their names onto a statement regarding last week’s meeting, addressed to Southeast Uplift. It’s been put up on change.org.
In part, the letter reads:
Whatever exact language took place at this meeting, the underlying attitude that informed it is clear and sadly familiar: First, that people living outside are not legitimate residents of inner Southeast Portland; and more broadly, that the proper role of Southeast Uplift is to protect the interests of the comfortable.
This is a dangerous distortion of the Portland neighborhood system’s founding mission to create and support positive change.
The statement was posted by Keith Mosman, chair of the North Tabor Neighborhood Association. It’s cosigned by members of the Laurelhurst, Sunnyside, and Richmond neighborhood associations (who make clear they’re speaking only for themselves), as well as Portland tenant advocate Margot Black.
Just reporting the intent to exclude is the real story. To foist the homeless into the meeting will only make the event a photo op. Nothing substantive ever comes out of meetings, anyway. There is no war on homelessness. The City has declared war on The Homeless. Denial of that fact is a bad approach to take. Change is never accomplished without lawsuits. What’s needed is a good lawyer, willing to sue the fucking shit out of the City.
So now neighborhoods can’t get together to discuss neighborhood issues without shrill single-issue fanatics from elsewhere in the city there to shout them down? Fuck you Dirk.
Easy Blabby. Dirk’s reporting was pretty even handed here. He gave everyone even air time and simply said where and when the meeting was. Of course homeless people have a right to exist somewhere, and of course neighboring residents have a right to be concerned if some of those people are littering, harassing people or getting blasted on meth and freaking people out and/or stealing. The campers have a right to meet in private and so do businesses and residents. Only all-inclusive discussions will move the topic forward, but that’s what city hall is for.
Thanks, Blabby. The “issues” they’re discussing shouldn’t be invited, then?
Not if this meeting isn’t intended for that. It is totally valid for all kinds of groups in the community to get together to discuss whatever they hell they want without inviting everyone under the sun. It is freedom of association. Sometimes you need to not have everyone in the room in order to have an open discussion.
Aurelius, Dirk was not even handed. He is an advocate and his stance on these issues always comes through crystal clear: “That’s a great way to think if you want to treat the city’s homelessness crisis as an us-versus-them class conflict. Otherwise it’s terrible.” Middle class isn’t a slur Dirk. Most Portlanders are middle class, and they have opinions on the community they’re living in and paying for, and rightfully so.
But whatever, the public agrees with me. All sympathy for campers is draining out of the bottom of the pool very quickly indeed. Bleeding hearts are in for a rough adjustment.
Have the homeless never heard of Lake Oswego. It’s beautiful and people have so much land they won’t even notice you.
Shit, I was going to delete that since this is obviously serious. The point is, Dirk, WE are expected to figure this out for THEM. I don’t really give a shit what they want. They don’t give a shit about our lifestyles or our wants. What’s the name of the new camp on Barbur?
Maybe it’s time for a poll: Name the New Homeless Camp!
Dick:
Good article, but not precisely accurate. Last Friday the operating group from SOutheast and Brentwood-Darlington consider who t invite. Terry Dublinski recommended Vahid Brown. We didn’t know him in this context, although it turns out that we both worked hard to save the Giant Sequoias this fall. After some debate, we decided to meet Vahid.
Vahid, Terry, and I toured the area on Wednesday and we invited him on the spot. He is helping us contact campers to attend Thursday’s meeting.
I would like to invite you (and other interested folk) to the Brentwood-Darlington social center at 7:00 PM on Thursday.
Robert McCullough
President
Southeast Uplift
503-771-5090
robert@mresearch.com
SE Uplift gets public money, so I believe that means the Public that agrees with Blabby gets to be in on the meetings.
Well said Blabby!
Dirk is rather heavy-handed on the Homeless issue, though battling mightily from behind his lap-top.
Tony Jordan from the Sunnyside Neighborhood association is pumping this petition. His twitter feed is a non-stop rant against the fact that older people and homeowners attend neighborhood association meetings. I see this little kerfluffle as part of the anti-sfh, anti-car agenda. There is a lot of hate in SE, and I suggest reading people’s twitter feeds before you consider allowing them to hold the most mundane public office. Some of the signers are sincere, and some are using it as a plank for their soap box rant.
