Don't Poke The Bear. Stop Humiliating Your Boss Don't Poke The Bear. Stop Humiliating Your Boss

Don't Poke The Bear. Stop Humiliating Your Boss Don't Poke The Bear. Stop Humiliating Your Boss 11/14/05

HAP Commissioners:
Amanda Fritz, Jeff Cogen, LaVonne Griffin-Valade, Jim Robison, Ted Wheeler, Ginny Burdick, Bruce Broussard, Steve March, Erik Sten, Diane Linn, Dan Saltzman et. al. are or will soon be candidates for public office in Multnomah county during the May 2006 election. They will be required to express their views on public housing policy and the annual spending of $200,000,000 of tax payers' money in support of or opposition to official public housing policy. They will need HAP's public housing data by neighborhood as directed by mayor Potter on January 26, 2005.

In the not too distant future, if it hasn't happened already, candidates for public office throughout Multnomah county are going to start asking HAP for public housing data by neighborhood. They will start talking about it as they campaign. The issue of public housing policy will appear on their web sites and literature. Jeff Cogen has told me that he supports the 3-6-9 Resolution and public housing data by neighborhood. In a demonstration of good judgement and independence, Cogen has or is about to make the first candidate request of HAP for that data. Mayor Tom Potter's role as obstructionist will become the issue not public housing policy if that data is not forthcoming. Mayor potter's endorsement of responsible, experienced candidate Jim Robison, running for the house seat in North Portland which is demonstrably overloaded with HAP's clients, won't carry much weight if Potter refuses to give Robison public housing data by neighborhood.

Once others start asking for the same data I have requested the following questions will become in play:
1. Will HAP respond to a candidate or staff request from another elected official like say Sam Adams who is on the record as supporting public housing data by neighborhood and the 3-6-9 Resolution?
2. Will HAP send these folks data BEFORE they send it to an ordinary citizen - like me - thereby discriminating against a single citizen, Richard Ellmyer, for the second time? Can your boss, Multnomah County Public Housing Czar Tom Potter, defend such behavior by those that serve at his pleasure?
3. Will HAP send all who ask authentic, accurate, complete and timely public housing data by neighborhood?

For the last 53 days you have allowed your boss, mayor Tom Potter, to be seen as weak, ineffective and downright irresponsible by refusing to carry out his own order of January 26, 2005 to the Housing Authority of Portland to produce public housing data by neighborhood. You are responsible for a major portion of the mayor's public embarrassment which will only get worse if you do not act and soon.

I take no pleasure in ridiculing and embarrassing the mayor for his lack of attention to exercising his responsibilities as Multnomah County Public Housing Czar. My goal is and always has been to make available to the citizens of Multnomah county HAP's public housing data by neighborhood which would become the foundation for a discussion of the 3-6-9 Resolution. I have no interest in throwing stones at Tom or HAP or anyone else unless it is necessary to achieve my goal.

As a candidate Tom Potter told me that he understood the basic principle that good public data is required to make good public policy decisions and that he supported making available public housing data by neighborhood - which was consistent with his loudly proclaimed interest in neighborhoods. Several weeks after Tom was elected, with my support and my vote, he directed HAP, in front of me and HAP Chair Kandis Nunn, to make their public housing data by neighborhood available to the public.

It is now approaching 10 months after Tom's directive and there is no public housing data by neighborhood. It is now 53 days since I asked for the data Tom ordered HAP to produce and I have nothing. What the hell is going on here? Do you not realize that the mayor's credibility and reputation are diminished every time I publish another HAP Watcher commentary with the heading, Public HAP Data Held Hostage - Day XX ? I can do that indefinitely.

