The Schrunk decision makes UNLIMITED neighborhood concentration of public housing the undisputed legal and political policy of all six public entities that provide public housing in Multnomah county.

The practice of democracy requires that citizens have access to public records in order to hold those who wield power in government accountable. The Oregon Public Records law was created by our legislature to assure Oregonians their right to oversee the government employees that execute our laws and spend our money. Mike Schrunk's decision to protect the Housing Authority of Portland from divulging public data is not in keeping with the spirit or the letter of the Oregon Public Records law.

In criminal cases with multiple charges judges often keep some and throw some out. Juries must decide guilty or not guilty on each individual count. Civil juries award financial settlements along a scale from zero to the amount asked for by the plantiff. The judgement I requested from the Multnomah County District Attorney's office involved several parts each requiring a separate decision.

Below is a copy of my request for public data and the responses from assistant district attorney John Hoover and the appeal to his boss, Multnomah County District Attorney, Mike Schrunk. My request is detailed, specific and segmented with precise arguments made for each section in keeping with the requirements of the Oregon Public Records law. Acting as the appeals judge, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk, summarily dismissed ALL of my requests for public data with a single word, I "disagree." One word may be a decision but it is most certainly NOT a legal argument in defense of or justifying that decision. Perhaps there is some unwritten rule which says after so many decades on the public payroll the Multnomah County DA is no longer required to explain his decision making process to ordinary citizens. Apparently reasoned legal arguments may by supplanted by fiat at the whim of long serving District Attorneys.

Perhaps you're from the camp that believes the DA Schrunk can do no wrong. Perhaps you think that this decision is clear evidence that Mike Schrunk has overstayed his public welcome. In either case, image this ruling coming from a registered Republican District Attorney in some Eastern Oregon county. If you try to remove the person issuing this legal decision from the decision itself how would you judge it?

1. The Housing Authority of Portland, with a presumed client base of 33,000 and an annual budget of around $90,000,000 , is now under no obligation to account for:
A. The total number of its clients
B. The location by neighborhood of its clients
C. The income levels as required by means test to qualify for HAP housing
D. The ages of HAP clients
E. The gender of HAP clients
F. The last time any individual HAP client record was updated

2. Schrunk's decision has established a legal precedent giving weight to the position taken by Erik Sten's Bureau of Housing and Community Development and the Portland Planning Bureau that they do not have to provide elected officials, candidates for public office, taxpayers, voters and citizens with public housing statistical data. In addition, Sten's bureau makes the absurd claim that they actually are not required to nor do they keep records involving the millions of dollars that pass through their offices for public housing making it impossible to provide public housing statistical data even if they wanted to - which they don't. Quite unbelievable.

3. It is Impossible to claim or execute a public policy of equitable distribution of public housing, which has overwhelming public support, without HAP's public housing statistical data.

4. The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing report which was sent by the Portland City Council to HUD and was approved by the Housing and Community Development Commission contains a directive to engage the cities of Portland and Gresham as well as Multnomah County in a public discussion on the Standards of Equitable Housing Distribution resolution (formerly named 3-6-9 resolution). It is impossible to have this public discussion called for in the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing report without access to all of the public housing statistical data in HAP's possession.

1. The editor of the Oregonian Editorial Board, Bob Caldwell, and his board may opine on the subject of HAP and public housing location policy they just can't do it with the authority of any statistical foundation.

2. Oregonian editor Sandy Rowe and all Oregoinan reporters may write whatever they like about HAP and public housing but they won't be able to tell their readers much about how many and where HAP is hiding its clients.

3. Cornelius Swart, publisher of the St. Johns Sentinel won't be telling his readers in North Portland about the degree of overloading of North Portland neighborhoods with HAP's public housing clients.

4. There will be no nosing around in HAP's data vault by Mark Zussman and the Willamette Week staff. Perhaps naming Mike Schrunk as the Rogue of the Week might help unlock HAP's safe of public records.

5. Bob Pamplin owns lots of newspapers but none of them will be printing any articles with public housing statistical data from HAP. The Portland Tribune may continue its series on housing but it won't be publishing the whereabouts of HAP clients in those stories.

6. OPB reporter Rob Manning, who has expressed an interest in a story about the policy of equitable distribution of public housing, might want to explain to his statewide audience why the Multnomah County District Attorney wants to keep HAP's public housing statistical data a secret.

