Street Roots asked candidates running for Metro President and Metro Council in districts two, four and six their plans on how they plan to address homelessness, rising cost of rent, affordable housing and more. You can read more 2022 election coverage here.
METRO PRESIDENT
LYNN PETERSON
How would this term differ from the previous term with regards to priorities and actions taken? How would your vision as Metro President shape the actions of the council?
My second term would be different in two major ways. The first is that we are not in the height of the pandemic. Meetings are beginning to occur face to face again and community engagement is far more effective when you can meet people where they are. The second is that I spent much of my first term launching the programs for the Affordable Housing Bond and the Supportive Services measure. In my second term, I can really focus on implementation of these programs and the 2024 Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) decision.
I have worked hard to orient the Metro Council to lead on issues of climate equity and environmental justice and believe our actions reflect those priorities.
In your view, what is the primary objective of the Metro Council?
Metro is ideally situated to be the convener for a regional vision. The biggest issues need a cohesive, regional plan to address them. Metro has been and should continue to be the uniting force in the region that tackles the biggest issues and brings together the three counties and 24 cities to work together towards a greater goal.
What are the primary issues facing areas under the purview of the Metro Council in the immediate future, and if elected, what issue would be your first priority?
All three issues below I intend to continue using a lens for racial equity and climate change.
Addressing the housing and homelessness crisis - We need to continue the successful implementation of the Affordable Housing Bond Measure of 2018 and the Supportive Housing Services Measure from 2020. That involves monitoring of the SHS measure as it is implemented to ensure that counties are living up to their racial equity promises, and ensuring that the Affordable Housing Bond continues to affirmatively further the Fair Housing Rule. I will also lead the way on discussions to get ready for the next Affordable Housing Bond Measure. Beyond this work, I will continue to work with MPAC on the issues Councilor Lewis and I asked them to address related to the economic factors contributing to homelessness.
PORTLAND CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS: Q&As with candidates running for Portland City Council position two and position three
Taking on the impacts of climate change – This starts with continued reduction in overall waste and an increase in access to recycling for all through composting and other efforts in our regional Waste and Recycling programs. I will lead the way for a Transportation Measure and an update of the Regional Transportation Plan in 2024 that will provide equitable access and increase safety to communities that have not seen investment in 40 decades; these efforts will also decrease greenhouse gas emissions. I will continue to support a tight Urban Growth Boundary to reduce commutes, make it easier for people to reach the workplace, and reduce overall air pollution, while simultaneously working with the State to provide more investments to open up existing employment lands and clean up Brownfields for employment lands inside the UGB to provide equitable access to family-wage jobs across the region. We need continued lobbying for the Climate Smart Strategies actions for electrification of the transportation system and increased transit service levels.
Assisting in an equitable economic recovery for All – I will work with BIPOC CBOs around access to workforce training, educational opportunities, affordable and easily accessible daycare, affordable housing and transportation and other needs identified by the CBOs. I will ensure that Metro continues our commitment to improve access and increase the capacity for CBOs to participate in decision-making. I will continue our commitment to Building Back Better internally at Metro by setting a new “minimum wage” at $20/hr so that we are not contributing to the affordability problem in the region.
How should the Metro Council address homelessness?
We should continue the work that has already begun on the Affordable Housing Bond and the Supportive Services measure. The affordable housing bond has already seen over 400 units open with 800 additional under construction and over 2,000 additional units in permitting and pre-construction. In the first year of work, Metro and the seven housing authorities have spent approximately 50% of the funds and are on target to delivering at least 6,000 housing units, over 50% more housing than promised in the measure.
In the first six months of the homeless services measure, 1,066 new housing units of the 5,000 promised in the 10-year program have already come online, 1,640 new shelter beds (year-round and seasonal) have entered the system, and over 17,000 households were kept from falling into homelessness. While the success of this measure is tied to intergovernmental agreements with our county partners, the urgency of the issue is driving action, even if at times it is not at the pace, we all want to see.
What are the current shortcomings of the Council, and how would you address them in the immediate future?
I am so happy to have diversity on our council but we will hit a wall in keeping people as councilors are only paid ⅓ time by charter. This means that anyone not retired must have another job, even though these are now full-time positions. This makes it particularly difficult for women and BIPOC community members to run for council and for us to keep a diversity of life experiences on the council. Correcting this issue will require a change to Metro’s charter.
Rent in Portland is skyrocketing. A recent report by Rent.com found the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Portland ($2,155) increased by 34.1% between February 2021 and February 2022. For that cost to be affordable per HUD guidelines, a renter would need an annual salary approaching $90,000 — well beyond the median household income ($73,159) or average individual income ($43,811) in Portland according to U.S. Census data. What tangible, concrete solutions, if any, do you propose to address the rapidly rising cost of rent in Portland?
This region needs to tackle how to bring the cost of housing down and the median wage in the region up. ... As we drive more people out of the region to find affordable housing, these same folks increase their cost of transportation. We will need to look at these issues in the upcoming update of the Regional Transportation Plan and the next decision regarding employment and residential 20-year growth needs with the next urban growth boundary expansion decision.
As an elected body with oversight of affordable housing programs, how will you ensure housing stability and long-term community benefit from housing developments? How will you ensure that proposals chosen reflect the needs of the communities you serve? Will you prioritize community needs over those of investors?
We are working directly with the seven housing authorities in the region to fund, plan, and construct housing developments across the region. Together we are working to site new developments in the neighborhoods where there is the most need. One example is Nueva Esperanza, a project in partnership with Bienestar where community members were involved in the design so that it best represents those who will live there.
