Kumbaya Commissioner Jayapal FAILS Credibility Test

Multnomah county commissioner Susheela Jayapal chose to place herself in the public eye as an Oregon leader of Public Housing policy by proposing a statewide Public Housing voucher system. An admirable ambition. To her credit Jayapal wrote that she is in support of SAFMR, Small Area Fair Markets Rents program*1, which is based on Equitable Distribution of Public Housing, and inclusion of its goals in her proposal to establish a statewide Public Housing voucher system. Incorporating these SAFMR goals makes me inclined to support Jayapal’s proposal. HOWEVER, when faced with the inevitable challenge to explain and defend her Public Housing bona fides she failed.

When Jayapal publicly proposed her statewide rental voucher program on November 3, 2019 *2 she announced her commitment to leading a new statewide Public Housing policy initiative. An admirable assertion. When she wrote, “We need state leaders to step in” and “a voucher program is something we can act on right now” she was clearly challenging our state legislators to support her state funded Public Housing voucher proposal during this next legislative session. That session begins Feb. 3, 2020.

Below are Jayapal’s positions, in red, on some threshold Public Housing POLICY questions which must be addressed by every elected official who demands attention in the Public Housing Policy Arena.

1. You are currently on record as supporting the discredited and abhorrent Targeted, UNLIMITED Neighborhood concentration of Public Housing which allows government to load the neighborhoods of its choosing with up to 100% Public Housing. This is in direct conflict with the goals of SAFMR. Do you now publicly reject this position in favor of a policy of Equitable Distribution of Public Housing? NO.

2. Will you support a Public Housing policy for Multnomah county which sets GOALS of a 5% minimum and a 15% maximum of Public Housing households in every Multnomah county neighborhood? NO.

3. The owner of the now privately held Wapato jail, Jordan Schnitzer, is proposing to house several hundred Public Housing clients on this property. Wapato is in the St. Johns neighborhood. Fifteen percent of St. Johns is already Public Housing. Ten percent of Multnomah county is Public Housing. St. Johns is 5% above average. It has clearly done its share and then some. Do you oppose Schnitzer’s plan to dramatically increase the number and percentage of Public Housing households in the St. Johns neighborhood? NO.

4. Which legislators have agreed to submit and/or sponsor your proposal to establish a statewide Public Housing voucher system as a bill in the next session? NONE.

5. Have you asked for and gotten a majority of the Multnomah County Commission to direct the Multnomah county lobbyist to support your proposal to establish a statewide Public Housing voucher system including its attendant SAFMR goals? NO.

6. Are you committed to using the terms PUBLIC HOUSING and AFFORDABLE HOUSING, as defined below, whenever you write or speak about your proposal to establish a statewide Public Housing voucher system or any other circumstances where these topics arise? NO.

PUBLIC HOUSING i.e. a class of housing defined as, Means Test (<=80%MFI) + Government Subsidy (any government any type) + rental agreement.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING is a mathematical construct defined as, Rent/Mortgage + Insurance + Taxes + Utilities <=30% Household Income.

7. Will you support in whatever ways you can the creation of Metro Area Public Housing Household Location Maps as described below in Note#3? NO.

The Takeaway

If you are an elected official, or candidate for public office who will be talking or writing about Public Housing policy then you must come forward with your answers to fundamental Public Housing policy questions similar to those listed above.

Oregon Elected officials, voters and taxpayers will evaluate you and the credibility of your Public Housing policy proposals based on your answers to basic Public Housing policy questions like those above.

Just shouting “MORE” is NOT a defensible Public Housing policy.

Richard Ellmyer

North Portland - Portsmouth neighborhood, 43% Public Housing Households

Author of more stories on the politics, players and policies of Public Housing in Oregon over the last nineteen years than all other journalists and elected officials combined.

Author of The Ellmyer Report, a newsletter that informs, educates and influences on public policy. Occasionally distributed to more than a quarter of million readers in Oregon and beyond. Facebook, Portland Politics Plus . Opinion contributor to Patch.com news.

*1

https://nlihc.org/resource/hud-provides-guidance-small-area-fmrs

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/smallarea/index.html

https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/a-guide-to-small-area-fair-market-rents-safmrs

*2

It’s time for a statewide rental voucher program

https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2019/11/opinion-its-time-for-a-statewide-rental-voucher-program.html

Notes:

*1 Public Housing Statistical Data can be found online here Clackamas, here Washington and here Multnomah .

http://macsolve.org/PublicHousingData/ClackamasPH.html

http://macsolve.org/PublicHousingData/WashingtonPH.html

http://macsolve.org/PublicHousingData/MultnomahPH.html

*2

35 neighborhoods in Multnomah county have zero Public Housing households, including mayor Wheeler’s neighborhood, Southwest Hills

http://macsolve.org/PublicHousingData/MultnomahPH.html

*3

The first iteration of a fully developed, interactive, online Metro Area Public Housing Household Location Map should be available in late winter. Discussions for online publishing include the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies. Public jurisdictions throughout Oregon will be offered these maps to share with their citizens. An early, but still useful, PREdraft can be found here: http://macsolve.org/PublicHousingData/MetroMap.jpg Graduated color scale. White areas equal 0 Public Housing Households. Red areas equal 100% Public Housing Households. See note*1 above for details.