7. Sam Adams, Jeff Cogen and Ted Wheeler tried as candidates for public office to get public housing statistical data from HAP without success. Perhaps now that Cogen and Wheeler have been elected they will try again. Sam Adams has tried, several times as candidate and elected Portland city commissioner to get HAP to give him public housing statistical data. He was the first member of Portland's city council to vote against a HAP candidate, Gresham nominee Nathan Teske, because Teske refused to say that he would make an effort to give Adams public housing statistical data as a HAP board member. Adams encouraged HAP chair Jeff Bachrach to meet with Richard Ellmyer to discuss the sharing of HAP's public housing statistical data. Bachrach dismissed both Adams and Ellmyer and shut the door on access to his private stash of information. It would not be unreasonable to expect that the next time Sam Adams asks HAP for public housing statistical data he will be asking as a candidate for mayor of Portland. It would not be unreasonable to expect that if Sam Adams asks HAP for public housing statistical data as a candidate for mayor of Portland and doesn't get it he would be quite justified, as Portland's next mayor, in dismissing Jeff Bachrach and the entire HAP board - which the current mayor of Portland, Tom Potter, could do right now if he asked for HAP's public housing statistical data and didn't get it.

8. On February 28, 2007 PDC commissioner Sal Kadri tasked PDC's housing director Andy Wilch to gather information by neighborhood on the location of all public housing clients that are subsidized and administered by any government agency within PDC's area of influence. Even if Any Wilch was trying to obey the order given to him by his superior - but he's not- he can't do it now.

9. Declared and potential candidates for any elected office in Multnomah county such as Bob Ball, Amanda Fritz, Nick Fish, Chris Smith, Robert Liberty et. al. will not be talking with voters and the press about HAP's public housing location policy because neither the candidates nor the voters nor the media will have access to information which would form the basis for a credible discussion on the issue. 

10. Political Science and Public Administration teachers and their students at Portland State University, Reed College, Lewis and Clark College and the University of Portland et. al. won't be writing papers or having classroom discussions on any subject requiring public housing statistical location data from the Housing Authority of Portland.

11. Don Williams, president of the Portland City Club and chief operating officer at Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, won't be presiding over a Friday City Club luncheon meeting with any guest speakers discussing the civic and legal merits of fellow attorney and HAP Chair, Jeff Bachrach's, decision to deny any City Club study group access to HAP's public housing statistical data under his custodianship.

12. State Senator Ginny Burdick asked HAP for public housing statistical data when she was also a candidate for Portland city council. HAP refused thereby setting the precedent to deny ALL members of the Oregon legislature access to its public housing statistical data.

13. On June 15, 2001 all the members of Oregon's congressional delegation i.e., Wyden, Smith, Blumenauer, Wu, Hooley, Walden and DeFazio asked HUD to give the Housing Authority of Portland 30 million dollars. These same folks should start showing as much concern for the practice of democracy in Multnomah county as they do for the practice of democracy in Iraq. If HAP's appointed board won't tell Oregon's elected congressional leaders, the folks that brought them 30 million bucks, who will they tell?

14. Will U.S. Senate candidates John Frohnmayer, Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick be asking HUD to dump hugh truckloads of taxpayer dollars into public housing projects in neighborhoods that are already overloaded because they can't get access to public housing location data from HAP to make the case against it? 

15. And last, but not least, the 700,000 Voters, Taxpayers and Citizens of Multnomah County who pay the bills and elect those who spend our money on public housing deserve and demand ACCOUNTABILITY.


Richard Ellmyer
Community activist leading the campaign to stop all potentially new public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement) in the Portsmouth neighborhood, especially the following:
1. Hacienda CDC public housing project on N. Newell Street
2. The recently decommissioned Sharff Army Reserve Center
3. The former John Ball School site
4. The recently closed Clarendon School site
Standards for Equitable Distribution of Public Housing Resolution author and project champion
Writer/Publisher - HAP Watchers commentary - Published on the Internet (http://www.goodgrowthnw.org) and distributed to thousands of readers interested in public housing policy in Multnomah County. To Subscribe: HAP-Watchers-on@goodgrowthnw.org
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses. Located in Portsmouth, the neighborhood with the second highest concentration of public housing clients, 30% and rising, within HAP's Multnomah county jurisdiction of 117 neighborhoods.

