Portland's "Progressive" Housing Policies

When a mayor, Ted Wheeler, doesn’t know much about an issue, housing, then he retreats into following not leading.

In this case, following means relying on the silent acceptance of the status quo by the most influential groups on housing policy in our community i.e., Portland Development Commission, Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission, Non-profits And Other Organizations That Are Involved In The Funding, Design, Construction And Management Of Public Housing Projects, Portland Business Alliance, City Club of Portland, Portland Neighborhood Associations, Gresham Neighborhood Associations and Organized Religion.

To put an end to their silent acquiescence I asked them to publicly take a stand.

Each of the organizations mentioned below has indicated that they support Portland mayor Ted Wheeler’s refusal to gather and distribute to other elected officials and the public meaningful, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data.

Without this information, now clearly a result of their own self-inflicted ignorance, these groups can continue to avoid challenging Wheeler’s discredited, abhorrent, NIMBY favoritism, economic segregationist housing policy which is reliant upon keeping this data hidden.

Wheeler’s policy of Targeted, UNLIMITED Neighborhood Concentration of Public Housing allows him to load the neighborhoods of his choice with up to 100% Public Housing Clients. My Portsmouth neighborhood has greater than 30% Public Housing clients and Wheeler is adding more.

Ted Wheeler’s neighborhood has ZERO percent Public Housing.

Citizens throughout Oregon need to understand that without local support for meaningful, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data from their local community groups, the local elected leadership, including legislators, will behave as followers not leaders just as they have in Portland.

There are no elected officials in Oregon who have demonstrated courage and leadership with regard to Public Housing Policy.

If no influential groups in your community are willing to stand up and DEMAND the essential, fundamental data required for defensible public debate and decision making then do not expect transparent, credible and defensible Public Housing Policy from your elected officials.

Without meaningful, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data there can NOT be justifiable housing goals based on inventory and need by economic constituency and neighborhood location.

Without justifiable goals there can NOT be a defensible strategy to achieve those goals.

Without a defensible strategy there can NOT be valid metrics to assess the progress of that strategy.

Without valid metrics there is NO ACCOUNTABILITY.

Without Accountability Portland’s mayor Wheeler, and the elected officials in your part of Oregon, will continue to make housing policy decisions based on self-inflicted ignorance, political convenience and extortion.

And so it goes.

Richard Ellmyer

North Portland political activist for 42 years.

Author of more stories on the politics, players and policies of Public Housing and its euphemisms, Affordable/ Regulated Affordable/ Publicly Subsidized Affordable and Low-Income Housing in Multnomah County over the last sixteen 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.

PS.

The Dallas based Inclusive Communities Project sued the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs over the illegal manipulation of federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

The ICP claimed this practice led to a concentration of low-income housing in minority neighborhoods, which perpetuated segregation in violation of the Fair Housing Act. On June 25, 2015 the Supreme Court found in favor of the ICP.

Nevertheless, neither Donald Trump’s appointee to head the federal department of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, nor any organization listed below have taken notice of mayor Wheeler’s use of federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits in pursuit of policies similar to the TDHCA.

https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/13-1371

Silent Supporters Of The Status Quo Revealed

The following organizations support Portland mayor Ted Wheeler’s refusal to gather and distribute this meaningful, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data:

1. Client income
2. Client size of household
3. Client gender
4. Client age
5. Client location by neighborhood or census tract in suburban and rural areas
6. Type of government subsidy e.g. section 8, landlord tax reduction, publicly owned property etc.
7. Value of annual or monthly government subsidy
8. Client race
9. Does Client live in Affordable Housing**? Most Public Housing* clients do NOT live in Affordable Housing**.

These are also the minimum fields per client record necessary for a data-based public dialogue and defensible public housing policy.

*

PUBLIC HOUSING is 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. EVERY house, condo and apartment is AFFORDABLE to someone.

Mathematically Affordable Housing MUST ALWAYS be described as X% MFI and UP, NEVER X% MFI and DOWN.

A $750/month apartment is mathematically Affordable Housing, regardless of whether it is market rate or Public Housing, to a household with an annual income of $30,000 and UP.

A $750/month apartment is NOT mathematically Affordable Housing, regardless of whether it is market rate or Public Housing, to a household with an annual income of $29,999 and down.

Most Public Housing* is NOT Mathematically Affordable Housing.

Public Housing* programs intended to be Mathematically Affordable Housing should follow the HUD model of their project-based rental assistance program whereby residents contribute 30 percent of their income toward rent, and the federal government pays the rest. Adding any other local or state government subsidies would also achieve the same end.

Metro Regional Government

Metro is considering raising property taxes in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties by 500 million dollars to pay for Public Housing WITHOUT meaningful, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data.