I have asked (since I can’t direct) MPAC to look into ways cities can reduce costs and permitting time for affordable housing development. They are to come back to the Council to update us every three months.
This is also the conversation that I have started as a precursor of the 2024 Urban Growth Boundary Expansion. Metro is in the ideal position to bring together partners around the region to discuss the types of industries we need to attract to bring in living-wage jobs and what type of land use and space will be needed for those industries. At the same time, we need to ensure that we have land that is ready to be developed within the UGB to build enough housing at all levels to bring housing costs more in line with median wages.
Among the actions you would take to address pandemic recovery, which is the most important?
The workforce development program. We are working with educational partners to ensure that workers have access to enough hours to qualify for journeyperson status at the end of the program so that they qualify for and can find quality employment.
If elected, what is a specific action you would take to address climate change and climate justice?
As Metro President, I have stood up and pushed forward initiatives to work on these issues: from regional parks and open space measures that center equity, access and climate resiliency, to working with city partners and developers to make sure monies from the 2018 Affordable Housing Bond measure provide safe, clean options for housing, with access to transit and services, in and around the region. I am also extremely aware of the urban-rural wildfire issue and have identified it as important work for our Emergency Management team as well as with the update of the 2040 Regional Framework to 2070.
Should Portland and Multnomah County decrease their reliance on emergency congregate homeless shelters to address unsheltered homelessness (Of 1,614 total shelter beds 623 are congregate beds)? If so, what should the city do instead? If not, what benefits do emergency congregate homeless shelters have versus other strategies?
Shelters are just one piece of the puzzle. Best practices from around the country and world have shown that you need to have a full approach to address unsheltered homelessness. That is why we put the Supportive Services Measure on the ballot in 2020 and why it passed. Shelters are important, but we also need to focus on addiction services, mental health services, and counseling as well as long-term housing options that help people transition off the street permanently.
At the time of publishing we did not recieve responses from the other candidate running for Metro Council President, Alisa Pyszka.
METRO COUNCIL 2
CHRISTINE LEWIS
In your view, what is the primary objective of the Metro Council?
Metro’s role as a regional government is and always has been to provide leadership and a convening table for issues greater than any one jurisdiction. While our roots are in land use and transportation planning and solid waste systems (garbage and recycling policy), we have risen time and time again to meet the challenges of the moment. In the past, that meant greenspaces and parks, community venues and economic development. Over the past five years that has meant taking on a role in housing — both funding and policy coordination. Metro Council’s role is to chart the agency’s strategic course and to set policy that balances the needs of the region with the unique needs of each of our districts. I am particularly proud of what I have been able to do over the past four years to make sure that policies work for the small jurisdictions as well as the large, and communities at the edge of the region as well as the core.
What are the primary issues facing your district in the immediate future, and if elected, what issue would be your first priority?
The issues facing District 2 are the same issues that face the region as a whole- housing, transportation, access to parks and good jobs. While each of the issues might look slightly different than in other districts, housing and transportation are acute and urgent challenges. When it comes to transportation, I have been deeply involved in negotiations with ODOT, standing up to the unfair tolling proposal to toll just a few miles of I-205 well before any other toll in any other part of the region. On the housing front, I am working hard to bring regulated affordable housing to cities like Happy Valley and Lake Oswego that don’t otherwise have any affordable housing options. Some of my role is to be a cheerleader and work on the political level to make sure these opportunities are realized. Another part of my role is to work a bit more in the background on the policy issues, such as finding a fix to the Private Activity Bond requirements that will slow our development pipeline (and make it more expensive) if we don’t find federal partners who can assist with the allocation or mix requirements. I am also deeply committed to making sure the supportive housing services program in Clackamas continues to scale and deliver services not previously available in our part of the region.
How should the Metro Council address homelessness in your district?
District 2 is largely in Clackamas County, with a small corner of Multnomah County, and a tiny slice of Washington County. In order to address chronic homelessness, Metro needs to work with all three counties on the adopted Local Implementation Plans for each of the three counties under the Supportive Housing Services measure. Each of the plans was written with the oversight of local committees that included the voices of service providers, business leaders, folks with lived experience with houselessness, and community members who know how important these services are for their neighbors. Clackamas has needed some initial funding to get going, and I have been a champion to make sure there is no delay in implementation. Further, we need to make sure that the county locates services (shelter, offices, outreach teams) across the urbanized part of the county, not just in Oregon City. This will take partnership from our city leaders on the western and eastern boundaries, but we are all working together with the urgency of implementing this measure. Homelessness exists in Clackamas, the numbers and data point to the need in every city. It may look different on the edges of the region than in downtown Portland, but we must step up with housing, service workers, rent assistance, alcohol and drug treatment, and flexible service dollars that meet each person where they are at.
What are the current shortcomings of the Council, and how would you address them in the immediate future?
I believe this is (the) most diverse, community-connected, Metro Council of the agency’s history. We are doing important, relevant work and I believe we will only continue to attract more energized leaders hungry to dive into the issues on a regional scale. My assessment of our current weakness does not have to do with any of my peers, but rather with the Council Office and some of our systems. We still communicate like the sleepy agency of 20 years ago, and we need to better support each of us as elected leaders with independent voices to communicate with our constituencies.
Rent in Portland is skyrocketing. A recent report by Rent.com found the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Portland ($2,155) increased by 34.1% between February 2021 and February 2022. For that cost to be affordable per HUD guidelines, a renter would need an annual salary approaching $90,000 — well beyond the median household income ($73,159) or average individual income ($43,811) in Portland according to U.S. Census data. What tangible, concrete solutions, if any, do you propose to address the rapidly rising cost of rent in Portland?
