 All right you guys we're going to get started and I just wanted to first welcome you all and thank you for coming tonight. I'm going to start with our interpreters we have two interpreters this evening Spanish and Lingala. And so if you need those services please raise your hand and let us know so that we can ensure that you get what you need. Mucho gusto, gracias por venir. Mi nombre es Paola Hernández y si alguna persona aquí habla español estaría sentada en la parte de atrás. I'm going to turn it over to the mayor who will give an introduction. Can everybody hear me. Okay, I'm going to do my best and I apologize that I'm putting my back to the council, but I feel like I want to get a little bit closer. I want to start out by welcoming you and thanking you very much for being here as is the case with any council meeting or committee meeting. We really appreciate when you take time out of your schedule and spend time with us so we've got. I'm very hopeful for tonight we've got two big goals the first is that we want to hear from you we want to hear what's on your mind, and we want to hear your ideas, and we want to hear how things are impacting you. We also want to be able to share information about the city's responses to homelessness past present and things that we're working on. So information sharing and listening that's why we're here tonight. Last night we had a council meeting. And at that council meeting which was a special meeting called for the purpose of reviewing a contract. We approved our participation in a multiplayer agreement that has to do with a private developer opening up a new emergency shelter for with 180 beds in the city of Portland. So I just wanted to draw folks attention to the fact that that happened last night. We got a lot of public comment, we got input. It's the city is not at the center of the contract we're one of the four parties that's entering that contract. The work is constant it is every day. For me, it is always the priority of the day. And with us all the time the issue of the need for emergency shelter housing, transitional housing permanent housing. So I like to put a little context for my thinking and I did this last night, I just want to go back to. I'm going to start with the fall of 2021. At that point in time, we had had a discrete experience with asylum seekers in the city of Portland in the summer of 2019 pre COVID. It was discrete. And then time marched on we planned for a new homeless services center and COVID hit, and so many factors came to our doorstep in the fall of 2021. We started to see a steady flow of asylum seekers coming to the state of Maine. We started to attend our legislative committee meetings and talk about that issue. We talked about it in committee meetings we talked about it with our delegation from Portland that goes to Augusta. We talked with leadership in Augusta we talked with anybody who would listen. This is, this is consistent. It's significant, and we need help. And then we started the work to advocate for help and funding within the FY 23 state budget. So the budget that we are currently in which is FY 23 has funding from the state to help with the needs that we started to identify loud and clear in the fall of 2021. The state has done that work knows how difficult it can be to advocate for funding in the state budget. But they did come through and they, they have that that FY 23 budget had one time funding to really help us. Soon after that legislative session this council unanimously approved a resolution which is on the back table. And then we had a resolution for state level coordination of resources and a resettlement coordination office that would help, not just the city of Portland, but the whole state when we approach issues of resettlement housing and emergency shelter. It was also when we started to think about additional capacity specifically for asylum seeking folks who had come to the city of Portland. The media has shared that we looked at blueberry road and other facilities that actually culminated last night in the approval of that contract so a little bit of an example of how long these things take multiple properties looked at with. It was a private public partnership. And, and the work has been ongoing and as we did that work last summer we had encampments and during Oaks in Bayside, and those areas became known as emphasis areas, which is a term of art that's used when there are public health and safety issues associated with too many tents. As we enter. As we were making our way through that second year of consistent new arrivals, we need to help. We found ourselves in a situation where we, as a city, whether it was a municipal government or community partners were not able to meet the need. So we had some state funding come in to help with the opening of warming shelters and overnight shelters. The city opened up a middle school gymnasium to keep people safe and warm through cold cold days and nights. In April the expo opened up to replace that middle school gymnasium where 300 people currently reside. And then we moved into the homeless services center out on Riverside and the family shelter. On April 2, I mean on May 2, just last month. We, the HHS committee chaired by counselor for near opened up their committee meeting to be able to talk about the issues of housing and homelessness. We did it again the very next week on May 9. We talked about the city's willingness to step forward with leadership and the creation of an encampment crisis response team that was announced it was talked about, and the first meeting happened on May 31. A week later we announced this listening session. What we know, and the reason I'm going through this timeline is we have been doing our best to advocate through the channels that are available through state legislature, the governor's office congressional delegation, we have issues with if people can't work. That's not good for anyone. So it's federal law that says it's it's legal to be an asylum seeker we have federal law that says you can't work for some lengthy period of time, which makes it really difficult for folks. Last night, like I said, we reviewed the contract and approved a contract to create 180 new beds in Portland again. The city of Portland is not owning that facility the city of Portland will stand in as an an an operator, initially, with main immigrants rights coalition, learning how to take on that role of operator. Manager and I woke up early, and we went to Augusta for a 730 meetings specific to issues of general assistance and housing. We share a handout that we got this morning specifying state response to needs. It's in the, it's in the stacks. When you first walked in, and if you take time to really read through it you will see that the city's response and the state's response has been consistent and significant. I went on to a little bit of an anecdote I was walking with a friend of mine last week who lives in the West End, and I was talking with her about how difficult things are, and she said to me. It's really hard but necessary to show humility in the face of complex problems. And I sat with that for a second because so often what we get is the desire for a simple response. And it kind of sounds like this. Can't we just, can't we just use an office building. Can't we just designate a park. Can't we just designate a parking lot. Can't we just to solve the problem. I think that was the simple solution but it's not if it was, we would have figured it out Chicago Denver Minneapolis, San Francisco, LA Phoenix would have figured it out. We are looking everywhere. We want to figure it out and we want your help. When providing shelter. You need to provide staffing and services. And that's what the city of Portland does. There are frustrations. They run the spectrum. They run the spectrum. They run the spectrum. They run the spectrum. They run the spectrum. They run the spectrum. Portland, you're not doing enough. Portland, you're doing too much. So we take those in as your representatives elected to do this work and we do our best. I got an email from somebody just as I was leaving the office and it says, how does the city balance compassion for the homeless with fairness to citizens and city employees. So should a city limit the amount of services provided. I don't know the answers but I hope that city leaders and the city council will consider the needs of all Portland citizens. I thought that was, I thought that was thoughtful. Because it is really, really hard to balance the varying viewpoints and frustrations that come to us. There's a lot of conjecture about who these people are. All the people, who are they? Are they from Maine? Are they from Portland? Are they from out of state? We don't have all the data. There's no tracking mechanism that where we can say to you, we know exactly who's out there today and where they're from. The thing is we're just, we're not alone with this problem. And I don't think that's a satisfying thing for me to say, but it is the truth. We are not alone. We are looking for answers while we continue to actively respond. So Portland's commitments for decades, the city of Portland has run a municipal emergency shelter. That's Portland's unique commitment in the state of Maine and that commitment has grown annually through our municipal budget. The budget is our biggest policy document. The budget is where we budget for where we allocate taxpayer resources. To staff a shelter and to provide resources. So our municipal response has is and has been significant and growing. We make those decisions every year in our budget. As you all know, the new homeless services center with 208 emergency shelter beds opened this past spring. We have 146 beds at the family shelter. So between those two places we've got 354 budgeted staffed emergency shelter beds in the city of Portland. We recently added 300 beds, which brings us up to 654 municipal emergency shelter beds at the at the expo. It's temporary. What we're doing there is we're expanding staff resources and we're using per diem funds in our budget to be able to make that in the moment response. Like I said, 180 new beds. I hope will come online soon at 166 Riverside. We have so many issues that we need to respond to different populations with different needs. As we all know, folks can be categorized one way or another but within any category there's differentiation and there's lots of needs so we think about that every day. We're working with amazing community partner organizations that come to the table are out in the field and work with the city of Portland every day. So I want to call that out and thank community service providers who are doing work and helping people and helping the city. The thing is, as I said, we're doing and have done many things, but we do need help. We have made significant municipal commitments to emergency shelter. So I want to continue to the hammer the encampment crisis response team is a big deal, the city of Portland took leadership and brought in about 20 community partners, set it up under an emergency operations center response model. We see as a current response that will take time, but I think it's the right work it's making sure that people are at the table talking collaborating communicating sharing information so that we're not doing this work in silos. We will continue the work with the state and federal partners. In my view the city of Portland does a lot of great work. We are part of a solution. We are not the only solution. We need beds now. And like I said we welcome your help. I hope everybody had a chance to grab the handouts at the back of the room and take a look. We're looking forward to hearing from you I'm going to stop talking but before I do I just want to remind everybody here that we're elected officials. Our job is constituent engagement and outreach and we do that in many forms. We do it at council meetings we do it in committee meetings. I hold a monthly zoom where there's no agenda I'm just there to listen and to do my best to answer questions please join me. Your district counselor is always a resource for you so our at large counselors shoot an email ask for a phone call. That will happen again, we are your connection to city government. Our job is to make sure that constituents are heard and engaged so reach out and take advantage of the opportunities that we do have. And if if council meetings and committee meetings don't work for you ask for a meeting. That's that's always possible to set up a phone call so again thank you so much I'm going to hand the mic over to our chair of the HHS and public safety committee April four near. Thank you mayor. April four near me wants to just remind everybody that the exits and the restrooms are at the back of the room. If you're looking for those, and I'm going to use note so I'm going to step back because the old noodle is not quite as good as it used to be