Eugene Council approves homeless village
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EUGENE, Ore. - You could call it a small victory for the homeless population in Eugene.
It's just weeds and dirt now, but by next summer, an empty city-owned lot near North Garfield Street and Roosevelt Boulevard could look a lot different.
"It'll be a small village, we'll have a communal kitchen and bathrooms, a big dining room and assembly hall," said Opportunity Village board member Jean Stacey.
In a 6 to 1 vote Monday, Eugene's City Council approved the site as the future Opportunity Village, a micro-housing pilot project for the city's homeless.
"We had gotten to the point where we had enough information to make a decision so it was time to do that," said city councilor Alan Zelenka. "I didn't want to wait another month before we did that."
Zelenka said they took several months to look at five different city owned properties including the former Naval Reserve Center on Chambers Street and an area near Autzen Stadium.
"This one was the best one," said Zelenka. "It had the lowest controversy, it had access to transit and bike paths and it had access to utilities."
Over the next six months the city will choose a non-profit to run the program which will house about 30 people according to Zelenka.
"It will not be what we saw at the Occupy tent camp at Jefferson Park, it's not gonna look like that at all," he said. "It's going to be much more organized, it will be little micro-housing structures."
According to Zelenka, the non-profit will figure out how to pay for it, how to operate it and how to maintain it.
"The non-profit will run this. The city's role, again, we're just letting them use the land for a while. That's the entire role of the city at this point," he said.
The lot won't see any inhabitants or activity until at least next summer while the city gets the necessary permits and leasing in place.
Still Stacey said this vote is a win for homeless.
"Symbolically it's very important because it is one of the first alternative shelters that Eugene has considered," she said. "I think it's an excellent location."
*their only office in Eugene is in that area, is what it should have read...
My husband's office is in that area. He works for a huge multinational corporation and their only office is in that area off of Roosevelt in Eugene. They employ about 200 people in that office. For the past 5 years they have been considering closing that office due to increasing crime in the area and problems with breakins, two stabbings, and other bad stuff. The police are often there with warrants requesting to view the surveillance tapes. There have been murders, rapes, hit and runs, drug busts. This is a horrible area. There's a reason nothing has been done with that plot of land. Now they are going to attract more homeless to the area - wow this is great! Today my husband said his boss notified his higher up boss in New Jersey of the City Councils decision to allow this homeless "village" (camp) on that property. My husband will probably be unemployed by the end of the year due in part to this decision. Thank a lot Eugene! :(
Why has no one mentioned that the structures they intend to use meet no building codes and would be death traps in a fire!?! Will the city assume responsibility when some drunk bum fails to snub his cig before passing out and burn the hut and whoever is in it? If I go fall off one of these can I sue the city? What is wrong with the mission? Oh, yeah, you can't use drugs or alcohol and must say a prayer! This is not about solving a problem but a forever enabling act. If you want to help these people then go volunteer your time and money at the mission, maybe then they could expand and help a few more.
I do not understand why the City of Eugene, who is falling off a Fiscal Cliff, is paying for this. No jail, no money for anything else, criminals out on the streets, a downtown that looks like a ghetto. Â You all must have lost your minds. Â I will bet that all the criminals that get let out of jail will go live there in that camp. Â If I ever see the Mayor or council members in person, doing their 'meet and greet' around town, I will be sure to make a point of asking them in person.Â
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I will also post on every blog I can, Facebook, etc about what an absolute dangerous, filthy town Eugene is turning out to be. Â
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This is infuriating.
You just never get it do you? This whole scam is aimed at the simple-minded.
The media aired this segment AT THE SAME TIME as stories about how badly we are in financial trouble, and you didn't get something that obvious?
First, conservative greed caused the homeless problem, so the wealthy should be taxed into poverty to repay the people whose lives they destroyed. I'm sure that paying for your crimes never entered your mind once.
Second, if the council gave a darn about those people, they would have let them stay in their ten communities so they could survive the winter. How many died last year?  You have no clue because you don't care and never did.
Third, the council doesn't care either.  They did NOTHING for the homeless last winter, knowing some of them would die. They delayed a decision until this winter, and have now come up with a plan that won't save lives this winter either.Â
You never saw through that did you?  They set you up to be the low-lives that will be so outraged and will demand that the village never happen. Then the homeless can die and the council will have you to blame.Â
I'm outraged at the money too, but I'm not a parasite, and I don't place money before human life.