More supply. Generally, more housing supply of all types and at every price level will help to some degree, but we need to be focused on supply of rentals, multi-family and missing middle housing types, and affordable (regulated and “naturally” occurring) housing. We have to cut down on some of the permitting timelines in order to make development feasible, and we should examine ways to make longer-term rentals as attractive as (a) short-term rental for owners of investment properties. While we know the vacancy rate is extremely low for active rentals, we need to work with property owners who are sitting on properties and holding them vacant while they wait for redevelopment to find ways to activate sites even on a temporary basis (and that includes public sector properties as well).
As an elected body with oversight of affordable housing programs, how will you ensure housing stability and long-term community benefit from housing developments? How will you ensure that proposals chosen reflect the needs of the communities you serve? Will you prioritize community needs over those of investors?
Our housing bond requires that we partner for community benefit. From the construction job metrics that require significant participation from women and people of color in these family-wage jobs (and apprenticeships) to requirements that lease up happens in partnership with nonprofits and community groups working with our most vulnerable. Each of the seven partner jurisdictions (the cities and counties that already provide housing) have agreements with us that include ways they center community in their process. Of course, things sometimes go wrong, and when I hear about them I ask questions and try to make things right. When I heard about a provider who was having trouble placing individuals with some barriers in units that should have been open to them, I sounded the alarm and asked questions about what barriers would in fact make someone ineligible for housing bond-funded housing. Turns out after several appeals the units were available for those individuals. As a policymaker, I can’t promise to fix any individual situation, but please come to me as an ear and an advocate within this complicated system.
Among the actions you would take to address pandemic recovery, which is the most important?
Very clearly we are still in this pandemic. My toddler still doesn’t have access to a vaccine. We are back to “normal” activities, but things are not going back to normal. Our economy will feel the after shocks of the past two years during the decade ahead. During the pandemic, the well-off did well, but the bulk of the workforce did not. We need more good jobs. And I don’t just mean more tech and manufacturing jobs, but we need jobs at the core of our society to be better jobs. Teachers and homeless service providers in particular need wages and benefits so that they are not themselves living on the edge of homelessness. I’ve been a vocal advocate for training, wages, and equity as metrics to track during the systems change of the homeless services measure.
If elected, what is a specific action you would take to address climate change and climate justice?
Metro’s Climate Smart strategies have been in place for nearly a decade, and we have yet to fund them at significant levels. We can make the 2023 Regional Transportation Plan visionary, and I would like to focus on our values of climate, equity, safety, and mobility. All that said, we need funding for these projects and strategies. I am committed to digging in and finding funding solutions for our local neighborhood streets and transit services. Having a transit line isn’t enough if it is not seen as frequent or safe enough to garner ridership from those that have other choices.
Should Portland and Multnomah County decrease their reliance on emergency congregate homeless shelters to address unsheltered homelessness (Of 1,614 total shelter beds 623 are congregate beds)? If so, what should the city do instead? If not, what benefits do emergency congregate homeless shelters have versus other strategies?
People become homeless for all sorts of reasons, but at the core is they no longer have access to a housing unit at a price they can afford. Many folks who have been homeless for a long time have lost human connection and ties to community. For some, services and human connection can be found in shelter. For many, they are ready to move into a unit with or without services. Shelter is part of the landscape of services, but should never be seen as a required step on someone’s journey towards housing. One of the best things about having a housing unit is the certainty of where one will return after a day out, and with a locking door to protect someone’s belongings. How do we realistically expect folks to be mobile to take care of themselves, access services, go to their jobs, take care of a family, without a locking door for their stuff? So while frigid wet winters and smoldering smoky summers will certainly continue to compel us to provide safer indoor spaces like emergency congregate shelter, I am thinking pods, hotels, tiny home villages and the like offer more autonomy, security, and stability in transition. While Multnomah County and the city of Portland certainly are in the thick of these conversations, other parts of the region are also thinking through how they will strategically add shelter capacity that is connected to their transitional and permanent housing systems.
METRO COUNCIL 4
JAMES BALL
In your view, what is the primary objective of the Metro Council?
Land use planning, transportation planning, waste management, and facilitating coordination with different jurisdictions. Voters recently approved measures to expand Metro's scope to include affordable housing and homeless services.
What are the primary issues facing your district in the immediate future, and if elected, what issue would be your first priority?
Helping homeless citizens get off the street and transition back into society.
How should the Metro Council address homelessness in your district?
Here is my 3-part plan:
Shelter: Provide Shelter for the unhoused. To address the homelessness crisis, Metro and the tri-counties should provide shelter, along with hygiene necessities and food. During my tours in Afghanistan, I lived in a 10’x10′ foot space with a bed and locker. Barracks-style housing is both cheap and quick to install and will provide a safe environment for people. A prime space for this shelter would be the Expo Center which is already at 50% capacity due to COVID-19 complications and is already owned and operated by Metro.
Treatment: Provide treatment options. Simply providing temporary housing is not enough—people need access to social workers, mental health and addiction specialists, and job training to help transition off the street.
Housing: Transition the individual into permanent housing.
Once an individual is ready to transition, they need assistance finding permanent housing and work to make sure they don’t end up back on the street.
What are the current shortcomings of the Council, and how would you address them in the immediate future?