and remembering things, but I'm April four near I use she her pronouns I'm dinner or a citizen of the Navajo nation, and I'm the at large counselor, you can't hear me. I'll talk a little bit louder oh you have to talk right into this microphone. So, I am the chair of the health and human services and over the past couple of months around this really moving our agenda around to make sure that we're making space for this conversation. But what I just wanted to share tonight is, as we open this space and share our thoughts and concerns and ideas, opinions, I really just want to call back to the practice and my own experience with restorative conversations. When we engage in this practice we're really speaking from our perspectives, our lived experience, our worldview and listen to others as they're doing the same. I would definitely encourage you as we're gathered here to enter this space with curiosity. And I attended a conference a couple years ago about resilience and trauma and one of the things that stuck with me was this quote that says curiosity dissolves judgment. When we have curiosity we have room for compassion. And so this is why I think as we're having this conversation this evening and listening to each other. And listening with curiosity and not judgment. This is going to make some room for compassion and starting to see things from everyone else's perspectives. And so, really just thank you so much for coming here and making time for this conversation tonight. Some people were able to come in their cars some people had to get rides. Some people it was very easy to get here and for others it was not and so I just want to ask that we respect everybody's space and voice as we're here this evening but really thank you for your engagement, thank you for your voices, and thank you for your curiosity this evening and so I will hand it over to our city manager Daniel West. Thank you very much for coming this evening I know you've heard a lot of information and we're really looking forward to hearing from all of you. When I'm done speaking I would just ask that you all either form a line or come up one by one to this podium. We're going to limit the comments to three minutes and would look for your name and residents and obviously, you know, as Councilor Fornir just said, really looking for as respectful and mindful comments is, and we want to hear it all we do we want to hear from you here tonight. I don't really have a lot more to add to what the mayor and Councilor Fornir have said. I think the mayor walked through all of the specifics when I, when I think about this and I was writing down some thoughts on this earlier, I always am thinking about why are we here. I think we've done. And where are we going. Those three questions come to mind my mind all the time. And I think the mayor did a really great job of summarizing all of the things that we've done. I mean we're here to hear from all of you because I know there's still more that we can do. Where are we going. I think that it's that that is a question I asked myself a lot every day we're trying new things. We're trying to understand this issue and a variety of ways. And I don't think any of us have all of the answers and I know that I don't have all of the answers so I know that everyone understands that I'm really looking for ideas of ways creative ways to address this and and think about ways in which we can. We can figure it out together because it's taking taking us a long time to get to this place where we are right now, and it's going to take us a while I think, and patients to, to get to that next step which is really to find everybody who is in need of services and housing that which they need I mean that's really been the focus I think of the Council and definitely of staff. You know I'll be honest, I, I hate not knowing the answers. I really don't like that. My background is a is a lawyer and I know lawyers always think they know it all, but I don't think I know it all and I, but I really struggle with that not knowing the answer to the question. And I really look to be a problem solver I try to do that with my leadership team. We talk about this issue, almost every leadership meeting. We have a strategic leadership meeting that where we're meeting once a week talking about this and thinking about this and trying to find ways in which to address this because we're all focused on making sure that the city is a better place that it get that everybody's getting what they needed, including all of you in this room, as well as many people who couldn't be here tonight. But as the mayor said we need help, we really do we need help from our federal and our state partners which we've been trying to advocate for and have been getting good response in terms of funds. But we need other things we need operators to step up and help us with, you know, potential operation of a shelter sites we need creative ideas from all of you. We also really need that patients piece because it's going to take us a little while to get to this solutions. And I really hope that you'll continue to work with us and continue showing up. Please, if there are not enough handouts in the back I'll just add, please feel free to email me at city manager at Portland main gov and I will be happy to send those to you digitally. You can also look on our online agenda portal because we'll have access to them as well there. But now I want to hear from all of you and then we'll we'll circle back after about 90 minutes and try to answer any questions that come up. And please know that it after this I will be looking to follow up with the council and with all of you. And any questions that I'm unable to answer we don't have the answers to, we will make sure that we get those for you as best we can. And we really once again appreciate you all being here tonight and really look forward to hearing from all of you. And would ask that that you start commenting whenever the first person feels comfortable enough to get up to the mic. I have no experience with government. My name is Elizabeth Smith I live on Brackett Street in the west end of Portland right next to the Harbor views city park. If any of you people sitting behind the tables had someone defecating 25 feet from your house in front of your kitchen sink every day multiple times you would not enjoy that very much. It's been really hard living by an open sewer. It's really hard not being able to look out my windows for what I see. It's not easy having to live where you feel bad for the people that are there, but you're scared to death of them because when I ride my bike down through the park. I'm accosted with all kinds of profanity. Someone shoot up for the first time in my life with leaving six syringes there on the sidewalk in front of them. So there's a real element of fear. We have a homeless person living so close to us every time we come in and out of our place they're staring at us and we're thinking, are they going to go rob us, are they going to attack us, are they just curious. Do they really not know what it's like for someone to come and go I don't know so I don't have answers either. This park was a very happy park and during COVID got very popular. We see people down there all the time with dogs with children with daycares. And to see that decreasing as people express their fear, we're the taxpayers and yet we've lost this community resource to bond with each other and put an element of fear for our own safety out there. So I just asked that you think of the person who is dealing with this from a non governmental perspective, maybe make them live at least 100 feet from a resident so it's not right in our face or maybe have them move 10 feet back from a sidewalk. So that when their tent is right on the sidewalk with their chairs and trash hanging out. If you go by on your bike, and they think you're in their territory, maybe have some way of getting them to move back and allow people to have their own space. So this is a community center, I feel a lot more strongly I know four rivers of problem I know marginal ways of problem, but that's not where people in the community are living. So please take another look at that prioritization I ask. That's all I'll say for now thank you very much. I'm Wendy Chapkis I live in Parkside in Portland. And I am also a faculty member at the University of Southern Maine and I want to encourage the city council and city residents to be putting pressure on the University of Maine system to make an empty building on the Portland campus available for emergency services. As you all probably know, there is a law school building that currently has one occupant and at one office occupied out of seven floors. And when I read that in our city shelters, we are overwhelmingly at this point servicing asylum seeking families I'm very proud that we're doing that. I worry that what we are doing is pitting one vulnerable community against another and in this time of enhanced racism and xenophobia I worry that that's going to lead to conflicts between those two populations. So it seems to me that in an emergency like this it is absolutely obscene to have empty buildings sitting around with no one making use of them. The system funded by the funded by the state of Maine by our tax dollars is renting a $2 million building here in the old port instead of using the law school on the Portland campus. We have a resource that could be put to good use. And I contacted the chancellor's office and was told that they were worried that weren't enough bathrooms and kitchen facilities. And I keep thinking how many bathrooms and kitchen facilities are in the expo. How many bathrooms and kitchen facilities were there in the Sullivan gym and we turned that over during the COVID pandemic. That just seems like a really piss poor excuse to me. So I will continue to pressure from the inside in the on the University of Maine system on this, and I would really appreciate support from other people again on council on the campus workforce and in the community of Portland to please please reach out and ask the humane system to release that building so that we can make use of it. Thank you. I'm Peter for anti. I'm a Portland native. I'm a decorated USA force Vietnam bet I'm a USM graduate with a business management degree. I'm a real estate broker property manager. And I live it on Congress Street at the base of enjoy Hill I retired in my old neighborhood. We put portable classrooms outside of public schools. So why not portable emergency shelters outside a homeless center. The number posing is, there's two companies in Florida that make 16 by 16 emergency shelters. They used in refugees in in the world. They're used for flood victims. They can be one big 16 by 16 room or they can be sexualized with walls. You can plug and play you can order them with heat H back units. You can order an electricity. It's however you want to order them they build them. Two companies one, their shelter goes up in 10 minutes with three people comes apart in 10 minutes with three people. So they can be stored. You can set them up individually or as a multi unit configuration. Six of them will fit on a semi truck semi truck. I try to get a price from them late last week but it seems like they only deal with in the court with organizations governments that sort of thing so they didn't answer my question when I emailed unless the voicemail. So either the encampment response team needs to contact them, or somebody else. There's another company Florida bills exact same thing there's take 16 minutes for three people to put up or take down. I'm advocating that you put them on the grounds of the new homeless center on Riverside Street. I looked at Google map there seems to be plenty of land around there. You can power from the homeless center to them to power the age back in the lights. All the, all the, you can use them for temporary housing until you can build more places like Thomas Heights on Washington Avenue which has a lot of homeless in it. You can use the public works department to clear the ground to prep it for putting them up. Portland fire department electrical that would save money. I would give priority to the high rent displaced people first. All the services are at the homeless center meals laundry day room block of storage meetings without side providers shuttle servers clinic. There's 30 seconds sir. Okay, all the people currently serving spread out homeless homeless could concentrate the efforts in one place, and it's cheaper than a hotel. Lastly, per 2018 federal court ruling is legal to sleep outside on public property. If no adequate alternatives are available so the city needs to prioritize funds. Local state funds to buy these. So, that's my proposal and I'll leave this all with you for a further review. You're very welcome. My name is Louise Davis and my husband and I have lived right next to Harborview Park for quite a