Author | Lightnews

Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1h

Shelter as a pest control measure, then

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1h

Very much my shit

Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 1h

I asked my French publisher why they are so completist publishing all of an author's work, even novels less likely to sell. She said she sees part of her role as like monasteries in medieval times, to preserve knowledge through the dark ages. I was struck in the gut a bit by this, felt emotional.

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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 1h

I asked my French publisher why they are so completist publishing all of an author's work, even novels less likely to sell. She said she sees part of her role as like monasteries in medieval times, to preserve knowledge through the dark ages. I was struck in the gut a bit by this, felt emotional.

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 3h

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Adam @adam35.bsky.social · 9h

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 23h

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 1d

Per Danny Kemp via press pool

Trump is at the Halloween party at MAL

“Official theme is Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’, we’re told.”

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rebekah @rebeks.bsky.social · 1d

where does mayor wilson think homeless people are supposed to go after they get into a shelter?! this is incredibly shortsighted. we need to be working towards a housing future with affordable rents and long term stability.

Portland Mercury @portlandmercury.com · 1d

Shake-up at the Portland Housing Bureau: Mayor Wilson put director Helmi Hisserich, an "unparalleled expert" on social housing, on leave with little explanation Thursday. She has been in the role since early 2024.

Mayor Wilson Puts Portland Housing Bureau Director On Leave

Mayor Keith Wilson has put Portland Housing Bureau Director Helmi Hisserich on leave, effective immediately. City Administrator Michael Jordan sent an email to city councilors and city leadership on O...

www.portlandmercury.com

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

I just think it’s interesting that PPB has “informants” in the protest scene

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Mitch Green @councilorgreen.bsky.social · 1d

I oppose the resumption of sweeps beginning tomorrow. They are costly, ineffective and cruel. At a time when our Federal government is literally starving our most vulnerable neighbors, we add to that by violently taking from them what little they have? My statement attached.

Councilor Mitch Green
Portland City Council, District 4
1221 SW 4th Ave. # 240, Portland, OR, 97204
Media Contact: Maria Sipin, Chief of Staff
maria.sipin2@portlandoregon.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Councilor Mitch Green’s Statement on November 1st Camping Ban Enforcement
Policy
October 30, 2025
“We have seen ICE and the National Guard perform homeless sweeps in other cities where
they've been deployed, and we’ve heard Trump calling for increased sweeps and even
disappearance of unhoused people.
It is a bad, cruel, and failed policy when the Trump administration does it, and it is a bad,
cruel, and failed policy when the city of Portland does it.
As we face the very real possibility of federal troops being deployed to our streets to target
one group of vulnerable people, we absolutely cannot start using our own police to do their
work for them by targeting another.
Some will argue that sweeps are about safety and compassion, but the evidence is clear
and overwhelming. Sweeps kill people.
For far too long, Portland has pursued a failed policy of criminalizing poverty. As a result,
we’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars only to see the problem grow, and deaths among
our homeless neighbors quadruple between 2019 and 2023.
It’s time to change direction. We need to protect ALL Portlanders.

We need to focus on programs that move people closer to housing and stability, not policies
that punish and further destabilize. Programs like low-barrier jobs programs, direct rental
assistance, food aid, and day shelters that provide hygiene, clothing, and case management.
Programs like these are humane, cost-effective, and they work. They address the issue of
visible poverty that neighbors and businesses are concerned about, but they do so by
offering dignity, not displacement. They break the cycle of disappointment and
depression—where people spend all day waiting in lines, worrying about their belongings,
with no meaningful work. They are a hand up, not a sweep away.
But at the end of the day, the only real, lasting solution to homelessness is to provide deeply
affordable housing for all. Unless we stop the flow of folks onto the streets, we’re never
going to make real progress. That is why we need to move aggressively towards a Social
Housing model— high quality, permanently affordable housing that will serve the vast
majority of Portlanders, from the unhoused to the middle class.
The choice before us is clear. We can either align ourselves with the politics of division, of
sweeps, of cages, and of death, or we can choose the politics of solidarity, of housing, of
healthcare, and of life.”

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

What procedures can council use to stop this?

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Jennifer @jenwith1n.bsky.social · 1d

The email I sent my councilors (with alt text) is below if anyone needs additional inspiration.

