Notice Nuts in Old Town

[HailBlazers]

‘It’s nuts down there’ -- Lawlessness spikes in Portland’s Old Town

More than 100 tents dot sidewalks in Portland’s Old Town. Pedestrians have to step around feces and garbage as they walk through the neighborhood.

Owners of businesses shuttered during the first wave of Oregon’s coronavirus epidemic are worried about reopening starting Friday, their entrances blocked by street campers.

“State of Old Town & Reaching Out for Help,’’ read the subject line of an email from Helen Ying, chair of the Old Town Community Association to Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office. She included photos of the area’s blight.

The complaints prompted Police Chief Jami Resch to devise a “high-visibility'’ police patrol plan for Old Town. On Wednesday, officers began what will be a 30-day presence on bikes, in cars and by foot.

Residents and property owners say they’re seeing blatant drug dealing, aggressive behavior and unprovoked assaults.

The number of people living in tents on Old Town sidewalks has spiked dramatically, they say, since the city halted cleanup of homeless camps because of the epidemic.

While police calls from the neighborhood are down, Central Precinct Cmdr. Mike Krantz said it may be because businesses are closed and fewer people are in the area during the day to report offenses.

Scott Kerman, executive director of Blanchet House, said he rarely called police before the COVID-19 public health crisis. The nonprofit provides free food, clothing and housing to people in need.

“Everything was more or less pretty chill,’’ Kerman said, during the community association’s board meeting Wednesday. “That’s changed a lot under the current situation. We’re not seeing a lot of our regulars anymore. … We do have elements coming in here just looking to cause trouble.’’

On Wednesday morning, a Blanchet House resident was outside cleaning up when a stranger walked up, looked at him and took a swing, breaking his nose, Kerman said.

“It was totally unprovoked,’’ he said

https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavi...-town-as-coronavirus-shutters-businesses.html

 

[SheedSoNasty]

I was just diagnosed with diverticulitis. I can’t have nuts anymore.

 

[Chris Craig]

Arrest them all fuck it

 

[Minstrel]

Sounds like Old Town needs a cowboy or two to come in and clean things up.

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[MARIS61]

The second wave will sweep them away.

 

[Lanny]

‘It’s nuts down there’ -- Lawlessness spikes in Portland’s Old Town

More than 100 tents dot sidewalks in Portland’s Old Town. Pedestrians have to step around feces and garbage as they walk through the neighborhood.

Owners of businesses shuttered during the first wave of Oregon’s coronavirus epidemic are worried about reopening starting Friday, their entrances blocked by street campers.

“State of Old Town & Reaching Out for Help,’’ read the subject line of an email from Helen Ying, chair of the Old Town Community Association to Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office. She included photos of the area’s blight.

The complaints prompted Police Chief Jami Resch to devise a “high-visibility'’ police patrol plan for Old Town. On Wednesday, officers began what will be a 30-day presence on bikes, in cars and by foot.

Residents and property owners say they’re seeing blatant drug dealing, aggressive behavior and unprovoked assaults.

The number of people living in tents on Old Town sidewalks has spiked dramatically, they say, since the city halted cleanup of homeless camps because of the epidemic.

While police calls from the neighborhood are down, Central Precinct Cmdr. Mike Krantz said it may be because businesses are closed and fewer people are in the area during the day to report offenses.

Scott Kerman, executive director of Blanchet House, said he rarely called police before the COVID-19 public health crisis. The nonprofit provides free food, clothing and housing to people in need.

“Everything was more or less pretty chill,’’ Kerman said, during the community association’s board meeting Wednesday. “That’s changed a lot under the current situation. We’re not seeing a lot of our regulars anymore. … We do have elements coming in here just looking to cause trouble.’’

On Wednesday morning, a Blanchet House resident was outside cleaning up when a stranger walked up, looked at him and took a swing, breaking his nose, Kerman said.

“It was totally unprovoked,’’ he said

https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavi...-town-as-coronavirus-shutters-businesses.html

Take it from me, the Blanchet House has been around for a long time.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

This is what happens when we shut down/defund mental health services in order to make millionaires and billionaires richer. The rest of society suffers by default. And the crisis is only gonna get worse.

