On September 3, 2004 I spent an hour or more with each mayoral candidate, Tom Potter and Jim Francesconi, discussing a single subject, public housing policy in Portland, Multnomah county and Metro's regional jurisdiction. The responses below are either quotes or paraphrases that catch the spirit of their answers. These interviews/discussions were intense and sometimes spirited requiring eye contact serious attention above precise note taking. The free wheeling nature and time constraints of these conversations did not facilitate the asking of all questions to both candidates. This did not detract from the overall impression made by each candidate.

What neighborhood do you live in?
Jim Francesconi - Alameda [2.24% public housing density]
Tom Potter - Woodstock [3.72% public housing density]


Do you believe or do you know anyone in the state of Oregon who believes that improving the quality of life in their neighborhood is achieved by OVERLOADING their own neighborhood with low-income housing?
Jim Francesconi - No
Tom Potter - No
Analysis: This is the most important threshold question on the path to development of public housing policy. Both candidates answered correctly. By acknowledging that most Oregonians want to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods and that objective is not achieved by an excessive number of low-income housing in their neighborhoods both Francesconi and Potter implicitly recognize the public housing policy paradigm shift from, "MORE Wherever We Can Put Them That No One Will Notice Or Complain" to "WHERE Do We Put Them In a More Equitable Manner By NEIGHBORHOOD."


On what moral, ethical or equitable grounds do elected or appointed officials stand when they vote to spend public funds to place public housing clients in just a few selected neighborhoods?
Tom Potter - I know of none.
Analysis: Although Tom's answer is correct and it may seem obvious it is important nonetheless to articulate an understanding of this principle. All neighborhoods are created equal. They are endowed with neither more nor less inalienable rights to contain public housing.


What is your view of public housing policy today in Multnomah county and where and how would you guide it if elected mayor?
Jim Francesconi - We need to develop an organized strategy to coordinate the operations of the Bureau of Housing and Community Development, the Portland Development Commission and the Housing Authority of Portland. A coordinated effort can improve the delivery of public housing services to those in need.

Additional housing vouchers could help satisfy the increasing need for housing and allow the city to more equally distribute public housing clients to neighborhoods with low density public housing.

I support the last City Club report on housing.
Tom Potter - All public housing is affordable housing but all affordable housing is not public housing. There is an increasing demand for both public and private affordable housing. Both types need encouragement and support by our city government.

Many social problems can develop by not having a stable housing environment. Our city benefits from providing as much stable affordable housing as we can. This effort has been made harder by the Bush administration which has cut housing funds available to Portland. Affordable stable housing is a priority of mine.
Analysis: This was an early question designed to let each candidate make a general statement. Both answers were good and moving in the right direction.


What is the aggregate amount of public funds budgeted for public housing by BHCD, PDC and HAP this fiscal year?
Tom Potter - $200,000,000
Analysis: The actual figure is $217,500,000. Tom's response was close enough to indicate that he understands that the annual budget for public housing is very significant.


Do you agree or disagree with this statement: It is extraordinarily difficult to make good public policy without good public data. How does your answer relate to the current quality of public housing data available to support and justify public housing policy decisions being made today?
Jim Francesconi - Agree. We need to have regular reporting of public housing data by neighborhood.
Tom Potter - Agree. I am astounded by the lack of neighborhood based public housing data.
Analysis: Both candidates agreed that the current public housing data available to public housing policy decision makers is woefully inadequate. Public housing statistics must be converted into neighborhood based tables and neighborhood defined maps available to public officials and citizens alike.
Analysis: Both candidates agreed that the current public housing data available to public housing policy decision makers is woefully inadequate. Public housing statistics must be converted into neighborhood based tables and neighborhood defined maps available to public officials and citizens alike.

City Auditor Gary Blackmer's most important recommendation in his ground breaking report, A Review of the Efforts and Accomplishments of City Housing Programs: 1996–2000, published in June 2002, was to assign an organization to coordinate and collect housing data from the many disparate spending centers and then regularly report on its findings. Can you tell me the current status of his primary recommendation as of September, 2004?
Jim Francesconi - Put in the waste can.
Tom Potter - Nothing happened.
Analysis: Both candidates were correct. More than two years after the release of this report it's primary recommendation goes unfullfilled. Both candidates supported public housing data collection identified by neighborhood as essential to creating meaningful reports which can then be used for making informed public housing policy decisions.


Formal charges have been filed with the current mayor to remove several HAP commissioners under ORS 456.110. If you were the mayor today or if you become the mayor in the near future how would you act on these charges?
Tom Potter - The charges laid out in your bill of particulars warrant investigation. Appointed public officials especially those that spend public funds are responsible for their conduct of public business. However, there are usually at least two sides to every story so those accused must be allowed an opportunity to refute these allegations. After both sides have had a chance to present their cases it would then be incumbent upon the mayor to act by dismissing the charges as insufficient or meritless, issuing a reprimand or removing the appointee.
Analysis: Many people have complained to me that none of the twenty-eight officials that have control and authority over public housing policy and operations that spend more than $200,000,000 annually are accountable to anyone. That's not true. They are directly accountable to the mayor who can remove them at any time for virtually any reason. Both Tom Potter and Jim Francesconi understand this fundamental and essential fact of the mayor's political power. Whatever these twenty-eight public housing commissioners do they do it with the blessing of the mayor.