Note To Readers:
This message is sent to you and thousands of others because of a mutual interest in public housing policy in Multnomah county. To unsubscribe from HAP-Watchers, E-mail to: <HAP-Watchers-off@goodgrowthnw.org> . To subscribe to HAP-Watchers, E-mail to: <HAP-Watchers-on@goodgrowthnw.org> . These are both automated processes that require confirmation. If you are having a technical problem please send administrative queries to <HAP-Watchers-request@goodgrowthnw.org> . Send reader comments to hwcomments@goodgrowthnw.org

###########################################
[Below is the response from DA Mike Schrunk exactly as I received it. Does it seem a bit slipshod and disrespectful in both form and content? You decide.]

Michael D. Schrunk, District Attorney
1021 SW Fourth Avenue, Room 600
Portland, OR 97204-1193
Phone: 503-988-3162 Fax: 503-988-3643
www.co.multnomah.or.us/da/


CREATEDATE \@ "MMMM dd, yyyy" \* MERGEFORMAT September 18, 2007



 FILLIN "Enter Name and Address" \* MERGEFORMAT Richard Ellmyer
ellmyer@macsolve.com

Re:    FILLIN "Enter Subject or Case Name" \d "State v. " \* MERGEFORMAT Public Records Petition
         FILLIN "Enter C # / DA # if needed"  \* MERGEFORMAT 

 FILLIN "Enter Greeting" \d "Dear "\* MERGEFORMAT Dear Mr. Ellmyer:

Thank you for your September 17, 2007 email regarding the decision of this office to deny your petition.  I respectfully disagree with your position. You may now file an action in the Multnomah County Circuit Court challenging the order.  Good luck.   



Very truly yours,

MICHAEL D. SCHRUNK
District Attorney
Multnomah County, Oregon



 FILLIN "Signer:Typist Initials" \* MERGEFORMAT 
 FILLIN "Enter Enclosure Info" \d "Enclosure" \* MERGEFORMAT 
 FILLIN "Enter cc: info" \d "cc:     " \* MERGEFORMAT 



###############################

From:   ellmyer@macsolve.com
Subject: HAP NOT In Compliance - MCDA Must Act
Date: September 17, 2007 12:59:48 PM PDT
To:   DA@mcda.us, michael.d.schrunk@mcda.us
Cc:   samadams@ci.portland.or.us, jeff.cogen@co.multnomah.or.us, sal@valuecad.com, john.k.hoover@mcda.us, james.hayden@mcda.us, doj.info@state.or.us, interested@macsolve.com


Dear Multnomah County District Attorney's Office:
Below is the response received from your office regarding a request for public records from the Housing Authority of Portland. It is from ADA John Hoover. Mr. Hoover's response demonstrates a disturbing inattention to detail and as a result is demonstrably inaccurate to the point of incompetence causing me to request that your office remove him from this matter and assign another ADA who will enforce the Oregon Public Records law in an unbiased, professional and legal manner. I believe that Mr. Hoover is allowing a personal animus to override his legal obligations to enforce the law.

The Oregon Public Records law requires the following:
1. Identifying the custodian of the public records. Jeff Bachrach, HAP board chair, has been so identified.
2. Specifically identifying the public data. FOUR separate and distinct reports were requested. The sum total of public records would equal the sum total of all approximately 33,000 HAP clients. To recap:
Report #1. HAP Public Housing Program
A tab delimited text file with the following fields: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Income 4. Neighborhood 5. Last Modification Date, for ALL clients in this database.

Report #2. HAP Section 8 Housing Voucher Program
A tab delimited text file with the following fields: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Income 4. Neighborhood 5. Last Modification Date, for ALL clients in this database.

Report #3.
New Columbia in North Portland's Portsmouth Neighborhood Program
The total number of public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement) HAP clients living in New Columbia as of August 1, 2007.

A document showing that you have asked the New Columbia management to provide you with a tab delimited text file with the following fields: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Income 4. Neighborhood 5. Last Modification Date, for ALL HAP public housing clients living in New Columbia as of August 1, 2007 to be delivered to you by September 1, 2007 then sent to me on September 1, 2007.

