Richard Fernández, Treasurer*
Occupation: Affordable Housing Developer
GUARDIAN MANAGEMENT LLC
4380 S.W. Macadam, Suite 380
Portland, OR 97228-5668
Phone: 503.802.3600
Email: rfernandez@guardian-mgmt.com
Original Appointment 3/12/02
Term Expiration 3/12/06
Seat: Multnomah County #2
* http://www.hapdx.org/about/board.html

HAP Commissioner and Treasurer Richard Fernandez:
You are a public official. You have been appointed to the board of the the Housing Authority of Portland, a quasi-governmental public body which has the authority to spend $90,000,000 of taxpayers money in FY2004. You are the board Treasurer of an organization that has a bigger public budget than 70% of the counties in the state of Oregon (25 of 36). You are the board Treasurer of an organization that has a bigger public budget than 95% of the cities in the state of Oregon (229 of 240). And you want to remain anonymous and shielded from the public? Preposterous.

The email below and the previous email you received from me deal with public policy issues specifically related to the Housing Authority of Portland. Political free speech via email is as protected under the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America as any other form of free speech. Political free speech via email was recently sanctioned by the Congress of the United States of America in the Can Spam Act of 2003. You don't have to respond to it. You don't have to read it. But you do have to get it, uncensored.

It is irresponsible, shameful and dishonorable for you, (and an embarrassment to those who appointed you) to refuse email from citizens interested in communicating with you on matters relevant to the official public position you hold. HAP's board, which includes you, provides no information on its web site regarding how to contact you or any board member in any manner that may not be censored. If you would like to receive email at some other address I would be happy to comply. You should make a motion at the next HAP meeting to have HAP provide all its board members with email addresses, such as fernandez@hapdx.org and then publish email addresses, mailing addresses and the names of every board member's employer on HAP's web site. It is very difficult to assess potential conflicts of interest without knowing for whom board members are employed.

If you do not wish to be bothered by citizens from HAP's area of influence, Multnomah county, or from the citizens of the United States of America, who pay the bills at the Housing Authority of Portland, perhaps you should consider resigning immediately and finding a less public and stressful pastime.


Richard Ellmyer

On Mar 15, 2004, at 9:03 AM, Richard Fernandez wrote:

Richard,

In response to your previous mass emailing I requested that you not send such emails to my work email address. I have never requested to be on your mailing list nor have I ever authorized my work email address to be used for this purpose.

Please note: This is my second request to be removed from your email list.

Thank you very much.

Rick Fernández

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Ellmyer [mailto:ellmyer@macsolve.com]
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 4:38 PM
To: HAP Watchers
Subject: Mayoral hopefuls get a heads-up

Just in case you missed this item is today's Portland Tribune, 3-12-04:
Portlanders respond to this question:
What do you think should be the key issue that candidates discuss during the upcoming campaign for Portland mayor?

   • Richard Ellmyer, a computer technician and neighborhood activist from the Portsmouth district in North Portland: "Do the results of public-housing practice match the distribution -- not neighborhood concentration -- goals of public housing policies at the Housing Authority of Portland and the city of Portland? 'No' is the answer. 'Why not?' is the question."
http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=23123

Candidates should expect to be asked this question during and after the campaign until such time as the EVIDENCE proves that program results and policy goals do, in fact, match. Keep in mind that without neighborhood map based accounting there can be no evidence.

Those candidates for public office who support neighborhood map based accounting, Tom Potter, Sam Adams and Paul Leistner, are on the right track. They can all legitimately claim a sensitivity to and support for Portland's neighborhoods and their long standing official political identity.

Those candidates who oppose neighborhood map based accounting of public housing clients in favor of the discredited and indefensible zip code map based accounting or no accounting at all, Nick Fish, Randy Leonard and Jim Francesconi, have dismissed neighborhoods as viable political entities in our community. As a result, their opponents, the press, every citizen in Multnomah county's 117 neighborhoods and voters in Portland will have good reason to challenge the sincerity, honesty and credibility of their campaign oratory which includes, "how important neighborhoods are to me."