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City Council to Unanimously Pass Urban Renewal Housing Set Aside Oct 25 Policy to Provide $25 Million Annually for Affordable Housing Thanks to the stalwart leadership of Commissioners Erik Sten, Randy Leonard and Sam Adams, the Portland City Council is on the verge of enacting an historic ordinance that would provide hundreds of millions dollars for housing for working families earning low wages, seniors and people with disabilities living on fixed incomes, and others left behind by Portland’s housing market. On October 25, the Portland City Council is expected to unanimously approve an ordinance that will set aside at least 30% of all urban renewal funds for affordable housing that serves people earning below 80% median family income ($54,300 annually for a family of four). Looking at the next five years alone, the set aside will result in $125.5 million for housing for working families, people of color, seniors, people with disabilities, people in recovery and other Portlanders that have been left behind by the housing market. This is more than a $10 million increase per year over historic spending for affordable housing in Urban Renewal Areas. Yesterday’s City Council meeting included two set aside related items. The first was a presentation of the Portland Development Commission (PDC)’s adopted TIF set-aside implementation plan. PDC’s current set-aside implementation plan differs from the set-aside ordinance introduced by Commissioner Sten and considered by City Council; PDC’s plan allows for averaging spending across some districts when calculating the set-aside. During the Council meeting, PDC Chair Rosenbaum committed to Council that PDC would amend their plan to match the ordinance introduced by Sten that requires a minimum 30% set aside in each district. City Council voted to table acceptance of the PDC implementation plan until PDC could return with a report that matched City Council’s ordinance. The second set-aside related item was consideration and hearing on the set aside ordinance introduced by Commissioner Sten. Council indicated unanimous support for a 30% set aside as outlined in Sten’s ordinance. As is standard procedure, the City Council will cast a final vote on the set aside ordinance at a second reading. Affordable Housing NOW! (AHN), the coalition that has led the advocacy for this set aside, is calling this the largest ongoing funding allocation for affordable housing in Portland’s history. “This is a historic achievement for the City of Portland in addressing affordable housing,” said Sam Chase, Executive Director of the Community Development Network. “Once again, Portland has set itself apart as a national leader.” Some work remains as City Council and PDC have extended the process for determining income requirements for the urban renewal set aside. City Council wants specific requirements for funding to be allocated at three different levels below 80% median family income to assure that housing dollars are directed to the areas of greatest need: rental housing for households earning under 30% median family income ($20,350 for a family of four) and homeownership opportunities targeted to African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans, groups that have historically and consistently owned homes at much lower rate than white households. AHN together with many partners have already reached consensus recommendations on what the income requirements should be and will be working to see these adopted as the official City policy (click here to see community recommendations). Thanks to tremendous leadership of Commissioners Erik Sten, Sam Adams, Randy Leonard, as well as the support of Mayor Potter, Commissioner Saltzman, new PDC Chair Mark Rosenbaum and the rest of the PDC Commission, Portland has definitively taken the stand that housing matters. We appreciate their hard work to make this set aside reality. But perhaps more importantly, together all of the individuals and organizations that comprise Affordable Housing NOW! have demonstrated that we can make our community a better place when we organize and advocate! We should all be so proud of this set aside. For more information on the set aside, click here, or contact Michael Anderson via email or at (503) 335-9884. Affordable Housing NOW! is a coalition of over 40 organizations and hundreds of individuals whose goals are to secure new resources for affordable housing for the Portland Metro area by building a movement large enough to make funding for affordable housing for people with low incomes a political priority in the Metro area. To learn more about Affordable Housing NOW!, go to: http://www.cdnportland.org/ahn.html CDC’s, Building Trades, Carpenters Unite for Better Oregon Representatives from the Oregon Building Trades Council, the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, the Association of Oregon Community Development Organizations and the Community Development Network announced a joint proposal for State legislation that will provide clarity around the application of prevailing wage law and the development of affordable housing on Monday, October 16 at 10:00 am at 8 NW 8th. In addition to the suggested changes to Oregon prevailing wage laws, the labor and housing groups announced a new partnership to jointly advocate for new resources to provide needed housing across the state, to explore opportunities to invest union pensions in affordable housing, and to establish tools and best practices for CDC’s to assure good working conditions for the people building affordable housing. “This was a natural partnership because we are both working toward the same basic goal: improving economic opportunity for Oregonians,” Bob Shiprack, Executive Secretary of the Oregon Building Trades Council. “The Community Development groups support our work creating more family wage jobs, and we certainly support their work to provide housing opportunity for working families earning low wages, as well the elderly, the disabled and other community members. We hope we can find a similar resolution for commercial projects.” The Oregon Building Trades Council has been negotiating with the Portland Development Commission, the League of Cities, the Bureau of Labor and Industries and other public entities to establish prevailing wage guidelines for publicly funded projects that will provide better wages, benefits and working conditions. The agreement on the application of prevailing wage between the building and carpentry trades and the community development organizations clarifies which affordable housing projects will prevail, establishing an exemption for smaller projects serving working families, seniors, people with disabilities, and others priced out of the private housing market. The building trade and community development groups will bring their agreement to Salem as a legislative proposal when the Oregon Legislature convenes in January. “Our joint proposal will give affordable housing developers the certainty they need to build these critically important projects in our communities,” said Martha McLennan, the President of the Board of Directors of the Community Development Network. “Our partners in the Building Trades and Carpenter's Union understand that having a place to call home gives Oregonians the opportunity to be self sufficient and thrive.”