while. So you're going to hear some of what Elizabeth said, the first speaker. We've enjoyed the park ever since we've lived here. Mostly we look at our windows and watch our neighbors, they come here to walk their dogs to sit on one of the benches to have a heart to heart talk with their child to play frisbee to learn to bat a softball. Families come to have a picnic at one of the two picnic tables. And ever since COVID Bob and I have also had picnics there including our first Thanksgiving in 2020. People come with blankets to sunbathe. People come to see the sunset and the moon rise. The nursery school across the park. Take their children across the street and do fun games in the park. For us it's our backyard, since we have none, and it's been a pleasure to share it with others. In fact, it's where we've met neighbors for the first time. About a year and a half ago a homeless man set up headquarters on the edge of the park just feet from the perennial garden I started several years ago. I assume his diagnosis is schizophrenia because one summer evening my family was clearing the picnic table after our dinner carrying our dishes and bowls back into the condo. My son gathered up the paper napkins and carried them to the garbage can when this man began screaming and swearing and threatening my son. My son's a clinical psychologist, but this was not in an officer hospital. And it was in the dark so he reacted as anyone would he was terrified and ran away, called the police. They came and talked to the man and left. When my grandchildren came to visit us and got out of the car where our guests usually park, which is at the edge of the park. The man started screaming. My grandchildren freaked out. It's only gotten worse. Now when he sees my car or me coming down the street he stares at me. I park in my garage and step out and he is staring at me. He smokes, which is not allowed in the park. He urinates in the park. He stays overnight in the park except in bad weather, which is not allowed. The other day he watched my husband and me pull into our driveway. But out of the car he pulled down his pants and defecated. He leaves lots of trash behind. I made a fun colorful sign asking, please put your trash in the garbage can. He uprooted the sign and threw it down the hill. A man in a parks department pickup came and talked with him last week and gave him a garbage bag. He ran it and raved after the man left and didn't pick up anything. That's time, ma'am. The time has expired three minutes. Thank you. Thank you for listening to all of us. Pardon me. Hello, my name is Bob Middle. I'm a mostly retired lawyer. I also live next to Harborview Park. In the past, I used to walk through the park once a month, once every once a month, once every two weeks on a Saturday or a Sunday with a black plastic bag. And I pick up trash. It wasn't a lot, but there was a little. That was fine. That would be impossible now. You know, I don't know if you've heard of the person you've heard the first speaker talk about, and that you just heard talked about, and because of the half a dozen tents that are now lining the walkway down to commercial street. I used to walk down there to go to free range fish. I don't do that anymore. It's too creepy. I don't know who the people are. I know a little bit about the guy who lives across the street. Because people in the neighborhood know him. It seems to me the first thing that you might be thinking about doing. And I think the mayor adverted to this was finding out who everybody is. I'm guessing most of the people that I encounter and that are in the tents are not asylum seekers. They're people with mental illnesses. They probably shouldn't be here in the first place. But when am I closed. That was the end of because the state certainly, unless you and I and everybody else here forces it is not going to provide meaningful group homes. One last thing, it's a radical suggestion. People probably will not like it. But sort of riffing off of what Mr for anti said. There's two, I think, at least big football fields. Those football fields could be converted into army like facilities with large tents 30 seconds. Thank you. With social work, police, and other support facilities and people. I'm just thinking about doing that. Thank you. I'm Susanna San Felipe. I live on, I live in Libby town in Portland. It seems like there's no shortage of money in this state, but I don't know where the money is being spent. It seems like if we're not able to have the wealthy overly privileged people pay their fair share of taxes, then we need to know how to generate an income to protect and serve the people in Maine. That's a problem in the past and I'd like for all of us to ask ourselves how can we ensure that taxpayer land is not sold significantly below its value again. This is millions and millions of dollars of revenue that we've lost. I propose that a portion of any sale of any future taxpayer land goes directly to funding services for those without homes. I don't know if you would consider that. And from my seat, it appears that Portland is taking this on seemingly single-handedly. I don't know if this is true as the city engaged with conversations of other larger cities to understand their approach to addressing the housing crisis and homelessness. For instance, as far as I know, Augusta currently lacks a homeless shelter. Is this correct? Homeless doesn't Augusta does not have a homeless shelter. I think that Lewiston is contemplating the construction of a whopping 38 bed shelter. It seems like it would be valuable to learn from other cities experiences and explore collaborative solutions. Is Portland doing this? I don't know. And I'm also wondering if anybody has considered the possibility of subsidizing tiny houses for property owners who are willing to accommodate asylum seekers on their properties. This approach would not only facilitate the assimilation of asylum seekers into the community, but it would also provide the opportunity for property owners to retain the tiny homes after maybe a two or three year period. This initiative could foster community support and ensure that funds stay within the local economy. It really bothers me that we've been paying out-of-state hotel conglomerates millions of dollars renting them since 2020. It seems like let's keep the money local. And finally, I'm wondering if anyone has contacted their state legislatures urging them to sponsor a bill that would allow Portland to implement a local tax on lodging and dining. This would be billions of dollars. The revenue could be specifically earmarked for homeless services. And while I know that Portland State delegation has been working towards this goal for years, it's important to continue advocating for this option because they've actually never tried to earmark the funds to go to homeless services. I think that the Portland Tourism Board right now is attempting to earmark the funds to boost tourism. But I don't think I'm alone in thinking that the housing crisis is actually a crisis where I don't think that tourism right now is in crisis. I think it's an idea that appeals to you. Anybody in this room, you can contact your state representative or your house representative. If you don't know who they are, you can look them up at legislature dot main dot gov slash house or legislature dot main dot gov slash senate. Thanks for listening. I'm Peter and I'm from Burwick, Maine. Now, I'm not a great public speaker, so I might mess things up a little bit. My biggest concern is over the past few years, I deal with a lot of homeless people. I see them in the streets. I go to different homeless areas. Facilities where they feed the homeless. And it really breaks my heart. Because I, I follow this in the news. I have been following you people in the news for a couple of years. And to be honest with you, I get very confused. I'm going to be very honest because I get very confused with the way we're doing things in the state of Maine. Basically, on the one hand, now I'm not one to say, okay, you weren't born here, you don't pay taxes here. So why should we give you a free meal. I'm not one to say that, because I'm not against helping people. But what I am against is we have Americans who are right here in our own backyards. I listened to this lady talked about the person across the street. And we've all experienced that we've walked by those homeless shelters we know what they are. But our responsibility. Whether you're a politician or whether you're a public citizen or whatever you are, our responsibility is we've got people living in the streets who have paid taxes, they pay your paycheck. They have gone and fought for this country. And what do I hear in the news. The city of Portland is going to purchase a place as a shelter. And then the next thing you hear, and I have heard this a couple of weeks later, all of a sudden they're not going to buy that shelter. 30 seconds. And then guess what, they're going to close another shelter down. You have a responsibility to take care of the people here. And by the length of time that this problem has been going on, we shouldn't even be here tonight. The problem should be fixed. I'm talking about people. This is not 1776 America where we don't have computers and we can't sit here and say we don't know how to identify people we don't know how to do this and how to do that. You can look up information on any American and have it within seven minutes on your computer. Tell me why does it take six years, two years to solve a problem like getting a shelter open. You've got businesses down the street that have closed. The buildings are sitting there empty. The city is going to condemn some of them. Thank you sir. Thank you. Do it. Don't just talk about it. Do it. You want to open more shelters, get them open within two or three months. Do it. Hi everyone my name is Catherine I live on Reed Street in Portland. I'm going to try not to respond to what other people are saying and come with the earnest invitation to throw some brainstorm ideas out you but I just need to say that asylum seekers work here and pay taxes to and also deserve housing. Just had to get that off my chest. So yeah and in terms of earnest brainstorming the things that I and I know a lot of people in Portland are interested in seeing our solutions that actually move people into permanent housing the way that cities like Helsinki have worked to actually bring down the number of homeless people in their cities I'm sure you have researched this and know this. I hear a lot of talk about private public partnerships which is all well and good, but the solutions that are working in those cities that are actually bringing those numbers of homeless citizens down are cities that are investing in public public partnerships. I know that Portland is strapped for resources and I know it's very difficult, but I really would love for the city of Portland to consider ways in which we can utilize our public housing authority and our ability to support more public interventions in this crisis so for example, again, all ideas are good if we're helping people get housing so bear with me. So the city as the city of Portland purchase abandoned buildings purchase existing buildings as Mayor Snyder mentioned and then make them voucher exclusive. So you state funding that people get there's I know that the voucher lists are long but there are hundreds of people who have vouchers who are discriminated against in the private market and can't find housing so are there ways that we can help people use their vouchers in housing that the city of Portland owns and then that could be in theory again I haven't tried this idea but could be revenue neutral and help to actually maintain a housing stock and also keep the price of housing, even. I think a big problem that we're seeing is that people are homeless because they're getting evicted, and it's because they can't afford to pay the constantly increasing rents and so we need to be looking at solutions that are actually intervening in the costs of housing. And while it is laudable and incredible that you're being nimble in your emergency responses if we're not pairing that emergency response with some solutions that are not capitulating to businesses and landlords but are actually intervening in the cost of people's homes then we're going to continue to see this problem and I know you know that but I think it's worth being said. And the last thing I'd like to say is looking at solutions as some other folks talked about generating some revenue to go into these types of solutions so things like taxing second homes are unoccupied homes, limiting short term rentals or tax in the hell out of them, things that will also keep people in their homes like opportunities for tenants to purchase their buildings. I think there's a lot of legislative solutions and I know those are long term but I also know that you are