On Monday night, the Portland City Council had an opportunity to address the biggest issue confronting our city today: the unabated proliferation of unsheltered homelessness.
An outreach worker talks to a woman living in a tent in a homeless encampment along the Fore River Parkway Trail in Portland in July. The city cleared the encampment in early September. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer, File
This crisis has pushed individuals living on our streets to the brink of desperation, while also allowing violent individuals to victimize our most vulnerable citizens and the neighborhoods that host them. This problem, which has been escalating for years because of insufficient actions at all levels of government, was never going to be resolved with a perfect solution. However, the solution before the City Council was unquestionably better than the status quo, which perpetuates harm against all involved, not least the people who call the encampments home.
The proposal involved expanding the recently opened Homeless Services Center by 50 beds. Granted, the solution had its share of challenges and lingering questions. During its workshop last week, the council rightly pressed city staff to better address realities to do with staffing and shelter polices to increase use by unsheltered individuals. Councilor Mark Dion astutely pointed out that he could not break his promise to not vote for more beds in his district without asking other parts of the city to take on additional bed capacity.
Nevertheless, these concerns should not have led leaders, who stated their commitment to solving this problem, to vote 5-4 against the only available plan to provide more beds indoors before winter. The proposal before them was not only the humane choice but also the fiscally responsible one.
Our city provides social services with a greater breadth and depth than any municipality in Maine, but there are limits to what we can fund with our municipal resources. While it is true that it would necessitate an increase in city staff and services, revenue generated from the beds through agreements with the state would cover 96% of the costs, surpassing the state’s typical match for Portland’s municipally run shelters, which was 45% for the Oxford Street Shelter last year and a projected 68% at the Homeless Services Center this year. This highlights the commitment of state government to work in partnership with the city to address this crisis – something all councilors, social service providers and the business community have advocated for passionately over the years.
In a few weeks, we will witness the state take action to reclaim control of its property at the Marginal Way Park and Ride by resolving the encampment located there. Once again, because of delayed decision making and indecision by a City Council that has increasingly prioritized rhetoric over tangible solutions, the city will find itself scrambling for a plan. The Portland business community stands firmly in partnership with those on the council working toward more transitional and permanent housing options, but those solutions take time – a luxury we do not have as the encampment crisis continues to fracture our neighborhoods.
We are also concerned that city staff may soon reach a breaking point, as their tireless efforts to appease many of the city councilors are again going unheeded. Mayor Kate Snyder noted in her final State of the City address Monday that vacancies in City Hall have increased over the last year to an astounding 275. Some of our elected leaders consistently disregard the expertise and dedication of these professionals, who have gone to great lengths to explore and secure every feasible solution to address this complex problem within municipal resources.
Ultimately, the vote Monday is the latest addition to the pattern of inaction by many city councilors who fail to exhibit the necessary resolve when leadership demands swift and decisive action. It is essential that the business community continues to demand accountability from elected leadership to address unsafe encampments. Elections for City Council are coming up in November, and there is no doubt voters will place a premium on candidates willing to advance bold and necessary solutions.
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