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Homer Williams had it partially right recently at a housing and development conference when he said that this generation of retirees has not saved for their retirement and are looking at homelessness in their final years. The other part is that while the employees themselves haven鈥檛 saved for their retirement, employers haven鈥檛 done much to help out.

Income differential continues to plague this workforce. Well-paid owners and managers are buying $50,000 cars, dining out (at restaurants run by minimum-wage workers), buying expensive real estate or collecting art. So, instead of financing pension programs, they are paying themselves large salaries and benefits, stagnating payrolls and putting the onus on individuals to take care of themselves.

How could this happen in the world鈥檚 most affluent economy? Well, there are several reasons. Salary differential has never been greater. The demise of the unions has limited the negotiating power of individuals. Even though unions never represented the majority of workers, the benefits (health, pension, etc.) that they negotiated spread through organizations.

91视频 also contributed to salary compression. With a few exceptions, the differences between the highest paid and lowest paid has never been as great is it is today. Today it is not uncommon to hear about an individual making tens of millions of dollars in some buyout or another. (What does a guy actually do with that kind of money 鈥� except keep score?)

One of the places that this has been kept in check is the public sector, which remains well represented by unions. The differences between Portland鈥檚 CEO (mayor) and rank and file employees is about a 3:1 ratio (although some bureau heads are paid more than the mayor). Just about every one of those city jobs has a pension attached.

The U.S. has a pretty good free trade agreement that has moved jobs offshore. That leaves less work for those who remain. When Ross Perot ran a third-party race back in 1992 he railed on about the 鈥済iant sucking sound鈥� that reflected his view that jobs would head south. He may not have been all wrong.

With a hands-off approach to immigration the country was a magnet for people coming across the border with lower compensation expectations. Pay stagnated and benefits wilted. Cities like Flint became shadows of their former selves.

Natural resource extraction in Oregon depleted the supply of timber and fish. The ability to make a living in Oregon with just a high school diploma dropped off. Agriculture became highly mechanized and doesn鈥檛 require the hands that it used to.

While all this is going on Oregon鈥檚 on-time high school graduation rate remains dismal at only 74 percent 鈥� third from the bottom. Those young people not graduating aren鈥檛 getting jobs; they are just hanging 鈥�

So where does all this end up? Since the private sector (with Homer Williams as the exception) isn鈥檛 going to address this in a meaningful way, it looks like it will fall to government. Government will spend money or pass regulations as best it can to address this. Portland is seeing this already with the inclusionary criteria and the passing of a housing bond. It won鈥檛 be the most efficient or cost-effective way, but it will be something.

Politicians will be under increasing pressure to do something 鈥� especially because there will likely be heartbreaking stories that come out of this. This money will come from taxes in one form or another or regulations. These approaches and others not yet thought of will be extracted from the pockets of the very folks who have decided that there is nothing that they can do. So, in a circular fashion, those very folks will have to pony up some real cash so that government can try to solve a problem that they would rather turn a blind eye to.

Since the city is turning to a tougher approach to the filth associated with the homeless camps, the visibility of this issue may fade a bit. But that does not mean the issue goes away. While much has been made of the green approach to construction as a response to the environmental impact of construction projects, a similar effort is needed to address this issue. Our industry can do more than a few token measures here and there. It can and should take a leadership role in building our way out of this disgrace. It needs emergence of a leader who has the knowledge, dedication and energy to tackle this intractable issue.

Christian Steinbrecher is president of Ukiah Engineering. He is the author of ASCE Oregon鈥檚 report card on Oregon鈥檚 infrastructure and a past recipient of ASCE Oregon鈥檚 Engineer of the Year award. Contact him at 503-297-4827 or [email protected].