Item B: Update on Homeless Initiative Action Plan

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with their money. We can't make that argument by putting all or most of the money into more shelter. But if we can succeed with this strategy, then we can seek support for more money, and do more with it, and make some headway. Will this strategy take time? Yes. It won't solve the problem in 1 or 2 or even 5 years. But let me remind you that some of us have been working on this issue for 20 years or more. Our last shot at getting significant public money in Eugene was more than 10 years ago. The time before that was in 1989. If we fail now, it will be a long time before we get another chance. Is this the best solution? No. Is it the best possible solution, the solution most likely to succeed with the voters and to produce positive change? I think yes. Mo Young: I’m not comfortable supporting the committee’s recommendations. I appreciate the need for affordable housing in the Eugene area, but the proposed plan addresses only a portion of the larger issue. Eugene needs to have a secular emergency shelter. We are not effectively serving homeless people who are single. Also, I am not confident that a tax levy will pass and I would like to see a plan that does not depend on the will of the tax payers. Ron Chase: Virtually every word that Hugh wrote I have spoken at some point over the past 20 years, and I am in total agreement with Hugh's condemnation of how single homeless people are treated and how little our efforts will change that even in the distant future. This will be true even if our efforts are successful and we do pass a serial levy dedicated to developing housing and funding homeless services and prevention. Despite the fact that some of the proposed services will provide some benefit to homeless single people, it will not alter the basic fact that they are offered a Hobson's choice when confronted by law enforcement for sleeping or camping illegally. It will not change the legal risk in which they find themselves and the harassment they endure for simply being too poor to afford shelter. Nevertheless, I stand by my vote for the reasons articulated by John. I do not believe that there is the political will on anyone's (Eugene, Springfield or Lane County) part to build a public shelter. I do not believe the public would vote for funds for that purpose. I believe that siting a shelter is damn near impossible in today's political/social environment. Most of all, I have more first hand experience that I want in seeing what happens when community-based committees make recommendations that don't have mainstream support or realistic funding possibilities. These reports end up on shelves, never again to see the light of day. I desperately want something to come from this effort as imperfect as it might be. For those reasons, I can not support including a public shelter in our recommendations. 35 Blue Ribbon Committee on Homelessness, Recommendation April 2, 2008 -- Page