Report #4. HAP Affordable Housing Program
The total number of public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement) HAP clients living in all of HAP's 32 properties in Multnomah county as of August 1, 2007.

Documents showing that you have asked the managing agents of all 32 properties within the HAP Affordable Housing Program to provide you with a tab delimited text file with the following fields: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Income 4. Neighborhood 5. Last Modification Date, for ALL HAP public housing clients living within these 32 properties as of August 1, 2007 to be delivered to you by September 1, 2007 then sent to me on September 1, 2007.

Each of these four categories and their public data reports are independent of the others.

3. Cost to provide data. The cost to create a computer generated tab delimited export file for reports 1 and 2, which are under the direct and immediate control of HAP's Information Technology department, are trivial. The data for reports 3 and 4, while not under direct control of HAP's Information Technology department, are nonetheless under the custodial authority of HAP and must be given to HAP when requested. Once again there is virtually no cost to providing this public data.

Multnomah county commissioner Jeff Cogen has offered to pay the $80 for the conversion of all 33,000 HAP client addresses into a neighborhood field. Portland city commissioner Sam Adams has previously offered to pay for such costs and would no doubt offer financial assistance to gather this public data should the need arise. PDC commissioner Sal Kadri has also made a public request for public housing statistical data and could certainly be counted on to contribute payment to publish this data if necessary.

On September 11, 2007 HAP sent me a single combined data file report containing 18,627 records which purportedly includes the data I requested in reports 1 and 2 (see above). This report was incomplete and unresponsive to my request.
A. It did not identify which records were from the HAP Public Housing Program and those from HAP Section 8 Housing Voucher Program.
B. It did not include the last modification date field.
C. It did not include a neighborhood field.

14,373 public housing statistical records from reports 3 and 4 remain to be delivered.

The argument accepted by ADA Hoover that HAP did not have to comply with all of these specific, legitimate and legal requests because of a specious evasion tactic i.e., "HAP Board Chair Jeff Bachrach determined that no other reports would be generated pending the completion of the METRO regional affordable housing database" has no basis whatsoever in the Oregon Public Records law. Whatever activities may or may not be undertaken by METRO or any other public entity are completely irrelevant to the demand for existing public data under the custodial control of HAP chair Jeff Bachrach.

The argument accepted by ADA Hoover that HAP did not have to comply with all of these specific, legitimate and legal requests because, "According to Ms. Marchesi, that is the only public record in their possession consistent with your petition" denies the explict and specific nature of my request and presumes that Ms. Marchesi, who is under Jeff Bachrach's orders, is both correct and telling the truth. Neither of which is the case. Without any investigation of the facts and compelling evidence Mr. Hoover gives the weight of authority to Ms. Machesi rather than Richard Ellmyer. This official action is wrong, unacceptable and indefensible.

The Housing Authority of Portland spends taxpayer dollars on public housing programs which include approximately 33,000 clients. The Housing Authority of Portland MUST be able to produce computerized records for ALL of its clients. HAP's chair must not be allowed to unilaterally withhold this public housing statistical data. It is the duty of the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office to compel the Housing Authority of Portland to come forward with the requested public data.

This demand for public housing statistical data will be pursued until all 33,000 HAP client records have been delivered as requested or until the Oregon Attorney General issues a legal opinion to the contrary. 

This demand for public housing statistical data and the actions taken by HAP and the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office shall become an issue for every candidate in every relevant race for public office in Oregon. 


Richard Ellmyer
Community activist leading the campaign to stop all potentially new public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement) in the Portsmouth neighborhood, especially the following:
1. Hacienda CDC public housing project on N. Newell Street
2. The recently decommissioned Sharff Army Reserve Center
3. The former John Ball School site
4. The recently closed Clarendon School site
Standards for Equitable Distribution of Public Housing Resolution author and project champion
Writer/Publisher - HAP Watchers commentary - Published on the Internet (http://www.goodgrowthnw.org) and distributed to thousands of readers interested in public housing policy in Multnomah County. To Subscribe: HAP-Watchers-on@goodgrowthnw.org
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses. Located in Portsmouth, the neighborhood with the second highest concentration of public housing clients, 30% and rising, within HAP's Multnomah county jurisdiction of 117 neighborhoods.

