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City Officials Face Resident Opposition To Emergency Shelter

City officials, including the mayor of Portland, faced a hostile crowd of residents who oppose a plan to build a new emergency homeless shelter.

The city meeting Thursday was meant to address concerns about a city plan to build a $10 million, 200-bed emergency shelter at a city-run nursing home. The Portland Press Herald reports residents attending the meeting were concerned about issues at the Oxford Street Shelter, which is in a converted apartment building and is over capacity, coming to their neighborhood.

Police Chief Michael Sauschuck says the new "one-stop" shelter would be easier to police because the city owns the land.

City officials say the vast majority of people needing emergency shelter are in and out in a matter of weeks or months