Mayor Wheeler Announces Recovery Actions Focused on Homelessness, Community Safety, Livability

Press Release
“The State of our City is doggedly determined to recover,” says Mayor.
Published

Today, Friday March 12, 2021, Mayor Ted Wheeler announced a suite of actions focused on homelessness, livability, and community safety at his annual State of the City program sponsored by the Portland City Club. 

“I am optimistic and determined to build a better future, starting with the challenges of today: homelessness, community safety, and livability,” Mayor Wheeler said. “We have the opportunity and responsibility to build a brighter future for all Portlanders.”

Homelessness 

  • Mayor Wheeler will fight to ensure the voter-approved HereTogether ballot measure creates the changes it promised – reducing chronic homelessness and the number of people forced to sleep outside. The proposed spending plan will be announced on April 22nd. 
  • Mayor Wheeler will fight to ensure Portland receives a proportionate share of the drug addiction recovery fund established by the voter-approved Ballot Measure 110. “Addiction should be addressed with treatment, not incarceration,” Wheeler said. “I will work hard to make sure we get the funds we need to help people struggling with addition in our city.”
  • The Mayor will work with Commissioner Dan Ryan and Multnomah County to implement proposals for alternative shelter received from a currently open Joint Office of Homeless Services RFP. “We need more villages, safe camping sites, and more services for those in need of help,” Mayor Wheeler said. 

Community Safety 

  • Mayor Wheeler will soon ask the City Council to approve investments proposed yesterday by the Inter-Faith Peace and Action Collaborative to stop gun violence in Portland. The investments are focused on community-based interventions and more police resources with strong community oversight. "Gun violence is a public health crisis in Portland. We need to treat it immediately with action,” Wheeler said.  
  • The Mayor and the City are renewing their continued fight against criminal destruction, intimidation, and violence by pushing local, state, and federal partners to arrest and prosecute those committing these crimes. 
  • In the coming weeks, Mayor Wheeler and the City will renew volunteer-based crime prevention programs across the city. “Portland works best when public, private and community work together, particular when it comes to community safety,” Mayor Wheeler said. 
  • To help Portland’s small businesses in their fight against insurance forms, the City filed an amicus brief this week in support of businesses fighting arbitrary insurance cancellations.

 
Livability
 

  • Mayor Wheeler announced the launch of a new citywide Clean and Green cleanup initiative. Portlanders want to help and can do so through a City partnership with SOLVE. The Mayor asked people who want to help to sign up at solveoregon.org
  • The Mayor announced a $100,000 donation from Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle to help launch the Clean and Green initiative. The Mayor asked others to donate if they are able. 
  • The Mayor said he was pulling together all city bureaus and local agencies including Metro, the Port of Portland and ODOT to address Portland's litter problem.  
  • The Mayor announced he expects Portland to receive nearly $200 million from the American Rescue Plan and said he will work with his City Council colleagues to focus Rescue Plan investments on directly supporting Portlanders and the businesses that employ them. 

Action Tables 

The Mayor announced the launch of five action tables designed to harness Portland’s history of collaboration and public, private, and community-based partnerships. 
The five tables are: 

  1. Safety and Compassion: This table will establish community and business safety measures and solutions to address the rise in vandalism and destructive crime in the central city. 
  2. Citywide Clean Up: This table will focus on clean-up efforts across the city, starting with the central city districts and eventually addressing all areas of the city. 
  3. Business Success and Job Creation: This table will help local businesses reopen using tools like rental assistance, online marketplace creation, and permitting improvements that facilitate efficient, creative and safe business solutions. 
  4. Community Events and Activation: This table will focus on making Portland a hub of events and activities as soon as it is safe to gather. “Portlanders love a good gathering,” Wheeler said. 
  5. Reputation Recovery and Branding: This table will develop actionable steps to rebrand Portland and reverse false narratives about our city. The table also will create strategic marketing strategies. 

“These tables will be built on a foundation of equity, diversity, and inclusion,” Wheeler said. 
 
The Mayor specifically invited Portlanders who haven’t felt heard in the past are specifically invited to join in. To learn more, sign up for Mayor Wheeler’s newsletter at https://www.portland.gov/wheele….
  
“We are a city of strong, determined, and creative people. We have the opportunity and responsibility to build a brighter future for all Portlanders,” the Mayor said. “To get there, my administration will remain focused on homelessness, community safety, and livability and partnering with the people of Portland. Together, we will create the ‘state of the possible.”  


###