Ask the average person in Central Oregon what the most pressing issues we face here are, and chances are that they’ll include housing and homelessness in their answers. With staggering rent increases and plenty of inflation, the number of people who don’t have a proper place to live is skyrocketing. It’s a problem so great that in 2022, state legislators took action by creating a pilot program aimed at helping local governments collaborate and pool resources on the issue. In Deschutes County, that program is called the Coordinated Houseless Response Office, one of eight such offices created under Rep. Jason Kropf’s House Bill 4123.
Nine months into a two-year pilot, our local governments appear to be blowing it.
The executive director of the program announced her resignation late last month. While some allege that Cheyenne Purrington embellished her resume to get the position – one she took after the similar organization she led in Lake Tahoe encountered financial troubles – she can hardly be held accountable for all of the missteps thus far.
In a story we published last week, Bend City Councilor Megan Perkins told the Source Weekly that the City of Bend, Deschutes County and other Central Oregon city stakeholders had yet to even iron out a “roles and responsibilities” agreement that would define which entities were responsible for what. The board responsible for overseeing the Coordinated Houseless Response Office had only met a “few times,” she said. Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair, the chair of the governing board, is responsible for putting those meetings together, and when asked, stated that each meeting was “lengthy and substantive.” Yet nine months into a two-year pilot, the office has yet to accomplish some significant goals, including adopting an interim work plan or forming an advisory council. Purrington also argued in her resignation letter that her role was undefined, with little authority, and that her main role was responding to the clearing of camps rather than working on broader strategies and solutions. It appears this office cannot yet even agree on an approach, let alone in any strategy that actually sees people moving off the streets.
The spirit of the CHRO office was a good one, and it was supported at the state legislative level with $1 million to get it off the ground and to get an oversight board in place. But when the oversight board itself makes apparent missteps that stall progress and frustrate those who are actively working with those experiencing homelessness, it begs the question: Who’s overseeing the overseers? And when they appear to be less-than-diligent stewards of government funds, who loses?
Situations like this only offer fodder for those in the community who believe that the solution for dealing with those experiencing homelessness is to either do nothing and spend nothing, in the hopes that a lack of humanitarian services will spur people to leave Central Oregon. That’s hardly the approach this editorial board supports.
Some are now calling for the entire CHRO to be moved under the purview of the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, where the solutions posed can be regional ones rather than county ones.
Whatever the changes to come, they need to ensure more accountability among the local officials who are leading this charge, so as to help more people get housed faster and reduce the public safety concerns that exist when people live in unsafe and fire-prone conditions. If this is truly the number-one issue for Central Oregonians at this point in time, then Central Oregonians should be paying close attention and calling for proper governance.
This article appears in Source Weekly June 8, 2023.
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nice observation that thousands of others have made. and while this space is an editorial opinion space, please take the liberty of offering YOUR approach to a solution rather than regurgitate what is known. here’s my two cents after being frustrated, like you, with our politico’s approach.
as a former corp exec and mgmt consultant, what is really needed to resolve our homeless issue is a czar/czar-ess to lead the effort. this person would have all the politicians, government agencies and ngo’s, reporting to her/him and it needs to be understood that this person directs all work, would have full authority and response-ability for developing a strategic and tactical plan with performance metrics and would have control of all the funds from fed/state/county/city have or may have earmarked for our homeless issue.
this truly isn’t rocket science, it’s a matter of will, consciousness, good conscience, and a profound sense of helping those that need it most.
We are always looking to the government or a NGO to solve homelessnesses and housing insecurity. Here are some ways in which many people unwittingly add to the housing crisis, which means WE can reduce the problem by looking at our lives and beliefs:
1) Excessive profiteering off housing.
Do you own an AirB&B? Do you rent them when you travel? If so, you have taken a longterm rental off the market. Result: Homelessness
Have you sold a house for all cash, or without inspection, or over market value? If so, you have shut out veterans trying to purchase on their GI benefits that require all these things. You have also shut out those who have approval to buy with a traditional bank mortgage. This leaves only the wealthiest to buy housing. Result: Homelessness
Do you have rental properties where you constantly raise the rent to the max you can get? If so, in a high demand rental market, you shut out many lower income renters. These are often people with JOBS that provide you with the services you think make for a positive life. Result: Homelessness
Do you make investments in large corporate real estate companies that raise rents excessively to force out longterm renters out to convert units into higher end rentals? If so, you leave these renters unable to afford the new units. They might not be able to afford new market rates for other places either. Result: Homelessness
2) Housing discrimination.
Do you hold beliefs that certain people dont belong in your neighborhood? If so, you prevent housing opportunities for those with mental health issues, in recovery, or dealing with housing displacement of various kinds. Result: Homelessness
Do you resist having areas where people of all income levels can live? If so, you leave many employed and unemployed people living in alternate forms of housing from having a place to go. For example, RV parks that refuse older RVs force them onto the streets. Development of affordable housing might also be reduced because you dont want it in your area, but lower income has to go somewhere. Result: Homelessness
Do you think only people who can pay deserve housing? If so, you perpetuate falsehoods about how all people are equal in their ability to work and earn the high income needed for housing these days. This includes the elderly living on social security only, those with disabilities (mental or physical) who cannot work FT, or sometimes even PT, and those who make minimum wage. Result: Homelessness
This is not meant to be an accusation or insult, but rather to get us all to think about how we might influence the development of a problem we feel tired of dealing with. Of course making these changes wont solve the homelessness problem completely, but if you ask a veteran or senior citizen living in their car (even though many have a job) why they do it, few will tell you its by choice.
Lisa F.