Housing for All

Portland is in a crisis.  I live and rent in East Portland and my home is next to a large encampment. Everyday I see the suffering on our streets. A stable home has become a luxury and increasingly too costly for thousands of renters and aspiring homeowners. There is a crisis on our streets and we need urgent action now to address the complex challenges like mental health services for people experiencing homelessness and trash in our neighborhoods.

I believe safe, healthy, and affordable housing is a human right. Yet even with the median income at $67,000 for an individual and $96,900 for a family of 4, we do not have enough housing for middle and low income Portlanders. A successful affordable housing strategy requires a collaborative approach, advocating at the federal, state, county and local levels. We need a range of housing to serve Portlanders at every income level, especially those in the range of 0-60% of Median Family Income.  This strategy also needs to protect tenants against displacement and ensure their rights, take measures to register and train landlords on Fair Housing laws, and continue to expand immediate options for people experiencing houselessness.

We have strongly supported new mental health centers that are now under construction, won major policy changes including zoning reforms, and new investments to build affordable housing across the city. In the short-term, we need to act with urgency to audit the approximately 7,000 vacant rentals in order to quickly convert available units to immediately house 3,000 houseless persons, protect Portlanders from rampant evictions and protect supportive services for people and families living on our streets. It is immoral and expensive to criminalize people because they are houseless, and sweeps are a cruel and ineffective solution. Looking long-term, we must lay the groundwork with new investments to address the root cause of housing instability - affordability - and continue to expand supportive housing that connects residents with mental health care and treatment for substance abuse disorders.

Jo Ann’s Record:

What We’ve Done Together So Far


 

  • Secured a new agreement for a Safe Park Area as part of the city’s Safe Rest Villages in Northeast Portland for people living in their cars and RVs. These areas which are projected to provide temporary shelter to hundreds of houseless persons. Each village will have communal resources including shared kitchens, restrooms, showers, garbage, recycling, and laundry facilities. The sites will be staffed 24-7. Case management and supportive services including housing, employment, and behavioral health services will be offered on-site.

  • Worked with Mayor Wheeler and community partners, including the innovative Queer Affinity Village, to establish the original Creating Conscious Communities with People Outside (C3PO) to build village-style shelters. This was the first expansion of shelters at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Together we provided new safe spaces for houseless persons to shelter in, and added 100 new portable bathroom and hygiene facilities in Portland.

  • Engaged with community advocates to ensure our response and rescue package supported investments in expanded winter shelter capacity, rent assistance, supportive services, safe motel shelter, street outreach, and support for contracted service providers, including hazard pay for frontline workers.

  • Championed new rules to allow more housing options, including duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes, and created clear and fair rules for lot development in order to address the projection that by 2035, Portland will grow by more than 100,000 households.

Policy Priorities

How We Will Lead on Housing for All. 

  1. Audit the over 7,000 available rental units and leverage rental assistance, public funds, and emergency powers to house up to 3,000 people now.

  2. Support interim solutions like the Safe Park and Safe Rest Villages with infrastructure that supports hygiene and safety.

  3. Establish a new public land trust seeded with $20 million for future housing and for small businesses with community control over how development happens. Study dedicating publicly owned properties (i.e., post office, golf courses, racetracks, park & ride lots, expo, etc) and securing foreclosures while utilizing the power of eminent domain to house Portlanders faster.

  4. Support and expand existing self-governing camps to ensure health and safety,  expand overnight camping options for RV’s and Cars, and provide adequate sanitary services, laundry, and garbage pick-up at these camps.

  5. Ensure large developers pay their fair share to support affordable housing in community-driven and transit-oriented development including places like downtown, the Rose Quarter and the  82nd Avenue corridor.