Katz and Company NOT Taking Care of Business 1/27/03

On June 9, 2001 the North Portland Business Association REFUSED to endorse the Housing Authority of Portland's Hope VI plan*. Since that time HAP, Mayor Vera Katz and the Portland City Council have ignored and buried the letter of rejection by the organization that represents the business community of North Portland.

There has been no shortage of rhetoric from Portland's City Hall regarding economic development. It was a major topic of debate among the vast array of candidates in the recent election for a seat at the table of our town's public policy makers. Doing right by business was the goal of every aspirant. The only other subject that commanded equal attention was "neighborhood." Everybody wanted to make neighborhoods more than they already were. Better Business, Better Neighborhoods. That was mantra of the chorus of candidates.

Now turn back the clock to June 2001. The business leaders of North Portland say they want Better Business, Better Neighborhoods. The North Portland Business Association put it this way, "NPBA supports projects which improve/build the peninsula area. Businessmen and women look for opportunities to encourage and promote activities and projects which will enhance neighborhood livability (Better Neighborhoods) and economic improvement of the business community (Better Business)."* BUT, the men and women who live, work and own businesses in North Portland also said, "The Hope VI project does not fit this criteria"* That is, it's bad for our neighborhood and bad for our businesses. In other words, The Hope VI project is BAD PUBLIC POLICY.

The Portland City Council and some of their colleagues in Salem lose all credibility when it comes to proposing grandiose new plans for economic development and neighborhood improvement when they ignore the knowledgeable judgments and insightful perceptions of the very business community they claim to help. We have already invested our lives and our fortunes in this community. We need no incentive to bring our businesses to Portland or to Oregon. We are already here. We are not impressed with a mayor trying to take credit for tilting at windmills or indulging her incessant baseball fantasies while at the same time she stealthily supports plans which would degrade livability in our North Portland neighborhoods and adversely affect our businesses.

NPBA Catches HAP in Yet Another Lie
The NPBA letter to HAP Director Denny West of June 2001 calls HAP to task for making false assurances regarding Urban Renewal funds. It lays out HAP's plea to unnaturally extend the Interstate Light Rail Corridor Urban Renewal District about three miles west of Interstate Avenue. HAP claimed this would provide additional leverage with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development when applying for Hope VI funding. HAP could then claim that Columbia Villa was within an Urban Renewal District which, according to HAP, would give it extra points.

Many of the players involved in setting the boundaries for this Urban Renewal District could not accept HAP's entreaties to adjust the boundaries with no geographical justification. After all, this Urban Renewal District was supposed to be related to the light rail corridor. Columbia Villa is nowhere near the Interstate Light Rail Corridor. The decision makers finally gave in and drew the line clear out to the border of the St. John's neighborhood when HAP assured them that it was only looking for leverage with HUD not Urban Renewal dollars.

Of course, the next part of the story is obvious. The minute HAP won its designation it reneged on its promise and asked for "a money allotment for street improvements."* Then a bit later HAP came back a second time "asking for money for infrastructure improvements."*

HAP cannot be trusted.

Two Astute Observations
"The letter presented for signature had 24 places for endorsement signatures. Only two of the agencies were not service agencies who would be direct beneficiaries from Hope VI and its residents."*

"(HAP) will be concentrating a significant amount of low income people in this neighborhood"*

From the very beginning The North Portland Business Association got it right. The Hope VI project is supported by self-serving agencies. HAP plan's to approximately double the number of qualified residents (80% or less of Average Median Income) at Columbia Villa, Oregon's largest (70 acre) tax-supported low-income housing compound. HAP's plan is anti-neighborhood, anti-business and anti-North Portland. It must be stopped.

If you pay taxes in the city of Portland or Multnomah County or the state of Oregon or the United States of America you have a right to express your opinion on a public housing policy supported by your tax dollars. http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/publiccomment.pdf

* Complete text of NPBA letter to HAP http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/npbaletter.html