I was shocked and angry after reading the “progress report” on the homeless Navigation Center, especially with what the report did not say. There never was any goal to reduce real homelessness, or the hard-core drug addictions that cause it. There is no apparent attempt to prevent access by those who are coming over from Portland to hang out at the expense of Vancouver taxpayers. It is not my responsibility to pay for Portland’s addicts.
The Navigation Center is a serious wound inflicted on five neighborhoods by the city council, and there is an urgent need to rein this mess in quickly. Until the council approves standards and operational plans that address actual goals that can be met, the Navigation Center should be closed immediately.