Lack of action. There is a lot of talk and studies and wasted taxpayer money, only to accomplish very little. Metro needs to take bold action, specifically in the area of homeless services to not just make it more comfortable to live on the streets, but to actively help people move off the streets, into shelter where they can receive assistance they need, and finally transition into permanent housing.
Rent in Portland is skyrocketing. A recent report by Rent.com found the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Portland ($2,155) increased by 34.1% between February 2021 and February 2022. For that cost to be affordable per HUD guidelines, a renter would need an annual salary approaching $90,000 — well beyond the median household income ($73,159) or average individual income ($43,811) in Portland according to U.S. Census data. What tangible, concrete solutions, if any, do you propose to address the rapidly rising cost of rent in Portland?
Unaffordable rent is a problem many decades in the making and unfortunately there is not a quick fix. Housing prices have skyrocketed partially due to government action during the COVID pandemic and partially because of decades of bad policy that has restricted building more housing supply, so as demand increases, prices increase with it. What we can do is deregulate the homebuilding process: Cut SDC fees, relax zoning, and provide incentives to build more housing in the metro area. It will not be a quick fix, but it is the only lasting solution to our housing shortage.
As an elected body with oversight of affordable housing programs, how will you ensure housing stability and long-term community benefit from housing developments? How will you ensure that proposals chosen reflect the needs of the communities you serve? Will you prioritize community needs over those of investors?
I do not believe that affordable housing projects are the best way to meet the needs of low-income Oregonians. A voucher system similar to SNAP would allow greater flexibility about where to live, it would allow low-income Oregonians to live in market-rate homes and it would remove the stigma of living in low-income housing.
Among the actions you would take to address pandemic recovery, which is the most important?
We need to help our homeless neighbors transition off the street, into shelter, and eventually into permanent housing. We have sat on our hands for too long while people die on the streets of Portland. This is not humane, and too many "advocates" actually make the problem worse because they wait for a perfect solution that never comes. We need action NOW.
If elected, what is a specific action you would take to address climate change and climate justice?
Metro should work on expanding capacity on our freeways to keep cars away from bikes, pedestrians and residential communities except for the last-mile travel. Metro should work to make electric vehicle charging stations as common as gas stations. Electric vehicles + nuclear power generation (which is outside of Metro's control) is the key to solving climate change.
Should Portland and Multnomah County decrease their reliance on emergency congregate homeless shelters to address unsheltered homelessness (Of 1,614 total shelter beds 623 are congregate beds)? If so, what should the city do instead? If not, what benefits do emergency congregate homeless shelters have versus other strategies?
Emergency congregate beds have the advantage of being able to be erected quickly and cheaply, giving our homeless neighbors a way to get out of the immediate danger of living outdoors. Combined with access to mental health/addiction counseling, this is the best way to quickly serve our homeless community. Congregate shelters should be expanded to provide a bed for every homeless person in the Metro region.
JUAN CARLOS GONZALEZ
In your view, what is the primary objective of the Metro Council?
The objective of the Metro Council to convene, support and collaborate with cities and counties on issues of metropolitan concern. Metro provides critical leadership for our region on planning and preparing for the challenges of the future.
What are the primary issues facing your district in the immediate future, and if elected, what issue would be your first priority?
As our region grows and continues to change, we need to address the deepest disparities and inequalities that have long left many behind. We can no longer afford to invest in the status quo and expect different outcomes to the challenges we face. The status quo is what left Black, brown and Indigenous communities on the outskirts of economic prosperity, wealth building, and the democratic process.
If re-elected, I will continue to take action to address the root causes of our economic and social inequality. Locally, this means taking on houselessness, lower housing affordability, growing commute times, economic development and climate change while centering communities that are hardest hit.
How should the Metro Council address homelessness in your district?
The Metro region is facing a unique housing crisis which is a combination of shortage of affordable housing stock, mid-level housing options, an Urban Growth Boundary, and a lack of wrap-around services, all of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19. Between the federal government affordable housing tax credit sunsetting this year and the scheduled implementation of the Metro supportive housing services, the Metro region’s affordable housing crisis is only going to grow more dire. In addition to the existing unhoused population attempting to stabilize and get access to affordable housing, we have lost the affordable housing which families, like that of Woodspring retirement home in Tigard, have depended on for decades.
Metro must invest in expanding the affordable housing stock as well as maintaining our current service levels.
What are the current shortcomings of the Council, and how would you address them in the immediate future?
Historically, Metro Council has been an unwelcoming space for communities of color to engage in policy and decision-making. As the first elected Latino to Metro, I am committed to dismantling this culture and continuing to infuse equity in all of our metro proposals AND on the campaign trail. Currently, our base is young voters, BIPOC voters who haven’t been engaged in this process, transit-dependent folks, working-class folks, union folks, because these are the folks who have historically been excluded from political processes.
Now more than ever it is important to bring people into the public process.
Rent in Portland is skyrocketing. A recent report by Rent.com found the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Portland ($2,155) increased by 34.1% between February 2021 and February 2022. For that cost to be affordable per HUD guidelines, a renter would need an annual salary approaching $90,000 — well beyond the median household income ($73,159) or average individual income ($43,811) in Portland according to U.S. Census data. What tangible, concrete solutions, if any, do you propose to address the rapidly rising cost of rent in Portland?
I would engage a multifaceted housing policy agenda starting with:
Investing in proven affordable housing policies
Successfully implement the regional affordable housing bond ahead of schedule and under budget, over-deliver units
Address the crisis impacting our houseless neighbors by implementing the historic Metro SHS measure and get people housed, treatment and support to stay housed.