all invested in those long term solutions in addition to the short term one so thank you for hosting this. Good evening. My name is Anne Lamere, and I actually come from South Portland Maine, but I work as a volunteer physician with the home team with milestone recovery. I'm fortunate to be working with the poor and homeless with Portland Public Health from 1994 to 2017. And it's been one of the most rich experiences of my life. I've met incredible people in those who are homeless. I would like us all to think for one moment and I'm sure we could name someone who is homeless or mentally ill and suffering from substance use disorder, or someone who's just playing down in their luck. Why did this happen to them. Are they getting all the help they need. Why or why not. I would like us all to think of the article that was written in Sunday's paper in insight, the solution of ending encampments shelter written by Mark Swan and Donna Yellen who have done this work for three decades. How did we get to the place where we are now. I vividly remember a conversation with Portland City Manager in 2015, who said his mandate was to bring businesses that would expand the tax base. The next city manager stated that the city was not in the business of taking care of people. There were enough social organizations to do that was his idea that Portland should be a destination where businesses would flourish and again, the tax base would expand. Since that time businesses did flourish. There was a building frenzy like we've never seen before in modern times. However, the housing created was not for the service employees, let alone the poor who are unhoused. People came from all over to purchase housing and the gentrification of Monjoy Hill and Bayside area, displaced the workers and those who had no homes, namely the mentally ill those using drugs and the immigrants. How did the city government let that happen. In certain countries people have to agree to inhabiting their homes for at least six months continuously in order to purchase anything in my interactions with those who have no homes. I can hear their dreams of a better life that desire to be with family. They're wished for respect. Isn't that all we want. Let us remember that the measure of our community is that everyone belongs, not being a destination. Everyone has a roof over their head and food warmth and most of all respect. I would like to thank you as the elected leaders of this community to use the same energy and initiatives to create all this as you used to create high end housing for the past five years. My name is Hervé Mwaku, Africa, from Wokinchasa, RDC. Yeah, like you say, my name is Hervé Mwaku. I'm happy to be here today. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak. I'm from the Ioswa-Sulm Circle and my friend sitting there, the Ioswa-Sulm Circle. We live everything beyond and travel to the United States of America with hope of better life. Starting over is not hazy and take time, energy, courage and help to adjust to a new place, language, climate, culture. For a couple of months and we've been sleeping outside in the cold and we don't have a place to sleep. We've been sleeping in the church and from tomorrow we have to vacate the place so we don't know where we're going to sleep tomorrow. Ioswa-Sulm Circle as myself and immigrants like myself. We have left our home to escape violence and war. The land and men in America have opened a door to people like me. In turn, we want to contribute to the economic, to pay tax, to rents and buy home. Take care of our family and serve the community. If you work hard and employ a health job, that immigrant can fruitness. We really need your support, please. We've been sleeping out. Please, we need your support for the housing. And thanks again for giving us this opportunity to speak. My name is Shelby Arnold. I use they, them pronouns. I'm 37, I'm white and disabled and I had a brush with homelessness in 2021. And it's not lost on me that we're having this meeting on the same day that we're having a vote about rent control restrictions. I can't think of a more stark example of this like Dickensian London class divide situation that we've been like dealing with. So, yeah, I became disabled. 2018 sudden virus that paralyzed my shoulders, my arms only work from the elbows down. And I can't work and I'm waiting for disability and, you know, I, it's not being able to work. I have no income, but I'm also. Don't have any way to make an income. I, two years ago I was had just really run out of savings I was living in a camper my therapist said, the only thing left for you is the shelter ended up staying in a those off season motels. And, you know, people would call me a success story because I was able to find an apartment my family is supporting me. But I'm just here to speak on behalf of the people who are unhoused who are dealing with this system that is incredibly broken the amount of paperwork and hoops that you have to jump through to get anything. Any kind of assistance doesn't matter what you're asking for. If you forget a piece of paper if they didn't tell you about a piece of paper that you didn't bring, and you didn't know, you're denied for a month and your landlord is sitting there asking for the rent. I, you know, was doing everything right and still being faced with homelessness main care has been a great resource it's covered my medical situation, but there's nothing for people who are disabled or unable to work to find you know get housing support. So, I just, you know, I encourage people to look at housing first initiatives and those examples, where there are not hoops to jump through where you just can get stable before you are asked to do any other programs or anything like that. Thank you. Housing first saves money for society. It's proven to save more than $20 to $30,000 per person per year. And I also echo people in talking about ideas such as empty buildings and tiny house measures. So, thank you. My name is Jim divine. I live in an apartment today on Gilman Street in Portland, and I'm an advocate with homeless for justice out of Preble Street. And by definition, advocates with homeless for justice have all experienced homelessness. And I've done that. Many times. I've stayed at Arch Street shelter I stayed at Hope Haven in Lewiston same months in Lewiston and Alfred in out in New York kind of shelter in Alfred so I've been around a few times. And I didn't like get born being homeless. Most of my life I was a mass electrician or contractor, I was able to provide housing for myself to those means. But it was my struggle with alcoholism that causing experience homelessness, which I haven't had a drink since 2008 which makes me happy but I mean that's what I don't always say that looking for applause but I will take the applause, but that's why I'm a strong advocate for recovery services for people who are suffering with substance use disorder, which is what technically what I was suffering from. So anyhow, you know, I just break I get no practical suggestions for you people. And I want to say it's disturbing me see a broad branch of last year, the homeless community, because of one or two, because of a few individuals that do some negative, disturbing things, you know, people just trying to resist. People are camping out, because they like to have whatever property you have be their own, not be controlled circumstance, but you know, I understand master some controls, and I certainly would approve any campsite area be made available that was being respectfully monitored for safety reasons. And I'm certainly a strong supporter of the housing first models. I was crying when I'm talking, because there's a great strategy so it was such a hassle. I would I would prove, but you know, I'll be spending some time at Houston Commons tomorrow that was named after my old friend, Steve Houston. Certainly 100 funds for housing first model. Emergency shelter is necessary. And I like that you have a university making empty space available I certainly strong support that I think I'm done. Thanks a lot. Hi everyone, my name is Anna. I'm the chair of the Jim divine fan club so see me after about that. I've been on Anderson Street and East Bayside. I spent the last three years working in a hand type anti homelessness and anti property in our city through various roles at nonprofits, some of which embedded me deeply in Bayside, deeply in the hotels and South Portland that we're helping serve asylum seekers and other homeless folks, as well as out of fiction court, every other Tuesday in Portland district court. I've seen a lot through all of that but what I've seen the most is how we continue to fall short of truly serving our neighbors in need. I just wanted to start by highlighting who this conversation tonight is really about. Personally I don't believe this conversation is about homeowners or condo owners or anybody with property to their name, including folks who are fortunate, fortunate enough to have leases in their name with rent they can afford without a subsidy. It's not about businesses or parks or trash or tourists or even needles, and it's not about behavior or violence or drugs it's about people, and it's about our community. If you have come here tonight, tonight, with the privilege of having somewhere to call home with the intention of speaking ill on people who do not have that I invite you to think again. To my city council I've watched you for the last three years. I've watched you take some step forward and some setback. That's okay that's unfortunately what progress is. But tonight I'm here to implore you to do what is right to focus on what our neighbors in need need, which is housing stability, the decriminalization of homelessness in our city. The decriminalization of camping on public land and for our city to provide tangible solutions and trauma informed care, and to not do any more harm. We must accept the harm that we have done, such as clearing the Bayside trail trail encampment and reckon with the harmful words that I'm sure are going to be spoken here tonight. I would not allow a narrative that paints people experiencing homelessness as people who do not have inherent worth in dignity to continue to shape how we move forward with serving those people's needs. And I would just implore us to look beyond local providers to people who have experienced homelessness, or are experiencing homelessness, many providers never have never experienced that including myself, and I try to hold that all at all times. 30 seconds. That's all I have to say. Hello, my name is Mary cook I work at the opportunity Alliance and the director of the emergency rental assistance program and the path program which works with those experienced unsheltered homelessness. I do not work in Portland I unfortunately cannot afford to live in Portland. Thank you to the Council for holding this listening session. I want to speak first the theme I often hear when people speak about this issue. I'm not connected to those experience and homelessness. The same message that I often hear is that it's an individual failure, or that they have done something to lead to their lead to their situation. And that is an implication that a person is choosing to live unsheltered. This is a very harmful view to take in my 12 years of serving those experienced homelessness I've never met one person who has not wanted to be in housing. The harms of generational poverty racism and xenophobia are vast and I do not have enough time to speak to all of the complex outcomes of those harms on the individual and the community. What we do need to recognize is that acknowledging these traumas that people have and continue experience due to our broken system that is our responsibility as a state service providers and municipalities to make to make meaningful changes to fix the system, to provide shelter and housing that meets the needs of the victims of this broken system. It is not a one size fit all for shelter. So when people don't utilize shelter, we need to stop and ask ourselves, why are they not using this space, why is this space not fitting their needs and why do they not feel safe in that space to be a care provider in this work. We are witnessing daily people who have known for years die in the streets. We are witnessing daily panic of families with children becoming unhoused and only being able to be only being able to offer them a tent. We know that with the emergency rental systems program, ending that close to 900 people across the state are going to become unhoused. We know that there's the decommissioning of the Expo, and there's so many other things are coming up that we don't have definitive plans for. In the work of the city and city staff implementing the campus crisis response team over the past couple weeks. I'm grateful that the city is joining the necessary work to better meet the needs of those who are forced