Are We Ready to Actually Solve the Homelessness Emergency in Salem?

Making homelessness item #1A and public safety #1B at every City Council meeting. The city's own polling shows 43% cite homelessness as their #1 concern, and 19% cite public safety. Every council meeting should start with progress updates on these two issues before any other business.

We don't have enough shelter space. Creating new shelter space — by building new facilities and/or repurposing existing structures — should be the city's #1 priority.

The city owns a massive real estate portfolio worth millions. Propose liquidating any unused buildings or land with no immediate plans. This creates an immediate general fund boost and potential new tax revenue. All funds go toward new shelter space, addiction/recovery services, housing services, and hiring more law enforcement. Some properties could also be repurposed into shelters, managed camping sites, safe parking, and RV/trailer parks.

A short-term, temporary solution: one managed camping site per ward, accommodating 75-100 people each. This replaces the unmanaged camping disaster already happening in neighborhoods. Brings people out of the shadows of places like Wallace Marine Park into supervised sites where sex trafficking and other crimes are far harder to hide. The Clean Salem Team and Homeless Services Team can work these sites far more effectively instead of running all over the city. Help the willing, hold accountable the unwilling.

Creative revenue partnerships to fund solutions. Example: allowing 4 digital billboards on city property could generate up to $1M/year for the general fund — the billboard company pays all costs. That money could fund bicycle police patrols downtown or a 4-6 person assertive outreach team connecting unsheltered people to resources. This is just one idea — but you need business-minded people on council to make it happen.

Once shelter space and managed camping sites exist, enforce the ban on public camping. No logical or moral reason to allow unmanaged camping to continue after investing in alternatives. Address every objection: storage/locker systems for belongings, flexible curfews for night-shift workers, managed camping for those not ready to live indoors. Key principle: help anyone and everyone willing to cooperate.

Enforcement as a last resort. Every effort made first to connect individuals to services or temporarily relocate them to managed camping. Option to relocate outside Salem. But for those who refuse all help and refuse to cooperate — no one, regardless of circumstances, gets a free pass to break the law.

This is just the foundation. More details coming on root causes, affordable housing, transitional housing, and each plan segment. This is not Left vs. Right. Community input is welcomed. Republican, Democrat, Independent, Progressive — doesn't matter. Shared vision, shared solution. We CAN solve this.