Great News: HAP Section 8 Waitlist to Open in November The Housing Authority of Portland (HAP) has excellent news: After being closed for four years, HAP is reopening the Section 8 waiting list in November. HAP is making several changes so that the application process is easier and more accessible. HAP also is making changes to the lottery system itself so that HAP does not have the list closed for as many years. Here are the changes the HAP Board will consider at their meeting on October 17: Application Process 1. HAP will allow people to apply between November 1 -17, rather than in a one-week window as in years past. 2. Starting November 1, applications can be downloaded from the HAP website and will be available at 13 DHS offices in addition to being available at two HAP locations, downtown and Hollywood East. 3. HAP will continue our practice of having sign-up sessions at five locations around the county for people who need help with their applications or who want to discuss any part of the Section 8 program with HAP. Those sessions will be held the week of November 13. 4. Applications must be submitted at one of the sign-up locations or by mail. If they are mailed, they must be postmarked no later than November 17. 5. Because HAP is allowing the waiting list application to be downloaded and mailed to us for the first time, HAP has tried to simplify it and remove any information that we don't need at this point in the process. Lottery Process 1. HAP has decided that to work through the waiting list in 2-3 years. HAP found the age of the previous list extremely problematic: In the fourth year, only 1 in 4 households still on the waiting list actually became participants. Many no longer needed the assistance or had moved without giving HAP their contact information. It took tremendous administrative effort for a very low conversion rate. 2. To accomplish HAP’s objective, HAP will randomize every waiting list application they receive, and limit the list to the first 3,000 households randomly drawn, and let everyone who applied know if they are on the list or not. 3. Households in the group of 3,000 will know their position on the list, so they will have at least a rough sense of when they might expect assistance during the 2-3 year period. 4. HAP has kept an underlying lottery system for fairness to all, so it does not matter when HAP receive applications during the time frame that the process is open, and HAP is limiting applications to one per household. Because the need for this precious resource far exceeds what we are able to provide, HAP knows creating a waiting list of 3,000 will mean some number of households will not be served in this round. As difficult as this outcome will be, they will have the certainty of knowing that they must make other plans, such as applying for our public housing, in the next 2-3 years. They also will have the opportunity to reapply when the waiting list reopens. In addition to these procedures, HAP will continue its practice of sending the waiting list application in advance to special needs agencies, so that they have a full month to assist their clients with the process. HAP anticipates being able to alert agencies of the application's availability on October 18, the day following our Board meeting. As always, HAP is planning extensive outreach and communications to alert the community to this resource becoming available, and the application and outreach materials will be available in Spanish, Vietnamese, and Russian as well as English. If you have any questions about the HAP process, schedule, or other specifics, please contact Dena Ford-Avery, Acting Director, Rent Assistance (denaa@hapdx.org, 503-802-8568), or Shelley Marchesi, Director of Policy and Public Affairs (shelleym@hapdx.org, 503-802-8427.) CDN Welcomes Four New Board Members October 19, 2006 voting members of CDN elected a new board and officers.
Support our Communities: Vote NO on Measures 41 and 48 The Community Development Network voted to oppose Measures 41 and 48 because they would lead to huge cuts in state funding and disproportionately affect low-income families. These are two complicated measures, funded from out of state, that will gut vital public services and do nothing to increase accountability in government. Ballot Measure 41, written by Bill Sizemore, would change the tax code to have a retroactive effect on the current budget cycle. It would cut $151 million this year, and it just gets worse. In the 2007-2009 budget cycle Measure 41 cuts almost $800 million from the budget – 90% of which goes to fund schools, health care, senior services and public safety. Over 20% of the general fund goes to the Department of Human Services. If Measure 41 were to pass, budget cuts in the 2007-2009 cycle would mean eliminating long-term care for about 1,700 seniors and people with physical disabilities, plus eliminating health care services for over 25,000 Oregonians – including over 14,000 children. Measure 41 is another false promise and will have a boomerang effect. Services will be cut. Oregonians will end up paying more in increased fees and hidden costs. Ballot Measure 48 is a constitutional amendment bankrolled by New York developer, Howard Rich. Based on a law that devastated Colorado, it sets the budget based on a flawed formula of population plus inflation growth. The formula will lead to huge funding cuts because it does not account for actual cost increases. Measure 48 would cut at least $2.2 billion from the 2007-2009 budget and $4.9 billion from the following budget. The Measure is so poorly written and confusing that it may even be retroactive. The Oregon Legislative Fiscal Office has estimated that if Ballot Measure 48 had been in effect since 1990, the total state budget would now be 25% smaller. Assuming the Department of Human Services and its programs would have shared in such cuts proportionally, a 25% cut would mean eliminating long-term care for about 6,800 seniors and people with physical disabilities, eliminating health care services for over 100,000 Oregonian, including nearly 60,000 children, and eliminating assistance paying Medicare premiums for over 19,000 seniors. The effects of a 25% cut in the DHS budget could be much worse than this scenario. DHS receives more federal money than state money, and over 85% of the federal money is conditioned on the state investing money of its own. It is not possible to make significant cuts in DHS without losing federal funds. The cuts will force Oregon to give up billions of dollars in federal funds. Coloradans learned the hard way. After 13 years under the same flawed formula, Colorado now ranks 49th in K-12 education funding, 48th in funding for higher education and dead last in vaccination rates for children. Help defend against the out-of-state special interests pushing Measures 41 and 48 and join the Community Development Network and Defend Oregon in fighting these harmful measures. Vote NO on Measures 41 and 48.
