November 27, 2019 3:40 a.m.
A dispute between Douglas County and the City of Roseburg continues with Mayor Larry Rich saying the County “needs to follow the rules too”.
On Tuesday, Rich responded to News Radio 1240 KQEN’s request for a reaction to a release put out by the Board of Commissioners on Monday afternoon.
The County said it is being forced to remove a temporary homeless shelter near Deer Creek as the City would not give them a conditional use permit for the structure.
Rich said “Its pretty simple, all the County has to do is get a permit and follow the same process as everyone else”. He said “the County is not above the law”. Rich said if a citizen wants to build a structure or shelter, they have to get a permit, “so why not the County too”.
Rich told KQEN that the County was told before they put up their shelter that they needed to get a permit. He said they just put up the shelter and responded “things just happened quicker than I thought”. He said “that mindset is wrong”.
Rich said he wonders why the County won’t turn in their paperwork to start the process and wonders why the City is getting the blame. Rich said a public hearing would be needed to further the process. Rich asked “what are they afraid of?”. He said “if it were me, I would turn in my paperwork and see how it goes”.
Rich said at a hearing he believes the County would have to respond to at least two questions. Rich said many cities, counties and organizations have set up shelters and homeless camps all over the country only to have almost all of them fail. He said one question would be “what are they doing differently that allows them to be successful?”. Rich said if the County isn’t doing anything different, they will get the same failed results.
Rich told KQEN the other question has to do with monitoring the shelter. He said he has been told that the same five guys have been controlling the shelter. He said only their friends have been allowed to use it. Rich said the shelter should be for everyone’s use, “not for five guys who think it is their turf”. Rich said if that is happening, the county needs to “put a stop to that behavior immediately”.
Douglas County has said it will close the shelter on December 2nd.