Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith this week reignited the debate about turning the unused Wapato jail into a temporary shelter for up to 525 homeless residents.

Smith, whose district includes the North Portland jail, told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday she's pushing the Board of Commissioners to publicly evaluate cost estimates at a meeting Sept. 8.

Converting the jail into a temporary shelter would cost the county $953,500 up front, plus monthly building expenses of $136,200, according to county estimates. Neither figure includes the cost of operating or staffing the shelter.

"We need to be offering up Wapato as an option in this conversation, even if it's on a temporary basis," Smith said. "It is really hard for me to go ask a private-sector business to use one of their buildings when we have a building we're paying for, to sit empty every year, and we're not even putting that up as an option."

Smith's comments are the most explosive yet on Wapato, directly contradicting Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury's push to sell the building amid concerns that converting the jail to a shelter would be too expensive. They also come as city and county leaders wrestle with widespread public camping and a campaign, led by high-profile developer Homer Williams, to open a massive homeless shelter in the Pearl District.

Williams wants to open a 400-bed temporary shelter in a city-owned warehouse and later convert the property into a long-term homeless campus that could cost upwards of $60 million.

City housing officials concede they didn't conduct due diligence on Williams' temporary-shelter proposal before greenlighting it earlier this month. And Multnomah County officials acknowledge they haven't done a financial analysis to determine long-term costs for renovating the jail into a permanent facility similar to Williams' vision.

Smith went public with her concerns Thursday in a guest column published by the Portland Tribune. In it, she called on the county board to "vote to open Wapato as a homeless shelter immediately."

In an interview Friday, however, Smith said opening Wapato should be considered as an alternative to putting homeless residents into inadequate shelter spaces, such as a warehouse. Smith said she's talked unofficially with Kafoury but now wants the full board to review costs during a public meeting.

"If I'm given a report in a meeting, in a board meeting, and it looks like it's going to be too cost prohibitive, OK," she said. "Put it in front of us."

But Smith said she questions whether Kafoury wants to have a public conversation, which would require the county facilities division - which last prepared cost estimates in January - to "really give us the hard numbers."

"When you come before us, before the board, you better have your numbers correct," she said.

Smith isn't the only local politician interested in evaluating Wapato, which has sat empty since being built in 2003. County officials lack money to operate the minimum-security jail, at 14355 N Bybee Lake Court.

Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the city's housing bureau, told The Oregonian/OregonLive this month that Wapato should be considered.

"I personally think Wapato deserves a look, and I told chair Kafoury I think she should appoint a blue ribbon commission to take a fresh look at this," he said. "But they don't seem to want to go there."

Portland Commissioner Nick Fish also expressed interest in evaluating Wapato, although he doesn't have a strong view and said he isn't looking to second-guess Kafoury.

"Yes, I'd like to see an analysis as to whether Wapato could work for Homer Williams," Fish told The Oregonian/OregonLive this month.

Kafoury said Friday she doesn't feel growing pressure, maintaining that opening Wapato "does not make financial sense."

The county has already committed to open 475 shelter beds by June, with a goal of 175 more, which is more than at any point in the past 12 years.

Kafoury has pointed to a new 200-bed shelter at the county's former sheriff's office headquarters in east Portland. County officials moved deputies out of the building and are now spending about $11,000 a month to rent space elsewhere. The cost of keeping Hansen open for the homeless is projected at about $1,100 a month.

That's about 11 times less than what county officials say Wapato would cost.

"My concern is the cost of it," Kafoury said. "We're opening up shelter beds."

But Wapato could provide shelter for at least 2-1/2 times more people than Hansen. And Kafoury hasn't been able to produce a per-bed analysis for shelter costs, including underlying lease terms and other financial factors, before writing off Wapato.

Kafoury said it is Smith's right to push for a public hearing about opening the jail as a shelter. Asked if she thought a majority of the board might be interested, Kafoury said she didn't know.

"It's not uncommon for people to look at facts and figures and still make the wrong decision," said Kafoury, who serves as the county's chief executive. "I like to say you can't legislate common sense."

Smith, for her part, thinks Kafoury needs to justify her decision with publicly vetted numbers. And, given the housing and homelessness crisis, Smith said the full board should decide what to do with Wapato.

"There's not just one voice," she said, "on how homelessness should be supported in this county."

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch