The Albany railroad bridge offers little shelter, but there was a camp there anyway on Dec. 18, 2024.
If we don’t want people setting up tents along Albany’s public paths, we’ll have to come up with another place for them to go whether we like it or not.
The city has a law against camping on public property. But having a law doesn’t help if it can’t be enforced. Enforcing it would mean arresting people and taking them to jail, which nobody wants.
Albany’s experiment with “Marvin’s Garden” didn’t work out. The site, two city-owned lots at Jackson Street and Ninth Avenue, lacked facilities and supervision and was far too small for the number of people there.
But the idea wasn’t bad. There ought to be a place where people can set up camp if they have no other housing and can’t go to a homeless shelter for one reason or another.
At City Hall, the subject has not come up since “Marvin’s Garden” was shut down in July. But in the new year, the council and city administrators ought to take it up again.
If they do, they can remember the mistakes made at Marvin’s Garden and endeavor not to make them again. (hh)
There was a lot of gear along with the tent under the railroad bridge Wednesday.
This person set up camp under the Ellsworth Street Bridge on Wednesday. Somebody had also decorated the bridge pier.
Still needed, a state wide law that pays at least $1,000 monthly stipends to each homeless Oregonian.
Albany can’t solve this camping problem on their own.
A statewide solution (similar to SB 603 in 2023) is desperately needed to enable every homeless person to upgrade their outdoor living space.
Free money solves every problem.
You have got to be kidding me?
do you have any other workable suggestion?
LOL! And where is this free money coming from?
How about a transitional housing plan that allows folks to come and work for their keep? To follow a plan to get back on your feet. If you dont want to help yourself then you cant enter transitional housing. Help people help themselves instead of just throwing money at them when the majority wont use it for anything good.
A big problem with the camps is security of the residence’s property. If a resident leaves for a doctor’s appointment for example, he may return to find his stuff stolen or even his tent taken over by others. Something lockable is needed.
You are right. There needs to be a place but it has to have more room than shoving people onto small squares. The homeless man I hire sometimes says Marvin Gardens was like a concentration camp to small and pushed people to close together. Some have dogs. It also needs a decent bathroom and maybe a place to shower and wash clothes. Some people like their space and don’t mind camping out. Another problem is they seem to collect things which they leave behind when they move on.
It needs to be where people can’t hide to do criminal activity too. That area is tucked away and ignored. People tend to collect in that area for multiple reasons already. Camps, shelters and low income housing need to be in areas that don’t go bad so easily as it does there. The Chance located in the middle of town doesn’t have the chronic problems that the Jackson street location is suffering.
Hasso: Thanks for what you wrote. You do have a heart and brains. The city officials seem to lack both.
The city takes money for fines from people that live out of dumpster.
Offer them mental help and treat them like they are human instead of fines, work crew and or jail. Taking from people that can’t even help their self
Mental Health services are typically handled by the counties in Oregon. That means Linn or Benton counties for Albany.
….just for conversation, as a example, bowman park. have min. of 2 empty spaces between each occupied space. tent or car. add some bus barns for a covered area of the parking spaces. . add some tiny houses. community area for showers/charging/etc.. the longer you stay at the park and dont break rules the better amenities. a cross of a hippie commune, a camp ground and a jail w/ trusties. im sure this idea is full of problems and issues. so lets sort um out, grind um out as if we had bowman park to deal with. right here, on hasso’s blog. so everyone can see and understand all the issues concerning this. its easy to whine and complain, lets hammer out here on hassos blog how bowman park would work as a example. street people and or homeless are citizens of this town. they are going to cost taxpayers $. its how well spent is the concern. its not fair to pamper people who break the law. and get put on parole or probation. those folks are forced to stay clean and out of trouble, or its back to jail. and outfits like chance call those folks upper tier, or whatever. those people are not staying clean by there own choice, they are forced to. so there get first dibbs on a cot/place to stay at chance or hh? that aint righ.
