Homelessness again more visible downtown

Feb. 8—Astoria police say there has been an uptick in homelessness downtown, but stress that despite a couple of high-profile incidents, crime has not increased.

During a City Council meeting on Monday night, city councilors relayed constituent concerns about public safety. Some residents also expressed alarm over the number of tents that have popped up downtown.

City Councilor Tom Hilton called crime the "paramount issue" within the city.

But Police Chief Stacy Kelly assured the council that the city has not seen an increase in crime. He added that information is often distorted on social media.

"We're not in the middle of a crime wave," the police chief said. "We've had some very high-profile incidents here in the last three days, but our stats are flat."

Kelly was referring to an incident on Friday night involving a homeless man, Dwayne Douglas Blair, who allegedly threw an explosive device at a staffer at the Astoria Warming Center and stabbed another staffer. That same night, police arrested Jericho Labonte, a 35-year-old man from Victoria, British Columbia, at the warming center in Seaside hours after he was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard when a boat that he allegedly stole capsized near the mouth of the Columbia River.

Last week, Labonte also reportedly left a dead fish on the porch of the Goonies house in Uppertown and placed stickers over camera lenses outside the residence.

Kelly told The Astorian the police department has seen an increase in calls related to homelessness.

The police chief said that could be due to a number of factors, including the camping ordinance the city adopted late last year, which outlined the time, place and manner people can sleep outdoors.

The update was in response to federal court rulings and state legislation that prohibit enforcement of illegal camping on public property unless cities have adequate shelter spaces.

The place component of the ordinance makes the vast majority of the city off-limits to camping, but allows it in public rights of way in commercial areas.

Kelly believes the shift has resulted in a higher concentration of homeless people in and around downtown, which also makes it appear like there are more homeless people. He added that the city may consider amending the ordinance to allow camping in other areas.

The police chief did note that officers have seen more homeless people that they have not encountered before.

He said some people have reported coming to the North Coast after researching services and resources. Some, he said, have come from Portland, where camping bans are being enforced.

Kelly said some may have also come after learning of the warming center's plans to be open for 90 consecutive days, as opposed to only opening when the weather is dangerously cold.

The warming center closed following the incident on Friday, which has led more people to sleep outside over the past few days.

LiFEBoat Services, which has a daytime drop-in center on Commercial Street, reopened Monday after closing for two weeks to complete a deep cleaning, planning and administrative duties.

LiFEBoat partnered with the warming center in October after uncertainty over whether the warming center would offer overnight shelter at the First United Methodist Church this season.

LiFEBoat has been making improvements to its facility on Commercial Street to eventually provide a year-round overnight shelter.

In the meantime, Osarch Orak, who runs LiFEBoat with his wife, Erin Carlsen, said the nonprofit is negotiating a 90-day temporary permit with the city, similar to the arrangement the city has with the warming center.

He said the goal is to open an overnight shelter at the facility as soon as possible. Once that is complete, Orak said, LiFEBoat plans to take over the space used by the warming center at First United Methodist Church and exclusively run both spaces.

While the plans are not set in stone, he said the space at the church would be used in combination with the space on Commercial Street.

Clatsop County has had among the highest rates of homelessness per capita in Oregon, but the exact number has been elusive. Advocates who work with people who are homeless believe official surveys often undercount the homeless population.

New data from a point-in-time count is expected soon.