I've gone the opposite direction though. I want those people back in whatever community THEY CHOOSE, so they can SURVIVE NOW.
You are the opposite -- you have no problem with being a party to murder. You caused the problem, you feel no guilt about the greed, you didn't even mention a thing about them getting help now, and you don't work at being intelligent enough to see more than one narrow thought at a time, so you miss the manipulation factor.
I want ACCOUNTABILITY because that's the only thing thing that will end this conservative crime spree. I want the rich to pay money, and those in power prosecuted for murder and attempted murder, as if the homeless were human beings. That clearly never entered your mind either, since it was all about the money., and the money, and the money.
@common sense ? That must be a oxymoron on your part. The real common sense is to be able to keep what you earn. In other words, if you don't earn it don't expect anything. If these people are sick, send them packing to the place they came from, don't try to mix them in with people who are not sick. If you feel sorry for them, then you take care of them. The city counsel is inviting everybody to Eugene and expecting the tax payers to foot the bill. Due to the fact the city counsel must also be sick and I can do something about it, I'm getting out of here. Now the question is, what will the city of Eugene and you do when there are no tax payers left to support this nonsense?
 @Franklyspeaking I agree, only 'moron' is more like it. What a pack of losers
I just can't wait to go there and make out with folks
So....Stooge is not just a catchy name?? :/
What the city council fails to understand is that if you build it, they will come, and they will keep coming as long as you keep giving them a handout to enable their lifestyle.Â
I visited the Occupy Eugene camp a couple of times last year. It was courosity to see what was happening. Â It wasn't until they relocated under Jefferson/Washington bridge that I saw the dysfunction of a lot of the non-Occupy Eugene people that attached themselves to the Occupy movement. Â I saw so much need in the cold and rain that I donated three tents to those that I saw were the most desperate. Â And, some other gear and clothing which was put immediately into use.
Poverty and dysfunction are not pretty. Â Most of those with the most need did not have anyone that they could turn to for help. Â "Someone described your family as when you go their they have to take you in". Â There is no family in this sense for the real needy and dysfunctional. Â There is no family to take them in. Â It is only to camps, under bridges, park benches and door ways that they can turn.
We are mainly dealing here with mental dysfunction, not poverty. Â Most of the homeless do not have the tools to get them out of their situation. Â Without a family, which the village may provide them, they will die on the streets in a lot of ways that most of us can not even imagine. I think that no one who has the ability to get out of a situation stays in it because it is a chosen way of life. Â Yet, I can not think that they are not accountable, more like just unfortunate.
If Eugene is even a little fortunate with their village maybe it will lead others to set up the same. Â No one person or one action is going to solve all the problems that are present in our society. Â But, little by little we can try. Â If we can afford war why can't we afford to make life better for our fortunate.
 @joall so in others words because people are incapable or just plane refuse to help themselves get out of the situation they are in, me as a tax payer has to suffer for it through higher tax hikes and more taxes. interesting. How about we save all the tax payers money and send them to your house if you feel so broken hearted over peoples choices. I for one refuse to pay higher taxes for something that will cause more problems then it will solve.
 @RC95 I am curious as to how you will refuse to pay the higher taxes when they come about?
Nice... third world America is on the ups...How are those endless wars of greed and empire that are destroying our ecconomy doing again.... oh yea who cares.
What a stupid move by the city of Eugene. Promote being homeless in Eugene? I don't know what the city council is thinking. They want more crime, more bums?
We don't have the money to have a viable jail but we do have the cash to house these bums that expect a warm place to sleep. The word is out for every bum in the country that we will take care of anybody who can make it to Eugene. The nanny city with a unlimited budget to share with the unwashed but no police department to keep the peace. What is wrong with this bunch of politicians that a shrink couldn't fix? Everything!!!!!! If you own property in Eugene, my advise is to sell and get out of here, I'm tired of supporting this nonsense.
History will continue to repeat itself unfortunately;
Fights will break out
Thefts will take place
Drugs and alcohol will fuel mulitiple police calls
The camp will lose favor and they will close the location
Anyone wanna bet I'm wrong?
 @flor3nc3 and the taxpayers will foot the bill for the cleanup - again!
The City needs to get its $10.00 per person 'city services' fee in place to cover the cost before they can open this wonderful site.