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During the seven years she has served as Multnomah County chair, Deborah Kafoury has focused on fixing Portland’s housing crisis. That effort means many Portlanders associate Kafoury’s work with what they see in the streets. Supporters say Kafoury has dealt effectively with the city’s toughest problems and done more to address homelessness in Portland than any other politician. Critics claim she puts too much emphasis on affordable housing and not enough on opening more shelter beds, and that her search for tax dollars has yielded few results. In last week’s cover interview (“The Trials of Deborah Kafoury,” WW, July 28, 2021), she defended her record and discussed the dwindling chances she’ll run for Oregon governor. Here’s what our readers had to say:
SOSPortland, via wweek.com: “‘The poverty and squalor unspooling each day on Portland’s streets are the direct result of a housing crisis she’s dedicated years trying to alleviate.’ That says it all. Dedicated years and increased taxes, yet failed miserably to address the humanitarian crisis which gets worse every year. ‘Spend more with less to show for it’ seems to be a poor motto for a gubernatorial election.”
Tim Wood, via Facebook: “I dig how candid this interview is. She went up a few notches in my book.”
@MakeItVeganNic, via Twitter: “If the GOP wasn’t so inclined toward Trump and fascism, I could see many Democrats voting against her and other light-on-crime liberals. Her failed policies have enabled the ever-expanding shantytowns all over Portland.”
Tony Rutt, via Facebook: “‘The city needs to clean up the garbage. I do feel like the public needs to just be pounding on the table about that.’ Why should we, the taxpaying public, have to be pounding the table to get trash picked up?”
Melinda, via wweek.com: “Is there any data that quantifies an overall reduction in homelessness since the measures in 2016 and beyond were approved? (I mean this sincerely, I can’t find that answer. I know that many have now been provided with housing, but does that lower the overall numbers?) This interview seems to show that Ms. Kafoury’s plans to continue improving the situation are contingent on more spending. This may very well be necessary, but if the net result of providing housing doesn’t actually result in a true reduction in the number of houseless people in our town, then what are we doing?”
@lasertag19, via Twitter: “‘Tangled with’ the toughest problems does not mean ‘solved the problems.’ I tangled with a tough algebra test once and got a D. Make me World Math Czar.”
Catherine Watts, via Facebook: “’What responsibility do you take for this very apparent misery?’ ‘It’s a failure on all of our part as a community.’ As a homeowning single parent barely making it from paycheck to paycheck, I completely disagree that the ‘community’ has failed, and I find her quote offensive. I pay my taxes, and I have voted for the homeless initiatives, yet here we are with a problem that is getting worse and worse. It is not on me to solve these problems—that is why we elect people like Ms. Kafoury. You have our money and you have the political means—now fix the problem.
Corrections
Due to an editor’s error, a story on pickleball courts (“We Can Pickle That,” WW, July 28, 2021) incorrectly stated that a levy passed by voters in November would restore crumbling infrastructure. In fact, the levy funds the hiring of staff to maintain and protect parks, restore recreational programming, and provide park upkeep. It cannot be used for capital projects, such as renovating tennis courts. A 2014 bond measure funded such capital projects.
In an interview (“Seven Questions About the Delta Variant,” WW, July 14, 2921), virologist Dr. William Messer of Oregon Health & Science University mischaracterized the odds of infection for vaccinated people. He said the odds were 1 in 20, but OHSU spokeswoman Franny White says the chances of contracting COVID-19 depend on a more complicated set of factors and cannot be easily calculated.
WW regrets the errors.
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