14:07:16 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
I’m her but having Zoom problems
14:07:53 From PHB Admin To Everyone:
Thanks Moriah. Justin marked you as present.
14:07:59 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
Going to reboot and come back.
14:09:16 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Thanks, Justin, for monitoring the chat!
14:11:03 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
HI MICHAEL!! Woo hoo! Glad to have you at PHB.
14:23:51 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Thank you, Michael!
14:27:23 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
And thanks, Amber, for voicing the frustrations we all feel!
14:33:07 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
what an Important point, Laura,
14:34:00 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
We should consider how we can still follow up on both the main 2 issues renters and landlords brought up in summer
14:34:39 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Fair Housing ordinance and rents so far above local wages
14:39:08 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Thank you for sending that email, Justin
14:40:34 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Thanks, Moriah.
14:41:29 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
what about an empowerment sheet that not only gives contact info, but encourages pa
14:42:09 From Pippa Arend To Everyone:
Amber: what’s “pa”
14:42:12 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Testimony participants to stand up for their housing needs
14:44:04 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
can we set a sm
14:48:04 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
yes
14:48:16 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Thank you for taking notes
14:51:23 From Justin Barrieault To Everyone:
○ I would love to look into Vivien’s proposal more. If the average rent in Portland is around $1700/month for a one bedroom, we have outpaced Black, Latino, and Native Portlanders from being here. And we can’t continue to subsidize maximizing landlord profits without some sort of check to ensure that City funds are being put to good use.
15:03:36 From Vivien Lyon To Everyone:
I have never said that all landlords are greedy, and I don't believe anyone on the commission has said that.
15:03:58 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
• Recommendation proposed to ask City Council to stay connected with State legislators to determine if the rent increase cap of 10% from SB611 could be made even lower by the City.
• Recommendation proposed to ask the City to set aside somewhere in the $10 million range for long-term rent assistance (longer than six months), then to work with the County to advocate for faster spending on supportive housing services funds being allocated to the long-term rent assistance vouchers.
• Idea proposed of making a recommendation that if a tenant has to receive rent assistance twice in a 12-month period, that the property owner/landlord be required to meet with a mediator to discuss whether the rents are set at a fair/affordable rate. Group discussion on this topic followed.
• Discussion on creating an agenda item for the next full meeting to develop a recommendation to send to City Council regarding the 10% rent cap maximum and the rent assistance.
15:04:57 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Noted, Pippa. Yes - we need clarity about that.
15:09:45 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Vivien simply recommended mediation,
15:09:50 From Vivien Lyon To Everyone:
thanks amber
15:16:23 From Jessica Greenlee To PHB Admin(Privately):
Can you confirm for me that I am on the list for public testimony please ?
15:20:01 From Pippa Arend To Everyone:
It is true the word “greedy” wasn’t used, but it’s often an underlying implication, I’ve found.
15:20:23 From PHB Admin To Jessica Greenlee(Privately):
I see that you had indicated 'maybe' on the registration for public testimony. When we get to that point on the agenda, Justin will go thru the list of everyone who indicated 'yes' or 'maybe' to see if they still want to speak, then he will open it up to anyone else who may have testimony but didn't necessarily indicate it when they registered.
15:21:00 From Jessica Greenlee To PHB Admin(Privately):
Thank you
15:21:42 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Yes! It's all over the place and a lot of the rules depend on the funders' rules
15:22:15 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Welcome, Angelita! We have talked about your topic. We'll come back to it after the break.
15:23:37 From Angelita Morillo To Everyone:
Thank you Laura, I had a work meeting I could not miss. Apologies for arriving during the second half.
15:23:53 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
No worries! So glad you are here!
15:24:07 From Vivien Lyon To Everyone:
Agree with Moriah
15:32:29 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
I’m here, just turning off my video because I’m eating . . .
15:40:31 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Request City Council to work with State legislators to determine if the rent increase cap of 10% from SB611 could be made even lower by the City.
Ask City Council to allocate funds and a directive to PHB to
Recommend the City to set aside approximate $10 million for rent assistance for 138 households for 4 years at $72,000/year, and work with the County to advocate for faster spending on supportive housing services funds being allocated to the long-term rent assistance vouchers.
Educate City leaders about the potential impact of rent assistance on rent increases. Several ideas such as tax incentives to landlords to keep rents low, a rent cap for all landlords, etc. As part of this, fund PHB to study the reasons why a renter might need rent assistance
15:40:48 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
more than one time per month.
15:41:19 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To PHB Admin(Privately):
The chat is not an appropriate or helpful place for commissioners to complain about other commissioners behavior
15:42:15 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To PHB Admin(Privately):
specifically Pippa re unspoken greed
15:42:50 From Justin Barrieault To Everyone:
1.) Request City Council to work with State legislators to determine if the rent increase cap of 10% from SB611 could be made even lower by the City.
2.) Ask City Council to allocate funds and a directive to PHB to recommend the City to set aside approximate $10 million for rent assistance for 138 households for 4 years at $72,000/year, and work with the County to advocate for faster spending on supportive housing services funds being allocated to the long-term rent assistance vouchers.
3.) Educate City leaders about the potential impact of rent assistance on rent increases. Several ideas such as tax incentives to landlords to keep rents low, a rent cap for all landlords, etc. As part of this, fund PHB to study the reasons why a renter might need rent assistance.
15:43:57 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To PHB Admin(Privately):
I object to the chat being used that way and request the facilitators clarify how it is to be utilized
15:45:57 From PHB Admin To Amber Cook (she/ella)(Privately):
Justin is the facilitator but I will pass your concerns on to him.