 

[Orion Bailey]

This is what happens when we shut down/defund mental health services in order to make millionaires and billionaires richer. The rest of society suffers by default. And the crisis is only gonna get worse.

I would agree with this for most of the country. However having lived down town Portland and been in close proximity with the homeless there, I would say about 50% are legit mentally ill or physically handicapped. The rest are strung out, teen runaways or lazy folk looking for handouts and just want to sit in the park and smoke pot all day.

 

[Chris Craig]

The second wave will sweep them away.

Terrible

 

[Chris Craig]

Take it from me, the Blanchet House has been around for a long time.

Blanchet house is a good place. I ate there when I was homeless. I went back to volunteer there after getting back on my feet.

 

[Chris Craig]

I would agree with this for most of the country. However having lived down town Portland and been in close proximity with the homeless there, I would say about 50% are legit mentally ill or physically handicapped. The rest are strung out, teen runaways or lazy folk looking for handouts and just want to sit in the park and smoke pot all day.

So, I was either mentally ill/physically handicapped, or a strung out/runaway teen/lazy folk looking for handouts and just wanting to sit in the park and smoke pot all day when I was homeless?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

So, I was either mentally ill/physically handicapped, or a strung out/runaway teen/lazy folk looking for handouts and just wanting to sit in the park and smoke pot all day when I was homeless?

You're a mod aren't you?

 

[Chris Craig]

You're a mod aren't you?

I think so

 

[riverman]

You're a mod aren't you?

That just means he's moderately smoking pot and moderately strung out and moderately lazy..moderately a little crazy

 

[Chris Craig]

That just means he's moderately smoking pot and moderately strung out and moderately lazy..moderately a little crazy

Hey, everything is good...in moderation

 

[Orion Bailey]

So, I was either mentally ill/physically handicapped, or a strung out/runaway teen/lazy folk looking for handouts and just wanting to sit in the park and smoke pot all day when I was homeless?

Not at all. Well I dunno. were you sitting in the park smoking pot all day? LOL.

I have also been homeless and didn't fit that category, but we would be the far and few between and often temporary, because we are go getters with motivation to get off the street.

My point being is Portland, and really SF and Seattle too, I believe had a disproportionate of homeless that are willing to settle for being on the streets when they could change it if they wanted, vs most other cities that have a higher percentage of people who don't have self imposed limitations preventing them from getting off the streets.

I will say this, as many hit unemployment and lose the living quarters, I woulds expect this to change and the percentage drastically increase for those who don't want on the street and can do something about it, but the economy is too fucked to get employment.

We will be entering a new phase of homeless not really seen before, where I believe the majority will be productive members of society feeling the wrath of the virus and resulting lockdowns/closures.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

Blanchet house is a good place. I ate there when I was homeless. I went back to volunteer there after getting back on my feet.

The Blanchet House was started in the late ‘40’s or early ‘50’s by a group of U of Portland students. As a kid, I resented that place with a passion, as my dad seemed to spend more time in the Blanchet House basement working to keep an old, past it’s prime boiler going than he seemed to spend at home with his family. And I’m not sure the place ever received a bill. Now as a (hopefully) wiser adult, I’m proud of him. As a teenager I worked on that boiler myself several times....and ate lunch with the rest of “the gang”. It was an incredible social learning experience for me and I’d like to think it taught me some compassion. Most of the old timers who founded Blanchet House are gone now, but they were a fine group of successful, dedicated men who knew how lucky they were and who made lifelong efforts to give back to those who weren’t as fortunate. God bless them.

 

[Hoopguru]

Back in the mid 60's I spent time in the bay area and there was a culture of hanging out, not working, partying, music chicks, music chicks, music chicks... HA was a mix of hippies, bikers, vacationers, and gawkers. They called it crashing somewhere then now its homeless.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Old Town will become East Hastings in Vancouver, Canada before our very eyes.

It should be illegal to be homeless. Its not only a public nuisance, its a public health crisis. Violence and disease follows the homeless.

