CC Minutes - 01/26/09 Work Session

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resulted in homelessness: inadequate income for housing and a disability or health problem that hindered the ability to earn a living. He said homelessness could be situational or chronic and represented a significant cost to the community. On any given night at least 2,111 Lane County residents were homeless and 94 percent of the homeless were from the local area. He reviewed the services available and the benefits of early intervention to prevent homelessness. He described the enhanced services to families, youth and single adults that were now available as a result of the council’s goal. He explained the challenges involved in providing affordable housing in the community and introduced Tracy Lampman and John Van Landingham, chair and vice chair of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Committee to discuss the committee’s findings and recommendation. Ms. Lampman identified and thanked those who served on the committee. She said the committee determined that there was a good network of services in place and while providers were talented and worked collaboratively to provide services, those services were inadequately funded. Mr. Van Landingham said the committee’s primary tasked was to identify a new, stable, sustainable funding source for addressing affordable housing and homelessness problems. That did not happen, but the committee did have recommendations for approaching the problem at the regional level: ? Conduct an environmental scan of the issue to identify a specific set of goals, actions and strategies that would provide a good road map for addressing the problems; could be done in conjunction with a scan au- thorized and funded by Lane County, and would require a commitment of staff resources but not funds. ? Short term – five-year serial levy to fund affordable housing, homeless prevention and homeless services. Mr. Van Landingham acknowledged that the committee’s recommendations represented a pragmatic approach. He said there was no recommendation for more emergency shelter for single adults because of a lack of consensus among committee members. Ms. Ortiz thanked those who worked on the committee. She asked if there was an estimate of the amount of staff resources that would be required. Mike Sullivan, Community Development Division, said those discussions were currently occurring with Lane County and the contractor that would perform the scan. Ms. Ortiz asked that the council be kept informed on those discussions. She said there had been community input about the lack of accessible bathrooms for people in areas with a high concentration of the homeless, such as along the river and in the Whiteaker and downtown areas. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Zelenka, moved to direct staff to study the feasibility of placing accessible bathroom facilities in areas where the homeless population was concentrated. Ms. Ortiz added that the challenge was not only paying for the bathroom facilities, but also where to locate them. Mr. Ruiz said he was agreeable to having staff conduct the study if that was the desire of the council. He anticipated an initial survey that would provide information to the council; a more in-depth study could be done if the council determined that was warranted. Ms. Piercy added that hazardous material disposal receptacles could also be considered during the study. Mr. Clark agreed that lack of bathroom facilities in downtown was a significant problem, but was not certain the motion was the best approach. He asked for more background on the statistics that indicated over 90 percent of the homeless population was from Lane County. Mr. Weinman replied that the Human Services Commission collected MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 26, 2009 Page 3 Work Session