to live outside due to our state's insufficient access to shelter and housing. We do continue to the city to recognize that approaching them sheltered communities. One site at a time is not a sustainable model. We will inevitably be neglecting other encampments and not meeting their needs and we will see similar issues come up that we saw at Bayside trail. We also have a desperate need for additional resources to be made available to this effort with staff that is dedicated our outreach workers are maxed out we we are in the streets daily and there's not something that's going to happen just by shifting the work we need to have more resources towards this issue. I know there are successes with housing I know there are efforts actively happening to put housing and shelter in place, and I continue to celebrate these things. We also hold that each success of a housing placement I know that there's probably an eviction that was tied to that housing placement. We as a community to stay based in reality and how we approach this work and find solutions presently even with these efforts coming online is not enough to solve the crisis. It does not benefit us as a community and especially those that are experiencing unsheltered homelessness to make it sound better than what it is. We expect people to wait for safe shelter and housing. If we continue to accept that it's okay for people to sleep outside, we are collectively losing our humanity. And I just implore you all to continue to find solutions and continue to join and the work towards this. Thank you. Hi, my name is Alex, I live on Montgomery Street in Portland. I live near government park, which I use pretty frequently with my kids. I just noticed that there have been more unhoused people using the park, which I've never had any issues with, but I know that there are well, they're just a lot of neighborhood kids that use that park often without parents. And I guess my question for everyone might be is what is a good thing to do to ensure the safety of our neighborhood kids. I also respect the people that are also using the park. Just because sometimes people are undressing and sleeping and doing other things which is totally understandable. But I just when I'm there kind of watching out for the other kids but I don't know if obviously kids are pretty young they don't necessarily know what they should be looking out for so that's kind of it just going to alert people to that as a consideration and some of these questions. Thank you. Hi, Bill Higgins homeless. I can see for all national coalition with homeless national low income housing coalition and public resident on tons on high street. So please take the time to before the next next area is swept to let that engagement program work. There was not enough time between the one the last one when it was thought to be informed, and then all the people were swept out of a base side. So I think it's time to let's be what's all the different agencies work and try to find people. The next item is the city changed its inclusion zoning from 10% to 20% recently. I'm not sure how many years ago, but the 20% for the inclusion zoning is for workforce housing. The city changed that that includes the zoning where half of that 20 would be for affordable housing, and the other half would be for workforce so it would encourage more housing for people at 60% of their very immediate income or less. That's the key of housing right now is that's what's people to have vouchers. They don't have vouchers to get into housing, but they can't find a place to rent at that late those rents. So we need to increase production of those properties. Now, in the near future, the two sides of Franklin arterial rejoin, and there is some land that's going to be available. So I think when that's completed plan on allocating that land for affordable housing similar to what was done for Phoenix blasts on on Franklin Street, currently, it was like 99 year lease that it can only be used by for affordable housing for those. And that will help us to build more. The state has some funds coming out in this year's budget that for to build affordable housing so that may be something that that can be planned down the road. I know charm is building two more properties behind behind the mercy hospital project. There's two projects that are being built. Now, there's they just are broke ground on and Phoenix blast is almost completed. So, look into trying to encouraging more. Hi everyone, my name is Samson's bad for I live in district one. And I had something written but I'm just going to kind of tell a little story in November and December of last year I housed someone who was unhoused. She was a trans woman shit schizophrenia. And I was trying to help her navigate the system of trying to find housing. She had a voucher, she's approved. But given her mental health, and also she had Lyme disease. She couldn't work. So her only income was on disability and it's never experienced a unhoused situation or even housing insecurity, and who's someone who has all the resources to try and navigate a really difficult system. I was having a terrible time trying to figure out how to find this person a place to live. And every single road that I turned down. I mean I talked to so many different social workers like there was just nothing available and nothing I could do. It was so frustrating to have a system that is supposed to help these people and really have so many dead ends. And so I think one thing to think about is, we really have to figure out how the system is navigated and how to make it easier for people who are already experiencing so many mental health issues, physical disabilities, and are are panicked because one of the most stressful things you can do your nervous system is not have shelter, not have a home. And then as a trans person, you know she was like I, I'm not going to go to a shelter, it's not safe for me to be there. And trans people statistically are more likely to be homeless than the general population so we have a real, real crisis there in our community so I just want to echo what some other folks have said. I know that there is a surplus of funds that the state has that I really wish we could use and I would just hope that you all could be our advocates and really, really demand that Janet Mills gives us some funds to buy some housing that we don't have right now because we just don't have what we don't have. So, if there's a way to, to buy some housing so that the city can control how much that costs. I think that would make a huge difference because as we see like landlords don't want to lower their rent right now they want to make it as high as possible. And people like it has been said before people aren't accepting vouchers are being discriminated against. And so I think the best way that we can go is is finding other land and housing that already exists, because it takes a long time to build that housing. Then we can fill that with people who have vouchers and hopefully get other folks and vouchers so that they can also use those. Thank you. I'm George Bolster. I live in the Riverton neighborhood. And I spent last night at the city council meeting. And I realized there's something really important that I left out last night. And that was to say thank you for all of the hard work that you guys put in seemingly every day. And addressing the overall picture of homelessness. We really appreciate it. I remember me from a week ago I'm Harley Lewin. I live on the West End across the street from Harborview Park, and I was assaulted there. You heard several people talk about that particular park. I have several suggestions and then I'm off. I just wanted to finish what I started three two weeks ago. And one, I think it's well within. Let me back up. I'm sorry. I think you have two different issues here for a short term, and then long term, when you talk about housing and building and law changes and money and politics, and etc. All of that takes time. The question that seems to me that you got a face is, what do you do in the meantime, what are you going to do with the people that need the housing that are homeless. There are various reasons and there is no one constituency I've caught. I've run into the fellow we call the wizard who scares everybody as well. He's not so bad but the 11 tents that are there now are frightening, and people are changing their habits, they're living their styles, whether or not you are sympathetic. So I suggest to you that on a short term basis, perhaps you could talk to the people from FEMA. They are able to come in during a crisis, establish housing, establish temporary quarters, establish medical systems. There's plenty of free land here we kind of gentlemen and we could go off for an acre. I think that you need to address the short term issue before you'll ever get to the long term solutions. Thank you very much and I also appreciate the fact that you're here and we're able to talk. My name is Taylor cray I live in Westbrook but I'm very, very fortunate to work in the Bayside community. And I wasn't going to speak tonight because I don't necessarily think that my voice is the most important one here but there is something that I want to say about this conversation that we're having tonight which I think is a really good space for us to share ideas. But it's becoming more and more clear to me as the night goes on that there's a very important group of people that are not here, because this space is not super accessible to them, and that's a lot of the folks who are living in the encampments outside right now. I'm not necessarily saying that they want to be here. What I do want to suggest is that maybe we have a series of smaller listening sessions in more accessible locations, maybe in Bayside, maybe out near for river somewhere where folks could feel like they could be in community in a safe space, because this is a little nerve wracking even for me and I, I like public speaking. I wanted to say thank you for this. And let's consider the folks who aren't here who are a very, very important part of this conversation, who exist in community, wherever they are, and let's provide what resources we can to the folks that are going to have to live outside while we try to figure out alternative shelter options for them. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Carol way and I'm not from Portland either I live in steep falls. However, I do an outreach every week. Two mornings a week. I'm serving coffee and socks. And God knows what else, whatever else they need on a corner down on commercial street. I have sat where each of you are sitting now as a counselor in a different town, many years ago. So I understand the plight you're going through. I get it. But what I don't understand is why there isn't more help, more collaboration. The homeless issue is not ever going to go away until we address the mental health issue. As I stand on the street corner, just this morning. I had it out with one of the guys Craig, because he was just obnoxious. And he got booted off the corner for the morning, but he'll be back on Friday. He's sober. He just has mental health issues. So before we judge people that are sleeping on the cobblestones or an attempt. I think that maybe we should go and introduce ourselves to them, offer them a coffee, share a sandwich, get to know who they are, because there isn't anybody that wakes up one day and says, I want to be an addict. I want to be an alcoholic. I want to be homeless. I want to sleep on the cobblestones in the city of Portland and get soaking wet and have to dry out in the sun. I want to have people walk around me and stare at me like I'm an anomaly. They want respect. Housing vouchers. There's a number of them that have them, but they can't get housing because it's not available. And my question is why. This isn't a local problem. This isn't a state problem. This is a problem that needs to be unified between local state and the federal government. Am high and met mental health institutions is not the answer. They were closed down in 1996, because of a dissent decree because of the abuse that went on in the state hospitals. And then these folks were sent out to the street to fend for themselves. You can't. How do you do that? You end up homeless. You end up in somebody's backyard defecating in their driveway or wherever, because you're not all there because you need counseling. You need help and 30 days in a detox. I'm sorry. That's not cotton it when you be in released back to the streets to the same place that you came from. I hear the bell. I'll end that for now. Thank you. Hi, my name is Dick Spencer and I live on the West end on Bowdoin Street. And what what you're listening to and what we're hearing is a national crisis and a state crisis. And really Portland is being asked to solve the problems that the legislature and the federal government are ignoring and have