On the Homelessness Issue, One Step Forward, One Step Back

Ask people in Central Oregon about homelessness and most of them are bound to say that something needs to be done. Certain streets and roads have been ostensibly given over to sub-par and unsafe forms of housing for human beings. A former mayor of Bend just passed away while experiencing homelessness. The situation is dire.

But even while most of us can agree that something needs to be done, when that "something" is introduced, you can be sure that the consensus is going to end. Some were happy to hear that Bend's largest encampment on Hunnell Road was due to be cleared this month. Others believe it's inhumane and even against the law to forcibly remove people. On the opposite side of town, near Murphy and Third Street, some will be pleased to see a public managed camp finally open, after so much discussion about the prospect of such a thing over the past several years. Many of those living nearby – as is always the case when a camp is proposed near someone's home — will have the opposite view, and will push for a camp to be put "anywhere but there."

The topic of homelessness is among the major issues of our time, and everyone is going to have an opinion. It's important to listen to those voices that have a stake in the problem – from nearby residents to business owners to the people experiencing homelessness themselves – though at some point, with the input gathered, it falls on local leaders to make a decision.

Managed camps, a more humane solution that offer things like basic sanitation and trash service, have to be located somewhere. Leaders at the city and county level, knowing that they're bound to upset someone with any decision, ultimately, have to make one. It's the job description. And this week, that "something" involves finally landing on a site for a camp. This week, leaders at the city also made the call to delay its clearing of the unsanctioned camp along Hunnell Road – another decision that is likely to upset some and please others.

These are not easy decisions, and local leaders make them equipped with a breadth of public input that most of us could not imagine. This is of course what they signed up for in taking public leadership roles – and even knowing that, once in a while we should take the time to acknowledge the difficulty and to offer some praise for moving forward.

With the decision to open up a camp along Murphy, we are seeing what many have been calling for — to see the county and the city collaborate on solutions and use their various resources – in this case, American Rescue Plan funds from Deschutes County and land from the City of Bend – to move forward on a major issue. Local leaders formed a Joint Office on Homelessness for this very reason, and after what has seemed like several years of idea-hatching, it's good to see something concrete finally happening. If the city and the county deliver on their promise to get this camp funded, staffed and constructed over the next several months, it will be the results the public has been waiting – often impatiently – to see.