Cheers: To HART. A powerful article from Columbian reporter Alexis Weisend details the meaningful, difficult work done by the city of Vancouver’s Homeless Assistance and Resources Team. Members, including Sheila Andrews, spend their days visiting homeless encampments throughout the community, forging relationships with residents while working to connect people with social services.
“One touch is not enough. One touch does not build trust,” Andrews said. “I’m honest with people. I follow through with what I say. I do what I say I’m going to do. I think that goes a long way.”
The HART program started in 2020 with a single police officer; now it has an annual budget of $1.37 million, demonstrating the scope of the issue. Although some critics suggest that encampments should simply be removed, that would only relocate the problem, not solve it. Making connections with homeless people is important and demanding work.
Jeers: To abrupt closures. Six Subway restaurants throughout Vancouver have closed, at least temporarily, without notice. The six are owned by CapTen Enterprises, based in Lake Oswego, Ore. Company officials have not responded to inquiries.
There likely are valid reasons for the closures, and we won’t speculate. But social media posts indicate that employees were not given advance warning of the closures that rendered them jobless. While we wait for more information, it is safe to say that workers deserved better treatment.
Cheers: To ballot transparency. The state Supreme Court has ruled that information about how initiatives will impact the state budget can appear on the November ballot. Efforts to overturn a capital gains tax, the Climate Commitment Act and a long-term care program have generated contentious lobbying on both sides of the issues, and voters deserve as much information as possible.
Meanwhile, the court also rejected a challenge to the certification of those initiatives — along with the certification of an initiative to overturn restrictions on natural gas in new construction. Those signatures have been validated, and the initiatives are rightly being allowed to move forward. The challenges reflect the strident opinions and lobbying that will engulf voters in November.
Sad: A foster gorilla. A gorilla born June 28 at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo will hopefully be headed to a new home and a new family. The baby had difficulty bonding with Akenji, a first-time mother, and is being nurtured by humans. “The longer he’s cared for solely by humans, the more he is hindered from learning the complex social cues of gorillas and the higher the risk of becoming imprinted on humans,” a zoo official said.
Now, zookeepers are looking for a foster gorilla mother at another facility to care for the unnamed baby. “We’re confident the infant will be placed in a great home, and we’ll share final details upon his safe arrival,” Woodland Park officials said.
Cheers: To smart government. Three Clark County projects are among 12 statewide winners of the 2024 Governor’s Smart Communities Awards, which honor local governments for exceptional land-use planning and development.
The winners are the county’s Housing Options Study and Action Plan; the Community Solar East project, a collaboration between the Port of Camas-Washougal and Clark Public Utilities; and the Clark County Aging Readiness Plan. Dealing with housing, solar energy and aging represents proactive governance that helps prepare Clark County for the future.
