Something you notice when you start asking local political candidates about rent control: The people who don't currently hold elected office almost all say Portland's housing crisis is probably a "man-made disaster" and that the city should attempt to institute a rent freeze and other protections, which would be otherwise prohibited by a statewide preemption. That argument has been pushed increasingly by housing activists.
People in office are more circumspect, typically saying we need to eliminate that state preemption rather than seek to override it by declaring a disaster. Some cite attorneys' advice that such a move would simply tie the city (or county) up in court for years, defending an untested legal theory that's likely to lose.
That's a long way of getting to the fact that mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone is the latest challenger to stump for immediate rent control protections. In a press statement this morning, Iannarone, a cafe owner and Portland State University employee, says she's "calling on local governments to utilize their statutory authority to enact a 9-month temporary rent freeze and moratorium on no cause evictions in order to keep tenants in their homes during this crisis."
It's not a new position for Iannarone. She told the Mercury at a recent housing rally she was interested in the "disaster" argument, and repeated the sentiment in a recent endorsement interview. But, as I say, so did many of her co-candidates, several of who also attended the rally that shut down a Multnomah County Commission meeting a couple weeks back (candidate and activist Jessie Sponberg was particularly vocal at that event).
Here's a rundown (in alphabetical order) of where all the mayoral candidates the Mercury asked stand on the question of whether the city has the ability to override the rent control preemption:
JULES BAILEY: "I don’t think it makes sense to get a local government tied up in years and years of litigation and a stay that costs tax payers a lot of money. I'm for more renter protections."
SEAN DAVIS: "The people of Portland have put so much time and effort into this fight. I say, when I’m mayor, we pass a city ordinance despite what the state or county laws say. If our City Council hasn’t heard the people yet they’re deaf to what is really going on."
BIM DITSON: "Of course. I think the majority of Portlanders think that it is [a man-made disaster]. As a mayor of Portlanders that's what I would pursue."
DEBORAH HARRIS: [Arguing we should try even if it might fail] "Sometimes you have to do things and you go, 'Oh I didn’t know that.' A lot of our citizens are looking at gentrification and it appears a lot of it is man made gentrification."
SARAH IANNARONE: "I hate the it's-not-legal argument. Gay marriage wasn’t legal. I don't buy it. True leaders do what’s right. What leadership needs to have is compassion and understand people are being forcibly displaced from their homes and they are terrified."
JESSIE SPONBERG: [Explaining a county attorney recently told him activists need to make the case for the "disaster" argument.] "She said if you want to make this happen, do the legal work. My question is why are we paying taxes if we have to do this work? Any time there’s a problem the solution always comes from the community. It’s the government’s job."
DAVID SCHOR:"I believe that we haven't tried to make the argument yet. I don't think we have any case law. No one’s tested the statute, just to see what we get. Our tools are limited. This is one of the tools that we do have. We may find out we don't have the ability to do this right now."
TED WHEELER: I will pursue every legal option to make sure that we are able to put in a just-cause evictions process. I don't know legally about the feasibility, but I do think we should pursue it.... If it's not legal we have to go to the legislature to change it... We need a significant departure from what we've been doing."