How many of these people can you identify on this list of names** along with their relationship to city government? Why is it important that you know who ALL of these people are and what role they play in government?
Analysis: Both candidates could identify some but not all. Both candidates came to understand that if elected mayor they would need to not only know all the names but would need to keep in contact with all of these appointed commissioners on a regular basis and monitor their behavior.


Discuss you views on the 3-6-9 Resolution.*
Jim Francesconi - I support several elements of this resolution but don't believe that it is ready yet to be submitted to the city council for action. I certainly agree with the first three paragraphs which acknowledge distribution of public housing clients as city policy, the necessity to quantify this policy and the need to collect and report public housing data by neighborhood.

My biggest problem is with the minimum, maximum and target percentage goals. We need to do more research to determine where to set these figures. Some neighborhoods might require a different set than others. Some neighborhoods might be "clustered" for purposes of determining public housing density. The quantification concept is sound but the details need more work.

The guidance of commissioner appointees portion is a good idea. The mayor should make sure that those about to take on public responsibilities, especially those with spending power, have been adequately trained for the position.
Tom Potter - I'm sold on the general thrust and intent of the 3-6-9 resolution. I believe that you must have good public housing neighborhood data to determine if you have accomplished your distribution goals. Setting the 3-6-9 percentages need more examination. I would withhold support until I had throughly investigated the consequences of these minimum, maximum and target numbers.

Good training yields good results in schools, at the police academy and can yield good results in the behavior and accomplishments of those the mayor nominates for positions as appointed public officials. As the 3-6-9 resolution is revised it should include training and guidance as an important element.
Analysis: Once again both candidates were in agreement. Quantifying an amorphous policy of public housing distribution and gathering public housing data by neighborhood is necessary for intelligent, reasoned and justifiable public housing decision making. The training and guidance of appointees prior to confirmation found similar support. Both saw the 3-6-9 Resolution as a good starting point not a document ready for prime time. It seems likely that some revised form of the 3-6-9 Resolution would be submitted to the city council if either of these men become mayor.


Should public housing responsibility be shifted to Metro in the next five years?
Tom Potter - Outreach is important. The community of responsibility for public housing stretches beyond Portland to the entire region. I am interested in working with Metro and the surrounding communities on the issue of solving public housing issues on a regional basis.
Analysis: Potter's answer is not only progressive but acknowledges the inevitable direction of future public housing policy issues.


Summary Analysis:
The most gratifying result of these conversations was the realization that both candidates emerged with a greater understanding of their potential role as mayor regarding public housing policy. This was far more important to me than asking them questions or writing an article. I feel comfortable that Portland's next mayor is aware of his power and responsibilities to guide and monitor public housing policy, an annual expenditure exceeding $200,000,000 and the twenty-eight appointed officials under his direct control at PDC, HAP and HCDC.

Potter and Francesconi were genuinely interested in public housing policy and were willing if not eager to learn and accept new information as a basis for revised thinking. The quality of good leadership requires this ability to allow the absorption of new data to evolve into a better understanding or appreciation for a problem and its potential solutions.


Richard Ellmyer
Writer and Publisher - HAP Watcher commentary
Portsmouth - the 18% solution neighborhood, North Portland
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org


* DRAFT
Declare 3-6-9 Neighborhood Percentages As Transparent, Understandable and Accountable Distributive Public Housing Policy Goals

WHEREAS the city of Portland has an established policy that public housing clients should not be concentrated into a few select neighborhoods but rather distributed throughout Portland’s neighborhoods,

WHEREAS it has become necessary to quantify the policy of distribution of public housing clients in order to assure that public expenditures are being spent in furtherance of these objectives,

WHEREAS it is necessary to adopt neighborhood map based accounting as a reporting and decision making tool regarding public housing policy and expenditures.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the city of Portland shall establish as its primary public housing client goal in each Portland neighborhood a target of six (6) percent of that neighborhood’s population. Goals for minimum and maximum shall be established so that no neighborhood shall have fewer than three (3) percent and no neighborhood shall have more than nine (9) percent of its population as public housing clients.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the office of the Portland City Auditor shall coordinate the collection of data and report annually on the status of accomplishment toward the 3-6-9 goal.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the city council shall fund the City Auditor’s 3-6-9 related activities by whatever combination of funding sources from HAP, PDC, BHCD or other revenue sources it may choose.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, all appointments for PDC, HAP and HCDC commissioner shall be made during the regular city council calendar.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the mayor shall determine that all nominees to become HAP, PDC and HCDC commissioners agree to support the 3-6-9 policy goal before being formally nominated for council approval.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, during the confirmation proceedings the mayor shall publicly instruct the appointee of his or her obligation to use the office to which they are appointed to further the 3-6-9 policy goal.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, this resolution is binding city policy.

**Jeff Bachrach
Doug Blomgren
Janet Byrd
Harriet Cormack
Richard Fernandez
Shar Giard
Matt Hennessee
Tony Jones
Linda Kaeser
Chris Lassen
Jim McConnell
Roger N Meyer
John Miller
Kevin Montgomery-Smith
Lee Moore
Kandis Nunn
Louis Ornelas
Eric Parsons
Roserria Robertson
Howard Shapiro
Terri Silvis
Susan Stoltenberg
Katie Such
Antoinette Teixeira
Bill Van Vliet
Janice Wilson
Joel Wykowski

The list above contains the names of the appointed commissioners to HAP, PDC and HCDC. Test yourself. How many can you identify? Are any of these folks your relatives, friends, neighbors? If so why not ask them what they think about the 3-6-9 Resolution and public housing policy in general. If they tell you let me know what they had to say. This is a very shy group.