Monique DeSpain’s guest column about homelessness starts out with compassion but soon breaks down into a distortion of reality. Yes, homelessness is increasing in Oregon and, yes, addiction and mental illness are primary drivers of the problem, but not the only ones.

First: DeSpain makes some specious claims. This problem can’t be blamed on one political party — for example, the “housing first” idea. There is empirical data showing that recovery rates for addiction are significantly better for those with a place to live. She implies that once people are given a place to live, the system expects them to recover on their own. That’s simply not true.

Second: Getting people back to work or school requires that such opportunities exist. Since the Reagan years, workers’ pay has stagnated as corporate executives pay themselves more. When a company finds itself in trouble, the first response is always mass layoffs. As income inequality grows, housing becomes less affordable for people of modest income.

Third: This is a problem bigger than any one town or state can manage alone. Nationwide cuts to social services and education make things worse. Law enforcement has an important role, but we need balance between palliative and punitive measures. When Springfield criminalized panhandling, the panhandlers just came to Eugene. Moving a problem elsewhere doesn’t solve it.

Fourth: DeSpain declares this problem to be “ideological.” I disagree. Everyone would like to see a better outcome for the homeless. Demonizing the other side doesn’t fix anything. I think she would do better to acknowledge the efforts being made by our current leadership, keeping the things that work and changing those that don’t. We need practical solutions, and both sides of the fence, left and right, will find some of these hard to accept. Compromise is the path forward.

I know DeSpain needs to define herself as a candidate, but denigrating her opponent, U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle, is the wrong way to do it. She could also spell out some more specific solutions instead of platitudes like “convenes stakeholders, solves problems, and produces results.” Only a career politician would say something like that.

Brook Adams
Eugene