Longview Council gives Hope Village two more years

Critics say decision should have been delayed until seating of three new council members who are Hope Village skeptics

Hope Village, the controversial pallet home community that supporters say is successfully helping the chronically homeless to find housing and stability, got a two-year extension at Tuesday’s Longview City Council meeting.

With only Councilman Spencer Boudreau objecting, the council extended an agreement with the local Salvation Army to operate the Alabama Street community until Nov. 15, 2025.

Boudreau also was the sole opponent when the council authorized construction and operation of the community a year ago to replace the squalid, unsupervised camp that operated on city property off Alabama Street for the three previous years.

Salvation Army officials reported that Hope Village has helped 43 people find permanent housing since its opened last December, with 34 still housed.  Operating costs totaled about $911,000 through September, meaning it will cost far less than the $1.4 million limit the city had fixed for first-year costs. A state grant financed most of the expenses in 2023 and is expected to again in 2024,

About 205 people have lived at the restricted access camp, and about 120 people are on the waiting list for entry. Each living unit comes with heat, lights and electrical outlets, and the site has bathrooms, showers, a laundry unit. A eight-member Salvation Army staff of eight counsels and monitors residents. About 28,400 meals have been served.

A succession of speakers commended the Salvation Army’s operation of the community, which features 50, 64-square foot homes, a mess hall and portable toilets.  It is saving lives and public money by reducing calls for police service and jail time and shows the community has a heart, they said.

A woman who identified herself as 35-year resident of the city said
”I’m proudest of Hope Village. … It makes a statement that we care for everybody.”

Still, some speakers lashed out at the council, accusing members of not listening to citizens who objected to the Alabama Street camp and creation of the pallet homes to replace it.  Some critics said the project is not getting violent homeless people off the street, in particular in the nearby Highlands neighborhood.

Still, no one really questioned that Hope Village is making a difference in the lives of at least some of the city’s homeless, though even its supporters acknowledge it is not the total answer to the homeless problem.

Tuesday’s action occurred a week after Longview voters turned out Councilman Mike Wallin, an outspoken Hope Village supporter, and Councilman Christopher Ortiz and elected a trio of conservative Republicans — Kalei LaFave, Keith Young and Erik Halvorsen. They are skeptical and are allied with Boudreau  and State Sen. Jeff Wilson, a Longview Republican who last spring yanked operations money for Hope Village from the state budget.

Halvorsen on Tuesday night read the council a letter representing himself and the two  council members-elect, asking that the Salvation Army contract be extended only six months and that the city seek proposals from other social service agencies about how to operate the camp.

Several speakers suggested that the council should have held off a decision until the new members take office, suggesting that lame-duck councilmen Wallin and Ortiz should yield the decision to their replacements.

Critics suggested that the election was a defacto public referendum on Hope Village. Supporters rebutted  that suggestion, pointing out that Councilwoman Ruth Kendall, one of the chief architects of the project, won re-election handily over challenger Randy Knox, who also was allied with the Boudreau, Young, LaFave and Halvorsen.

It’s also worth noting that LaFave and Young won by relatively close margins, and the election turnout in the Longview was just 38%. Interpreting the election as public rejection of Hope Village seems problematic at best. No one can claim a mandate here. My guess is that the quiet majority of voters support the project, which has blunted if not completely solved the problem. And I think they’re willing to give Hope Village more time to prove itself.

The original proposal before the council was to extend the Salvation Army contract only a year, but the council amended it to two years after hearing supporters say the program needs at least that much more time to prove that it works and to be accurately evaluated.

Look for an expanded version of this story later in the day Wednesday.