ignored for 40 years, since I was in the state legislature. And I think you're all the things that you're doing are in the right direction. But I think you're also faced with a, as several speakers have said, a very short term crisis because I don't know if ever the federal government will address these issues. But until they do this housing problems won't be solved. In the short term, I think you're in a position where you, you actually have to start thinking about triaging temporary short term solutions. And one of those is where and how do you provide, if we're going to be faced with people having to live in encampments, not having access to housing. How do you, how do you deal with that in a way that is fair to those people provides them with locations that have sanitation with locations that have access to transportation and services. And yet, at the same time, honor the, the years that Portland has put into building up a park system that serves the whole community. And I think you almost have to do something like the state river study, where you find the, the, in the short term you find the spaces that could be available for those kinds of temporary shelters, provide them provide services there. And, and do it in a way that allows the park system to still be used by the people who are housed and are more fortunate. And because I think part of what makes Portland, the place that it has pride itself in being is available parks space for people to as a number of speakers have mentioned for their children to play for them to spend their time outdoors. That's really all I have to say. Thank you so much for all the time and effort that you're all putting into this. You know, it shouldn't be just your problem. It should be the state's problem it should be the federal government's problem. My name is Joe coin and I can just say I just want you know I'm here to echo what the previous speaker just said I. First of all I'd like to thank you for having this session tonight and I hope maybe there will be more sessions and thank you for all the work that you've been doing. I've communicated with many of you so you know, you know how I feel about this. I do think that the previous speaker and others have talked about the difference between the immediate problem of needing ruse over many people's heads whether they're asylum seekers or the or the unhoused and the long range problem that we're faced with, you know it's this is all complex I don't need to tell you that the root causes are complex and it's, and the solutions are going to be long time coming but in the meantime. We have an immediate problem, whether it's putting up the kind of temporary buildings that we have outside our schools as has been suggested, or building tiny houses, or having managed encampments not only here in Portland but helping surrounding communities to do the same. I don't have any money about that. Whatever we do, we need to soon find a way to provide housing of some kind for the people who are in our parks on our street corners. It is, it is a long range problem but we have to do the triage now. And so, I hope that you will find a way to do that and I agree that it's not just Portland's problem the state and the federal state and federal money should be coming to as much more of it. But somehow we we can't, we can't continue it's not good for the, for the people living in intense to be doing that. That's no way to live. So I hope that you'll look first at the immediate problem. And don't lose sight of the long term problem but take care of find some solutions quickly to get rules over people's heads. Somehow, thank you. Hi, my name is Taylor Faye. I am our resident of Libby town. I'm also a social worker that works here in in town, but I'm actually coming here to write out a speak from the perspective of my newer newer ish identity and really important identity as a mom. So there's been a lot of narratives shared about tonight and and recently about people's fear in response to witnessing other humans just trying to survive. And I just wanted to say that my biggest fear is that is that we as a community are not going to react in a way that centers humanity and dignity of our of our neighbors, because you don't have to have to own a home or have a lease to be considered someone's neighbor. If someone's living in a park and you live near that park that person is your neighbor. And kids are really observant, and they pick up a lot of the things that are going on around them and I think that we as a community have a huge opportunity to make a choice that shows and teaches our children. How to how to be a neighbor, and how to care for each other. So I want to just give my quick support to some of the ideas that were already thrown out about some quick, quick responses with with supporting people decriminalizing camping and housing housing first programs they work. And I just would ask, you know, all of you and all of you to, to just think about what the choices that we're making and how we're talking about this is going to impact the kids watching us. And most importantly, the people that are that are trying to survive. So thank you. Hello, my name is Adelaide Lyle I'm a resident of the West End. First, I just want to agree with the person before me. And I mostly just wanted to really push back against policing as being a solution to houselessness. Like the person before me I've been hearing a lot of discussion, especially in my community in the West End about policing and the use of police in handling people who are living in in campments in our community. And I just, my perception of safety is much more about taking care of our community and making sure that people have housing and there's a lot of solutions to, to creating more housing. But it's clear based on what people working in the community have said that we just simply don't have enough housing at the moment in Portland and that housing isn't affordable in Portland. And so to then bring in police as a solution to that, to me really makes no sense and it's just violent against people who are our neighbors and our community members. So I just wanted to put a voice of support in for more affordable housing, more affordable health care, and really being caring about the people around us. Moving forward here, East End, and this will be the exact opposite. So this is the challenge that you guys have of finding a solution. I'll say my struggle is, you know, last year when the state went ahead and reevaluated property, my taxes. When almost $1,000 a month my property taxes and sadly voting for the school budget today. I'm paying over $1,000 a month in property taxes. And I mean, I'm just a, I'm a blue collar guy. And I think that the struggle that I'm having is, is, you know, you have a definite problem. There's no doubt about it. And, you know, I feel bad for Jim, and I feel bad for a lot of the people out there experiencing homelessness, but in my house within the last couple of years. If I don't nail down the stuff that is in my driveway or nail down the stuff that is in my yard, it is gone. I have a surveillance system, you know, we get the, you know, we get the, the shot of the people doing this, but the crime, the in town crime is, is really it's, it's, it's at a very high level. So, along the lines is, I think what happens is, is we really need to pay attention to, you know, everybody. And, you know, I certainly pay attention. I mean, you're living in, in town, Poland. We run into homelessness all the time. I'm constantly, you know, picking guys up calling milestone to have them come down and pick guys up in the, in the winter, but it's, it's a real problem. But my, you know, I'll give you another example. I yelled at my daughter on Sunday because one of the doors wasn't locked. And I mean, within the last couple of years, if you don't nail stuff down or lock your doors, you know, God only knows what's going to happen. Last summer, we bought an electric bike with a charger. Somebody broke into our basement took the bike and the charger. It was a, it's actually a feel good story because my brother walking down Congress Street recognized the bike. So we were able to kind of converge on the area down by base side. And thank God we had Officer Sprague. I want to give a shout out to Officer Sprague, along with the, the council here, especially Mayor Snyder, but 30 seconds. What's happening here is, is everybody is alone now. Okay. I'm a resident. I mean, I'm pretty much a lifelong resident of the East End of Poland. And I feel alone there. We got homeless people are alone. My neighbors are alone. They call me to let me know that, you know, somebody's trying to get in their door. And I mean, it's, it's a real problem and why I got up here is we opened up the state of the art shelter on our Riverside Street simultaneously we closed the homeless shelter on Oxford Street. And now we're at, I mean, thank God the state's kicking in the money to build this thing out on Riverside Industrial Parkway but guess what, I mean, you got people out there. You know, we're just moving the problem and I think sadly what's happened now is, is we have taken a problem that encompassed a few city blocks. And just by cancer happened to be a condo building go up. And I mean really, I mean, for me, I would ask the guy that developed the chestnut street loss or condos and ask him what, how did he do it. How did he turn basically what was a war zone into basically, I mean, a high end condo neighborhood. I mean, literally overnight. Okay. Yeah, thank you. And thank you council. I know it's a hard job. And I mean, we're all in this together we want a solution but thank you. My name is Mallory Marshall I live in the West End on the Western prom. And I've lived in Portland for over 50 years. My first job was shining shoes at Joe's smoke shop to get to get enough money together to find a rent in Portland and I did. I found a corrugated building behind Jay's Oyster bar for $30 a month. It was easier than to find an affordable place to live. What I want to do is to thank all of my neighbors back here. And all of you, some of you are our neighbors, but to ask all of you to think tonight as you're going home, how big is the peninsula of Portland. It's really tiny. I've lived on in the on the peninsula for a long time, not much most of the time without a car. And what I think is that we are all stressed in this tiny peninsula. And we're handling a problem that is much bigger than the square footage of where all of us are residing. We live in a huge state. We have many towns below us York, Kenny bunk, etc. We have Samford, and we go all the way up all the way to the Canadian border. And I don't think that the peninsula of Portland main can handle the problem. Problems that we have been talking about here tonight. Um, I am very glad to have the police and the fire department we have here in Portland, where I live, I see them showing up and helping people, not arresting people or harassing people or any of that I don't see any of that. And I want to thank the police that are here tonight. The night before last, we had six squad cars, three fire engines and two ambulances up in the Western prom dealing with a, you know, a drug crisis. 