Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning

The most interesting news stories in Portland this week related to the scene on the city's streets, amd local government's responses. No wonder. The ubiquitous tent camps and zombie RVs are a major factor contributing to the city's economic and civic malaise. 

In the news that got the most play, the far-lefties on the City Council failed in their attempt to defund Mayor Keith Wilson's current program of forcing tent-dwellers and trailer occupants to move on. With hundreds of new shelter beds in place, including some that are vacant, city crews are reportedly "sweeping" various "homeless" camps and threatening to arrest those who won't move. Since many of the squatters resist, the operations are not always a festival of goodwill. And a lot of the street folks have warrants out for their arrest; for them, their next stop after a "sweep" is the pokey, at least for a little while.

I watched video of some of the nine-hour ordeal of a City Council meeting after it was over, and I must say, it was cringeworthy. The most strident member of the socialist wing of the council, Angelita Morillo from southeast, spent a lot of everyone's time hissing at the mayor for not respecting her authoritah. "You could have called me, you didn't return my calls," yada yada yada. Wilson put a lot more effort than I would have into responding to her accusations, which in the grand scheme of things were pretty pointless. Morillo's proposal failed, but she'll be back. A former Jo Ann Hardesty staffer, she's taking her old boss' "I'm offended" act to a whole new level. And with free campaign money and "rank choice" elections, you'll never get rid of her. She's scheduled to retire in 2063.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, there was quite an embarrassing moment for Urban Alchemy, the San Francisco outfit that runs Portland's sanctioned camps. These facilities, rows of tiny houses, are supervised by people with "lived experience" of their own from the streets. This is supposed to be a good thing.

But according to prosecutors, one of the Urban Alchemy employees, Kaesha Green, racked up the "lived experience" of murdering an Uber driver in 2022 as part of an alleged robbery on Northeast 82nd Avenue. Wow. Just wow.

The California-based Urban Alchemy operates multiple city-funded shelters for those experiencing homelessness in Portland. The organization makes a point of hiring formerly incarcerated or unhoused staff. They have a well-documented history of issues in other cities, including in San Francisco, Sausalito, and Austin.

According to the spokesperson, Urban Alchemy conducts background checks on all employees who interact with shelter guests or other vulnerable populations. They also conduct an individualized assessment.

Green was not employed by Urban Alchemy at the time of the alleged murder three years ago, but she did have multiple felony convictions dating back to 2008. The most recent was in 2022, when she pleaded guilty to one charge of felon in possession of a firearm. She pleaded guilty to the same charge in a separate case in 2021.

Green also pleaded guilty to one count of felon in possession of a firearm in 2018, along with two counts of identity theft.

Oregon law restricts employers from excluding applicants based solely on criminal history. It’s also against the Portland city code.

With the city-sanctioned camps, the keepers are often as scary as the kept.

* * * * *

To me the most intriguing story of the week was the winning bid on the derelict Gordon's Fireplace building at 33rd and Broadway in northeast Portland. This notorious eyesore was up for auction after the city foreclosed on it, and the highest bidder, at first unidentified, turns out to be a real estate operator from Clackamas County by the name of Tony Ngo.

View from southeast. Traffic on right is on Broadway. Lower left, steep drop to railroad tracks and freeway.

KGW got the scoop on who won the bidding. They asked Ngo what his plans are for the awful, unsafe hulk of a warehouse, and his response certainly raised an eyebrow:

Ngo told KGW he and a group of business partners purchased the property with plans to facilitate its sale to the non-profit Do Good Multnomah. Ngo said Do Good Multnomah plans to renovate the building into affordable housing for homeless veterans.

“They have a great mission, and I believe in that,” said Ngo.

A couple of things jumped right out at me reading this. Ngo and his partners "purchased the property with plans to facilitate its sale." What exactly does that mean? Is the Ngo group going to flip the property for a profit? Will the nonprofit pay more than the auction price (which was reported as $575,000)? Would that be fair? And where will the nonprofit get the money for such a major undertaking? I'd be shocked if it won't be coming from Multnomah County.

So congratulations, taxpayers. The real "purchaser" may be you and me. And congrats, too, to the construction contractors who are no doubt going to make sweet bank on the public money. In Portlandia, they are Priority One.

The other scarlet flag is that Do Good Multnomah is the supposed white knight in this tale. That group's track record is checkered at best. Its name has been in the news quite a bit in recent years, and invariably on account of something negative. They were the outfit that was running a shelter in the old Greyhound station in Old Town that closed due to safety concerns after employee complaints that the air inside in the summer was over 90 degrees. A few years earlier, they were exposed as a feckless slumlord in connection with "Sandy Studios," a former no-tell motel that they were using to house veterans. Serious maintenance problems included faulty plumbing, extensive mold, a bedbug infestation, broken wiring, and holes and collapses in ceilings. Meanwhile, on the money side, its auditors a couple of years ago gave the organization low marks for accounting – they found a "material weakness in internal control" and a "significant deficiency in internal control" as well. Not good.

And so neighbors tired of dealing with the Gordon's property may want to hold off their chorus of "Happy Days Are Here Again." We'll watch closely to see if the Ngo purchase closes, and if there's a flip to Do Good Multnomah thereafter. Anything that demolishes that trash building is a plus, but I'm catching a whiff of taxpayers' once again being taken to the cleaners – and perhaps being subjected to a problem property of a different kind.

In the meantime, what is the relationship between Do Good Multnomah and Ngo? What's he up to? Is he just a fan? Is he doing someone a favor? Intriguing stuff. Maybe this deal is as innocent as it's being portrayed, but if only this town had more smart reporters, it could get a lot more interesting.