Candidate calls for reduction in homeless sweeps, commitment to more housing

A press release from Jim Middaugh's campaign. Look for more coverage of the homeless protests in the up and coming Street Roots.

PORTLAND – City Council candidate Jim Middaugh today called on Portland leaders to consider changes in the enforcement of the city’s anti-camping ordinance until the City Council and other leaders in affordable housing identify or build 1,000 new housing units to get people off the streets.

Protesters are sleeping outside of City Hall in response to police sweeps of camping sites and the lack of affordable housing. The city currently is considering more studies and short-term extensions on homeless shelter operations in response. “Studies and short term shelters may be important, but they are nothing more than Band Aids. We don’t need mats on the floor, we need keys in the door,” Middaugh said. “We need bold leadership to revamp our local housing programs to ensure they prioritize investments in those most in need. Until housing is available we may need to rethink enforcement of our anti-camping ordinance,” he said.

Based on a legal challenge, Los Angeles agreed in 2007 to reduce homeless sweeps until the city and its partners built 1,250 units of new housing. “Sweeps in other cities have been challenged in court. It’s only a matter of time before they are challenged in Portland. Providing more housing is the best way to get people off the street and to avoid costly litigation,” Middaugh said.

Middaugh called on the Portland Development Commission, the Bureau of Housing and Community Development, Multnomah County, the Housing Authority of Portland and the development and homeless provider community to find or create 1,000 new units of housing for the homeless during the next five years.

“City Hall should state unequivocally that it will work with its partners to find or create 1,000 new units of housing by committing the PDC’s TIF set-aside, public housing money and new housing money to a reorganized housing system focused on getting people off the streets,” Middaugh said. “Until there is an adequate number of homes for people who currently are forced to camp – including in front of City Hall – there will continue to be a problem. Any proposed reorganization of housing programs should focus first and foremost on getting people off the street,” he said.

The PDC, HAP and others recently have called for a consolidation of housing programs. The City’s Bureau of Housing and Community Development is working now to develop alternative ways to organize the region’s housing providers. “Any reorganization should not dilute our successful efforts to implement the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness,” Middaugh said.

“Mayor Potter’s response to the protest is insufficient. We don’t need to study the Section 8 Voucher problem we need to act on it. We need more outreach workers to help the people with vouchers find apartments and to give landlords someone to call when they need help dealing with difficult situations,” Middaugh said. “More importantly, the Council needs to set some very clear and bold affordable housing goals and to commit to meeting them. We need to respond directly to the needs of the people sleeping outside City Hall by focusing on finding or creating more housing,” Middaugh said.

“We need a bold plan if we are to continue to make progress they way we did under Commissioner Erik Sten. If our response is simply to lay more mats on shelter floors and to ‘explore’ use of vouchers, we won’t address the fundamental needs facing our community,” Middaugh said. “It’s unfair to use our police to move people along when they have no place to go. We need action,” he said.

Don't miss the housing opportunity mayoral forum tomorrow!

Join us tomorrow May 1, for the Housing Opportunity Mayoral Forum. A broad base of community organizations will be asking candidates questions about homelessness and affordable housing.

The forum will take place at the First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th Ave., Portland, Ore. 97205, from noon-1:30PM

See you there!

Some of our many great vendors!

Help support Street Roots today!

For the past 10 years, Street Roots has been vital in changing the lives of readers and people experiencing homelessness. Together, we have helped change the political landscape of poverty and human rights in our community. Stereotypes have been broken. Dreams have come true. Lives have been changed.

We simply can’t exist without your support. Donations from community members like you are the driving force behind the
operations of Street Roots. Your donation will go directly to support the vendor program and operations of the newspaper.

Please consider a donation to Street Roots this spring, and join us in our mission to assist people experiencing homelessness and poverty by creating flexible income opportunities. Through education, advocacy and personal expression, we are a catalyst for individual and social change.

No matter how big or small, your support of Street Roots matters!

Thank you for your consideration,

Israel Bayer
Director
Street Roots

You can mail donations to: Street Roots, 211 NW Davis St. Portland, OR 97209
or donate securely on line at

On-line donations

Street Roots is a 501 (c) 3 organization and your donation may be tax deductible.

