The HAP Board Must Answer This Question 9/5/03

HAP Board Members:
I recently requested your response to two important questions.* Apparently I have not communicated the essence of my request. The Housing Authority of Portland needs to make available to neighborhood leaders and the public the same client location data that it currently provides by zip code (which is politically useless), instead, by neighborhoods (which is politically useful.)

My suggestion to work with the city of Portland was only one option. HAP needs to provide this information regardless of whether it works with the city of Portland or does it entirely on its own. [Another option, get the mostly written code from the city and have your own people enhance it.]

You may remember the great umbrage taken by Howard Shapiro when HAP was challenged in an Op-Ed piece in the Oregonian. Howard was very quick to demand equal time from the Oregonian and yet he never offered nor allowed anyone equal time to rebut the tens of thousands of dollars HAP spent and continues to spend on its print propaganda in my neighborhood. It is totally disingenuous, indeed ludicrous for HAP to say that it doesn't have nor will it spend a few thousand dollars to provide important public information.

The issue of HAP's responsibility to provide useful political and public information of client location by neighborhoods is now put before every member of HAP's board. You are certainly free to hold any opinion on this matter you choose. However, you are not free to ignore the issue.

Surely each of you understands that this issue will not go away. Surely each of you understands that this is a significant matter and that you have an obligation to give it serious consideration. Surely each of you understands that there is a large constituency of Oregonians interested in how HAP spends the public's money and conducts the public's business.

I would like to hear from each of you directly, as soon as possible. Please tell me what you think. If a motion was made to provide HAP client location information by neighborhood how would you vote and why? That is the question. This is a matter of WILL NOT WALLET. We eagerly await your answers.

Thank you.

Richard Ellmyer
North Portland
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org

PS
Shelley, some of what you report is inaccurate, inconsequential and misleading. My purpose was to hear what individual Board members have to say on a matter of public information disclosure policy. That has yet to be answered by all the people who make HAP policy as opposed to those who get paid to carry it out. Please make sure this goes directly to every member of HAP's board of directors. Thanks.

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On Friday, September 5, 2003, at 01:55 PM, Shelley Marchesi wrote:

Hi Richard:
 
I'm sorry this reply has taken me longer than usual, but I wanted to take the time to make sure I understood from the city what the situation was regarding the software you described in your September 1 email to me.
 
As we understand it, the city has no plans to develop this software (they have no internal need for it, and the only request the person I spoke with, whom I believe you also spoke with, knew of was yours).  If they were to develop it, they would charge $90/hour and believe the work would take at least two weeks, which would put the cost at $7,200 at a minimum, not counting overhead charges they said they would have to add, and costs involved on our side.
 
Also, they told me that if they were to develop the software capability for batching zipcodes, it would be for their computer system — i.e., we couldn't use it here.  That would not work for us, as our Section 8 client data base is confidential information.
 
So, for reasons of cost, which we continue to believe aren't justifiable for us, and confidentiality, we are not going to pursue this.
 
Shelley 

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From: Richard Ellmyer <ellmyer@macsolve.com>
Date: Mon Sep 1, 2003 12:23:14 PM US/Pacific
To: Shelley Marchesi <shelleyM@hapdx.org>
Cc: HAP Board <shelleyM@hapdx.org>, Randy Leonard <rleonard@ci.portland.or.us>, David Lane <dlane@ci.portland.or.us>, Tom Griffin <npno123@teleport.com>, Erik Sten <erik@ci.portland.or.us>, Marshall Runkel <mrunkel@ci.portland.or.us>, Jim Francesconi <jfrancesconi@ci.portland.or.us>, Dan Saltzman <dsaltzman@ci.portland.or.us>, Vera Katz <mayorkatz@ci.portland.or.us>, Sam Adams <samadamspdx@comcast.net>, Nick Fish <nf@meyerwyse.com>, Earl Blumenauer <hillary.barbour@mail.house.gov>, Gary Hansen <rep.garyhansen@state.or.us>, Margaret Carter <sen.margaretcarter@state.or.us>, Serena Cruz <serena.m.cruz@co.multnomah.or.us>, Diane Linn <mult.chair@co.multnomah.or.us>, Rob Fussell <weldon@ci.gresham.or.us>, Rex Burkholder <burkholderr@metro.dst.or.us>, David Bragdon <bragdond@metro.dst.or.us>, Steve Schneider <stephen.schneider@state.or.us>, Nancy Goss Duran <Nancy.Goss-Duran@state.or.us>, Matt Hennessee <Matt.Hennessee@quiktrak.com>
Subject: For The Record - An Update
Hi Shelley:
Although I have written and emailed you, HAP board members and staff
about this subject several times, I wanted to make absolutely sure that
HAP, through you, is aware that the city of Portland has computer
software that will identify any address in the city of Portland by
neighborhood. And, that there is currently a request to enhance this
application so that it can automatically repeat the neighborhood
identification for bulk requests. This means that it will soon be
possible, both easily and quickly, for HAP to identify its clients by
neighborhood not just zip code which is unsuitable as a politically
useful designation.

So, the following questions arise:
As a gesture of public forthrightness,
1. Would HAP be willing to contribute to the trivial cost to complete
the neighborhood identification bulk program enhancement?
2. When the neighborhood identification bulk program enhancement is
complete will HAP immediately use the program to provide neighborhood
leaders and the public with the resulting information?

When you respond please note which members of HAP's board support or
oppose an affirmative answer to the above questions. Thank you.

Richard Ellmyer
Portsmouth neighborhood
North Portland

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