Our “Don’t Get Drazan Duped” series focuses on the promises of the Christine Drazan campaign that have helped turn the Republican challenge to Gov. Tina Kotek’s office into a tight race. Be prepared to let friends and family know the difference between these candidates, and to not get “Drazan duped.”
By Bobby Sample
“Break the Cycle of Homelessness and Addiction” — so says The Drazan Plan, a list of goals and promises posted by the campaign for Christine Drazan, Republican candidate for Oregon’s Governor.
The first detail to notice about this is how addiction and homelessness are lumped together for convenience. This difference matters. It speaks volumes. It aligns with a belief that homelessness comes from its victims’ faults and failures. When considering whether to take the Drazan Plan seriously, this callous point of view must be taken into account.
Addiction does remain a major factor in the homelessness crisis, but most of the homeless are not addicts. According to American Addiction Centers, “most research shows that around 1/3 of people who are homeless have problems with alcohol and/or drugs.” It’s a huge problem to be sure, but we need to address its overlap with homelessness as a distinct problem.
Meanwhile, we still have mothers and children cut off from safe shelter through no fault of their own. Roughly 1 in 30 children in the U.S. experience homelessness annually! [National Coalition for the Homeless]
What is the Drazan camp’s first priority under this topic heading? “Every Oregonian deserves to feel safe in their community.” That’s a true statement taken alone, but context is everything. Ending with “in their community” refers to those with homes — not those suffering disconnection from a community. In fact, Drazan’s plan goes on to describe the homeless as those who need to be removed to other communities.
That telling sentence fits the pattern that follows: Drazan promises to “fully audit” services for the homeless and “clean up” public spaces. The plan suggests relocating the homeless to their families and communities of origin. (Think of all the homeless who have been forced to flee abuse from where they came.) Although any homeless family would prefer to move to a safe home, Drazan’s priority is to get rid of the eyesore of the homeless — not to help them.
Again, full admission here: these notes are largely about semantics. The real reasons to distrust this plan lie beyond what the Drazan campaign claims in public. It is just remarkable how much of what they say out in the open reveals how little MAGA Republicans intend to do for those in need.
The Drazan Plan’s strongest sell is “accountability” of government programs to aid the homeless. What a useful buzz word. No one can argue against accountability, right? Unless we’ve seen Trumpian double standards in action, as we all have: MAGA “accountability” is intended to work in one direction, toward cutting social programs and funneling money to the rich. The Drazan Plan does not describe how its Elon Musk-inspired audits are to be held in check, if ever.
Gov. Kotek on Reducing Homelessness
Gov. Tina Kotek addresses helping the homeless as its own need, separately from overlapping health issues. This is work that can’t be dropped in the middle of the ongoing affordability crisis.
From tinaforgovernor.com:
- On day one of her administration, Gov. Kotek declared a homelessness State of Emergency to get Oregonians off the streets and into homes. During her first year in office, Gov. Kotek exceeded every benchmark set by her emergency order. She hasn’t let up since, extending the State of Emergency to help reduce unsheltered homelessness.
- Because of Gov. Kotek’s focus, 6,286 new shelter beds and 2,800 new affordable housing units have been developed. Oregon has helped 25,942 households from losing their homes and has rehoused 5,539 households.
- Gov. Kotek signed new legislation establishing a statewide shelter program to help reduce unsheltered homelessness, transitioning people off our streets and into housing.
Gov. Kotek on Increasing Access to Mental Health Care & Addiction Services
The Governor also prioritizes access to mental health and addiction care. For our state to recover from Trump’s soulless cuts to Medicaid in the long run, we have to make federal-level changes this November and in 2028.
From tinaforgovernor.com:
- Gov. Kotek worked with Republicans and Democrats to stop public drug use and increase the availability of mental health and addiction treatment so people can get the help they need.
- Gov. Kotek delivered a $25 million privately funded partnership to expand mental health and addiction care for kids across Oregon, including in Multnomah, Douglas, Lane, and Morrow Counties.
- Gov. Kotek worked with both parties to enhance mental health care and addiction treatment in Oregon by expanding treatment capacity, giving healthcare providers more tools to intervene when someone is in a mental health crisis, bolstering our mental health workforce, and expanding youth substance abuse prevention programs.
See also:
Bobby Sample is with the COIN Comms Team, Dunes City Indivisible, and Oregon Coast Indivisible Alliance.