Local resident urges board to approve safe-parking ground lease with Mountain View Community Development

Jenny McKee, a Bend resident, spoke during the public-comment period Monday to urge Deschutes County commissioners to approve a ground lease request by Mountain View Community Development that would allow a safe-parking program near the county public safety campus.

McKee described six years living in Bend and said homelessness in Central Oregon “is one of the most serious in the nation,” citing recent point-in-time counts that show increases. She told the board her church on Bend’s west side has operated a safe-parking program for about a year and expanded from two to three spaces after finding no problems with neighbors, the on-site daycare center and adjacent homeowners associations.

McKee said she had visited Reverend Russell’s safe-parking sites in Redmond, which she characterized as secure and well cared for, and that service providers in the area consider safe parking an effective transitional tool to move people into permanent housing at low cost. She urged commissioners to vote in favor of the ground lease when they consider the matter on Wednesday.

Commissioners asked McKee how many spaces her church provides; she said they typically host two households and have capacity for three vehicles. McKee’s remarks were public comment and did not represent a formal county action; the transcript shows the matter was scheduled for the board agenda later in the week.