By Scott Unger • Of the News-Register • 

Citizen-led task force targets public camping

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Comments

Jean

The gaps between the poor and the rich have widened since 1980....helping create more and more houseless folks. Any safety net that was in place to help people that fall on hard times has broken. Not only are the $$$ issues to blame here, but many have mental health problems, drug addiction, and a sense of abandonment by society. Fixing it requires voting into power people that want to tackle this issue head on. Not just national elections either.....at city, county, state level too!

Joel R

It's really inspiring to see these good citizens step up to try to make a difference. I'm going to get on their facebook page and see what I can do to help. Hopefully they have a way of accepting donations.
I'm starting to see that it takes all of us working together to try to restore McMinnville to the great little town that it used to be.

Megan

The problem with being against criminals but not the homeless is that our current system effectively forces people to break laws just to have somewhere to be. This is why the 9th Circuit Court decision mandated that people must be allowed to sleep overnight on public property unless adequate low barrier shelter beds are available: it is unconstitutional to ban people from simply existing in public when they have nowhere else to go.

Bill B

Megan-Are you sure the courts required "low barrier housing"?

tagup

Isn’t the obvious solution to create designated locations where people can be without risk of towing or citations?

Tyler C

I can't imagine the cruelty it would require to see someone suffering with homelessness and decide that the thing to do is have the police steal the last of their possessions. Or to make their life even worse by having them put in jail.

Again, criminalizing homelessness is probably the most expensive way to address the problem. It costs each of us more money for the privilege of being cruel to the poor.

Boukerduck

Perhaps the members of this group need to recognize that they themselves live in public housing. The mortgage interest deductions and property tax deductions they giddily receive are government handouts. Each year billions are spent by the federal government on home ownership tax programs, most go to the wealthy. This group has little interest in solutions, rather they would prefer to continue to marginalize those who financially don’t have the means to line their pockets with donations from the federal government. And the federal benefits members of this false altruistic group receive is more than monthly rent for low income citizens. Homelessness is a multidimensional issue that requires stakeholders who value solutions that benefit all, rather than another example of the Tragedy of the Commons illustrated by this “Citizen” group.

BigfootLives

Bduck. The rooms getting hazy, step out for some fresh air.

The federal government has zero funds. They produce nothing. Every dime they have, state-county-city too, comes from the tax payers. Period. Deductions simply means that they don’t get to take as much this cycle. This shows that you have an absolute ignorance of how the world really works. And no, the world does not owe you a living.

Boukerduck

Bigfoot….. another useless waste of text….. do some research from the Brookings Institute, the Tax Policy Center, The Federation of American Scientists, The American Economic Association, The Center on Budget Policies and Priorities and more. If this group had interest in anything other than trying to push out the unsheltered, they would there time, energy and efforts to support groups here in the community making a difference. Encompass Yamhill Valley is a perfect example of work in action to address the issue, rather than take the cruel and inhumane approach this group of “citizens” employs.

Working in Social Services and with the unsheltered population in our community daily gives me additional insight into the misrepresentations this group and many like you in our County continue to perpetuate.

You inability to engage in discourse and critical inquiry are telling…….

Shorty

If you want to make a difference in homelessness in Yamhill County rather than just b*tch about it, I highly recommend Encompass Yamhill Valley. A simple Google Search is easy. You may donate money and/or your time which will have a direct impact locally.

Shorty

Part 2 …
Also, please remember the next election when the county commissioners are up for reelection that Mary Starret, Lindsay Berschauer and Kit Johnson chose to refuse funds that would have gone toward creating housing for the homeless. If you sick of our parks and streets being overrun by the homeless become part of the humane solution. It is within your grasp.

Lulu

Boukerduck--could you please ask your unsheltered population clients to make the supreme sacrifice of bending over and picking up their trash?

Boukerduck

@Lulu….. let’s start with access to garbage…. No garbage service for the unsheltered and no close by trash receptacles. Have you brought them garbage bags and offered to pick them up and haul them to the dump? You know, offering solutions? Portland got rid of many of their dumpsters as they found that sheltered, yes, sheltered residents were using the dumpsters meant for the unsheltered. We work to get folks access to basic needs, you might look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and understand motivations for human behaviors.

Lulu, how about you adopt a block and clean it. You know, give back to your community…..

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