Governor Tina Kotek speaks at Shepherd’s House Ministries in Redmond on Thursday. 

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek continued her multiday trip through Central Oregon by spending most of Thursday in Redmond, holding meetings at City Hall and spending the afternoon at an under-construction homeless shelter.

“We’re spending a lot of time in Redmond on this trip,” said Kotek, who has been traveling through parts of rural Oregon since the legislative session ended June 25. “Deschutes County is not just Bend.”

The governor met with the Latino Community Association at City Hall, then had lunch with Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair, Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch and Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler. Kotek said the group talked about a range of issues in Central Oregon and the state, from housing to education and from economic development to St. Charles Health System possibly withdrawing from the Medicare Advantage program.

Kotek spent part of the afternoon at Redmond’s first proposed low barrier homeless shelter, run by the nonprofit Shepherd’s House Ministries and currently under construction off U.S. Highway 97. According to Dave Notari, director of development for Shepherd’s House, the new facility may be ready to open by early October. All the electrical work and the kitchen is finished, he said.

“We just need to start adding furniture and we’re there,” said Notari.

Kotek sat with Shepherd’s House staff and other service providers, which she said helped her gain perspective on the issue of homelessness in Central Oregon.

“We have been funding communities around the state with emergency resources to have more shelter capacity, more services,” she said. “And I have to say Central Oregon has a strong plan, strong partnerships that are really making things happen here. And my job as governor is just to be helpful, be supportive, make sure they can get done what they need to get done.”

Kotek has differed from local leaders, however, by rejecting their calls to allow homeless shelters outside urban growth boundaries around Bend, Redmond, Sisters and La Pine. In Redmond, city officials have said building managed camps and affordable housing developments outside city limits could help ease the crisis. Kotek argued that managed camps outside cities often leave people too far from other services.

“This isn’t about saying go far away,” she said. “This is about come in, get connected to services, let’s help get you get housed. This is about long-term stability. So being outside the urban growth boundary, far away, is not probably the best way to go about it.”

She also said that thinking of middle-income housing outside UGBs may not be the answer either.

“I think we have to be open to new ideas when it comes to the land supply,” said Kotek. “But what I do know is that it’s not just about land supply. Even if you have the land, you need to have the infrastructure. You need to have some resources to develop the land so it can be used for housing.”

Kotek also talked about the CORE3 project in Redmond spearheaded by the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council. It would create a base of operations and emergency response center in the case of a large-scale regional disaster.

“I think it’s smart to think about it here in Redmond,” she said. “I think we have to figure out how to fund it long term. I’m definitely interested in the concept. I think we’re going to continue to deal with major wildfires. We’re going to have that major earthquake somewhere down the line, and Central Oregon’s going to be a key piece of that recovery. So I think we have to figure out how to get it done.”