Homelessness and housing remain at the top of Gov. Kotek’s priorities as she marks 1 year in office

SALEM, Ore. — On the heels of a packed Tuesday morning, Gov. Tina Kotek took pause to mark one year since taking office. Homelessness and housing have been among her top priorities since day one when she declared a homelessness state of emergency.

Since that day, preliminary data from Oregon’s housing and community services shows more than 1,000 low-barrier shelter beds have opened, exceeding the governor’s goal by 432 beds. More than 1,200 people have moved off the streets. That’s about 90 more than she expected and nearly 9,000 people on the verge of becoming homeless did not; another goal exceeded. 

“These outcomes are a critical threshold of progress and proof point that we can deliver results,” Kotek said.

The state also made headway on the addiction and behavioral health crisis, including sending state troopers to Portland streets in response to the fentanyl crisis there.

However, in a separate media briefing Tuesday morning, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler suggested that the state support they’ve been getting doesn’t go far enough. 

“I want to be crystal clear: While I support the governor’s central city task force and I appreciate the governor's involvement … the work that is being done today is the work of this team, it was done without the support of others — including the governor, initially,” Wheeler said. 

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The governor agreed more work needs to be done, so she signed two new executive orders: 

• EO 24-02: To maintain the added capacity to the state’s shelter system, rehouse people experiencing homelessness, and prevent homelessness and 
• EO 24-03: To refresh the state’s Interagency Council on Homelessness and direct them to develop plans for the governor's consideration. This is in response to the analysis done through EO 23-03, an order also signed last January that directed state agencies to prioritize reducing both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness in all areas of the state using their existing statutory authorities. 

The Portland City Council will meet on Jan. 16 to discuss the next steps.

“I need them to acknowledge take responsibility for and fund the restructuring and rebuilding of the mental health system in the state of Oregon,” Wheeler said.

The work is ongoing when it comes to responding to Oregon’s addiction and homeless crisis and pressure from the state’s largest city is building leading up to the next legislative session, which starts next month. The governor also talked of keeping up the pace, and will be relying on the power of her emergency orders to do just that. 

“As I cross my one-year mark as governor, I’m reminded of that feeling that this is the time to dig deeper and keep going,” Kotek said. 

In about a week, she’ll declare a fentanyl emergency in Portland, a move Wheeler supports.