About

The recommendation to form a Downtown Good Neighbor Partnership was made in August 2018 by the Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force.  See "DHSTF Calls for Ongoing Conversation", "DHSTF Recs Update", "Bureacratic BS Burying Good Neighbor Partnership."

Establish a Downtown Good Neighbor Partnership for those who live, work, shop, and visit downtown Salem that supports appropriate behavior and ongoing dialogue with stakeholders. In conjunction with the establishment of a Downtown Good Neighbor Partnership, City staff to assess Salem codes and ordinances to ensure that the City is appropriately balancing the rights of those who live, work, and shop in our downtown, and providing the City of Salem with the tools they need to address behaviors that negatively impact others.  DHSTF Rec. 3.

The purpose of the Partnership was thus not to address or end homelessness, but to try to manage its impact on the downtown.

What is now known as the Good Neighbor Partnership had its first meeting on June 25, 2019.

On July 11, 2019, the City sent out an email over the subject line "Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force update" to blind-copied (unknown) recipients.  Attached to the email was a five-page, untitled, document outlining recent "steps" taken to implement the DHSTF's recommendations.  The attached document stated: 

The City has initiated collaboration meetings between staff, Salem Police Department, service providers, and downtown business and property representatives to provide updates on efforts and improve communication between parties. This informal group is...intended to function as the good-neighbor partnership described in Recommendation [3].

Under Recommendation [3], the document stated:

The City has initiated good-neighbor partnership meetings to support communication among stakeholders. It is expected that this partnership will evolve over time as will the make-up of up of those participating. After it is fully established and meetings have occurred for a few months, the City will invite participants to rotate the role of host and convener to help assure that this is truly a community-driven partnership.

In an email dated August 14, 2019, the group was reminded that "meetings are about building relationships, sharing information, and collaborating on solutions."