I live near Brentwood-Darlingtyon, and I am well aware that kids in my neighborhood can’t use the Springwater right now. SEUL dared to address the needs of people who live near these junky-filled homeless camps Of course the “anti-car raze all the houses cut the trees let’s have utopia”
crowd will feign interest, but I for one think that some of the signers are insincere. Not all. But some.
“The Portland I fell for is gone. The Portland I still love will burn too unless we bulldoze lots of nice old homes. Simple as that.”-Twitter fed Michael Andersen.
Bike Evangelist/anti-tree activist Michael Andersen also signed the petition. Even more reason to question the petition’s motives.
Robert McCullough and his board have decided that they’re more important than the community they represent. They and he need to apologize or resign.
I will say that this statement was leaked from a draft document. At the time I responded with “SE Uplift has the houseless community as part of our constituency in our mission statement. They have also asked for help, just do not have a voice that is normally heard.” As I had spent several hours talking to the local houseless community in preperation for this meeting to asses their needs. I needed to speak for them, hence they are part of this beginning work plan to start tackling this difficult issue.
That being said, I still signed the petition.
Terry Dublinski-Milton, SE Uplift Board member
Actually…..most of us who live there and who complained about criminals in our area are not middle class…..we are poor. It is not us vs the homeless it is us vs the criminals who assault us and steal from us. Some of those criminals happen to be unhoused and because of the despicably lauded efforts of “homeless advocates” (who treat and refer to the homeless as a homogenous group) the criminals among the homeless do not receive the same consequences for their crimes as other criminals due to their housing status. This leaves us without legal redress when we are harmed. You also deny the homeless their agency, which is cruel and dehumanizing. The outpouring of support from some people in this city for those who are violent criminals further disenfranchises people in my community, many of whom are low income, disabled, elderly, and children. The homeless criminals also victimize the other homeless in our neighborhood. They severely beat the homeless guy on my block to steal the last of his food ($20 worth) because he would not join their little white pride gang. The camp the meeting is about contains many gang members and criminals. It is morally and ethically disgusting that, with so many struggling and hurting people in Brentwood-Darlington East and Lents, these so-called “advocates” have all the time in the world for the criminals who hurt others and hardly any for the hard working, law abiding disenfranchised people in our area….including those who are unhoused or barely housed who choose to not harm others. It’s equally horrible that this article chose to misportray facts about this meeting, our area, our residents, our concerns, and our motives. I didn’t realize that the Mercury had become a tabloid…..my bad. Outside people who do not live here should not be at this meeting regardless….it is a neighborhood meeting and, based on comments on multiple sites and news stories, they obviously don’t know anything about our neighborhood. When we attempt to make the “advocates” aware that their poster child of the week is not a victim but a perp we are called names, accused of being conservative and unempathetic, and in some cases even threatened. Nobody is against helping the homeless but we are opposed to enabling those that are criminals, especially when we are the ones who they will continue to victimize. Most of us, self included, are liberal but we are not door mats and we already have a hard knock life….we cant afford to take the brunt of so much violent crime and theft. I have had several homeless stay with me but those on the trail and some of the other camps know they had better keep well clear of my house. Feel free to take the ones from that camp to your neighborhood or your house or your yard…put your couch or yard where your big, smack talking, know nothing, hypocritical mouths are and then there won’t even need to be a meeting. All talk with your little faux liberal selves so you can pat each other on the back later. Alanon and Naranon are free…..just FYI.
one of the most disgusting admissions of elitism, and bias I have ever heard, reminds me of the Washington County Commissars and their hand picked talking heads dominating a meeting , when they could care less about the problem at hand.
Hey, the neighborhood ass-ociation has a right to congregate and have a private pow wow if they want, but if they want kudos for it by announcing it publically in advance, then they simply made that difficult for themselves.
Shanty towns are not good planning; they are a hazard to safety and health. If you can’t let people sleep in school gymnasiums or on the floor of City Hall, then let folk set up tents at night and take them down during the day.