Portland Politics Thread

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Portland, MultCo homeless plan uncertain after leaders meet | News | portlandtribune.com

Multnomah County’s unexpected $104 million homeless services shortfall is upending homeless funding plans announced by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Metro President Lynn Peterson, and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson.

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Most of the members of the new 12-member council said they do not understand enough about how the homeless services system works. Some thought the city and county do not have a realistic joint strategy for addressing homelessness. Others thought the per-person homeless spending figures presented during the session seemed unreasonably high, with shelter beds costing more than one-bedroom apartments.

"Something that I see a lot in these presentations is that some of the costs for having people in shelter spaces — when I calculate it out per day, per month — it seems to be a little but over $3,000 dollars, or more than that sometimes. And when I think about the average cost of a one bedroom apartment in Portland being $1,700 a month, it just makes me curious about how we should be investing these dollars in the best way possible," Councilor Angelita Morillo, who represents city District 3.

Source: https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/por...4329800-f45a-11ef-99ce-ebe3cb1e64ae.html