Councilors: Sam Chase, Carlotta Collette, Shirley Craddick, Craig Dirksen, Kathryn Harrington, Tom Hughes, Bob Stacey

Portland Development Commission

Commissioners: Gustavo J. Cruz Jr., Francesca Gambetti, Alisha Moreland-Capuia, William Myers, Peter Platt

Exec. Dir.,Kimberly Branam

Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission

Katherine Schultz (Chair), Architect, GBD Architects - André Baugh (Vice Chair), Consultant, Group AGB Ltd - Chris Smith (Vice Chair), Interactive Marketing, Xerox - Jeff Bachrach, Attorney, Bachrach Law - Ben Bortolazzo, Partner, Director of Planning & Design, OTAK - Mike Houck, Executive Director, Urban Greenspaces Institute - Katie Larsell, Executive Director, Oregon Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice - Andrés Oswill, Youth Commissioner - Michelle Rudd, Land Use Attorney, Stoel Rives - Eli Spevak, Owner, Orange Splot LLC - Teresa St Martin, Windermere / EcoBroker

Non-profits And Other Organizations That Are Involved In The Funding, Design, Construction And Management Of Public Housing Projects

1,000 Friends of Oregon

Board Chair, Kurt Koehler, CFO and co-founder of Kryptiq Corporation

Executive Director, Russ Hoeflich

Portland for Everyone

“…is a project of 1000 Friends of Oregon. It is a coalition of community organizations, individuals, and local businesses that support those land use policies that will help provide abundant, diverse & affordable housing options in ALL of Portland’s neighborhoods. Together, we will urge the Portland City Council and other civic leaders to make inclusive and equitable land use and funding decisions that will:

• Provide plenty of affordable and diverse housing options in ALL Portland neighborhoods
• Create and maintain economically diverse neighborhoods.”

This admirable goal is in direct conflict with their support for mayor Wheeler’s contradictory Public Housing policy.

Portland for Everyone - MEMBERS portlandforeveryone.org/coalition

Bike Walk Vote, Brink Communications, Communitecture, Division Midway Alliance, Green Hammer, Green Lents, Guerrilla Development Co., Housing Land Advocates, IBEW 48, Living Room Reality, Onward Oregon (Partners - The Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Oregon Environmental Council, 350PDX, Southern Oregon Climate Action Now, EcoFaith Recovery, Oregon Food Bank, Oregon Working Families Party, The Bus Project, Upstream, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Tax Fairness Oregon, Regional Equity Atlas, Stand Oregon), Oregon Opportunity Network, Oregon Splot, Oregon Walks, People-Places-Things, Portland Housing Center, Proud Ground, Rose Community Development, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, The City Repair Project, The Street Trust, UD+P Urban Development + Partners

Others

Bienestar, Catholic Charities, Central City Concern, Enterprise Community Partners, Fair Housing Council, Gerding Edlen, Guardian Management, Hacienda CDC, Housing Development Center, Human Solutions, Innovative Housing, LifeWorks NW, Neighborhood Partnership Fund, Northwest Housing Alternatives, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc., REACH Community Development, Robinson Merryman Barnes, SERA Architects, Transition Projects

Portland Business Alliance

Board Chair, Jim Mark | CEO, Melvin Mark Companies

Chair-Elect, Dave Robertson | Vice President Public Policy, Portland General Electric

President & CEO, Sandra McDonough

City Club of Portland

President, Lisa Watson, co-founder and co-owner of Cupcake Jones

Executive Director, Julia Meier

Portland Neighborhood Associations

The list of all the neighborhood associations that do NOT want access to meaningful, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data about their own neighborhoods can be found here: www.portlandoregon.gov/oni/search/

Gresham Neighborhood Associations

The list of all the neighborhood associations that do NOT want access to meaningful, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data about their own neighborhoods can be found here: greshamoregon.gov/Neighborhood-Associations/

Organized Religion

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community/Rizwan Mosque, Ainsworth United Church of Christ, Augustana Lutheran Church, Bethel Lutheran Church, Bridgeport United Church of Christ, Central Lutheran Church, Cherry Park United Methodist Church, Christ United Methodist Church, Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Shaarie Torah, EastroseFellowship Unitarian Universalist, First African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, First Baptist Church, First Christian Church, First Congregational United Church of Christ, First Presbyterian Church, First Unitarian Church, First United Methodist Church, Fremont United Methodist Church, Gesher—A Bridge Home, Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, Havurah Shalom, Highland Christian Center, Immaculate Heart Catholic Church, Irvington Covenant Church, Islamic Center of Portland, Kol Shalom Community for Humanistic Judaism, Moreland Presbyterian Church, Parkrose Community United Church of Christ, Peace Church of the Brethren, Portland Mennonite Church, Prince of Peace Fellowship, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, Savage Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew Parish, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, St. Charles Parish, St. Luke Lutheran Church, St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, St. Philip the Deacon Episcopal Church, Sts. Peter and Paul Episcopal Church/Iglesia Episcopal de San Pedro y San Pablo, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Valley Community Presbyterian Church, Vermont Hills United Methodist Church, West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Wy'east Unitarian Universalist Congregation

You Can NOT Claim The Moral High Ground If You Hide Under A Rock On The Valley Floor