Have the homeless put in a facility in some kind of work release/training/skills program, while earning money in a jobs program. If they don't want to work, they don't get out. If they do make enough money and get skills to get a job, they can leave after they can afford housing on their own.

 

[riverman]

The Blanchet House was started in the late ‘40’s or early ‘50’s by a group of U of Portland students. As a kid, I resented that place with a passion, as my dad seemed to spend more time in the Blanchet House basement working to keep an old, past it’s prime boiler going than he seemed to spend at home with his family. And I’m not sure the place ever received a bill. Now as a (hopefully) wiser adult, I’m proud of him. As a teenager I worked on that boiler myself several times....and ate lunch with the rest of “the gang”. It was an incredible social learning experience for me and I’d like to think it taught me some compassion. Most of the old timers who founded Blanchet House are gone now, but they were a fine group of successful, dedicated men who knew how lucky they were and who made lifelong efforts to give back to those who weren’t as fortunate. God bless them.

What a great post...enjoyed it way more than the movie I tried to watch last night! Your dad sounds like a good man!

 

[Chris Craig]

Not at all. Well I dunno. were you sitting in the park smoking pot all day? LOL.

I have also been homeless and didn't fit that category, but we would be the far and few between and often temporary, because we are go getters with motivation to get off the street.

My point being is Portland, and really SF and Seattle too, I believe had a disproportionate of homeless that are willing to settle for being on the streets when they could change it if they wanted, vs most other cities that have a higher percentage of people who don't have self imposed limitations preventing them from getting off the streets.

I will say this, as many hit unemployment and lose the living quarters, I woulds expect this to change and the percentage drastically increase for those who don't want on the street and can do something about it, but the economy is too fucked to get employment.

We will be entering a new phase of homeless not really seen before, where I believe the majority will be productive members of society feeling the wrath of the virus and resulting lockdowns/closures.

Not all day! But, really I tried to keep myself busy. I was usually either at a soup kitchen eating, at the library/reading, walking, etc.

There is higher percentage at least 60% if not higher that are physically disabled/mentally Ill. About 10% are runaways, with about half of them escaping abusive situations. A small percentage is perhaps the lazy few you speak off, and the rest are people who hit hard times and lost their jobs and homes. Many of across the board have turned to drugs unfortunately as a way to escape.

Your bleak prediction may come to pass. I hope not, but maybe if it does it will force Oregon to actually look at and fix the problem. Probably not, but hey.

 

[tester551]

This is what happens when we shut down/defund mental health services in order to make millionaires and billionaires richer. The rest of society suffers by default. And the crisis is only gonna get worse.

What a false binary....

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

What a false binary....

So........millionaire or billionaire......?? Let’s see, tax cuts mean less revenue. Less revenue means cuts to government services. Cuts to government services mean social services take the first (and biggest) hits. Prove me wrong. “False binary” my ass. It’s just basic code for “fuck everybody else”.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

What a great post...enjoyed it way more than the movie I tried to watch last night! Your dad sounds like a good man!

He was, if a little distant. And spent too much time working. I wish I could say he was one of the Blanchet House founders, but I can certainly say he was part of the foundation. Ironically, the group was, in general, largely hardcore Republicans who had it ingrained in them from childhood that the more fortunate had an obligation to give back to those in need. They hated paying taxes with a passion but they had no problem donating their time and large sums of money to worthy causes. In other words, Republicans who actually had hearts. Miserly Mitch are you listening????

 

[barfo]

Old Town will become East Hastings in Vancouver, Canada before our very eyes.

It should be illegal to be homeless. Its not only a public nuisance, its a public health crisis. Violence and disease follows the homeless.

Have the homeless put in a facility in some kind of work release/training/skills program, while earning money in a jobs program. If they don't want to work, they don't get out. If they do make enough money and get skills to get a job, they can leave after they can afford housing on their own.

Maybe the government should buy Edgefield out in Troutdale from the McMenamin's, and convert it into a facility where the homeless could live and work in the fields to earn their keep and learn skills. We could call it a 'Poor Farm', or something like that.

barfo

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Maybe the government should buy Edgefield out in Troutdale from the McMenamin's, and convert it into a facility where the homeless could live and work in the fields to earn their keep and learn skills. We could call it a 'Poor Farm', or something like that.

barfo

Nah, use that abandoned prison they just got from Jordan Schnizter.


