Not What We Bargained For 12/9/02

To Oregon's Congressional Delegation:
Senator Ron Wyden
Senator Gordon Smith
Representative Earl Blumenauer
Representative David Wu
Representative Greg Walden
Representative Darlene Hooley
Representative Peter DeFazio

In early May 2001 I personally called the offices of Wyden, Smith and Blumenauer and told their staffs about the federal $35 million Hope VI grant application of which they were unaware. I asked them to work together in support of the project*.

On June 15, 2001 all of you signed a letter to the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development in support of the Housing Authority of Portland’s Hope VI grant**.

By August 26, 2002 everything changed. New information was published*** which identified the neighborhood in which this HAP project was to be built as already having the highest number of low-income clients in the city of Portland, Multnomah County and the state of Oregon. The question then arose, Did this project fall under the guidelines of good public policy?

HAP falsified the Hope VI grant application with $4 million in nonexistent contributions for a library from Multnomah County****. HAP’s request for project related zoning changes were so inadequate, unprofessional and unsubstantiated that the Portland Planning Commission rejected them twice*****. The Commission finally relented out of fear of causing HAP the loss of the grant not because HAP had satisfied the minimum requirements that any other developer would have had to comply with. The public process has been illegitimate and the public policy inherent in the project is bad.

A growing number of citizens, neighborhood and business leaders and elected officials are expressing concern and opposition to a $200 million government project that will double the number of low-income housing clients in the neighborhood that already has the highest number of low-income clients in the city of Portland, Multnomah County and the state of Oregon.

Today, December 9, 2002 I ask you to come and talk to me within the next 60 days so that I can demonstrate why it’s time to write another letter to HUD. However, this time the request will be to take the money back because it clearly is going to do more harm than good.

* http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/May2001.html
(HAP Portsmouth Project May 2001 Evaluation 5-10-01
"Meeky Blizzard, Loretta Smith and Rebecca Thomas are the key project staff people from Blumenhauer, Wyden and Smith’s offices. They should now get together to devise a cohesive and concerted effort to persuade HUD to grant HAP the $35,000,000 kickoff funding")
** Attachment 3 Page 6 HAP Hope VI Grant Application June 22, 2001
*** http://www.goodgrowthnw.org
**** http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/HAPLibrary.html
***** http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=12383