COMMENTARY | The commissioner’s coalition-building style created lasting improvements in how we look at solving the crisis I remember the first time I met Nick Fish. He had an almost naive optimism about what he wanted to accomplish on the housing front. ...
10 Jan 2020 - Israel Bayer
Israel Bayer delivers some real talk about his experience fighting for people in poverty In the coming months, as I gear up for my departure from Street Roots, I’ll be writing about some reflections and lessons learned over the years. Some real talk. Isra ...
15 Sep 2017 - Israel Bayer
Oregon lawmakers have never prioritized housing in a substantial way On the same day Multnomah County announced a 10 percent increase in people experiencing homelessness, Oregon announced cuts to emergency rent assistance. If that didn’t add enough insul ...
23 Jun 2017 - Israel Bayer
This flawed policy would perpetuate a cycle of madness that's been repeated for decades People tell me all the time, Israel — all my friends, even the liberal ones are tired of it. The homeless. The trash. Something has to be done to clear these camp ...
19 May 2017 - Israel Bayer
We can do something powerful, but we need to focus on solutions We’ve lost the general public’s support and political will on homelessness. I’ve been hearing these sentiments a lot lately in political circles. That’s nonsense. It’s true that many people ...
4 May 2017 - Israel Bayer
Turnover in political leadership, Trump's threats leave Ted Wheeler with a daunting task People ask me all of the time, “What do you think of Mayor Wheeler?” I tell them, I don’t know the mayor well, but from my short time working with him he’s one o ...
30 Mar 2017 - Israel Bayer