Author: NPB
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Oregonian OpEd: “Emergency” Response to Old News
By William Russell – Executive Director of Union Gospel Mission reposted from Oregonian 9/24/15 On Sept. 23, Mayor Charlie Hales declared a “homeless state of emergency,” with plans to aggressively combat homelessness in Portland. The announcement felt surreal, as if someone were announcing in 2015 that President Obama had won the 2012 election, or reading a…
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KGW Feature: Cleaning Up the North Park Blocks
PORTLAND, Ore. — People who live and work near Portland’s North Park Blocks, north of Burnside Street, are relieved that a massive homeless problem has dwindled. Link to KGW story Over the summer, men and women took over the park and created multiple problems. Michelle Cardinal watched it develop from her window at work. Cardinal is the…
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Summer of ‘Lawlessness’ Gets Portland’s Attention
From The Oregonian Sept 15, 2015 Cardinal said she’s happy that Hales and City Hall are paying attention and that more officers are patrolling. Fewer people linger in the park all day, she said. But she expects the situation outside her window is “here to stay.” She’s told Hales as much. “I said, ‘Mayor, the…
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Oregonian: Neighbors Organize to Halt Park Chaos
A big thank you to the Oregonian Editorial Board for the thoughtful essay on how the North Park Blocks organized in response to months of illegal and menacing activity in the park. Read the full editorial here (and be sure to continue on to the comments). Frustrated neighbors, park-area businesses, PNCA and Emerson School officials banded…
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Eugene: Outside Travelers Controlling Our Public Spaces
“Lots of options, but no easy answers for downtown Eugene homeless, transient population” from The Register-Guard ~ Eugene Sept 13, 2015 With a single email sent the Thursday before last, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy reignited an old but evergreen debate in our city: Should people be bothered by downtown’s ubiquitous homeless and transient population and,…