SALEM -- A group of Oregon mayors lobbied state officials Thursday to ask for money and other help to solve their cities' homelessness problems.

"Local government in America right now is the dumping ground for all of society's problems," Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler told reporters gathered in the Capitol's basement pressroom. "To be honest, we're not going to take it anymore."

The scourge of opioid and heroin addiction, homelessness and a failing mental health safety net that is "an embarrassment among industrialized nations" are only some of the problems foisted on city governments, Wheeler said.

What's more, dwindling federal funds for social assistance programs, such as Section 8 housing vouchers, make addressing those problems that much more difficult, he said.

"We need the state government and we need the federal government to understand this is not a local government problem," Wheeler said. "This cannot be solved by local government alone, or even with the resources of the private and philanthropic sector."

Mayors of numerous other Portland-are cities, who are members of the Metropolitan Mayors' Consortium along with Wheeler, agreed that the state should help cities combat homelessness and shortages of affordable housing.

Homelessness is perhaps the most "vexing" problem that cities face, said Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis. But cities have limited resources, he said.

"We've talked with other mayors from across the United States," Bemis said. "They're all dealing with similar issues."

Cornelius Mayor Jeffrey Dalin said his city will soon be breaking ground on a new library with 45 units of affordable housing for seniors on the second and third floors. That's the good news.

Cornelius, Ore. Mayor Jeffrey Dalin speaks to reporters on Thursday, March 9, 2017 at the Oregon State Capitol.

"The bad news: ten years we've been working on this," Dalin said. "Ten years it took to get to this point."

He said allowing tax credits for the project's developers is what finally made it financially feasible. If the state or federal government would expand those tax credit programs, perhaps more housing could get built, he said. The other mayors nodded.

Unlike the other mayors, Wheeler said he supports two bills before the Legislature that would prevent tenant evictions without cause and allow cities to establish rent controls.

Wheeler said that although the mayors don't agree on everything, they came to Salem to lobby as one voice and get what assistance they can.

"We don't have the resources," he said. "We're asking for it and we need help."

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com; 503-221-8209