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New hotline will field calls for trash, needle and graffiti removal in downtown Portland

Portland Downtown Ambassador Lukau Ndombasi</b> cleans Monument Square in Portland File Photo / Tim Greenway Portland Downtown Ambassador Lukau Ndombasi cleans Monument Square in Portland.
By Tina Fischer

In an ongoing effort to address vandalism and sanitation issues in and around the Congress Street corridor, Portland Downtown is launching a 24-hour hotline for calling in cleaning and maintenance needs.

The nonprofit's "Ambassador" hotline will use an online tool called SeeClickFix, that anyone can use to report or request an incident for clean up in Portland’s downtown district. 

The district stretches from Longfellow Square to Franklin Street, with Cumberland Avenue as its northern boundary and the waterfront as its southern boundary.

Cary Tyson, Portland Downtown’s executive director, said in a statement released Tuesday that SeeClickFix tickets will be assigned to ambassadors for remediation, and participants will be notified when a request has been addressed.

The Downtown Ambassador Program is expected to have eight employees. Tyson said five will serve largely as cleaning personnel, two team members will be trained to provide social services outreach to unhoused people in need of assistance, and the eighth hire will serve as supervisor.

Tyson said the Downtown Ambassadors will also provide hospitality services, offering directions and assisting with visitor needs, supplementing city staff, especially in the early mornings, evenings and on weekends.

“The Downtown Ambassadors will also act as extra eyes and ears, contributing to the overall sense of security and promoting a positive image of the downtown district,” Tyson said. 

The ambassador program came under scrutiny during a public hearing at Monday night’s Portland City Council meeting, where several speakers questioned the value of the program and urged the city to do more to address the growing incidents of crime, vandalism, drug use, vagrancy and sanitation issues along Congress Street and in Monument Square. 

Portland City Manager Danielle West responded that there are multiple initiatives at work in the district including increased police patrols, more funding for outreach workers, more cleaning, increased capacity at the newly built Homeless Services Center at 654 Riverside St. and more frequent transport to the center. 

West said Portland is also working to open a daytime shelter closer to downtown. “We’ve been working on this for quite some time now.”

Nonprofit Portland Downtown has contracted with Streetplus, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based firm to provide safety and maintenance programming as well as training for local ambassadors, at a cost of $750,000.

The program is funded through an assessment paid by property owners in the downtown district and does not draw from city coffers.

April Fournier, a City Council member, expressed support for the program at Monday night’s hearing. “This is one tool in our toolbox.”

City approval for the program passed 8-1.
 

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