Hello Councilors Pirtle-Guiney and Kanal,

I am a resident of District 2 (in the Concordia neighborhood), an urban planner specializing in housing and economic development, and a housing and accessibility advocate. I am really appalled by the recent actions that Mayor Wilson has taken on housing and homelessness.
First, he has transparently been pursuing a strategy of rapidly adding overnight-only shelter beds in order to enable sweeps of homeless residents that satisfies the requirements imposed by the Ninth Circuit. Overnight-only shelter beds do not help get and keep people stably housed. This action is extremely cynical, responding not to the needs of our homeless neighbors (as expressed in the recent Welcome Home Coalition survey) but the whims of the Portland Metro Chamber.
Second, it was made clear in a recent Willamette Week article that in advance of the arbitrary November 1st deadline the Mayor has given to restart sweeps the Mayor has failed to coordinate with service providers or representatives of the criminal justice system, which he is about to overwhelm. Rather than providing housing, Wilson expects to provide homeless residents with a jail cell where they will be forced to spend months waiting for a trial.
Third, the Portland Mercury reported today that Mayor Wilson placed the PHB director on leave. She is a world-renowned expert in social housing - a policy the City Council has been interested in pursuing to ensure that Portlanders of all ages, stages, and wages can access stable and affordable housing. Putting her on leave is a clear signal that Mayor Wilson is not interested in evidence-based housing solutions, and is instead wholly committed to the criminalization of our homeless neighbors.
While it is true that the Mayor has some unilateral authority under the new system of government, as Councilors you do have oversight power over his actions. The economy is weakening, SNAP benefits are in jeopardy, health care premiums are about to go up, and…

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

Moe throws out Barney meme template. Barney is “Rene Gonzalez (Rene Gonzalez)” and Moe is “Oregon voters” and the returned Barney is “Rene Gonzalez (Keith Wilson)”

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

Moe throws out Barney meme template. Barney is “Slavery in Oregon” and Moe is “Oregon voters”

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_...

Oregon Ballot Measure 112 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

I think the measure added a new loophole allowing community service for probation and parole

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

A community court was active as a part of the Downtown Clean & Safe ESD program prior to the pandemic … the ESD managed by the Portland Business Alliance wraphome.org/wp-content/u...

wraphome.org

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

“‘However, we are working with the Court to create a one stop community court that will limit failures to appear and encourage connection to community resources,’ Vazquez said.”

At “community court” those arrested for the crime of being found homeless will be assigned labor to work off the offense.

Jeremiah Hayden @jeremiahhayden.bsky.social · 1d

This story has been updated to include comments from Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vazquez, who says his office is eager to support Wilson’s plan, and will devote office resources and time to back up his efforts.

City of Portland Begins Enforcement of ‘Public Camping’ Rules This Weekend

Note: This story has been updated to include comments from Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vazquez. This weekend, the city of Portland is resuming enforcement of its local laws governing whe...

www.portlandmercury.com

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

Hey Portland, I just sent this to my councilors*. City Council has oversight authority they can wield if they want it. Let’s get some pressure pointed at EPG to get this started and let’s get some answers from the mayor.

* minus Dan Ryan because he’s worthless

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

Between the shelter-to-arrest pipeline he’s created and now his dismissal of the City’s social housing expert, it’s hard to imagine that Wilson’s housing strategy is anything other than easing the pressure on the housing market by removing the city’s homeless and poor residents

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

It’s possible people missed this, but as Wilson explained to OPB, the $70mm he requested for new overnight shelters is intended to satisfy a legal requirement that otherwise prevents police from arresting the homeless

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson announces plans to open addiction recovery shelter beds

The beds will open as the mayor plans to begin enforcing the city’s camping ban.

www.opb.org

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

Type a letter and hand deliver it to his office in City Hall

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

His plan for the shelters is to create the circumstances in which it becomes possible for police to arrest the homeless for declining available shelter. The shelters are not supposed to be fully occupied www.opb.org/article/2025...

Wilson told OPB that he doesn’t believe this means his shelters aren’t working.

“I’ve told my team I need hundreds of empty beds every night,” he said. “Having a system with no empty beds means our system fails.”

That’s because, he said, his system relies on having enough shelter beds available to “enforce community standards.”

That’s Wilson’s way of saying he wants to enforce Portland’s anti-camping rules. Keeping beds open is a key piece of the enforcement strategy.

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

I believe his long-term vision for housing is to attack the crisis on the demand side, from the bottom up

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Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

Abolish the position

Justin @justinskolnick.bsky.social · 1d

Mayor Class War makes another big move

Mayor Wilson Puts Portland Housing Bureau Director On Leave

Mayor Keith Wilson has put Portland Housing Bureau Director Helmi Hisserich on leave, effective immediately. City Administrator Michael Jordan sent an email to city councilors and city leadership on O...

www.portlandmercury.com

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