Thousands of Multnomah county citizens are aware that it has been 53 days since I asked HAP for public housing data by neighborhood or anything at all that HAP would be willing to give any of the 700,000 residents of Multnomah county. To date I have received no data of any kind. The meaning of HAP's documented misbehavior is clear. HAP, with mayor Tom Potter's witting or unwitting approval, has now established a de-facto policy which will not allow any of its public housing data to be given to citizens who ask for it. This is not only wrong and hubristic but illegal. It has the strong smell of a cover up of failure to keep accurate, audit passable, complete and timely records. Perhaps more. What other reason could there be for the arrogant, indefensible refual to provide the public data necessary for public decision making to which the public has a reasonable, justifiable need as well as the moral and legal right? Tom Potter, September 2004 - "Appointed public officials especially those that spend public funds are responsible for their conduct of public business." Sam Adams, July 2005 - "Ultimate responsibility to the public is the basic tenet of public service-appointed, elected or hired." Those with the power to spend the public treasury MUST be accountable.

Not a single reader of HAP Watchers has written to me and made a case that my quest for public housing data by neighborhood is illegal, immoral or without justification. To the contrary. Many respond with a "keep up the good work." Most, however, simply cannot understand why HAP and the mayor haven't made this public data available ages ago. They are baffled by what they see as a no brainer.

Keep in mind that the Oregon Public Records Law, http://www.open-oregon.com/New_Pages/192-410.shtml , can be invoked by any citizen to obtain this public data and will be soon enough if the political system does not work as it should. I believe every effort should be made to solve political problems in the political arena avoiding the legal system until absolutely necessary. The very last resort.

Soon enough Tom will himself need public housing data by neighborhood from HAP to make judgements about the upcoming AI report destined for city council examination then on to HUD. Tom will also need public housing data by neighborhood before he and or Sam Adams can introduce the 3-6-9 Resolution. It is pointless, counterproductive, irresponsible and foolish for you to continue to refuse to provide public housing data by neighborhood to me and everyone else. Eventually you will do it.

It is my intention to speak before the HAP board next Tuesday, November 15th and personally ask each board member to publicly acknowledge:
1. The right, under the Oregon Public Records law, of every citizen of Multnomah county to have access to HAP's public records.
2. The right, under the Oregon Public Records law and by order of mayor Tom Potter on January 26, 2005, of every citizen of Multnomah county to have access to HAP's public housing data by neighborhood.

If any of you would care to respond to these questions via email before the next HAP board meeting so much the better. Keep in mind that you were each appointed as individuals. You are responsible to the mayor and the public as individuals.

Those of you who indicate that the public does not have a right to HAP's public housing data by neighborhood will be identified. Sometime shortly after HAP's meeting next Tuesday, November 15th I will make a public request of the mayor to immediately dismiss those who refuse to provide the data on the grounds that such a refusal is itself a prima facie case for dismissal under ORS 456.110.

Should HAP provide public housing data to anyone, candidate, public official etc. before I receive the data I requested 53 days ago or if HAP has provided public housing data to anyone, candidate, public official etc. within the last 53 days I shall make a public request of the mayor to immediately dismiss all HAP commissioners on the grounds that discrimination of this nature is itself a prima facie case for dismissal under ORS 456.110.

Those of you who want to act as responsible publicly appointed officials - instead of disrespectfully, discriminatorily and illegally - must provide public housing data by neighborhood to your fellow citizens. It is essential that you take some kind of individually identifiable public action to prove your intentions and commitment to public data sharing - NOW.

You can avoid the inevitable. Stop demeaning and embarrassing the person who allows you to continue in public office, Tom Potter, by providing the citizens of Multnomah county an authentic, accurate, complete and timely record for every public housing client in the form of a tab delimited text file with the following four fields: neighborhood, median income range (0-30,31-50,51-80%), age and gender BEFORE the next HAP meeting Tuesday November 15th. When push comes to shove you can be sure that the mayor, his staff and close advisors will sink your ships before they will let you sink his.

Don't Poke The Bear. Stop Humiliating Your Boss.

Richard Ellmyer
3-6-9 Resolution author and project champion
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses.
Writer/Publisher - HAP Watcher commentary - Published on the Internet and distributed to 4000 readers interested in public housing policy in Multnomah County.
Portsmouth - formerly the 18%, currently the 8% and rising solution neighborhood, North Portland
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org

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