15:47:15 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To PHB Admin(Privately):
Thank you
15:47:15 From Angelita Morillo To Everyone:
Where did we get the 138 households number from?
15:47:22 From Angelita Morillo To Everyone:
Sorry I may have missed it in an earlier discussion.
15:47:27 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
Question, because I missed the initial discussion: where is this $10 million coming from?
15:48:17 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Laura said $10 M is a number she chose as a tangible placeholder
15:49:36 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Do we need to come up with where funding will come from?
15:53:33 From Vivien Lyon To Everyone:
I agree with Matthew on this
15:54:46 From Pippa Arend To Everyone:
Likewise
15:54:52 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Got it
15:55:22 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
So what would our ask to the City be about rent assistance?
15:58:16 From Vivien Lyon To Everyone:
here's a draft of the proposal I mentioned earlier:
15:58:17 From Vivien Lyon To Everyone:
If the tenant has had to access financial assistance to pay rent/utilities/fees in the last year, then if the LL wants to raise their rent within 12 months of provision of assistance, the LL 1. must provide reasons (and substantiating documentation) for the rent raise OR 2. agree to participate in mediation with Resolutions NW or another group that provides no-cost mediation
If the LL does neither, then that triggers relocation assistance requirements – and not necessarily with the full range of exemptions/exceptions.
16:01:03 From Kristina Goodman (She/Her/Hers) To Everyone:
Is it a fair housing violation to offer different rent amounts for different tenants? or to increase some rents but not all?
16:04:36 From Justin Barrieault To Everyone:
I'm not entirely certain, Kristina, but I can find out and get back to you individually
16:05:08 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
Seems like it would have to do with protected classes only?
16:05:19 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
(but I’m NOT a lawyer!)
16:05:47 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Our friends at Fair Housing Council would know!
16:06:26 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Even OHCS changed their rent raise policies this year on AH, where before property owners had to apply to raise the rent and show good faith property management, now they can raise the rents 5% per year without application. So in some places rent raises are being made easier not more fair.
16:08:08 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
I think some people would say that’s _more_ fair since it accounts for inflation!
16:09:38 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Unfortunately workers don’t get that “fairness” in wages increased for inflation
16:11:37 From PHB Admin To Justin Barrieault(Privately):
Just in case you didn't notice the time, we have four minutes until scheduled public testimony.
16:14:46 From Pippa Arend To Everyone:
I recommend Public Housing to help mitigate the anger and expectations on private business/housing providers.
16:16:06 From Jessica Greenlee To Everyone:
Jessica Greenlee
16:16:55 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
He was on but don’t see him anymore
16:17:52 From Angelita Morillo To Everyone:
Jessica could you speak up? I’m having a hard time hearing you
16:18:32 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
I may be the only one, but I can’t hear Jessica…
16:21:21 From Pippa Arend To Everyone:
Thank you, Jessica
16:21:22 From Regina Amodeo To Everyone:
Thank you, Jessica.
16:21:34 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Thanks, Jessica.
16:29:15 From Captioner-Diana To PHB Admin(Privately):
Would you speak into your microphone, please? Justin.
16:29:31 From Jessica Greenlee To Everyone:
I apologize for the audio challenges, I believe what I said prior to the audio issues being flagged was a general overview of current market conditions, rents in Portland proper are actually down year or year, between 1.2%-4.4% depending of the which report you review, which varies because of the different sectors of the market they monitor. Expenses have risen like everything else due to inflation, and most impactful interest rates have more than doubled creating a scenario where refinance means handing money over to the bank to obtain a loan. All of these factors are part of owning an investment property, they are the risks you take, however the controllable factor is the regulatory environment, which has been unpredictable and costly. I believe that's where the audio cut out.
16:30:49 From Jessica Greenlee To Everyone:
Replying to "I apologize for the ..."
Or rather where the audio was restored*
16:30:55 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
brb
16:31:14 From Angelita Morillo To Everyone:
Thank you Allen
16:31:38 From PHB Admin To Captioner-Diana(Privately):
I will ask him to.
16:31:58 From Captioner-Diana To PHB Admin(Privately):
Thank you!
16:32:19 From Vivien Lyon To Everyone:
thank you, Allen
16:32:37 From Vivien Lyon To Everyone:
I'm going to have to leave at 4:45, just fyi
16:32:46 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
back
16:32:55 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
OK - thanks for the heads up Vivien.
16:32:59 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
Thanks, Allen!
16:36:22 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Agreed, Allen
16:36:34 From Matthew Maline To Everyone:
Thank you Allen. There could be a local clarification that the requirement in the Fair Housing Act that the LL show an undue financial and administrative burden for granting an accommodation means they sometimes have to incur additional costs so long as it isn’t an “undue burden” - which some courts have found is not met even for hundreds of dollars. And that they don’t have to sign addendums related to their accommodation (which drives me nuts).
16:46:08 From Regina Amodeo To Everyone:
Replying to "I apologize for the ..."
Thank you Jessica.
16:51:20 From Laura Golino de Lovato To Everyone:
The mission of the RSC is to advise the Director of the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB), the
Housing Commissioner, and the Portland City Council on issues related to landlord-tenant
housing regulation and programs, and to provide a forum for public input on the rental housing
market.
16:56:39 From Amber Cook (she/ella) To Everyone:
Thanks for posting that, Laura
16:57:58 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
Agree - I appreciate Exec Ctte leadership, and also clarifying the “levers” we want to pursue
16:59:33 From Moriah McSharry McGrath (she/they) To Everyone:
Thanks everyone!