Work with jurisdictional partners to cut red tape for more middle housing to be built across our region
I would love to hear feedback on these proposals at juancarlos@gonzalez4oregon.com
As an elected body with oversight of affordable housing programs, how will you ensure housing stability and long-term community benefit from housing developments? How will you ensure that proposals chosen reflect the needs of the communities you serve? Will you prioritize community needs over those of investors?
I will ensure housing stability and long-term community benefit from housing developments by ensuring that I am working with the community to first and foremost meet our needs, not that of investors. Race and equity are front and center in my understanding and support of community resiliency initiatives amidst the climate crisis. I am deeply rooted in my community and my district working on these issues both as an elected official and as an Oregonian.
Among the actions you would take to address pandemic recovery, which is the most important?
I believe that working with regional partners to implement our regional economic recovery plan is one of the most important actions we can take to address pandemic recovery. This plan invests in sustainable solutions and building opportunities for Black, Indigenous and other people of color and their businesses, as they have been hit hardest. This is a short-term, adaptable plan focusing on immediate actions through June 2022.
If elected, what is a specific action you would take to address climate change and climate justice?
The climate crisis continues to intensify, leaving wildfires, hurricanes, floods, intense heat and broken communities in its wake. Across all of these issues, it's our most vulnerable and underserved communities, people who look just like me that are most negatively impacted. We need bold action to ensure we have a livable and thriving future.
As your Metro councilor I will:
Lead Metro’s role in address climate action and resilience in our region, and mobilize the region’s climate smart plan while moving towards a just transition
Take the lead on key recycling initiatives to reduce waste in our landfills and our oceans, including policies like Extended Producer Responsibility, uniform labeling for multi-family services region-wide and more
Help the Metro region become a national leader in green sector living wage jobs
Should Portland and Multnomah County decrease their reliance on emergency congregate homeless shelters to address unsheltered homelessness (Of 1,614 total shelter beds 623 are congregate beds)? If so, what should the city do instead? If not, what benefits do emergency congregate homeless shelters have versus other strategies?
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear, we must invest in multiple solutions. People experiencing houselesness deserve a diversity of options that fits the needs of their situation and their families. I believe the region needs to increase the supply of intermediate solutions, between temporary shelter and permanent housing, to help people get back on their feet with dedicated wrap around support. This means: safe park sites, tiny home villages, transitional housing and other types. We need to make sure there’s no wrong door for people seeking housing support, and people should not be forced into a single kind of shelter.
METRO COUNCIL 6
TERRI PREEG RIGSBY
In your view, what is the primary objective of the Metro Council?
I believe the primary objective of the Metro Council is to keep its promises to the voters and develop solutions for smart urban development that include the following: construction of more affordable housing; support for our houseless community members with services for those fleeing domestic violence, in need of mental health or drug use illness, and workforce training; a regional transportation system that includes safe pedestrian and bicycle routes, a more comprehensive public transit system, and improvements to local arterials and highways that reduce congestion and carbon emissions; a tri-county approach to reducing waste streams filling our landfills and increases the amount of items that can be locally recycled and composted, while also removing trash from our public spaces.
What are the primary issues facing your district in the immediate future, and if elected, what issue would be your first priority?
The primary issues facing the region are lack of housing stock, including affordable housing and temporary shelter, as well as trash in our neighborhoods, on our streets, and in our parks. There is a misconception that this trash comes from people experiencing homelessness, but there is evidence that at least half of this trash (if not more) is a result of illegal dumping by people who have trash pick-up services at their apartment buildings or homes.
As Metro councilor, I would expand the Regional Illegal Dumping (RID) program. The RID program was dramatically reduced during the pandemic and there is an enormous backlog of trash and dumped appliances, cars, and other large items on public property throughout the region. As our region’s trash and recycling government agency, Metro must take swift action to increase the frequency and reach of the RID program. I will also advocate to restore funding for the neighborhood-based bulky waste collection events, treasured by residents and useful in reducing both trash and unnecessary landfill waste. As Metro councilor, I would also consider expanding the capacity of the region’s transfer stations, either by adding additional locations or increasing the volume that existing stations will accept. I will work with Multnomah County and others to expand public needle collection programs, putting Sharps containers in accessible locations throughout the region to get needles out of parks and off sidewalks. Metro currently only has two locations to drop off needles, at their hazardous waste centers; I will work to create easier, more accessible options for needle disposal. I am endorsed by Multnomah County Commissioner Dr. Sharon Meieran, Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington, and Clackamas County Commissioner Martha Schrader because they know that I am an effective leader with proven success getting work done in our neighborhoods, throughout the tri-county area. Metro must work harder to bring all counties together to address these urgent issues.
How should the Metro Council address homelessness in your district?
We must prioritize people’s life, health, and safety. Metro is the region’s planning and convening government agency, responsible for collecting the Supportive Housing Services taxes and distributing (them) to the organizations that provide direct services to people experiencing homelessness. Metro must be prepared to quickly distribute these funds once the taxes are collected.
Each county within the Metro service region is responsible for developing a Local Implementation Plan; Metro should work with each county to ensure that their plans include specific and measurable goals and that they are prepared to utilize the Supportive Services funds immediately after receiving them from Metro. These goals must include specific actions to address the core reasons why people are experiencing homelessness, such as emergency rent assistance, mental health and drug use medical support, domestic violence support, and job training.
In its regional convening role, Metro should already have in place an inventory of which non-profit organizations and local government partners are available to quickly increase the scale of their services to immediately utilize additional funds and serve people experiencing homelessness.