30 seconds. And I, I just think we have to, we have to look at how much of our peninsula is taken up with mercy hospital. Main medical center schools, and the Catholic church and other nonprofits that are operating all over the city. And I'm glad to have them as neighbors too. But we don't have a lot of room to build more affordable housing on this peninsula. We just don't. We apparently we can build all these condos and hotels. But we're going to have to expand out and make this a state problem, not just a Portland main problem. And all of you are working hard. We have wonderful new neighbors from West Africa, East Africa, all over the place. We're happy to have them, but we're not going to be able to house, educate and treat every single person on this peninsula anymore. That's why I have to say thank you. Hi, my name is Eric Schilling, and I live over on near Western prom. I just kind of wanted to give a little spiel today that I think that it's not so much a question about the number of resources that are available but how they are used. I think that the way that the city looks today is massive. We do the part of the urban renewal projects that were done in the 1950s to remove affordable housing and public transportation infrastructure and just general necessities for life that people rely on, and that the consequences of that are still being dealt with today. In my family, we were very housing and secure growing up. We were couch surfing for a number of years, and the only reason why we were able to keep a roof over our heads was because we had a social support network of friends and families to rely on, and not everyone has that and the people living out in intent shouldn't be subjected just to that. So I really hope that you guys do give a short term solution shelters their stop gap, but I really hope that you guys don't see that as a final solution. Affordable housing is not just a question of how much land you have, or the amount of population they have. It's about how those resources are allocated within the community. Urban planners are going to be able to tell you 10 times more than I'm going to be able to about your specific situation here. But I know you guys can only do so much of what the voters tell you to do, but there's a lot of great guides out there. Look at Amsterdam's model for how to eliminate homelessness and increase public transportation. Look at Madrid, look at Barcelona. There's a bunch of really great case studies out there. I hope you guys don't just let your vision to only shelters. Thank you very much. Not sure I'm allowed to comment but I'm here as a yes to make a very quick comment. My name is Omar Obalde employed by those sitting behind me supervised by those sitting in front of me. So for being here. This is really a huge problem how do we know it is I look around and I can count really a very tiny minority of the minority in the room. People who look like me. I don't see the people of color here commenting a lot about the homelessness issues so that tells me how huge this issue is here in Portland. One thing that I have heard repeatedly is empathy, empathy, empathy, while the leaders sit here and listen and hear and take notes and try to, you know, soak always in. Our responsibility as a community is that empathy part of it, because homelessness does not just come from somebody leaving their house and going, choosing to be in the streets, mental health. Number one that probably 99.9% of us here in this room deal with, we all have some kind of mental health challenges. So that is a priority should be a priority. Number two, empathy do not dehumanize those you'll find on the streets have been in Portland for two months. I've had lunches probably at least nine or 12 times 12 times with people who are sitting on the streets. The last one was today in front of the CVS pharmacy on Congress at Congress Street. When you feed someone. I don't think they will come back and break into your house. Those who are thinking that people stealing your bikes breaking into your homes or the homeless homeless people and house people. Let's avoid the assumptions. It could be anybody else. So please, empathy, empathy, empathy, that is my message tonight thank you very much. My name is Frank San Felipe my spouse spoke earlier, and thank you so much for being here. I've been a mental health worker. Since their early 90s. I've had the privilege of working with pious and Regina as well. And I just wanted to say, reiterate what Susanna said earlier about speaking to our, our federal legislators. The federal government has abandoned us. So we're out here doing other people spoke about this we're doing this alone. So, so if we can collaborate more with the federal government. I really appreciate that. And I'm just saying I'm saying this to everyone here. So, again, thank you for holding the session. And that's it. Thanks. My name is Katie Finch. I live in Portland. And I'm a social worker. And I love social workers. And I know some of you are social workers on the council. And I don't need to repeat all the things that everyone said, but I do, I know that there was an ask for suggestions. And there's been lots of comments about housing first. And I think housing first is, and I have seen that housing first is a true answer. And I would look to not just over the pond but look to Provo, Utah, and look what they have done, because it's quite impressive. But I also just want to acknowledge that it's not just housing, it's supported housing. I have lots of clients who don't want to live in Portland. They want to live in Westbrook. They want to live in South Portland, they would love to live in Wyndham. They cannot figure out the system. And so they are one of my 25 clients that I try and meet with and navigate the system with and I successfully can do that sometimes. I want you to really look at how to invest in the case workers in the outreach workers, because those are the people who will walk into the campsites, and will not be frightened, and we'll know how to deescalate people, and we'll know how to hustle the system and make it happen. So I'd please ask you to look at the social workers, look at the case workers and invest in them as much as the buildings themselves. Thank you. Hi, my name is David Smith. I live in the West End. I live next to, thank you. I live next to Harborview Park, and I do not walk. When I leave my house, I don't feel safe. That's my microcosm of this problem. I hear all the other statements. I respect them very much, but as an individual, my environment has degraded substantially. I do not feel safe stepping out of my own garage. I have somebody sitting there watching me like a hawk. It's very unsettling. And I'm talking like 20 or 30 feet away. This is not like you over yonder. It's, you know, as close as you folks are to me now. I'm a microcosm. Thanks. Sir, is there anyone else who wants to come up to the mic? We're getting close to the end of the listening session portion. Hi, my name is Chris Corson. I live in Scarborough, Maine. I wasn't planning to say much of anything today. But I just had to. You know, I know, I think Dr. Lemire was here earlier and spoke about history and history is very important, I think, especially as we sit here, knowing that, you know, probably 30 years ago there was a program called the new neighbors project that came here, which gave us opportunities for $500 down to get their own place in Portland, had to stay there for X amount of years and be able to have a place where your family could be. Unfortunately, that program when we talk about homelessness here or fair rent or things of that nature, not by the wrong wrongdoing but just by being creative when you have two or three people that own 1500 units. They aren't defined housing, and that's no fault of their own. They went through where they had to go to. But when you own 1520% of the property in Portland, it makes it very challenging, unless city officials any which way could say well, every 100 units you have at least make some for elderly or disadvantaged for disabled for veterans for immigrants for refugees whatnot, but that's where we are. I think there are solutions that have been put forth to the city council blender raised suggestions of tiny homes five years ago. I suggested a program like the lead program that worked with officials we present to city council. Nothing happened there. So there have been things put forth with with with very little action, and folks have already spoken about the beautiful town that we live in and it is. There has to be a time and a place when we talk about equity of how many more hotels do we need. There's nothing wrong with capitalism and there's nothing wrong with rich people I'm not a rich person. I think when we look at, you know, looking at immigrant refugees as folks that aren't working or can't work, you know, the ones that I know can outwork me times three. And for the community to understand that there are things in place like six months to wait before you can work. And here is sometimes of court things that people can't get in front of a judge so I think community education is a big part and to not fault people that there are people in this room that were probably poor through their trades through their creativity and are rich people they're not bad people 30 seconds. People who are in this room that are have been a recovery that have changed their lives been those people that you've talked about have done great things recovery does work and define ways in the business community that we could give people opportunities maybe through tax breaks for big business to hire people in recovery, the higher people who are immigrant refugee to hire elderly people to hire people that have different sorts of disabilities. There are many different ways we could do it. And nothing's really changed with it and you all inherited a big problem and I want to say from looking from afar. The people that were here 510 years before it didn't help your situation much by constantly saying, we can't take any more people but with no creativity. So I'm comfortable, very much in Miss West and her leadership. I do fault past leadership for just kicking it down the can to all of you, which I think is unfair. And I wish you the best and I don't think we should hate different groups of people here in this community if they're wealthy if they're a person of color if they're for someone in recovery. We welcome everyone. And, and I wish you the best for this because you have a great city, and you have great people, and I want the best for the city, and I want the best of the people in this room. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Deborah, Nate here, and I'm a resident of Portland. I'm going to throw out a suggestion. The, you probably most everyone here knows about the vertical growth gardening house in Westbrook. Going up. Great idea. I think they employ primarily people with autism. I believe it's autistic people. They are going to be doing all the work of that greenhouse. I wonder why Portland can't be creative with putting together some kind of projects such as that, that you employ, give the opportunity to the homeless, or the immigrants to work there, you know, or something like that. Take the fruit of the labors that becomes their food, take half of it and give it to schools and hospitals. It could be a non nonprofit, but I just wonder what why we can't do something creative that not only provides them shelter, but also dignity and respect of having a job to go to on a regular basis making a contribution. I recognize that not everyone on the streets is capable. And with their mental health issues may not be able to pull down a job. But let's think about the large numbers of them that are out there that could. And at least that could be an effort and something that we're doing that's positive. Thank you. Thank you. I think we have time for one more speaker. Wow. No pressure. My name is Claire loxter camp. I live in Easteering. I am a physician assistant, I have the honor and privilege of caring for a lot of patients who are either actively unsheltered or who are Perry homeless. Throughout my training I got to experience the wonderful institution that is Boston healthcare for the homeless out of Boston. We have a lot of similar challenges to Portland, Maine, such as a limited space, a small peninsula, but one thing that they do extraordinarily well is that they unify all of their resources. And as a provider in the homeless healthcare community, I find that all of our resources are so siloed and fragmented and are in such small little puddles that I watched all of my extraordinary social worker colleagues struggle to connect our clients to those resources. And if we can't solve the housing crisis as quickly as we'd like, it would be lovely if we could do a better job of trying to unify some of the resources that are available to make this easier for people trying to help those who are unsheltered. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, go ahead. Thank you. So many people have covered all of the issues and I agree with most of what I've heard. I'm Grace Braley I live in Rosemont. I moved here about 15 years ago. Just very quickly I took me a while to kind of get figured to figure out Portland because I'd always been involved where I lived. I mostly decided not to get involved. We tried to get a community land trust going and couldn't seem to pull it off. One of the issues was that the word affordable housing means that if you use some federal money or some other than it has to be affordable to a certain and what I found out they called low income housing was a family of four with a $90,000 income was going to qualify and I say well that doesn't do any good for anything. And I finally just gave up and I don't get involved but I two things I've noticed I'll just share. I read the newspaper I keep track of a few sort of in that sense but in the time I've lived here Portland has added building after building after building these high rises. I had to, I was laughing over at the East End because they build a greatly beautiful tall building with all those windows and people would move in, or maybe they moved in, then they build another building in front of it, and they had all the beautiful windows I've taken a whole bunch of pictures over there it doesn't make sense to me. I'm concerned that a lot of people buying those apartments are people that live somewhere else they just want to park their money here in a condo in Portland. I'd like to go I haven't done it at nine o'clock some night or seven o'clock some morning and see how many of those windows down there in the south end of Monjoy Hill, how many of those windows even have lights in them. One other curiosity about that. Slipping my mind. Well, anyway, that's, that's, I don't understand how Portland keeps doing that or keeps doing another tall building downtown, or keeps starting another hotel when we're told we don't need hotels. I've heard you only have to have 50% occupancy. So I don't understand the hotels. I don't understand the constant building building building. And yet, we don't seem to be getting our problem solved and I'm a real fan of a Vesta and I'm during 30 seconds. Okay, are the substance abuse programs. I feel like there's all these good people doing these things in Portland. We have gotten several housing first operations going since I've been here. But it seems like we always have more money for the big fancy stuff. And that's just where I'll leave it. