HAP commissioners serve at the pleasure of the mayor of Portland (ORS 456.110) much as the Secretary of Defense serves at the pleasure of the President of the United States of America. EVERYTHING these appointees do they do with the approval of their masters.

On Wednesday December 6, 2006, mayor Potter will present to the Portland city council for a confirmation vote to the Housing Authority of Portland Nathan Teske (new appointment, Gresham sponsor) and Harriet Cormack (reappointment, Portland sponsor). I recently asked these nominees to answer the two most important and compelling questions relevant to those that would have the authority to direct policy and opertional control and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds during their unguided, unsupervised, unaccountable appointed public office tenure.

1. If confirmed, are you prepared to provide commissioner Sam Adams, Multnomah county chair-elect Ted Wheeler, Multnomah county commissioner-elect Jeff Cogen and Gresham mayor-elect Shane Bemis with an authentic, accurate, complete and timely tab delimited text file containing age, gender, neighborhood and income fields for all of HAP's 33,000 clients?

2. Do you support the quantification of public housing policy in Multnomah county and the goals and ideas inherent within the 3-6-9 Resolution?

Both nominees, Nathan Teske and Harriet Cormack, indicated that they prefer the status quo and would NOT provide public housing statistical data nor would they support quantifying the goals of public housing policy.

Mayor Potter, who shares these public policy positions with his vetted nominees, expects at least two other members of the Portland city council to show they also support the forces of silence and darkness by voting for his chosen statutory subordinates.

Although Potter did NOT notify his colleagues, the press and voters by posting on his web site for public consideration and review prior to the confirmation vote the names and answers to these fundamental public housing policy questions given by Nathan Teske and Harriet Cormack - I did. So when the mayor announces the laundry list of previous good deeds accomplished by Teske and Cormack it is highly unlikely that he will also mention the fact that when he asked them (and surely he did?) the two most important public housing policy qualifying questions mentioned above, Nathan Teske and Harriet Cormack, indicated that they prefer the status quo and would NOT provide public housing statistical data nor would they support quantifying the goals of public housing policy.
  
So, unlike all other previous HAP nominee confirmations, the city council, citizens and press will know about the candidates' positions on major public housing policy issues BEFORE the vote. There will be no denying it. Everyone will know that a vote for Potter's candidates is a vote to deny access to public information and against public accountability.

The New Elephant In The Room Demands Consideration of Public Housing Policy 
A few weeks ago coconspirators Potter, Saltzman and Sten flagrantly ignored due process and any responsible restraint against concentrating public housing by voting to add dozens of public housing clients to the Portsmouth neighborhood which they all know has the highest number of public housing clients and the second highest percentage of public housing clients in all of Multnomah county's 117 neighborhoods. Since then the Portland Development Commission has been charged with disposition and development of a five acre decommissioned military installation in the Portsmouth neighborhood and will soon give consideration to, "homeless services providers first and foremost."

In addition, the Clarendon school, located in the Portsmouth neighborhood, will soon be decommissioned and become public property. This will provide yet another opportunity for a back room deal by Potter, Saltzman and Sten to flout their disregard and disrespect for Oregonians rightful desire to improve the quality of life in their own neighborhoods by NOT OVERLOADING their neighborhoods with public housing. The Potter, Saltzman, Sten back door alliance has already proven that it can and will add even more public housing to the beleaguered and over stressed Portsmouth neighborhood and North Portland regardless of the social, financial and public policy consequences. The only limits to placement of public housing clients are to be found in our tricky, truthless troika's own neighborhoods which they nimbly protect.

So the question arises: Is there any point at which - 
Portland mayor Tom Potter (The Commander in Chief of public housing policy and operations in Multnomah county)
Portland City Council
Portland Planning Commission
Housing Authority of Portland 
Portland Development Commission 
Portland Housing and Community Development Commission 
Gresham City Council
Gresham Planning Commission
Multnomah County Commission
Multnomah County Planning Commission 
Governor Ted Kulongoski 
US Senator Roy Wyden 
US Senator Gordon Smith
US Representative Earl Blumenauer
State Senator Margaret Carter 
State Representative-elect Tina Kotek
Oregon legislature 
Every other public or private institution that provides support for public housing in Multnomah county -
will stand up and say,
"The number of public housing clients in this neighborhood exceeds the limits of our public housing policy which is to equitably distribute not concentrate public housing clients into just a few select neighborhoods that offer the least resistance of the 117 neighborhoods in Multnomah county. We will do whatever is necessary to STOP any further influx of public housing clients into this neighborhood. We support the payments of substantial amounts of monetary compensation, as outlined in the 3-6-9 Resolution, to every neighborhood association whose jurisdiction exceeds our defined limits until such time as the number of public housing clients in those neighborhoods can be reduced to within our numerically defined parameters."

What You Can Do
First, think about what is going on here. Then talk to someone about your thoughts and ask them how they feel. If you're motivated, contact as many of the people mentioned just above and tell them what you think.