Metro should also establish consistent data collection regarding who is experiencing homelessness and what their specific barriers are. Currently, our local governments rely on the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s annual point in time counts (“PITC”); these counts are consistently unreliable and do not include data regarding the barriers that specific homeless individuals are experiencing. Metro is uniquely positioned to develop a more reliable and useful data collection system across the tri-county area so that we can have a coordinated and effective response to the homeless crisis and finally provide solutions that work now.
What are the current shortcomings of the Council, and how would you address them in the immediate future?
I think that the Council lacks accountability and transparency, and this is eroding the public’s trust in local government.
I would first seek to remove the conflicts of interest that plague our Council by working to put an end to the practice of elected councilors holding paid positions with organizations that receive Metro contracts and funding. I see this as a clear conflict of interest that should not be allowed to continue. I recognize that Metro Council is not a full-time job and I, as well as others, would need a second job to support my family. However, I do not think it is okay for councilors to be in a paid leadership position at Metro while also holding a paid leadership position for an organization that is funded in part or in whole by Metro. My opponent in District 6 is the incumbent and currently holds a leadership position for a nonprofit organization that receives Metro funding. As councilor, I will continue my work in the nonprofit sector working with East African immigrants and refugees through HAKI Community Organization, and we will not seek Metro funding.
I would also work with fellow councilors to identify specific objectives tied to recent bond and tax measures passed by voters, as well as a plan for how to achieve those objectives. I would increase transparency by clearly communicating with the public what are these objectives and the progress being made to achieve them.
Rent in Portland is skyrocketing. A recent report by Rent.com found the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Portland ($2,155) increased by 34.1% between February 2021 and February 2022. For that cost to be affordable per HUD guidelines, a renter would need an annual salary approaching $90,000 — well beyond the median household income ($73,159) or average individual income ($43,811) in Portland according to U.S. Census data. What tangible, concrete solutions, if any, do you propose to address the rapidly rising cost of rent in Portland?
When I first moved to Portland 25 years ago, I was able to rent an affordable apartment in a safe neighborhood. That simply is not the case any longer. Our region has chronically under-invested in developing housing for decades. I believe that Metro can and should be part of the solution of developing new housing, and in particular, new affordable housing. Because Metro has responsibility for collecting the affordable housing bond funds and works in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington Counties, I think that it should identify areas in each county where development is working well and work with neighboring jurisdictions to implement working solutions across the region. For example, if one of the counties (or one of the two dozen cities within the Metro boundaries) has streamlined its permitting processes for developing affordable housing so that it can happen more quickly and with less cost, I think that Metro should work with the other jurisdictions in the area to implement similar permit streamlining processes. Taking advantage of best practices and lessons learned can be very effective in making publicly-funded projects more efficient – and then we can build the tens of thousands of new units necessary to house the people currently living in the region as well as those moving here every year.
As an elected body with oversight of affordable housing programs, how will you ensure housing stability and long-term community benefit from housing developments? How will you ensure that proposals chosen reflect the needs of the communities you serve? Will you prioritize community needs over those of investors?
I have served on the Metro Policy Advisory Committee for five years, representing Special Districts of Multnomah County (as elected Director of Chair of the West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District). In this capacity, I have worked with elected colleagues throughout the tri-county region to identify which affordable housing proposals were best suited to meet the region’s needs for housing in locations that are close to job centers and with adequate public infrastructure to serve new community members moving into the housing. Part of these decisions have included — and must continue to include — discussions with the communities most impacted by new projects, whether that is new affordable housing or new transportation infrastructure or new parks. Metro government serves the *people* who live, work, and attend school in the region, not investors. When Metro councilors are centered on the core value of working with the community to identify what best serves the people today and into the future, they will make decisions that result in long-term community benefits.
Among the actions you would take to address pandemic recovery, which is the most important?
We must ensure that we get people that are living on the streets into housing, and we must ensure that we are doing what we can to support a vibrant local economy that provides family-wage jobs. I think that Metro, as one of the region’s largest employers, should be part of the solution for local family-wage jobs. I am highly supportive of Apprenticeship Programs as part of a system of creating stable, well-paying jobs. For example, construction trades provide well-paying jobs that are great careers for people from many backgrounds. We must also ensure that workers entering apprenticeships have the support they need to progress to journeyman level. I will use my skills and experience as a Senior Performance Auditor serving in the Oregon Secretary of State’s office for many years to identify gaps in the apprenticeship programs and help to implement solutions so that the programs are succeeding in their workforce development goals.
If elected, what is a specific action you would take to address climate change and climate justice?
Every day in my work as General Manager at HAKI Community Organization, I provide direct support to community members that are people of color, low-income, and living in areas with the worst air quality, the least tree canopy, and very little access to parks, natural areas, and community gardens to grow healthy food. Their resiliency is directly impacted by the environmental injustices they experience on a daily basis. We already know which are the most prevalent negative climate-related impacts on our BIPOC communities in and around the Metro region, in particular in highly urbanized areas. These impacts include air pollution from car emissions and wildfire smoke that cause chronic health problems such as asthma and cancers. Additionally, fresh food insecurity from a lack of community gardens and potential difficulties to grow seasonal foods due to warmer summers and colder winters keeps our community members from being able to grow their own healthy, low-cost, and culturally specific foods. Also, there is a lack of active transportation infrastructure for walking and biking, which we know results in fewer cars on the road and thus, reduced carbon emissions, and has the added health benefits of regular exercise.
