Homeless encampments: Difference between revisions
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== (5) Portland, Oregon ==
=== HUCIRP - Homelessness and Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program ===
[[File:OMF-HUCIRP red toilet.jpeg|thumb|right|Inside one of the portable toilets installed by HUCIRP in 2020 in neighborhoods throughout the city. ]]
[[File:Red toilet ceiling.jpg|thumb|right|alleged blood splatter inside HUCIRP red toilet]]HUCIRP is a working unit of Office of Management and Finance within the municipal government of Portland, Oregon.<ref>https://www.portlandoregon.gov/cbo/article/743341</ref> It is a 3.0 FTE program that is staffed by Lucas Hillier, Katie Lindsay and Jonathan Lewis<ref>https://www.opb.org/article/2020/11/24/portland-program-aims-to-help-homeless-campers-and-reduce-impact-of-camps-on-neighborhoods/</ref>. The program was budgeted for $5.8 million in FY2019-2020, and $6.5 million is requested for FY2021-22<ref>portlandoregon.gov/cbo/article/780711</ref>(p.208). The program manager Lucas Hillier was an aide to former mayor Charles Hales.<blockquote>''HUCIRP "is responsible for coordinating cleanup/abatement of unsanctioned campsites on City and ODOT [Oregon Department of Transportation] owned properties/rights-of-way within the City while managing the City’s One Point of Contact campsite reporting system." [City of Portland [https://www.portlandoregon.gov/toolkit/article/562211 HUCIRP site]]. ''</blockquote>
The program staff pronounce it like "HUCK-urp."<br />We suggest "hue-SURP" - like "usurp."
==== Controversies ====
While serving as an aide to Mayor Hales, Lucas Hillier called a Lents neighborhood community member "douchebag" on Facebook after they voiced concerns about encampments<ref>https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/homeless/lents-resident-mocked-by-mayors-aide-his-verbal-attack-is-shameful/283-319437905</ref><ref>https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/07/07/portland-to-resume-homeless-camp-sweeps/</ref>. The HUCIRP program in itself was questioned for lack of oversight.<ref>https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2019/06/06/26591451/oversight-questions-arise-as-portland-pays-to-clean-up-homeless-campsites</ref>
The city auditor investigated OMF's HUCIRP and found that the program frequently ignored hundreds of complaints about transient camps from citizens and had challenges with organization and prioritization. [https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/03/portland-homeless-camps-clean-up-program-needs-improving-auditors-say.html Portland homeless camps clean-up program needs improving, auditors say(The Oregonian piece from 2019)] As of June 2020, some of the recommendations made by the auditor's office have yet to be implemented such as keeping constituents informed about the status of their complaints.<ref>https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/portlands-camp-cleanup-program-has-improved-according-to-city-auditor.html</ref> Goose Hollow Foothills League meeting noted HUCIRP and city needs to be held accountable in the way they conduct sweeps, with regard to how a sweep near a capital improvement project resulted in campers simply moving into their neighborhood.(page 2) [http://www.goosehollow.org/images/GHFLMinutes20210218.pdf GHFL February 2021 meeting notes]
==== HUCIRP Strategic Plan 2019-2021 ====
[[File:City_of_Portland_OMF_HUCIRP_red_toilet.jpeg|thumb|right|the red toilet advocated by OMF-HUCIRP's Katherine Lindsay. Graffiti which is required to be removed within 10 days of appearance <ref>https://www.portland.gov/code/14/b80/040</ref>.]]