#########################################################


On Sep 17, 2007, at 10:04 AM, HOOVER John K wrote:
This office is in receipt of your September 4, 2007 email petition.  In reviewing your extensive email, it appears that you made a request of the Housing Authority on May 15, 2007 to create a report (or reports) with certain delineated fields with respect to Section 8 and public housing programs.  In a June 5, 2007 meeting with HAP employees, the creation of such a report was discussed.  According to Shelley Marchesi, such a report was in fact generated.  Subsequently, HAP Board Chair Jeff Bachrach determined that no other reports would be generated pending the completion of the METRO regional affordable housing database.  You should now be in receipt of the report generated by HAP.   According to Ms. Marchesi, that is the only public record in their possession consistent with your petition.   Consequently, your petition must be denied as moot.  
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Ellmyer [mailto:ellmyer@macsolve.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 5:03 PM
To: HOOVER John K; DA Mailbox; SCHRUNK Michael D
Cc: Richard Brownstein; Sam Adams; Randy Leonard; Tom Potter; Dan Saltzman; Erik Sten; Shane Bemis; Mike Bennett; Shirley Craddick; Karylinn Echols; Carol Nielson-Hood; Dick Strathern; Paul Warr-King; COGEN Jeff; Lisa Naito; ROBERTS Lonnie J; Maria Rojo de Steffey; Ted Wheeler; Nick Fish; Amanda Fritz; Sal Kadri; HAP Board; Shelley Marchesi
Subject: HAP Chair, Jeff Bachrach, Spurns Oregon Public Records Law
 
Dear Multnomah County District Attorney:
On May 15, 2007 I made a legitimate and legal demand on the Housing Authority of Portland for public records under the Oregon Public Records Law (see below). I reiterated that request on August 13, 2007 (see below). I understand that the Multnomah County District Attorney will not usually become involved in negotiation or enforcement of public records law demands unless the custodian of the data indicates that he will not comply. This denial is most ordinarily communicated in writing. However, in this case the HAP staff showed significant signs of cooperation in providing the requested public records until the HAP board chair, Jeff Bachrach, ordered the staff to withhold delivery of any and all of the requested public records. Jeff Bachrach's directive to HAP staff is tantamount to a letter of denial made directly to the citizen, Richard Ellmyer, who requested the public data. Therefore, I request that the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office immediately either compel or negotiate with the custodian of this public data, Jeff Bachrach, to produce the public records over which he has authority.
 
It is the intent of this request to require the Housing Authority of Portland to show evidence of its ability to produce a single computer database record for every individual client for which it provides public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement). This amounts to approximately 33,000 client records. This request for public housing statistical data will not be fulfilled unless and until ALL of the requested records are made public.
 
I would encourage HAP's legal counsel, Richard Brownstein, to expedite this matter by instructing his client on the necessity of compliance with the Oregon Public Records law.
 
I would encourage mayor Tom Potter to expedite this matter by instructing his subordinate, Jeff Bachrach, to produce the required public records immediately or face the possibility of being dismissed from his HAP board appointment which Portland's mayor can do under ORS 456.110.
 
I would encourage Portland city commissioners Sam Adams, Randy Leonard, Dan Saltzman and Erik Sten to expedite this matter by contacting all of HAP's appointed commissioners, Jeff Bachrach - Lee Moore - Catherine Such - Harriet Cormack - Richard Fernández - Chris Lassen - Nathan Teske - Gavin Thayer, and asking them to tell their leader, Jeff Bachrach, that they acknowledge the necessity under the Oregon Public Records Law to produce the requested data. In addition, the four members of HAP's board that ostensibly represent the city of Portland should be told that if they do not support the publication of the requested public data then each Portland city commissioner will ask mayor Tom Potter to dismiss them from their HAP board appointment which Portland's mayor can do under ORS 456.110.
 
I would encourage Gresham's mayor and city commissioners Shane Bemis, Mike Bennett, Shirley Craddick, Karylinn Echols, Carol Nielson-Hood, Dick Strathern and Paul Warr-King to expedite this matter by contacting all of HAP's appointed commissioners, Jeff Bachrach - Lee Moore - Catherine Such - Harriet Cormack - Richard Fernández - Chris Lassen - Nathan Teske - Gavin Thayer, and asking them to tell their leader, Jeff Bachrach, that they acknowledge the necessity under the Oregon Public Records Law to produce the requested data. In addition, the two members of HAP's board that ostensibly represent the city of Gresham should be told that if they do not support the publication of the requested public data then each member of the Gresham city council will ask mayor Tom Potter to dismiss them from their HAP board appointment which Portland's mayor can do under ORS 456.110.
 
