One of the pressing issues facing communities across Maine is a growing number of homeless residents, particularly as the cold weather sets in. Over the next few months, Maine Public will explore the problem through a series of conversations with people who are on the front lines.
Maine Public's Robbie Feinberg spoke first with Portland City Manager Danielle West, about the city's response to encampments, and efforts to get people into the shelter system and connected with services.
And while the city has been criticized by advocates for its approach to clearing encampments, West said progress has been made in recent months to expand outreach efforts and boost shelter capacity and services.
"So what we did in November was, we focused staff, and had staff from public health, and our harm reduction team, and other health and human services employees, as well as parks employees, turn their attention to outreach. And so they really transitioned from their sort of normal day-to-day activities and focused on outreach really intensively in November and into December," West said in her office in City Hall, adding that the efforts led to an uptick in residents going to the city's Homeless Services Center.
"And we saw a great sort of response to that, November into December," West added. "But ultimately, we did see a slight slowdown in December. And so then we had to turn our attention to be a little more focused, and really try to work to resolve the encampments themselves, by setting a specific date, to make sure we could go in and resolve that and really get people inside in these cold winter months. Because that's been our focus as a staff, to really get people inside. So we don't have them out in the potentially freezing or sub-freezing temperatures this winter."
Those encampment removals have been heavily criticized by some advocates and outreach workers. Some have said that encampment removals have actually interrupted groups' progress in helping people find housing, and caused distrust of the city.
When asked about those criticisms, West said the issue keeps her up at night, as she considers the people being impacted by the city's decisions.
"When I'm looking at it from my seat, I have a significant number of people to consider. The unhoused themselves, definitely, are at the top of that list. As well as the community providers, the residents, the businesses, my staff, the council, there's just a variety of people that I'm thinking about. So that is a concern," West said. "It's definitely not what we've actually seen, though, I don't believe. On the ground, we have seen a response of getting people inside. It does take a bit of time and intensive work to make that happen. But we've seen more of a response, with people coming inside, once we set a resolution date."
Later in the interview, West acknowledged the difficulty of the city's actions on both unhoused residents and city staff.
"But at the same time, I think it's getting people inside, especially now that we have the capacity, which has been the missing piece of the puzzle for quite some time," she said. "Now that we have that, and we can get them inside before the winter really takes flight here. It's just, it's a good thing. And I think it's difficult, but we're going to continue to try to move ahead and enforce those ordinances that we have on the books."
West said that after the removal of the Harbor View encampment, the city plans to continue to focus on outreach and social services, while also trying to avoid any growing encampments moving forward.
"Hopefully try to now focus more on maybe, if there are individual campsites that are on public property, to really work with those people and get them what they need," she said.
Other factors shaping the issue moving forward will be potential action from neighboring communities and Maine lawmakers, who could take up measures this session on issues such as General Assistance.
Portland's city council — specifically its Health and Human Services Committee — will also play a major role in determining the city's approach. In recent months, some councilors have been openly critical of the city's encampment removals, with two officials floating a ban on encampment sweeps in early November.
Last month, the council also approved a resolution opposing the plan to clear the Harbor View encampment, leading the city to temporarily postpone the action.
When asked about how the council's resolution impacted her staff's work, West acknowledged it was a difficult situation.
"Obviously, they're all of my bosses, all nine of them. I'm employed by the council. So I hear them. And I definitely take their opinion to heart. It's one of the things that I obviously look at and think about as I'm moving forward," she said. "But it's difficult, because a resolution, which the council passed, is just that. It's sort of a statement. It's not a change to the ordinance. And so it's really difficult for the person sitting in as the city manager to sort of manage that. Because as I mentioned, the first duty of mine, under the charter, is to enforce the ordinances of the city. And so that's an obligation that I have, that I take very seriously. I took an oath when I became the city manager to make sure I enforce those ordinances."
"And so until such time as the ordinance has changed, a sort of statement, through a resolution, it kind of just puts me, unfortunately, between somewhat of a rock and a hard place," she added. "Like I said, I hear it, but I have to continue to do what I'm legally obligated to do. And what I see as my job, which is to enforce ordinances."
"Obviously, if the council, the current council, chooses to change that or amend that, I will have to move forward with that and implement that. And do so to the best of my ability."
