LESS THAN A WEEK after local housing activists shut down a Multnomah County Commission meeting with calls for an end to no-cause evictions, a City Club of Portland committee has reached the same conclusions.
In a report released Wednesday, the committee recommends Portland take an array of steps to address its burgeoning housing affordability crisis. Among them: calling for an end to the state's preemption on rent control, and stopping no-cause lease terminations that give renters little control over their living situations.
The committee also recommends the City of Portland begin banking foreclosed homes and other properties, adopt a new revenue source aimed at creating affordable housing, and encourage more density.
The money quote: "We must not be satisfied with saying in one breath, 'Live in Portland and innovate in the arts, technology, and the environment and also have a good quality of life,' and in the next breath, 'You will have to live on the outskirts of the city, far from great public transport and amenities, and we'll allow your landlords to keep raising rent and evicting without cause.'" DIRK VANDERHART
A POLICE OVERSIGHT meeting scheduled for April 20 will go on as planned, despite a recent dust-up involving cops and the volunteer Citizen Review Committee (CRC).
A CRC meeting slated for April 6 was cancelled after a contentious meeting a week prior, with constant outbursts from activists in the crowd and a cup of water thrown on a CRC member. Police Chief Larry O'Dea threatened to keep officers out of those meetings until security was revamped. That's apparently happened.
"The April 20 Citizen Review Committee meeting will go on as scheduled," says Independent Police Review (IPR) Director Constantin Severe. "In the past week the auditor and IPR staff have met with the mayor's office, police bureau command staff, and city hall security personnel to discuss having adequate procedures in place so committee meetings are held in a safe and respectful setting." DOUG BROWN