I would encourage Multnomah county chair, Ted Wheeler as well as commissioners Jeff Cogen, Lisa Naito [If she decides to run for Multnomah County DA and doesn't act here, this will, as they say, go on her permanent record.], Lonnie Roberts and Maria Rojo de Steffey to expedite this matter by contacting all of HAP's appointed commissioners, Jeff Bachrach - Lee Moore - Catherine Such - Harriet Cormack - Richard Fernández - Chris Lassen - Nathan Teske - Gavin Thayer, and asking them to tell their leader, Jeff Bachrach, that they acknowledge the necessity under the Oregon Public Records Law to produce the requested data. In addition, the two members of HAP's board that ostensibly represent Multnomah county should be told that if they do not support the publication of the requested public data then the Multnomah county chair and each Multnomah county commissioner will ask mayor Tom Potter to dismiss them from their HAP board appointment which Portland's mayor can do under ORS 456.110.
 
I would encourage all those who currently are or plan to be candidates for: Portland mayor, Portland city council, Gresham city council, the Multnomah county commission and Multnomah county District Attorney to expedite this matter by contacting all of HAP's appointed commissioners, Jeff Bachrach - Lee Moore - Catherine Such - Harriet Cormack - Richard Fernández - Chris Lassen - Nathan Teske - Gavin Thayer, and asking them to tell their leader, Jeff Bachrach, that they acknowledge the necessity under the Oregon Public Records Law to produce the requested data. In addition, all of HAP's board members  should be told that if they do not support the publication of the requested public data then each candidate will publicly ask mayor Tom Potter to dismiss them from their HAP board appointment which Portland's mayor can do under ORS 456.110. [Special note to lawyer and past candidate Nick Fish who publicly told Oregonian columnist Renee Mitchell when he was a HAP board member that he supported the publication of HAP's public housing statistical data and yet never voted for it when he was a HAP board member and has since never spoken of the issue during his campaigns for city council nor at any other time. Nick if you want to get out from underneath this cloud now would be a very good time to do it. Amanda Fritz, if you're thinking of giving the Portland city council another try you won't get by this time without taking a stand on the necessity of public entities to provide public housing statistical data under the Oregon Public Records law.]
 
The following is background information in support of my request.
 
On February 28, 2007 PDC commissioner Sal Kadri tasked PDC's housing director Andy Wilch to gather information by neighborhood on the location of all public housing clients that are subsidized and administered by any government agency within PDC's area of influence. This notable and responsible action taken by PDC commissioner Sal Kadri prompted me to follow suit as a citizen to ask for similar data in a quest to determine which of us would have greater success in gathering more authentic, accurate, complete and timely public housing statistical data. Each of us have exactly the same rights under the Oregon Public Records law to ask for and get public data. The Portland Development Commission, Multnomah county and the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services have complied with my requests for public housing statistical data. 
 
On June 5, 2007 I met with three HAP staffers to discuss HAP's client record keeping. The meeting was cordial and productive. The specificity of the request for HAP data as written in the August 13, 2007 email (see below) to Shelley Marchesi reflected the conversation of June 5, 2007. I believe everyone at that meeting had an expectation that public housing statistical data would be forthcoming.
 
On August 3, 2007, at the suggestion of Portland city commissioner Sam Adams, I contacted Jeff Bachrach and requested a meeting to discuss the publication of HAP's public housing statistical data. Showing disrespect if not contempt for both me and Sam Adams, HAP's chair, Jeff Bachrach ignored our effort at communication and never responded to me or Sam. This level of hubris aimed at Sam Adams, a sitting city commissioner with a demostrated history of trying to get public housing statiscal data, who voted against a HAP nominee, Nathan Teske, because Teske would not agree to provide him with public informaiton, and who is very likely to be Portland's mayor sooner or later with the attendeant power to dismiss any and all HAP commissioners, might be considered by the gods to be an act not of just arrogance but also of stupidity. Bachrach's obvious ignorance of or contempt for the Oregon Public Records law does not say much for his legal acuity. If Jeff Bachrach approaches his law practice with the same level of legal prowess he demonstrated at HAP involving a legal requirement even non-lawyers are familiar with, prospective clients should take serious notice before handing over a retainer fee. Finally, Jeff Bachrach's act of unilateral public data sequestration demonstrated a total disregard for HAP's staff efforts to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the Oregon Public Records law.
 
