Welcome to the District Five Insider, a weekly newsletter keeping you informed about the big decisions being made inside Council Chambers, what they mean for District Five, and how you can get involved in shaping our community. Enter your email and hit subscribe to receive this newsletter in your mailbox every week.
Tuesday, February 5, 2024
So much comes at me every day, from constituent services to public comment, scheduled meetings, and committee work that it can sometimes be hard to see the Forest City for the proverbial trees. (Now with even more trees as you’ll see below.) One the reasons I enjoy writing this newsletter is it allows me to step back and see the big picture. Despite our many challenges, it’s clear to me that Portland is coming strong back from a really hard few years. Thank you for being a part of this work.
One Big Thing:
The Council unanimously passed a battery of orders this week to bolster outreach services to people experiencing homelessness. We extended the 50-bed emergency increase in available shelter beds at the Homeless Services Center (HSC) through June and, with almost a million dollars in grant money from Maine State Housing Authority, we approved an extension of the Refugee Resettlement Program and partially funded a pilot program to connect people in encampments with apartments.
What it means
With extended capacity at the HSC, we can get more people indoors for the winter months, connecting them to needed services, and building bridges to recovery for those suffering substance abuse disorders. More people in the shelter means we can keep adding needed services, which helps everyone. We also continue to strengthen our partnerships with local and State organizations so that Portland is not doing this work alone.
Why it matters
The role of government is to pool our collective resources to do more than anyone of us can do on our own. The government (even a small town or city government like Portland) can be far more effective and efficient than the private market, or non-profits alone at tackling big, complex problems. The Veteran’s Administration is the best example of this. When they turned their attention to ending homelessness among vets, they cut homelessness by 55%. This week, the Council sent a clear message that our City government is going after the problem of homelessness, and we’re going to be laser-focused on outcomes: getting people out of tents, off the street, and into emergency shelter, and then moving them to housing quickly, with the supportive services they need to stay housed and contribute meaningfully to society, whether they’re coming here as a refugee from another country, or a homegrown victim of the systematiic defunding of our mental health services, medical bankruptcy, or lack of access to affordable housing.
What’s next?
We were able to fund these programs with State and Federal money, not by taxing local residents, but we can’t continue them if we don’t change our approach. Building the HSC, opening a dedicated shelter for asylum seekers, and clearing encampments have all been locally divisive issues, to which there can be no solution if we keep fighting each other. Homelessness is a working class problem, not a poor person problem, or a drug user problem, or an immigrant problem. The solution to this problem is the same as it’s always been: thinking and acting together as a class, standing shoulder-to-shoulder to demand that the State bring its greater resources to bear on programs to address the immediate crisis of homelessness, but also to demand legislation that addresses the root causes of homelessness: unaffordable housing, wages that haven’t kept pace with the cost of living, privatized healthcare, and the structural racism that perpetuates economic injustice along racial lines. In turn, the State must pressure the Federal government for the same things. That’s how real change happens: from the bottom up, not from the top down.
I will continue to meet with the HSC Neighborhood Advisory Board to address any issues raised by community members about concerns with how increased shelter capacity is impacting the surrounding neighborhoods. If you have specific concerns, please reach out to me directly.
Five More Quick Hits
Rent Control Enforcement
The Council heard from the director of the Permitting and Inspections Department about the challenges of implementing and enforcing Rent Control over the last four years while being short-staffed. New staff hired in this office will begin doing more proactive enforcement this month. We have their commitment on this.
The Rent Board has just analyzed the data collected over the last year and identified some specific areas of possible violations as well as adjustments to our data collection system that could improve reporting. As a member of the Housing and Economic Development Committee, I will be asking for reports from the Department at least monthly.
Portland is in a housing affordability emergency, and one critical piece of curtailing this crisis is ensuring landlords are not raising rents more than the legal amount, not raising rents or evicting tenants with inadequate notice, not discriminating against families with Section 8 vouchers, nor violating any of the other myriad protections this law has put in place. The goal of any good enforcement mechanism is voluntary compliance with the ordinance without the need for interventions that take up staff time and resources. But proactive enforcement is important in this case, because there is a fundamental power imbalance between tenants and landlords. It is well documented that tenants are hesitant to come forward about rent control violations for fear of retaliation, often in the form of non-renewal of their lease. It’s our responsibility to enforce this ordinance proactively so that renters don’t have to risk losing their home.
More Parks, Trails, and Trees
The Council appropriate several grants to offset the cost of planting trees in the Bayside neighborhood, support the Portland Youth Corp, build a bridge over the Stroudwater River to connect two trail networks, and advance fundraising efforts for Harbor Park. We also heard a first read of an amendment to the City Code that would add North Deering Park and Thomas Park to the list of official City Parks. Newly planted trees need regular watering, so if a new tree pops up on your street, you can assist the City by mulching it! Trees are crucial to our health and well being and as Portland grows and changes, we need to be mindful of why City’s need trees.
Start-Up Grants for Childcare Businesses
Want to start a childcare business in your own home? The City can help you succeed! Grants of up to $15,500 for new child care businesses (home-based) and up to $11,000 for existing child care businesses are available through the City. Watch this great NEWS CENTER Maine story or learn more on the City’s website.
Absentee Voting has Begun
Vote in-person in the State of Maine Room, 2nd Floor of City Hall, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, M-F or request an absentee ballot. Register to vote using the State of Maine’s new voter registration system
Recycling and Tree Collection
Due to staffing challenges, if your recycling is not collected at the end of your normal collection day, please leave it at the curb, and crews will attempt to collect it the following day. We’re also still collecting trees! Please free trees from snow banks, and crews will collect them as soon as they can.
Pet of the Week!
Chi lives in cat-friendly North Deering, where she likes to go outside on a leash in the warm months, rain or shine, to watch squirrels and birds flutter about. Chi loves being around people and while cuddling isn’t her strong suit, she loves to play with people and will sleep at the foot of any bed.
Each week we share a photo and description of a District 5 pet who brightens our day. Do you have a furry friend you want us to feature? Please send your suggestions by email or text.
ksykes@portlandmaine.gov 207-558-5764
Notice: Under Maine law, documents – including e-mails and text messages – in the possession of public officials or city employees about government business may be classified as public records. There are very few exceptions. As a result, please be advised that what is written in a text message or e-mail could be released to the public and/or the media if requested.
Kate Sykes for District Five 