PORTLAND, Ore. — With the clock ticking down to the November election, former Portland Mayor Sam Adams and social worker Shannon Singleton are locked in battle for Multnomah County commissioner in District 2, which covers North and Northeast Portland.
The seat has been up for grabs since Susheela Jayapal stepped down last fall to run for Congress. In the May primary, Singleton emerged as the top vote-getter while Adams narrowly pulled ahead of Society Hotel owner Jessie Burke, setting the two of them up for a November runoff.
In this episode of Straight Talk with Laural Porter, Adams and Singleton discuss their plans in dealing with the homelessness crisis and whether or not there should be a form of camping ban in Multnomah County.
Meet the candidates
Shannon Singleton
For about six months, Singleton served as interim director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services, the city-supported and county-helmed group that manages money meant to address the homelessness crisis.
Currently, she is an adjunct professor of social work at Portland State University and works for a consulting firm specializing in equity and community engagement.
In choosing to run for Multnomah County commission, Singleton said that it's overdue for some "transformational change."
"Having a social worker who not only has personal lived experience of many of the services that the county provides, but also has the professional experience of working in this community on the front lines," she said.
Singleton said she is not in support of the time, place and manner camping restriction that cities in Oregon can impose.
"I support fair policies for what it's like for folks on the street, that they should know what the rules will be," she said. "If jailing people resulted in changes in our homeless status, I would absolutely support that. I'm in support of things that work."
Sam Adams
Adams served as the mayor of Portland from 2009 to 2012 and went on to serve as the senior policy advisor for current Mayor Ted Wheeler's office. He left that role in January 2023 citing health-related concerns, although later reporting cast doubt on that reasoning.
His single term in the Portland's Mayor's office also came with its share of controversary. Shortly after he took office, it was revealed that he had lied about having a sexual relationship with a legislative intern. It prompted two failed attempts to recall Adams from office.
If elected, it would be Adams' first time in public office since his term as mayor. He said that Multnomah County lacks focus, urgency, good partnership and accountability.
"I come at this as well with lived experienced, having grown up with the benefits of food stamps and publicly owned housing," he said. "Among other things, I can get the city and county — all the cities — working better together, and those are some of the reasons for why I am running."
Adams said that he would be in support of time, place and manner camping restrictions and an outright phased-in camping ban as more shelters are created.
"As those new shelter beds come online, I think that time, place and manner gives us, one, an opportunity to make sure that there's a balance of impacts within the community," he said. "But it is also an opportunity to get to folks that are experiencing outdoor houselessness in touch with services."
Homelessness plans
When it comes to dealing with homelessness, Adams said that Multnomah County residents aren't seeing a good return on funds spent. He said that the county needs a "homeless czar" who can better organize the system and an independent report card to exist that shows whether funds are being spent appropriately.
Singleton said her approach would be much more data-driven when it comes to deciding how homeless services should be invested. An example, she said, is the recent PSU study that looks at how different types of shelters can affect whether someone gets on the track to permanent housing. It revealed that the traditional congregate shelter which houses a lot of people do a poorer job of doing that.
"We should be having a conversation on what the purpose and use of those shelters are and if we're going to continue to fund them," Singleton said. "Do we expect housing placement outcomes — and if we do, how do we get there — or we need to have the conversation that we shouldn't continue to put money into those."
Multnomah County controls the majority of the funds used to address the homelessness crisis. In a contract with the county, Portland sends millions to help fund the Joint Office of Homeless Services, but the county has historically held most of the power in deciding how it should be operated.
Straight Talk airs Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 p.m., and Monday at 7 p.m. Straight Talk is also available as a podcast.