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The Portland City Council today voted to extend the city’s contract with Downtown Clean & Safe, a nonprofit that provides security and hygiene services to 213 blocks in the central city.
As WW reported earlier this year, critics have expressed a variety of concerns about the organization. Advocates for homeless Portlanders say Clean & Safe’s security officers, some of whom are armed, treat people roughly and lack deescalation skills. Other critics think that too much of Clean & Safe’s approximately $6 million annual budget goes to support staff costs at the Portland Business Alliance, which provides management services to Clean & Safe. (The money comes from an assessment on properties within the district.)
The council took testimony on a proposed five-year, $33 million renewal last week. Critics had plenty to say, and they found an ally in Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. Hardesty pushed an amendment to grant a one-year extension of the existing contract to give officials more time to negotiate terms.
“Let’s not rush this agreement through,” Hardesty wrote on Twitter last week. “Trust and transparency are keys to effective community safety.”
On Monday, there were behind-the-scenes discussions to find a compromise between the one-year extension and five-year renewal.
Thirty organizations that opposed the renewal wrote a last-minute letter to the City Council on Sept. 28 urging support for Hardesty’s amendment.
“This is the right path for a stronger, more resilient Portland. We need to holistically assess the purpose, operation and impacts of enhanced services districts as recommended by the City Auditor,” the letter said. “We want to hear from the full community since the intersecting issues of housing, mental health, sanitation and transit affect everyone in the city, not just those who live within district borders or directly pay district fees.”
But within the resolution was an explanation for why the council voted to move forward with a five-year deal today.
“Feedback obtained from the ratepayers of the DC&S District showed that overall, the vast majority are satisfied and not only want the DC&S District to continue, but view it as vital to the revitalization of downtown,” the resolution states. “Especially with respect to public safety and cleaning services given the vast majority of ratepayers hold the view that basic city services have been inadequate in these areas.”
The vote went 4-1, with Hardesty opposed.