The Bureau of Housing and Commmunity Development has the following published public housing location policy:
1. Maximize housing choice, especially for low-income people who have traditionally been limited in the location of housing that they could afford; 
2. Discourage the concentration of low- or no- income households in any one area of the city; 
3. Encourage the creation of additional housing resources for low-income households integrated throughout the community.
 
The North Portland Business Association, the St. Johns Post #98 of the American Legion, members of the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area Advisory Committee, many neighborhood association leaders as well as an overwheming number of citizens living in Multnomah county have expressed support for a public policy of equitable distribution of public housing throughout Multnomah county and oppositon to the discredited and abhorrent policy of unlimited neighborhood concentration of public housing. It is impossible to analyze public housing distribution patterns or hold public entities accountable without authentic , accurate, complete and timely public housing statistical data of the kind asked for from the Portland Development Commission, Multnomah county, the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services, the Portland Bureau of Housing and Community Development, the Portland Planning Bureau and the Housing Authority of Portland.
 
In the mid 1970s I was on the board of the Portland Metropolitan Steering Committee which was a hugh multimillion dollar federally funded Community Action Agency. I was part of a group which successfully voted to shut the agency down because of waste, fraud and abuse. Some staff employees, including its director, were charged with criminal behavior. Just because a public entity says it's doing good doesn't mean that it is. Refusing to provide public data is the first sign that something may be amiss.
 
Richard Ellmyer
Community activist leading the campaign to stop all potentially new public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement) in the Portsmouth neighborhood, especially the following:
1. Hacienda CDC public housing project on N. Newell Street
2. The recently decommissioned Sharff Army Reserve Center
3. The former John Ball School site
4. The recently closed Clarendon School site
Standards for Equitable Distribution of Public Housing Resolution author and project champion
Writer/Publisher - HAP Watchers commentary - Published on the Internet (http://www.goodgrowthnw.org) and distributed to thousands of readers interested in public housing policy in Multnomah County.
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses. Located in Portsmouth, the neighborhood with the second highest concentration of public housing clients, 30% and rising, within HAP's Multnomah county jurisdiction of 117 neighborhoods.

##############################################################################################
           From:              ellmyer@macsolve.com
           Subject:       May Request Still Pending
           Date: August 13, 2007 11:59:41 AM PDT
           To:       shelleyM@hapdx.org
 
 
Hi Shelley:
It has been three months, several emails and a visit since I began my latest quest to retrieve public housing statistical data similar to that which was requested by PDC commissioner Sal Kadri. We seemed to have been making progress but as yet I have no public housing statistical data in hand. So while I do want to be cooperative and do have a great deal of patience the time has come to deliver the data. I expect to receive the following by Friday August 17, 2007:
 
HAP Public Housing Program
A tab delimited text file with the following fields: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Income 4. Neighborhood 5. Last Modification Date, for ALL clients in this database.
 
HAP Section 8 Housing Voucher Program
A tab delimited text file with the following fields: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Income 4. Neighborhood 5. Last Modification Date, for ALL clients in this database.
 
New Columbia in North Portland's Portsmouth Neighborhood Program
The total number of public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement) HAP clients living in New Columbia as of August 1, 2007.
A document showing that you have asked the New Columbia management to provide you with a tab delimited text file with the following fields: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Income 4. Neighborhood 5. Last Modification Date, for ALL HAP public housing clients living in New Columbia as of August 1, 2007 to be delivered to you by September 1, 2007 then sent to me on September 1, 2007.
 
HAP Affordable Housing Program
The total number of public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement) HAP clients living in all of HAP's 32 properties in Multnomah county as of August 1, 2007.
Documents showing that you have asked the managing agents of all 32 properties within the HAP Affordable Housing Program to provide you with a tab delimited text file with the following fields: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Income 4. Neighborhood 5. Last Modification Date, for ALL HAP public housing clients living within these 32 properties as of August 1, 2007 to be delivered to you by September 1, 2007 then sent to me on September 1, 2007.
 
