The Hermiston City Council voted unanimously Monday night to support an Oregon Mayors Association plan to seek state funding for communities to address the issue of homelessness.
A task force set up by the Oregon Mayors Association (OMA) submitted a request to the Oregon Legislature to allocate as much as $300 million to communities throughout the state to provide services to the homeless.
The plan calls for the Legislature to allocate nearly $125 million which would be distributed to all 241 cities in Oregon based on the population. The OMA is specifically calling for each city to receive $40 per resident, with small towns guaranteed to get at least $50,000. Local officials could use the money as they deem necessary based on local needs.
Additionally, the OMA is recommending cities receive money for construction of shelters and housing projects. Total amount is estimated between $125 million and $175 million.
“I think we recognize this capital construction request isn’t even close to what’s needed across the state, but that’s what we requested for this budget cycle,” said Mayor Dave Drotzmann, one of 25 Oregon mayors on the task force.
One issue brought up by Councilor Maria Durón was whether there were any plans to address a potential problem of homeless people being bused into Hermiston from outside the community.
Drotzmann said he didn’t think that was going to be a problem based on conversations he’s had with Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston. He also said he wasn’t opposed to helping anyone who is homeless regardless of where they came from.
“I feel like if we’re providing service and hopefully helping them transition and help make them productive citizens, I don’t really care where they come from, frankly,” he said. “As long as we’re not being overwhelmed from a financial standpoint, I don’t think it’s an issue we need to deal with at this point.”
During public comment, Hermiston resident Josh Roberts said the mayor’s comment about not caring where the homeless come from “warrants a little bit of scrutiny.”
Roberts said that with limited resources, the city should focus on taking care of “our community first.”
Councilor Jackie Myers said she supports the plan and the request for money from the Legislature because some cities simply can’t afford to tackle the issue on their own.
Drotzmann said it will take a statewide effort to adequately address the issue.
“In order to transition people from homelessness into some sort of housing, it’s going to take all hands on deck,” he said. “This (OMA task force plan) hopefully is going to put some more resources behind helping people and giving them some more humane outcomes than they currently have.”
This initiative needs to be scrutinized & followed up on for not becoming a “gather as many homeless as we can” for the money allotted per # so it doesn’t spiral! Another separate Local committee needs to be the “watch dog” of this program for our whole community’s benefit!
Yes we can take care of the few homeless from Hermiston But I and others truly believe that having them bused in from other areas, ie Portland, Seattle, etc, is WRONG !!!
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