Portland eyes $4M shift from camp removals to aid
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City councilors are set to consider an amendment to the city budget Wednesday that would reallocate more than $4 million from a homeless encampment removal program to food assistance, refugee support and housing efforts.
Why it matters: Mayor Keith Wilson rebuked the proposal, saying in a newsletter over the weekend that moving the funds would put Portland's "livability at risk."
State of play: The amendment, sponsored by progressive Councilor Angelita Morillo, would cut $4.3 million from the Impact Reduction Program's $16.7 million budget.
- "The Mayor's plan to continue sweeping our unhoused neighbors is not only morally bankrupt, it is empirically a failure," Morillo said in a statement. "Do we want to further traumatize and destabilize people, or do we want to stabilize them with the direct aid they need right now?"
- Morillo said shifting the funds from camp removals to food assistance was imperative as the federal government shutdown has delayed SNAP benefits to thousands of Oregonians.
Between the lines: Wednesday's vote comes after Wilson began enforcing the city's camping ban earlier this month, creating tension between him and some local officials who accused him of criminalizing poverty.
- Wilson has at the same time been working to add hundreds of shelter beds in Portland to fulfill a campaign promise of ending unsheltered homelessness by the end of the year.
The other side: In a Sunday newsletter, Wilson said Morillo's amendment would cause up to 100 layoffs at the Impact Reduction Program and could leave millions of pounds of waste uncollected on Portland streets.
- He urged residents to ask their councilors to oppose the amendment.
Yes, but: Morillo disputed the mayor's claims.
- "Mayor Wilson could've called me to clarify and ask questions before blasting us in a newsletter," Morillo wrote in a social media post. "But of course he has to find a scapegoat when he doesn't magically end homelessness on 12/1 by warehousing people."
What's next: The council is expected to consider the amendment and other changes to the budget at Wednesday's meeting, which gets underway at 9:30am.