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. Very much appreciated hearing all of your, your comments and your thoughts and your spitball ideas with me and trying to figure this out. I know the council and I are very focused on this as I said and what what is what is interesting as I sat here and listen tonight I mean there's about 77 people also online I want to thank them as well for being here. There was a significant number of people within the city obviously that came to comment this evening and I really appreciate that and I hope you all can recognize what's difficult for at least myself I'll speak for myself is that there is a variety of viewpoints and none of them are wrong. They are all just a different vantage point, but that makes it very, very complicated and difficult as policymakers as staff to those policymakers to try to find solutions that meet all of those needs, and address all of the great ideas and issues that you brought forward. Some of the questions I wanted to respond to a few of them I didn't hear a ton of questions tonight. But I do, I did hear some and I wrote them down so I'll try to try to respond to what I can this evening. I think, you know, most of the questions were focused about what what are we doing, what have we done. Some of the things that I heard were about specifically what what we have available in the city and I'll start there I think the mayor mentioned. A homeless services center that that took the place of the Oxford Street shelter so Oxford Street closed, but we opened that homeless services center. It has 208 beds. We also have a family shelter where we house families that's located on Chestnut Street, right in town. Additionally, to meet the significant need. We had used and we're lucky to use a Portland Public Schools gym for a period of time, transition that and staff did amazing works to open up the expo to house 300 people. Additionally, we've been using a couple of hotels contract hotels specifically that. So we've been housing as a city close to 1200 people. We have staff who are doing amazing things to make sure all of that goes off and is addressed every day. It's really complicated and difficult to do that. And we really don't have additional resources beyond what we're doing right now so that's why we have also reached out as the mayor mentioned to our federal delegation as well as to our state delegation, and to the governor's office to help. We've done that consistently for close to, I've been in this position 18 months for almost that entire time. We've sought and sought changes and sought funding at that state level. We continue we've received some as the mayor talked about, we continue to ask for more specifically right now we're asking the state. We are the system that the way it's paid for all of those different housing resources that I talked about are paid for through the state's general assistance program. And that's a program that just so you all know and understand as a state level program, it puts responsibilities on municipalities to make sure that we meet the needs and house people and meet their needs and and we're required to do that. The asylum seekers are included in that. That was a change made to the state law several years ago so as a municipality we have a responsibility, and we take that very seriously. Currently, we are the state reimburses us 70% of those costs, and that means 30% are paid by the taxpayers. We've sought, because we know we need additional resources and funding we've sought at the state level and we're seeking right now during this legislative session to see that 90% of those costs are covered, so that we can additionally continue to try to do all the great work we're doing, but also take the burden off the local taxpayers and put it because we recognize and I think the state recognizes to this is a statewide issue. We are one of the only municipalities to answer another question one of the only municipalities in the state that has a municipally operated shelter. There are other shelters that are around the state, those are not municipally operated so we're unique. We take our, our GA obligation very seriously but we also are very welcoming city we want to help people we're trying to ensure that we do that we have been that way for quite some time, and it's difficult to manage all of that. I'm not going to lie it's something that I think we as staff are faced with regularly and it's very complicated. I would also refer you all back to the materials that we put in the back of the room. They talk and they show some of the specifics that I was just talking about but they talk about the state level responses that we've had they talk about the expo building and how we're using it. How it will have to be decommissioned it talks about that timeline specifically. It also talks a lot about the, the, the different things if you refer it with the mayor and I drafted the letter to the governor about a week ago, and it's in there and it talks specifically about all of these various things that we've done and are continuing to do both short term and long term solutions. We'll continue to work on those because we do recognize that this is an issue that is something that's obviously of the utmost importance, I talk about it, almost every day. It impacts almost every city department and it obviously impacts all of our residents and the individuals themselves so it's something that we're very focused on trying to figure out. And we, we do still need that help, which we continue to ask for, and that that's the last handout I'll point you all to, which may answer some of your other questions, focusing on what the state's been doing. We've provided a variety of funding, and it talks specifically about all the different shelter beds that have been made available throughout this will throughout our region specifically but here in Portland is what's identified on this sheet. And so it talks about all the ways in which the state has helped to fund those and all the different facilities that have been opened up just in the last couple of years. And that's due to all the advocacy that's been happening at the state level. Another question I heard was about local option sales tax. I love that question because I've been working with the city for 15 years, we've asked for local option sales I think four times. And at the legislature that has not that has not won the day. And we have not been able to to move that forward will continue to ask I think it is a great option it's something that would maybe help provide some additional funding. One thing I would just caution everyone is that the funding has been great we've actually seen a lot of resources available what what's been difficult for us is actually finding space to house people and also to find people to help us operate it. I mentioned that we're housing close to 1200 people as a city right now. Our staff resources are depleted. We have 250 vacancies within the city. I know our community partners also struggle with staffing as well. It's been very complicated to try to piece together all the necessary parts. And I just wanted to mention to the funding to make sure that we can provide the housing that's needed in this case. Additionally, I just wanted to know a speaker very eloquently spoke about us and the University of Maine system, and using facilities specifically at the university. We have talked at length with with a variety of people about using those types of facilities specifically at the university. Also other facilities at the state level. We continue to try to work on those for a variety of reasons those things have not all worked out. And so the most recent thing that we've worked on that the council just approved last night where developers collaborative will be working to get with state funds and get that a building on Riverside Industrial Parkway ready to house asylum seekers that will have access to the city of Maine. And what is great about that is it'll help us address the need that we have at the homeless services center, the homeless services center was specifically designed to be used for people who needed, you know, specific specifically a lot of our chronically and circumstantially homeless individuals within the city. And so, you know, due to a variety of circumstances those beds are primarily being occupied by asylum seekers right now who who don't need those services specifically but do need other services. And so we're going to, we're very thankful to developers collaborative for coming to the table to help us with that, and to develop that shelter on Riverside Industrial Parkway that will help address that need, and then ultimately help us open those beds at the homeless services center, so that we can serve those chronically and circumstantially homeless in a, in a better way and open the beds that they need as well so that we can get them off the, the street because I think that's our focus is trying to figure out the housing issue and making sure that everybody gets all of the services and things that they need. The next thing I'll talk about is the, the crisis response team. This is the most recent initiative. We went to Councilor Fournier's Health and Human Services Committee that she's the chair of and we talked about that at length for two meetings, and specifically are so thankful to our community partners and also to a variety of staff and departments that are working on this it's a way that we will be focusing in on encampments as a entire team involving over 18 service organizations as well as staff, as I mentioned, to try to address the needs and get the people in a specific encampment. And we will have to go sort of encampment by encampment, it'll be focused, targeted, and making sure that they get the services and the housing that they need, and doing that in a way that addresses all of the various, you know, needs that they have. That's going to take some time and take some patience to see come to fruition. But we're very focused on this as I said, and the first encampment that we'll be looking at is on the Four River, Four River and Frederick Street that will be our first one, due to a variety of circumstances. We have to determine based on calls for service and health and sanitation and, and safety issues, you know how to, how to address each one, but we do recognize that there are a variety of encampments around the city and we will be continuing to focus on that and looking at solutions. Some of the ideas that you all mentioned tonight will continue to look at those and see if there are, they are ways that we can address them. And sort of the last piece I'll focus on is that we are continuing to try to work on addressing some of, I know a lot of you mentioned trash and sanitation things will be focused on that and looking at ways in which we can as a city try to try to figure that need out as well. I think that that's, I think those were the majority of the questions that I heard but if there's anything specific that you have that you feel wasn't answered and you or you want to send me an email or talk to me about this further. So please feel free to reach out to me at that city manager at Portland main dot gov email address. Obviously, as the mayor said at the beginning to your, your counsel behind you are behind me, excuse me, they all are available as well if you have additional comments that you want to make, or provide on this topic. I really really appreciate you all being here tonight and I just thank you I thank you for your honesty and for your respectfulness for all the speakers, and for your investment in this community, one in which I call my home as well and so it's very important to me that we see and try to figure this out together so thank you very much for being here. I'm not sure if anybody else did you want to, I think that was it. So thank you, and I hope you have a good night and look forward to hearing from you all in the future to on any future ideas that you may have.