Wheeler’s priorities: Homelessness and housing

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland Mayor-elect Ted Wheeler says homelessness will be one of his priorities when he takes office in January.

Wheeler tells KOIN 6 News a tent camping policy like the one allowed under the current administration won’t be part of his solution.

“What my eyes are telling me and what I’m hearing from people who are living on the street is that the tent camping policy isn’t working,” he says.

Wheeler says he’d work to provide more shelter, housing and intervention. He points to places like Salt Lake City and San Antonio where they measure success by how many people move off the street.

“It’s a community based response in both of those cities,” Wheeler says. “It’s the private sector, it’s the government sector, it’s the philanthropic sector, it’s non-profit organizations all working together on the same strategy, collectively holding each other accountable for moving people off of the streets…that’s what we’ve got to do here.”

Wheeler also wants to improve the census among Portland’s homeless population. He says knowing what, and who, caseworkers are dealing with will ease the process of getting them off the streets.

“There’s no magic here, we know what we need to do. It’s housing, shelter interventions and the kinds of services I described earlier, but they have to be applied over a period of time with consistent resources and the approach has to be community based.”

Housing Crisis

Another priority for Mayor-elect Wheeler is Portland’s housing crisis. He says the problem is clearly caused by a huge mismatch between supply and demand and the need for more affordable and low income housing. He says there are things the city can do to encourage that kind of development.

“I’m told right now 90% of the housing being constructed here in Portland is actually premium housing, so if we want more workforce and lower income housing, then we have to reduce the red tape, the bureaucracy, the permit fees, the pre-development costs through the design process, all of those things need to be reviewed.”

2 things Wheeler wants to do in office is increase the housing supply and put more renter protections in place.

“They’re [renters] experiencing 6, 7, even $800 a month rent increases. That’s not a rent increase, that’s an eviction notice,” says Wheeler.

Wheeler wants to change the current no-cause eviction laws and replace them with a ‘just cause’ eviction process, similar to the laws in Seattle. In Seattle, landlords can end a month-to-month lease only for one of the 18 reasons listed in Seattle’s just cause eviction notice.

Wheeler does acknowledge the problem is driven by the free market at work, but he feels landlords can still make a good profit without displacing so many people. He also thinks the government has an obligation to help those in the middle.

“It’s supply and demand but housing isn’t like shoes and bicycles and any other commodity. Along with food and water, housing is an essential element of life and therefore it’s a special kind of commodity and it deserves more protection because we all need access to housing.”