I have been centering my work on building the HAKI community’s resiliency by working directly with residents to identify the most urgent problems they face, while also looking towards a future with long-term solutions. One example of an urgent problem I hear about regularly from our community is poor air quality and heat from hotter summers, and prohibitions from landlords who won’t allow window air conditioning units and who are uncooperative in updating older buildings with proper weatherization upgrades such as new insulation and air filtration. As part of the solution, I supported the Oregon legislature’s Renter’s Relief bill to remove barriers for renters and provide funding to landlords for the installation of more energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment, as well as new cooling centers in our most dense urban areas. Another solution I’ve been involved with for nearly 20 years is continued investment in urban tree canopy to reduce urban heat islands, which has the additional benefit of adding to our urban wildlife green infrastructure. Creating these ‘green ribbons’, or wildlife corridors, benefit our region’s human residents by increasing cooling shade, filtering air by sequestering carbon coming off major transportation routes, and also benefits our urban wildlife by creating safe and healthy places for them to live, eat, and migrate.
I will continue my commitment to reducing further impacts on our climate and identifying ways to mitigate the damage that has already been done. As a mother, I work hard every day to ensure a healthier environment for my family. I will center my work as a councilor on this same commitment to a healthier tomorrow for everyone in our region.
Should Portland and Multnomah County decrease their reliance on emergency congregate homeless shelters to address unsheltered homelessness (Of 1,614 total shelter beds 623 are congregate beds)? If so, what should the city do instead? If not, what benefits do emergency congregate homeless shelters have versus other strategies?
I think that all three counties and two dozen cities within the Metro region must utilize every tool available to address the homelessness crisis NOW. I think this should include additional temporary housing that may be congregate shelters, as well as non-congregate solutions such as partnering with local motels and hotels to shelter individuals and families. We must be innovative in our approach because what we’re doing now is simply not working. Perhaps we should consider repurposing empty, abandoned grocery stores; these stores already have the plumbing and electricity for bathrooms and kitchens and adding interior walls could create shelter spaces of different sizes to accommodate individuals, couples, and families. There are likely other options that are working in other urban areas in the United States as well as around the world where we can identify best practices and work to provide safe and healthy environments for people currently unhoused and living on the sidewalks, parks and along dangerous highways.
DUNCAN HWANG
In your view, what is the primary objective of the Metro Council?
Metro's charter is to address matters of significant regional importance. We are an additive to local governments and the agency plays an important role in regional coordination and funding local partners to deliver key services. As this vibrant metropolitan region continues to grow, it’s important to understand when problems can better be addressed through regional collaboration. For example, Metro has taken on some of its newer responsibilities because our housing affordability and homelessness crisis cannot be solved by any one individual city or county but rather through a regional approach. Metro could also play more of a role in developing a regional response to the climate crisis through smart transportation planning that works for our communities and builds neighborhood resilience.
I’m excited to tackle the region’s biggest challenges from a regional perspective and to work region-wide with local jurisdictions to come up with our shared solutions.
What are the primary issues facing your district in the immediate future, and if elected, what issue would be your first priority?
My top priority is bringing more urgency to addressing our affordable housing and homelessness crisis, balancing short-term shelters with long-term permanent housing and looking at EVERY option. Solutions must include safe and humane sheltering options, building more affordable units for working families, and access to housing that promotes racial equity.
As the newest Council member, I want to help Metro address our regional challenges and bring real benefits to underinvested communities and neighborhoods. At APANO I’ve spent a decade building affordable housing, securing funding for safer streets, and responding to public health and economic crises. We need urgent responses to our affordable housing crisis, outdated transportation systems, and an economy that fails to provide equity and access. My priorities include updating our transportation systems through new Metro programs I am championing in regional climate mitigation and social innovation, and expanding high-quality job opportunities.
How should the Metro Council address homelessness in your district?
Our severe housing affordability and homelessness crisis did not happen overnight. It’s a direct result of decades of disinvestment in social services and housing, housing shortages that have pushed up demand and prices, and systemic racial discrimination in our housing delivery system – all exacerbated by the pandemic. Both public and private sectors have major roles to play in increasing the stock of affordable housing in our region. To truly address the housing shortage and rising rents in communities across our region we must increase permanent, transitional, and emergency housing stock using every tool at our disposal. For some that might be by providing rapid access to permanent housing and to others a continuum of support and services. More than anything, access to permanent, affordable housing – combined with supportive services to get people back on their feet – reduces homelessness, breaks the cycle of chronic homelessness, and saves money. We need a unified system of providers across the region, making sure that everyone’s using the same data systems and best practices. New nonprofits have stepped up to respond to homelessness, and there needs to be a lot more investment in capacity-building and standardization in the overall ecosystem of support.
Metro needs to be accountable for the regional goals approved by voters, including delivering on the placement of over 5,000 chronically homeless households into supportive housing. Quantitative data metrics can be found on Metro’s website and we must also do a better job of qualitative storytelling and explaining to taxpayers our regional approach in balancing short-term shelters with long term permanent housing. Trust-building happens as we improve transparency and accountability and see a difference on the ground.
What are the current shortcomings of the Council, and how would you address them in the immediate future?
Growing up in an immigrant family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where my mother opened the area’s first Chinese restaurant, interactions with government were often confusing and disempowering. This inspired me to bring underrepresented voices to public spaces to fight for working families. As a nonprofit housing developer and service provider, I’ve seen what matters to those experiencing housing insecurity. Having been a part of the planning, development, and community engagement of these types of projects, I am bringing my lived experiences, professional insights, and most importantly, my community with me to Metro Council. Our system of engagement and planning needs to be updated so that communities that will be most impacted by roads, transit lines, safety improvements, and housing are a part of the process. We need to improve engagement, build trust over time, and increase accountability and transparency. Metro should be a place where all are welcome and have a say in how our region develops.