OCPP Report: Who’s Getting Ahead? Opportunity in a Growing Economy Who’s getting ahead in Oregon’s hot economy? “Not enough of us,” according to the Oregon Center for Public Policy’s latest biennial look at Oregon’s economy from the perspective of workers. The OCPP’s new report, Who’s Getting Ahead? Opportunity in a Growing Economy, is the first comprehensive look at the economic conditions facing Oregon workers in this period of strong economic growth. Included in the abundance of economic information, the report provides new data about homeownership affordability in Oregon – a key investment for families trying to get ahead. For instance, the report states that in the second quarter of 2006, the monthly mortgage payment required for the median Portland home was 63 percent higher than it was in 2003. That means that over the course of a year, a family would need an additional $7,539 to cover their mortgage compared to 2003. The report also documents that Oregon is one of the leading states in the use of riskier mortgage products. According to OCPP, in 2005, about a third (32.3 percent) of Oregon mortgage loans were interest-only, the seventh highest percentage among all of the states. Information on income and benefits trends, child care costs, college affordability, and indebtedness in Oregon are also featured in the report. The report, Who’s Getting Ahead? Opportunity in a Growing Economy, can be downloaded at http://www.ocpp.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?page=SWO2006main. The online version is a large file (6.25 MB). (It will tie up your printer with the more than 80 pages of data, charts, tables, and analysis). A hard copy can be purchased for $15 at http://www.ocpp.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?page=swo06order1
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Reports on Proposed Cuts to Public Housing CBPP has released a new analysis on the need for additional funding for public housing operating subsidies in 2007, available on-line at http://www.cbpp.org/10-11-06hous.htm. Summary: A House-passed 2007 funding bill would result in the deepest shortfall in public housing operating subsidies (the funds that enable local housing agencies to maintain developments, pay utility bills, and keep rents affordable to needy families) in more than 25 years. The Senate Appropriations committee passed a version that provides close to $100 million in additional funds, but still falls far short of what is needed. Much of the underfunding stems from HUD's failure to request funds to cover sharp utility cost growth in recent years. Without additional 2007 funding, an increasing number of local housing agencies will have to balance their budgets through steps that harm the vulnerable people they serve, about half of whom are elderly or have disabilities. Funding shortfalls in 2005 and 2006 have already forced some agencies to raise rents on the neediest households, defer safety-related improvements, and make other painful cuts. Congress will finalize the 2007 appropriations bills at some point after it returns to session following the elections in November. Congress would need to provide at least $3.85 million - $290 million above the level in the House bill - merely to make up for the utility costs HUD ignored in its budget estimates. Even this amount would only cover about 86 percent of the funds housing agencies are legally eligible for under the operating subsidy formula. A total of about $4.5 billion would be needed to fully fund operating subsidies in 2007. It currently appears unlikely that Congress will provide this full amount, because congressional leaders have committed to keeping total domestic appropriations within tight caps proposed by the Administration. But it is vital that the Administration request full funding for operating subsidies in its 2008 budget and that Congress meet that request.
Community Housing Fund Hosts McMenamins’ Night Fundariser Oct 23 The Community Housing Fund invites you to join us at McMenamins Murray and Allen, located at 6179 SW Murray Boulevard in Beaverton on October 23, 2006 from 5 p.m. until midnight. All purchases of food and beverage benefit the Fund, a non-profit organization that leverages financing for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing in Washington County for people who are not served by the mainstream housing market such as those with low incomes, disabilities and senior citizens. Bring your friends and family and enjoy Monday night football while supporting the Community Housing Fund. For more information please contact Kathy Andersen at 503-846-5794 or kathy@thecommunityhousingfund.org 7th Annual African American Home Buying Fair October 28 The African American Alliance for Homeownership is hosting the 7th Annual African American Home Buying Fair October 28. The Home Buying Fair is free to the public and will be held at the Emmanuel Hospital Atrium, 501 N. Graham, in Portland. Click here to download a flyer for the African American Home Buying Fair. For more information, go to www.aaah.org, or call (503) 595-3517. 2nd Annual Land Use and Housing Affordability Conference Nov 17 "Place-Based Solution for Housing Opportunity:" The 2nd Annual Land Use and Housing Affordability Conference
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