What others have to say:

"Street Roots tells stories that other media outlets don't. It's what anyone who cares about the realities of being poor in Portland should be reading."
– Nick Budnick
Portland Tribune

"Selling Street Roots means that I can take care of myself,"
– Millard GulledGe, who sells Street Roots in the Concordia Neighborhood

Street Roots interviews Narco News founder Alberto Giordano

This week Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl interviews Narco News founder Alberto Giordano. Giordano covers the war on drugs from his vantage in Latin America.

Giordano is an award-winning newspaper reporter, radio and television host, and Internet journalism pioneer who founded the Internet newspaper Narco News in 2000 and its School of Authentic Journalism in 2002. Prior to moving to Latin America, Giordano was the political reporter for the Boston Phoenix, and he has published his work in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Nation, The Utne Reader, American Journalism Review, New Left Review, and other publications. In 2004, Giordano received the Upton Sinclair Freedom of Expression Award.

Narco News draws together a network of journalists as co-publishers, including, at one time, the late Gary Webb. The School of Authentic Journalism, in Mexico and Bolivia, has trained more than 100 journalists to be investigative reporters on civil rights and the impact of U.S. drug policy on Latin America.

In 2001, Giordano received First Amendment protections in a landmark New York Supreme Court case — Banamex vs. Mario Menendez, Al Giordano and Narco News — setting a precedent for all online journalists and Web sites. His criticism of the war on drugs, and its impact on Latin America are featured regularly at narconews.com.

To read the interview head on over to Street Roots.

Giordano interview

posted by Israel Bayer

Housing Opportunity Mayoral Forum - May 1

Join Street Roots along with other community organizations for a forum with Portland’s mayoral candidates. A broad base of community organizations will be asking candidates questions about homelessness and affordable housing.

The forum will take place Thursday May 1, from noon to 1:30PM at the First Unitarian Church (1011 SW 12th Avenue).

Special drug issue on the streets tomorrow

Street Roots first special edition of 2008 - the Drug Issue is out tomorrow.

The newspaper is jam packed with articles and commentaries, including a look at Oregon’s incarceration rate for drug related offenses and Portland’s myriad of recovery and harm reduction programs.

The paper has a fascinating interview with Judge Christopher Marshall with the Multnomah County’s drug treatment court, and we talk with Narco News founder Alberto Giordano.

We bring you an in-depth look at Portland’s controversial Service Coordination Team and how it relates to Project 57 and a neighborhood list made up of “chronic offenders.”

Portland author Martha Gies walks us through Gary Webb’s long shadow of reporting about the drug trade in Latin America and how it eventually led to the investigative reporters death.

We talk to Portland’s Drug and Vice squad, hear from law enforcement officers against prohibition, and highlight poetry from addicts on the streets.

All of this and much more in the special edition hitting the streets tomorrow.

Buy a copy from a neighborhood vendor today!

Erik Sten, Jim Middaugh and oh so much more in the new Street Roots

The new Street Roots will be out tomorrow. Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl spends an afternoon with Erik Sten. Dubbed the “street fighter” back in 2003, Erik walks us through the peaks and valleys of life at City Hall and just how he came to get such a nickname.

A new mental health coalition called MindFreedom Oregon is organizing individuals statewide, and they aren’t playing around. The new coalition based in Eugene is made up of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors who want radical change in the services provided to individuals working with and dealing with mental illness.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. We profile formerly homeless mayoral candidate Steven Entwisle and interview council candidate Jim Middaugh. Middaugh who is running a tight race with well-respected Nick Fish throws down on private police. He also talks affordable housing, public safety and Portland's future.

Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) head has been forced out. Go figure huh? Street Roots editorial and Soup Can both weigh in on Alphonso’s departure.

We connect with Tara Herivel, a Portland defense attorney and editor of the new book Private Profiteers: Who makes money from mass incarceration, and head on down to St. Augustine with the great Jay Thiemeyer.

Did we mention the art, poetry and beautiful rants from the streets? You won’t be disappointed. Get your Street Roots from your local neighborhood vendor!