Testimony Before Metro Council 1/28/10
My name is Richard Ellmyer. I am a candidate for the North Portland House seat in the May Democratic Primary. Gretchen Kafoury, who was on the legislative committee that wrote the original Metro charter, recently reminded me that public housing was included as a regional issue but somehow fell off Metro’s agenda. I am here today to request your support for putting it back on.
Public Housing is a regional issue. ALL Public Housing is controlled by government. All Public Housing agencies in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties should be under the control of the Metro Regional Government following a policy of Equitable Distribution of Public Housing throughout the region.
The city of Portland, Multnomah county, the Housing Authority of Portland and the state of Oregon control the administration of an annual expenditure of $200,000,000 on 50 to 60 thousand public housing clients in Multnomah county. 33,000 of them are claimed by HAP.
The mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, has the singular statutory authority to nominate and dismiss HAP’s board and yet he has refused to exercise his responsibility to hold the Housing Authority of Portland accountable to the taxpayers by providing authentic, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data. Adams has made the indefensible assertion that there is NO PUBLIC housing in Portland only affordable housing.
Contrary to the official published location policy goals of the Portland Bureau of Housing, the city of Portland, Multnomah county, the Housing Authority of Portland and the state of Oregon support the discredited and abhorrent policy of UNLIMITED neighborhood concentration of Public Housing.
HAP opposes requiring public documents to use the term, "public housing" when the subject matter of the document refers to programs and policies where the following conditions are met: Public Housing = Means Test + Government Subsidy + Rental Agreement.
HAP opposes a cap of 15% on the number of public housing clients per neighborhood which is supported by the Portsmouth Residents Action Committee, the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area Advisory Committee, the North Portland Business Association and others.
HAP opposes a $30,000 maximum income for a one person household that should be set to enter and remain in any public housing program in Oregon and that priority for HAP housing should be given to people without homes or who have incomes under $30,000 including more than 4,000 on HAP’s waiting list.
HAP staff cannot produce authentic, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data records for every one of the 33,000 clients HAP claims.
HAP opposes giving the taxpayers that provide the eighty million or so dollars to HAP’s annual budget authentic, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data.
HAP is out of control and completely disconnected from taxpayers, voters and the 700,000 citizens of Multnomah county affected by its policies and spending decisions. I ask you to join me in supporting a regional policy of equitable distribution of public housing under the administrative control of Metro.