[[File:HUCIRP-Logo-City-of-Portland.png|thumb|right|HUCIRP logo]]
<blockquote>''Strategic Goal #3 IDENTIFY/CREATE LAWFUL PLACES FOR PEOPLE TO SLEEP<br /> • Continue to work with the Joint Office of Homeless Services, Multnomah County, and other jurisdictions on public space management strategies that reduce the need for campsite cleanup interventions which require the removal and storage of personal property.<br /> • Implement a model of collaboration and cooperation with Portland Housing Bureau, Prosper Portland, OMF-HUCIRP, and property owning bureaus to identify underutilized City properties, or properties in pre-development stages, that could be used for alternative shelter purposes to provide lawful and organized places for people experiencing homelessness to sleep.''</blockquote>
==== Toilets (Port-a-Potties) Controversy ====
[https://overlookneighborhood.org/overlook-neighborhood-update-sept-12/ September 2020 Overlook Neighborhood Association meeting] notes allege that HUCIRP has been known to secretively place red portable toilets in community while refusing to disclose their placement location to community members.
In an email correspondence obtained from the city by the Oregonian newspaper through public records request, OMF HUCIRP's program coordinator Katie Lindsay alleges that a police officer referred to her as a "yahoo". Furthermore, Lindsay claimed that a police officer told community members that PPB would not follow up on the incidents of theft as "it relates to the city property or in regards to the threats towards city vendors, city staff, or damage to vendor’s property.", according to the Oregonian.https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/12/portable-toilets-in-southeast-portland-stolen-vandalized-in-escalating-fight-between-city-and-neighbors.html
==== Katie Lindsay, HUCIRP program coordinator ====
In a correspondence with a citizen in December 2020, City of Portland's HUCIRP program coordinator Katie Lindsay(who's also a qualified mental health professional and drug and alcohol counselor<ref>https://www.streetroots.org/news/2019/03/15/portland-spends-millions-responding-homelessness-researchers-find</ref><ref>https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/registry/provider-view/1568852655</ref> summarized that about 90% of complaints made to HUCIRP are speculative.
"Almost 90% of the complaints our program has received regarding these units are related to stigma connected to the homeless population and complaints about things that ‘could happen,’ but have not happened," Lindsay wrote to the citizen. In a response to a citizen's complaint about the toilet placed near the complainant's house, Lindsay replied "Access to water and appropriate toilet options are recognized by the UN General Assembly as a human right" <ref name="toilet"> https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/12/portable-toilets-in-southeast-portland-stolen-vandalized-in-escalating-fight-between-city-and-neighbors.html</ref> Katie Lindsay's(formerly, Katherine Kalpakis)<ref name="pitstop"/> described her experience with the interaction with the homeless in her professional capacity as "dealing with transients" during a public testimony at a Sherwood city council session on the matter of the presence of a 24 hour parking lot at the Walmart near her own house.<ref name="katie testimony"/>
In a media interview in her professional capacity, she described she's been besieged with angry phone calls about the red toilet.<ref>https://www.streetroots.org/news/2020/11/04/kaia-sand-access-hygiene-sanitation-human-right</ref> So, basically like taking phone calls from people concerned about the impact of homelessness in their personal life and hold similar concerns she relate to when she's not wearing her professional hat. In her personal hat, Katie said: <blockquote>'''''"I've spent a lot of my profession when i worked, umm dealing with transients and I mean we're talking things like petty crime, public intoxication, but those aren't things I want in my community."'''''<ref>https://youtu.be/yeucKkIX5sM?t=4123 (City of Sherwood City Council Testimony June 12, 2013</ref> - Katherine Kalpakis at the June 12, 2013 Sherwood city council session. </blockquote>With regard to homelessness in Portland, Lindsay described the role of HUCIRP as "Our role is not to solve homelessness, but to incrementally improve the experience of those living outdoors and the community at large by providing trash mitigation and sharps disposal services."<ref>https://www.facebook.com/PDXMayorTedWheeler/photos/portlandyou-know-that-our-public-servants-work-around-the-clock-on-your-behalf-b/10158089391008620/</ref> She has also proposed hygiene access for the homeless in Portland in 2017 which came with a price tag of around $159,000.<ref name="pitstop">PDX PitStop proposal https://web.archive.org/web/20171025111008/https://www.portlandmercury.com/images/blogimages/2017/10/19/1508444131-pdxpitstop_proposal.pdf</ref>
She acknowledged that when she was working at an organization that is the "largest homeless shelter in Portland".(Likely Portland Rescue Mission<ref>https://www.portlandrescuemission.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Prayer-Calendar-August-2012.pdf</ref>), they would suggest their clients who can not enter the program to go camp at Walmart or the airport.