No Bowman Park is not available. Leave our parks alone especially Bowman Park Plus it flood sometimes.
imagine if we could get the sheriff, the city, etc to help us sort this out, in a public forum, here on hassos blog. my guess? not a damn one of them will. they will hide behind excuses.
A local public forum kicked off in 2010. It was part of Obama’s ten year plan to end homelessness.
The forum was populated by lots of local politicians, bureaucrats, and activists who had the answers. The group was co-chaired by Albany’s mayor at the time.
Fast forward 15 years. Many more doors are closed. The homeless problem is much worse.
When government gets involved there are too many competing agendas. So just hand out free money directly to the homeless person.
And don’t create any expectation for a solution. A welfare program is a feel good program. It shouldn’t have an expiration date.
What you ask for is participation, and that is great. The way you do it is to:
1) Go to Council meetings, or at least watch them online, and learn about becoming a part of how government works. The next meetings will be starting in January and you can find out more here and get the dates after the holidays: https://www.albanyoregon.gov/calendar
2) Write the Mayor and Council: https://www.albanyoregon.gov/council
Posting on social media tells others what you feel/think. It does little to change things. You read Hasso’s stories and what you see over and over he contacts the people who have the information and can help.
You can do that too.
You can’t just keep pushing them around to move to another space to get forced to move again. Some are elderly and simply not that able to move & try to hide.
There should be multi levels of encampment. 1. for people who stay out of trouble and have no criminal record. Basically, people who know how to behave themselves. 2. for those with relatively minor criminal/drug issues located closer to probation/drug treatment. 3. is the worst and located on the Police Dept. parking lot. 1 gets the best facilities to maintain themselves & employment, including a chance to bathe & groom. Maybe even a bit of electricity for an electric blanket? 2 & 3 get substantially less.
while i understand nobody wants a camp in their hood but……it has to be somewhere
it would cost more to taxpayers to cite & jail a homeless person that it would cost to rent them an appartment.
yes i know you dont want someone to get free rent, than enjoy paying 2x-3x the cost to have them sit in jail and as that would still have no place to live when released, they will get cited and some more jail again & again till they learn to not be homeless or we learn that jailing the homeless is not going to work and just cost more $$
The people camping are workless…..
would you say that of a family member?
I am hoping you meant what is typed, workless, as in unemployed, which is true for some but not all, and that this is not a typo for “worthless” but wanted to get clarification on that.
Well, I for one want them out of sight so I can keep them out of mind. Area needed… How about all those vast lawns over at that liberal site of “learning” in Corvallis. Just load ’em in a bus, drive over & dump them off.
if that was an option dont you think some other city would bus them to albany and dump them in front of you home as its your idea?
Lotta ideas here for solutions but the problem(s) is not described here anywhere: why are these people without a typical home? There may be a variety of reasons. is the city or we responsible for solving each and every one of those problems? Maybe we can only solve 85% of their needs and the remainder still continue to be a visible reminder of their problems. is 85% good enough? how about 35% How about zero? How about those who dont want us to solve their problems – what do we do about them?
As a transitioning progressive I believe in the power of collective units like “the community.”
And “the community” has an abundance of benevolent “public servants” who will rise above their own parochial interests and faithfully determine the “will of the people.”
But after 15 years the “will of the people” seems to be in flux, so another method of determining it is needed.
It’s time for the “servants” to do what they love to do best – spend lots of money and get elected/reelected.
But spend the money directly. A monthly stipend to each homeless person satisfies that purpose.
“The community” will all feel better when the handouts start.
Hey, when the “common good” solution can’t be found (I mean, a solution hasn’t been found for about 15 years), focus instead on helping the collective feel good about itself.
It’s the progressive way.
Yeah! Like tRump checks (signed by him) for all. Even those who cannot get mail. aka the homeless. Very good. Let’s GOooooooooo!
Gordon’s writings often revolve on sarcasm. Keep that in mind and you’ll have a better idea of what he thinks.