Rent in Portland is skyrocketing. A recent report by Rent.com found the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Portland ($2,155) increased by 34.1% between February 2021 and February 2022. For that cost to be affordable per HUD guidelines, a renter would need an annual salary approaching $90,000 — well beyond the median household income ($73,159) or average individual income ($43,811) in Portland according to U.S. Census data. What tangible, concrete solutions, if any, do you propose to address the rapidly rising cost of rent in Portland?
The greatest drivers of homelessness in our region are a lack of affordable housing and high rents. Rising rental costs are outpacing incomes, often making it difficult or impossible for workers and their families to afford their rent. This is a good example of how Metro, alongside the city and county, can better coordinate to use every means possible to build more affordable housing and keep rents affordable. Innovative ideas include working with landlords to identify empty apartments, then using rent support, rent buydowns, and ongoing rental subsidies to incentivize greater participation of property owners. We also need to look at increasing the overall supply of housing at all levels. We need to get innovative and work with local jurisdictions to improve permitting and planning processes to hasten production.
Some cities are seeing successes in creating master leases to secure housing units for nonprofit or governmental entities to match diverse housing opportunities with people who need them and working upstream to avoid people falling into homelessness with robust eviction prevention diversion, right-to-counsel, and other housing supports.
As an elected body with oversight of affordable housing programs, how will you ensure housing stability and long-term community benefit from housing developments? How will you ensure that proposals chosen reflect the needs of the communities you serve? Will you prioritize community needs over those of investors?
From my own community organizing and lived experience, I have a unique perspective on how Metro’s policies and investments are experienced by the community on the ground. I know where the community needs to be brought in, what levers need to be pushed, how to work to build consensus, and perhaps most importantly, how to be persistent. I think it’s really about sharing power with community, and giving them an actual voice in decision-making.
I am very eager to promote a substantial investment in transit that best serves the variety of diverse communities across the Portland region. My experience serving on a litany of advisory committees on behalf of APANO & the AAPI community related to issues of housing and transportation leaves me well equipped to know the exact spots where we can push for a community-led vision for investments and solutions.
Among the actions you would take to address pandemic recovery, which is the most important?
I'm worried about record inflation and (the) increasing possibility of a recession. Many communities across our region are experiencing a recovery where the well-off expanded their wealth during the pandemic while working-class folks suffered the economic fallout. Jobs are coming back but I'm worried about what happens if there's a downturn during this fragile period of recovery. During recessions when the need is highest, governments have the least resources to address shared challenges.
Let’s be smart. We need massive investments in housing, transportation, and green energy. Investments in transit create up to 70% more jobs than investments in freeways. These investments should be implemented with family-wage paying jobs. I’m eager to create a new generation of Green Collar jobs. I helped guide TriMet’s Division Transit Project and delivered a historical percentage of contracts given to minority contractors. I also participated in the creation of Metro’s Construction Careers Pathways Program to work to bring more women, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color into these high-wage careers.
If elected, what is a specific action you would take to address climate change and climate justice?
I will be focused on racial equity and enhancing investments for safer streets. I was proud to have successfully advocated for $185 million in funding from the legislature to be dedicated to 82nd Ave for its transfer to the city of Portland. This boulevard can serve as a model: the center of a thriving low-carbon neighborhood with frequent bus service, lined with affordable housing and small businesses, rooted to the neighborhood’s existing AAPI community — all with an eye on anti-displacement. As our region eyes future investment in ODOT’s other orphan highways like TV Highway, McLoughlin, Powell and Barbur, our successes on 82nd Avenue will set the standard for regenerative investment in retrofitting these dangerous roads into cherished community boulevards.
I’m eager to promote substantial investment in transit that best serves the variety of diverse communities across the Portland region based on a community-led vision for investments in green transportation options. Too often our transportation decisions are short-sighted, displace entire communities of color, adversely impact community health, and do little to address the climate crisis. With billions of dollars at stake, I want clear goals and accountability mechanisms in place to meet the region’s goals for a healthy, sustainable, and cost-effective transportation system that reduces vehicle miles traveled, advances high-capacity transit, and increases pedestrian and bike traffic along the corridor.
Should Portland and Multnomah County decrease their reliance on emergency congregate homeless shelters to address unsheltered homelessness (Of 1,614 total shelter beds 623 are congregate beds)? If so, what should the city do instead? If not, what benefits do emergency congregate homeless shelters have versus other strategies?
What’s needed is a humane, united, aggressive, and systemic approach. The best thing Metro can do is to release Supportive Housing Measure resources as expediently as possible to our jurisdictional partners so that our region can develop additional shelter capacity, provide the needed social services, and then place people into permanent housing. This is our region's top priority, and it should be treated as an emergency, cutting through red tape and holding implementation authorities accountable to promises made to voters. Let’s invest in helping people move quickly from existing shelters before increasing our shelter footprint.
People are often left stranded in emergency shelters because of inadequate support services to help them transition out of shelter and back to housing: rent assistance, housing advocacy, case management, and health and wellness services. These are the types of services our nonprofit partners can provide. All options must be non-coercive; people must be free to choose whether they participate in any of these options, and options must not be connected to bans and sweeps.
At the time of publishing we did not recieve responses from candidate Mei Wong.
Editor’s note: Answers are edited for length and clarity.