Spit in the ocean
The politicians of Portland were busy patting each other on the back this week, all in front of the cameras of course. Deadly Deborah was on hand, along with I, Tina and many representatives from the homeless industrial complex. The occasion was the opening of a temporary homeless shelter in North Portland. I guess they can put up 70 people there on a cold night. Eventually they're going to fix up a building there so that they can house 120.
Meanwhile, the city announced that they're going to situate "up to 60" people in outdoor closets at the old armory in Multnomah Village, apparently on a more or less permanent basis. The neighbors over there were pretty unhappy years ago when then-Mayor Char-Lie Hales made the place into a women's shelter; I imagine they'll be equally ornery at this development.
So anyway, whoopdee doo, that's maybe 180 people off the streets, for a while, eventually.
But how many people are sleeping in tents and in vehicles on Portland streets these days? If the politicians and bureaucrats know, they're not telling. The last count they actually publicized was more than two years ago. I've seen estimates ranging from 1,700 to 8,000. If I had to guess, I'd say somewhere between 4,000 and 4,500.
And so 180 beds, for people who are nice enough to obey at least some basic rules, are probably not even 5 percent of what you would need to clean up the absolute disaster on our streets. And while you're building facilities, you'd need to include some jail cells. Many of the tent dudes are hard-core criminals who aren't suitable for the shelters.
The bobbleheads in government think their little photo ops are going to save their jobs, but I think they're wrong. The only proof of success would be the removal of the tents. That's what most people in Portland want to see. And it simply won't be happening with this level of action.
Portland is a nationwide poster child for lawlessness now. We're thrown right in with San Francisco as being utterly out of control. Even on MSNBC with Al Sharpton sitting there.
You know it’s bad when Morning Joe is saying San Francisco and Portland are out of control pic.twitter.com/fpgefq1rDe
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) November 23, 2021
On another issue, I don't understand how the city can let the massive amounts of trash just sit there and get worse. How is it ok for a city NOT to clean up huge messes? What's the excuse? We're too busy? The city workers don't want to do it?
ReplyDeleteThere has to be some reason they leave it. The homeless people are certainly a huge problem but why leave the trash?
" Even on MSNBC with Al Sharpton sitting there."
ReplyDelete🤣😂😂😂😂