Yours is a better option than letting them continue to shoot up drugs and shit on the streets.

 

[Hoopguru]

Maybe the government should buy Edgefield out in Troutdale from the McMenamin's, and convert it into a facility where the homeless could live and work in the fields to earn their keep and learn skills. We could call it a 'Poor Farm', or something like that.

barfo

Sounds like how I was raised? Couldn't be a vagrant after a certain hour in just about any town, there were vagrancy laws back then, especially down town, taught to respect the police even though I didn't always do that. And yes as a kid I was expected to jump on the berry bus at 4:30 every morning and go work those fields, and I was as poor as you could get then. But when I got a workers permit at 15 and juggled ball with working and school, I learned to make choices on how I wanted to live. And it wasn't always about money but just striving to have a good time, save a few bucks and try to be productive. But man, girls always had a way of side tracking me.

 

[barfo]

Sounds like how I was raised? Couldn't be a vagrant after a certain hour in just about any town, there were vagrancy laws back then, especially down town, taught to respect the police even though I didn't always do that. And yes as a kid I was expected to jump on the berry bus at 4:30 every morning and go work those fields, and I was as poor as you could get then. But when I got a workers permit at 15 and juggled ball with working and school, I learned to make choices on how I wanted to live. And it wasn't always about money but just striving to have a good time, save a few bucks and try to be productive. But man, girls always had a way of side tracking me.

We could invent another kind of facility, this one for teens whose sexual drive clouds their judgement. We could call it a 'high school'.

barfo

 

[Lanny]

I would agree with this for most of the country. However having lived down town Portland and been in close proximity with the homeless there, I would say about 50% are legit mentally ill or physically handicapped. The rest are strung out, teen runaways or lazy folk looking for handouts and just want to sit in the park and smoke pot all day.

What you call lazy is something that has all kinds of different reasons which are loosely thrown together in a big pot labeled lazy. My brother was called lazy although he was mentally ill. His illness would come and go so when he was acting normally people thought he was lazy but not true. In fact, according to a quality control expert who was revered in Japan and taught a class I took at Tektronix said that it is human nature that people want to do a good job. It's not for the shallow thinkers to declare they know the reason that they don't do a good job and that's because they are lazy. The determination of what gets in the way is best left up to the experts in sociology and psychology.
I write this because of the unfair way that my brother, who was a very good and very hard worker before he got sick, who served in the United States Marines, was treated and when people called him lazy. I bristle at that term.

 

[Orion Bailey]

What you call lazy is something that has all kinds of different reasons which are loosely thrown together in a big pot labeled lazy. My brother was called lazy although he was mentally ill. His illness would come and go so when he was acting normally people thought he was lazy but not true. In fact, according to a quality control expert who was revered in Japan and taught a class I took at Tektronix said that it is human nature that people want to do a good job. It's not for the shallow thinkers to declare they know the reason that they don't do a good job and that's because they are lazy. The determination of what gets in the way is best left up to the experts in sociology and psychology.
I write this because of the unfair way that my brother, who was a very good and very hard worker before he got sick, who served in the United States Marines, was treated and when people called him lazy. I bristle at that term.

Oh I get it and to an extent I admit i'm generalizing, but I lived down down Portland more than one time. and one of those times was basically on the streets in 93-94 and I saw up front and personal who the homeless were downtown.

I cant tell you how many young adults openly admitted it was easier to panhandle and sleep in the shelter than to go clean up and get a job and that's what thy preferred. I don't think deep down they preferred it, but they just didn't have the motivation for whatever reason to get out of it. I call that lazy. Unmotivated, lacking will... whatever you want to call it, to me its self imposed. not circumstance.

Ive also seen up close how many of the young adult homeless downtown well get over on anyone any chance they get. Ive made my amends the best I can ,but ill say i'm sad to admit I was even part of something where we got over on someone... not gonna go into details, but ill take that one to my grave.

Make no mistake. much of downtown Portland homelessness is crime ridden and self induced.