Tony Sparling was recently named Lake Oswego's homeless
liaison officer.
PMG photo: Jaime Valdez
Tony Sparling, Lake Oswego's new homeless liaison officer,
talks with a houseless individual.
PMG file photo
As a way to ensure appropriate response to issues related to homelessness, the Lake Oswego Police Department has enlisted longtime officer Tony Sparling to be its homeless liaison officer.
Sparling, who has worked with the city since 2006, was already the department’s adult resource officer and veterans resource officer and said it only made sense for him to take on this additional role.
As the homeless liaison officer, Sparling said he familiarizes himself with state law and local policy, hosts training with the department and works with social services. He is also responsible for guiding response if there were to be a homeless encampment in town. In that scenario, the department would provide a 72-hour eviction notice and try to put those staying there in contact with resources for shelter and food. The last training Sparling facilitated centered on what to do in case an officer sees a homeless encampment.
“I am learning as I go. We have one individual who was homeless here. We were able to get him a voucher and get housing, help him get his own apartment and off the streets. We don’t have any homeless camps,” Sparling said.
The officer added that the department sometimes encounters individuals in town who are homeless, noting that they often come via bus from Portland, and will give them resource cards for services. There are no homeless shelters in Lake Oswego, but there is one in Oregon City and Sparling added that Clackamas County social services can provide shelter. There are also local food pantries that can provide services such as Hunger Fighters of Oregon.
“They wander and filter through the city. And if we come in contact, (we) try to do everything we can to help them out,” Sparling said. “All officers are trained to treat everyone with respect and the same.”
Sparling further recommended people in the community leave those who are homeless alone if they aren’t doing anything illegal.
“If someone is walking down the street or sitting on the bench, I would probably just let them be,” he said.
News
featured
Photos: Diane Wilson visits Lake Oswego to close LO Reads program
Author Diane Wilson talks with author Robin Wall Kimmerer about
the novel 'The Seed Keeper' during the Lake Oswego Reads
event.
Jonathan House / PMG photo: Jonathan House
Author Diane Wilson, bottom, talks with author Robin Wall
Kimmerer about the novel 'The Seed Keeper' during the Lake
Oswego Reads event.
Jonathan House / PMG photo: Jonathan House
Author Diane Wilson reads from her novel 'The Seed
Keeper' during the Lake Oswego Reads event.
Jonathan House / PMG photo: Jonathan House
Author Diane Wilson visited the community Tuesday, April
25.
Jonathan House / PMG photo: Jonathan House
The Lake Oswego community welcomed Diane Wilson — the author of the 2023 Lake Oswego Reads selection “The Seed Keeper — for her conversation with fellow author Robin Wall Kimmerer during an event at Lakeridge High School Tuesday, April 25.
Wilson is a descendant of the Dakota people and her book depicts Rosalie, who connects with her family’s own Dakota history through the planting of seeds. The event capped the Lake Oswego Reads month-long slate of activities, which included lectures with professors, an art exhibit based on the book, a seed planting and other enriching events.
News
featured
Lake Oswego raises concerns about ‘cumulative effects’ of housing proposals
In a letter to the Oregon House Committee on Housing and Homelessness, the city of Lake Oswego recently raised concern about the “cumulative effects on communities in Oregon” regarding ambitious housing legislation at the Oregon state Legislature.
Though they are not named in the letter, the city clarified that the main bills they are concerned about include House Bill 3414 — which would limit conditions under which local governments may deny variance for housing development within the urban growth boundary — and Senate Bill 1051 which would require the Department of Land Conservation and Development to study urban reserves (land that can be developed within the next 50 years). The city said it is working with the Legislature as well as other cities on ways to revise the bills and expects forthcoming changes.
“While Oregon is dealing with an unprecedented housing crisis, we are concerned that the cumulative effect of the housing bills under consideration will disrupt our work to create a sustainable community and may inadvertently lead to highly inefficient urban sprawl that will not protect Oregon’s agriculture, open space, and natural areas,” the letter signed by Mayor Joe Buck reads. “These bills will also place a substantial new regulatory burden on local governments, without giving us the tools we need to facilitate housing construction.”
During a Lake Oswego Planning Commission meeting Monday, April 24, commissioner Rob Heape also criticized the bill regarding limiting the denial of variances. Developers can apply for variances that would allow them to build outside the bounds of zoning requirements for things like home setback length, height and floor-to-area ratio.
“To me it looks like it’s stomping all over city home rule and is something the city should be strongly opposed to,” he said, adding that there would be few ways that a city could deny variances for housing development under the proposed law. “I understand there is a serious need for housing, but to me it’s going too far.”
The letter also notes the city’s successes in terms of boosting housing stock — including that it has increased supply by approximately 836 units (650 of which were multifamily) in the past five years. It also noted many projects to bring in affordable and market-rate housing projects such as one at Southwest Boones Ferry Road that will bring in 50 affordable housing units and a 100-unit affordable housing complex at the former Marylhurst University campus. Market-rate projects like The Winward (200 apartments) and The Springs (105 senior living apartments) were also cited.
“We are aware of the misconception that Lake Oswego is not committed to producing its fair share of our housing. However, our track record as a community illustrates that we are successfully increasing housing supply,” the letter reads.
Further, the city called on the state to direct funding for local housing production, develop grant programs for the implementation of housing production strategies, invest in career pathway supports, provide model code technical assistance and help local governments forge more walkable and environmentally-friendly communities.
“I strongly urge the committee to work with local governments to find solutions together rather than create a multitude of unintended consequences for Oregon’s land use system and the livability of our communities that do not truly address housing production and/or affordability. We respectfully request your leadership to work together for the betterment of all Oregonians,” the letter reads.
To address the state’s housing crisis so far this session, the Legislature passed a $200 million housing package aimed at reducing homelessness and increasing affordable housing supply and established standards cities must comply with for housing development.
Click and hold your mouse button on the page to select the area you wish to save or print.
You can click and drag the clipping box to move it or click and drag in the bottom right corner to resize it.
When you're happy with your selection, click the checkmark icon next to the clipping area to continue.