Interestingly, Katie Lindsay (Kalpakis) was a vocal opponent about the presence of such a destination in her own community. She voraciously objected to the Super Walmart's 24 hour parking lot near where she owned a house where she raised her children. She emailed the city council and testified at a Sherwood City Council meeting urging the city to pass an ordinance to ban the 24 hour parking lot at Walmart near her house. She expressed she "spent a lot of time ''<u>dealing with transients</u>'', heavy crime and public intoxication" in her profession and "she does not want this in her community". The store and parking would give the homeless a 24 hour access to restroom and a place where homeless people can rest and sleep in their RVs. Essentially, Katherine Lindsay did not want what she advocates professionally being hosted in her own backyard on what appears to be speculative concerns about foresight of homeless related issues. She felt that the Walmart parking lot is a "responsible thing for Council to prevent." This suggests she's a NIMBY herself.
"Katherine Kalpakis, 16380 SW Red Twig Drive, came forward and said she has emailed the Council and said she bought a home in Sherwood in 2011 and is raising 3 small children here and has not attended meetings but she has voted, does research on the elections and she watches the meetings on TV. She said she has a very reasonable concerns and questions for the Council and the Planning Commission regarding the 24 hour parking. She said she received one response from Mayor Middleton. She stated for 3 1/2 years she worked for the largest homeless shelter in Portland and she did safety planning which is when a client can't come into the program they let them know what is practical for them to do and some of the advice is to go to the airport or find a Walmart parking lot. She said she also worked in Arizona with domestic violence shelters and that was also the advice they gave. She said she is concerned and stated it is easy to remedy the situation by eliminating the 24 hour parking and she has read reports that some of the crimes at Shari's and Wendy's are not significant, but that is not true about Walmart and she has spent a lot of time dealing with transients, heavy crime and public intoxication and she does not want this in her community and recommends they pass an ordinance. She said she does not want to have to pay for that or the burden of enforcing the 24 hour parking on our Police Department and said they should have to pay for it. She referred to an article in January from Pamplin Media that reported about the homelessness in this area and it suggested that people find safe places like Walmart because it is better to be in large groups rather than being on their own. She stated that this is a responsible thing for Council to prevent."<ref name="katie testimony">Sherwood City Council meeting minutes, June 12, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20170131134712/https://www.sherwoodoregon.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/city_council/meeting/1330/06.12.13_city_council_minutes.pdf</ref><br />
That article referenced above is likely ''Men on the street'', by Saundra Sorenson, in the January 03 2013 print of TheTimes https://pamplinmedia.com/ttt/89-news/125909-men-on-the-street
====HUCIRP staff payroll expense====
The public expenses of the staff payroll for 2018 for the three staff at HUCIRP was as following<ref>https://openpayrolls.com/city/portland-or</ref>:
*Lucas Hillier $94,286.40
*Katherine Ruth Lindsay $52,160 (2019)<ref>https://openpayrolls.com/employee/katherine-ruth-lindsay-10982</ref>
*Jonathan Lewis $63,315.20
*Heather Hafer (although not dedicated to the HUCIRP program) $90,001.60<ref>https://openpayrolls.com/heather-hafer-54120800</ref>
===Stop the Sweeps PDX & related responses===
[[File:Elia-2019-12-20-Stop-the-Sweeps-PDX-rally.jpg|thumb|right|Stop the Sweeps PDX rally, 12/20/19. photo by Cory Elia]] Kaia Sand, executive editor of ''Street Roots'' newspaper in Portland, tweeted on Dec 17, 2019:<br />
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty https://www.facebook.com/CommissionerHardesty/posts/450865485834942 December 20, 2019 at 3:58 PM ·
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See extensive comments thread on this post for various views from community.<br /> <br />
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===Portland Street Response===
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