The total number of HAP clients from all of these four programs should add up to approximately 33,000.
 
I understand that the HAP board has authority over your responses to my legitimate and long standing requests. If I do not receive the data I have requested by Friday August 17, 2007 I will understand that this failure is a direct result of board direction not staff reluctance and incompetence. I will proceed accordingly.
 
I would prefer communication over confrontation whenever possible. Thanks for your help.
 
 
Richard Ellmyer
Community activist leading the campaign to stop all potentially new public housing (means test + government subsidy + rental agreement) in the Portsmouth neighborhood, especially the following:
1. Hacienda CDC public housing project on N. Newell Street
2. The recently decommissioned Sharff Army Reserve Center
3. The former John Ball School site
4. The recently closed Clarendon School site
Standards for Equitable Distribution of Public Housing Resolution author and project champion
Writer/Publisher - HAP Watchers commentary - Published on the Internet (http://www.goodgrowthnw.org) and distributed to thousands of readers interested in public housing policy in Multnomah County.
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses. Located in Portsmouth, the neighborhood with the second highest concentration of public housing clients, 28% and rising, within HAP's Multnomah county jurisdiction of 117 neighborhoods.
 
 
###############################################################################################
Begin forwarded message:
From: Richard Ellmyer <ellmyer@macsolve.com>
Date: May 15, 2007 10:51:19 AM PDT
To: Shelley Marchesi <shelleyM@hapdx.org>
Cc: HAP Board <board@hapdx.org>
Subject: HAP Statistical Data On Public Housing Clients
 
Hi Shelley:
As you surely know, on February 28, 2007 PDC commissioner Sal Kadri tasked the PDC staff to gather information by neighborhood on the location of all public housing clients that are subsidized and administered by any government agency within PDC's area of influence. That data is soon to be released. I am conducting a similar survey in parallel with commissioner Kadri's. In time I will report to my readers the similarities and differences of our respective results. 
 
I have a few questions and a request for some statistical data from the HAP computer database files. 
 
Questions:
1. How many distinct public housing properties are owned by HAP?
2. How many individual public housing clients are living in these HAP owned properties?
3. How many non-section 8 distinct public housing properties are owned by entities other than HAP that operate with HAP funding?
4. How many individual public housing clients are living in these non-section 8 distinct public housing properties that are owned by entities other than HAP that operate with HAP funding?
5. How many distinct section 8 public housing residences are involved in HAP's public housing programs?
6. How many individual section 8 public housing clients are supported by HAP funding?
7. What is the current total number of HAP clients?
 
Requests For Statistical Data:
I. Please send me a tab delimited text file which includes a record for every public housing client living in HAP owned properties. Each record should contain the following fields:
1. Address of the property.
2. Neighborhood of the property.
3. Income of client.
4. Gender of client.
5. Age of client.
6. The date this record was last updated.
 
II. Please send me a tab delimited text file which includes a record for every public housing client living in non-section 8 public housing properties that are owned by entities other than HAP that operate with HAP funding. Each record should contain the following fields:
1. Address of the property.
2. Neighborhood of the property.
3. Owner of the property.
4. Income of client.
5. Gender of client.
6. Age of client.
7. The date this record was last updated.
 
III. Please send me a tab delimited text file which includes a record for every public housing client living in section 8 public housing supported by HAP funding. Each record should contain the following fields:
1. Neighborhood of the property.
2. Income of client.
3. Gender of client.
4. Age of client.
5. The date this record was last updated.
 
Thank you.
 
 
Richard Ellmyer
Community leader coordinating a local effort to bring the Oregon National Guard to the Sharff Army Reserve Center
Community activist leading the campaign to Stop The Portland Hope Meadows Corporation From Adding To The Overload Of Public Housing Clients In The Portsmouth Neighborhood And North Portland
3-6-9 Resolution author and project champion
Writer/Publisher - HAP Watcher commentary - Published on the Internet and distributed to 13,000 readers interested in public housing policy in Multnomah County.
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses. Located in Portsmouth, the neighborhood with the second highest concentration of public housing clients, 22% and rising, within HAP's Multnomah county jurisdiction of 117 neighborhoods.