Murmurs: Mayor’s Shelter Beds Often Lie Empty

MAYOR’S SHELTER BEDS OFTEN LIE EMPTY: Mayor Keith Wilson told the Metro Council on Tuesday that his ambitious plan to set up 1,500 emergency shelter beds by Dec. 1 is working. “I’m a dog with a bone,” Wilson said, ever positive. “I’m not a quitter.” One important nugget revealed during Wilson’s presentation: Between 50% and 60% of the 810 emergency beds opened since the beginning of the year are occupied on a nightly basis. That’s low compared to utilization rates at county shelters, which hover around 92% on a nightly basis. Portland Solutions director Skye Brocker-Knapp offered that statistic during questioning of shelter occupancy rates by Metro Councilor Ashton Simpson. Brocker-Knapp said that utilization rates are expected to increase as the weather turns, and said that as more data