I set up the Sweet Home shelter, an avid supporter of a managed, camp or sheltering situation, but must be managed. No one stepped up sadly hopefully a solution will come to help the community. In Sweet Home, our police calls went from over 100 to less than 50. Medical calls also went down dramatically.. This community needs a solution. Thank you so for keeping this forefront.
I think any kind of low barrier solutions need to include running water, toilet, shower and laundry facilities at a minimum.
question- how many people reading this have the time to attend a city council meeting? vs.- sort it out here in public, where everyone can chime in when they have time. someone please answer to that. city council has had years to figure this out, why attend there meetings? im starting to wonder if we have a buncha whiners, or people that want to solve problems on hasso’s blog
Okay…so we set aside some property for “homeless” people. Not good enough. Need to provide security. Not good enough. Now need to provide dumpsters. Not good enough. Now need to provide ground cover, tents,, sleeping bags and tarps. Not good enough. Now need to provide potable water. Not good enough. Now need to provide toilets, showers and washing machines. Not good enough. Now need to provide stoves and frigs. Not good enough. Now need to provide………..
ALL of the above costs money. Who is going to pay the property tax? Who is going to pay for security? Who is going to pay for the dumpsters? Who is going to pay for the ground cover, tents, sleeping bags and tarps? Who is going to pay for the water? Who is not only going to pay for the toilets, showers and washing machines, but who is also going to pay to clean and maintain them, and pay for the water and electricity?
All of you who are advocating for the above…how much can we expect you to contribute every month to make this happen? $2000? Or how about this…how about you sponsor one homeless person for $1000 a month? You’ll get a photo and a thank you card. Can’t afford that? How about you ‘adopt’ a homeless person? Bring them in to your home…feed them, cloth them, shelter them, take them to the doctor…a lot cheaper than a $1000.
Everyone wants a one-size-fits-all solution and there simply isn’t one because not all homeless folks are homeless for the same reason. You have those who have chosen to be homeless and think that society needs to support them in their choices. Uh…no. Back in the day we called them ‘tramps’ and ‘bums’ and they were held responsible for their choices. You have those who are homeless because of mental health issues…they need to be taken off the streets and placed into institutions when they can get the help that they need. Those that can treated and who can help themselves can move forward. You have those who are homeless because of drug and alcohol additions…They need to be taken off the streets and placed into treatment centers so they can get clean and get their lives back on track. Those who are homeless due to displacement and have jobs or who are capable of holding jobs if it weren’t for being homeless should be placed into some kind of housing…old motels are perfect for this.
Places like Marvin Gardens are a waste of money because they do absolutely nothing to solve the problem.
Not all of those with mental health issues DO NOT NEED TO BE THROWN IN A INSTITUTION. That is a one size fits all bull you said can’t be done. I have a few different mental health issues and I think it’s completely moronic to say that every person who has mental health issues need to be institutionalized
New construction costs too much and takes too long. Helping rental owners like Mr. Holman that bought the small complex and did the needed repairs would be the fastest way to address homelessness. The ability to afford these rentals should include anyone with a lower income. Programs to help pay first, last and deposits would help get people out of homelessness. People with lower paying jobs never have the money to move or recover from losing rental housing. Housing accountably is lost when nonprofits are involved due to the inability to monitor them on a regular basis. Business owners that supply some affordable as well as other housing options are under scrutiny as was Mr. Holman. The community needs to engage the homeless crisis and not expect self-motivated city officials to keep providing useless solutions that they benefit from somehow. LOCAL contractors that have built apartments and homes would be wise to contribute to make Albany a positive place to live. No one wants to live in a city overrun with unsafe conditions. We know people who are going to leave Albany because they are tired of the homeless situation and the city’s lame attempts to improve the quality of life here. Some live in the new housing. Renovating and home retention is the most efficient use of time and money.
I heard that the State passed a law a few months ago requiring every city to have a designated place for the homeless. Is that law still in effect?
No, there is no such law as far as I know.
How about we go back to how it was in the 20s and 30s ie like poor farms
Every one pitched in some people cooked some grew the vegetables some people mowed the lawn