CommissionerSam.com - Housing

Graciously honored for affordable housing advocacy

Jesse Beason — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:48:21 -0800

The Community Development Network, an association of nonprofit community development organizations, presented Sam with the Industry Partner Award at their Annual Awards Banquet in October. The Industry Partner Award goes to "an organization or individual that is an invaluable partner in strengthening nonprofit community development organizations or helping provide a collective voice for healthy, diverse communities."

CDN's executive director Sam Chase said that Sam Adams "isn't a politician at heart, but someone who knows how to navigate the political system. He seems to have a unique understanding of community needs and certainly understands that in order to succeed in life, people need stable and affordable housing."

Sam was in part honored because of his vocal support of ensuring that 30% of Urban Renewal Dollars are spent to address the need for affordable rental and ownership opportunities throughout our Urban Renewal Areas.

Related Documents

Remarks before the CDN banquet attendees

Community Partners

Community Development Network

Our blog

American Society of Civil Engineers: Oregon's Infrastructure Report Card

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:11:01 -0700

In 2005, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the nation an infrustructure report card. Overall, the U.S. got the GPA equivalent of a "D." America's total investment needs to shore up our infrastructure totalled $1.6 TRILLION, a number that increases as time passes.

Done years before recent high-profile tragedies, this report outlines a nation chronically under-investing in its infrastructure.

You can review America's overall infrastructure grades here. If you want to read the actual report, you can download the entire document here.

A quick summary of some of the state's transportation problems:

Roads

51% of Oregon's major urban roads are congested.
38% of Oregon's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
Vehicle travel on Oregon's highways increased 31% from 1990 to 2003. Oregon's population grew 25% between 1990 and 2003.
Driving on roads in need of repair costs Oregon motorists $684 million a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs --- $264 per motorist.
Congestion in the Eugene area costs commuters $162 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time.
Congestion in the Portland area costs commuters $733 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time.
Congestion in the Salem area costs commuters $258 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time.

Bridges

25% of Oregon's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

You can read more about Oregon's infrastructure ratings here.

An Organization in Need

Daniel Ronan — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:27:45 -0700

Community Warehouse is a non-profit organization that gives donated household items and furniture, for free, to low-income individuals and families recovering from crisis. Over 3,000 households are served each year in the Portland area.

The items received by Community Warehouse are direct donations given by individuals from the Portland area community... like yourselves!

Silverware is always in need.Among the household items currently needed by Community Warehouse include: pots and pans, silverware, cooking utensils, casserole and baking dishes, toasters, coffee makers, mixers, alarm clocks, blankets, twin size bed sheets and full size bed sheets.

Twin sheets and washcloths are especially needed at this point in time. Your continued support for families in need is important to our region's livability and economic future and is highly valued.

Community Warehouse is open Monday through Friday 9-5, and on Saturday 10-4 to receive donations at 2267 N. Interstate. It is possible to schedule a pick up with Community Warehouse for larger household items and furniture. You can reach them at 503-235-8786 to schedule a time for pickup.

Oregonian Letter: Door open on island

Warren Jimenez — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:50:36 -0700

This letter was published today by the Oregonian from Sam.

The Oregonian editorial board is right in their March 27 editorial. It is the City's job to "build a plan that works for all the [Hayden Island] neighborhood."

The development hiatus that City Council unanimously approved six months ago on Hayden Island allows the residents and the City to complete a neighborhood plan that can address the unique transportation challenges of the island.

For four months before City Council adopted a moratorium my office began to reach out to stakeholders on Hayden Island, including Jantzen Beach. (While there were developments already in the permitting pipeline, Jantzen Beach was not one of them.) I personally met face to face with Morgan Stanley, held a conference call with Michigan's public employee retirement system, sent a letter to the governor and continued conversations with Jantzen Beach representatives right up to the adoption of the moratorium and as recently as last Tuesday.

In those meetings, my message was clear. I shared the concerns of the neighborhood and island businesses that Jantzen Beach's proposed development reduced on-site transit access, added no public street connectivity, increased parking dramatically and complicated freeway access off the island-one of our state's worst and most dangerous bottlenecks.

Jantzen Beach's message was also clear. The City's interest to protect the transportation infrastructure and the neighborhood's role in shaping its future were simply not their concerns. To date, Jantzen Beach's owners have not attended neighborhood meetings to discuss their plans.

As I did when we met, I continue to be interested in working together to maximize both Jantzen Beach's investment and the community benefit. That, to me, is the definition of a successful public-private partnership.

My door remains open.

Tripling Affordable Housing Funding in South Waterfront

Jesse Beason — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:27:24 -0800

At Sam's urging, the Mayor and City Council directed PDC in December of 2005 to negotiate a new funding package with South Waterfront property owners that included a significant increase in affordable housing. As a result, in April City Council approved $18 million in new dollars for affordable housing in South Waterfront, bringing the total allocation to $25.7 million, which will fund 3-5 projects and funds completion of the first 200-unit project by 2009.

Thanks to this new funding agreement, South Waterfront will be a neighborhood not only for lawyers and doctors that serve OHSU and elsewhere, but also nurses, support staff, and most anybody who chooses to live there. This will be a real neighborhood, with housing options for a breadth of income levels, parks, a streetcar line, and a tram for all Portlanders.

Relevant Documents

City Council Memo to PDC regarding funding negotiations

City Backfills for Federal Government Affordable Housing Cuts

Jesse Beason — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:01:37 -0800

Much of this funding, distributed by the Bureau of Housing and Community Development (BHCD), is provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This funding, however, was cut 8% from 05/06 and 13% from 04/05.

During the 2006-07 budget cycle, Commissioner Saltzman and Sam proposed in their budget team deliberation allocated budget savings and other one-time money totaling $5.9 million into the Housing Investment Fund and BHCD.

Related Documents

Stepping up to fill the housing gap

Jesse Beason — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:16:00 -0800

Unfortunately, federal support for the programs that help ensure affordable housing has been declining every single year since Sam took office.

To fill the federal funding void, Sam expressed support in 2004 for a dedicated percentage of urban renewal dollars for affordable housing.

With City Commissioner Erik Sten's leadership, this November, Sam and the City Council and the Portland Development Commission established a policy ensuring that 30% of Urban Renewal Dollars are spent to address the need for affordable rental and ownership opportunities throughout our Urban Renewal Areas.

Related Documents

Final Implementation Plan (PDF)
City Council Ordinance
City Council resolution
PDC resolution
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Affordable Housing Policy Recommendations
Report to Project Advisory Group, September 12, 2006
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Set-Aside for Affordable Housing
Report to City Council, August 9, 2006

Media Mentions

"Affordable housing on waterfront is debated," The Oregonian, August 12
"Council backs more spending on affordable housing," The Oregonian, August 17
"The Fight for Housing," Portland Mercury, May 11

Our blog

Central Eastsiders Get a Better Chance to Realize Their Vision

Warren Jimenez — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:18:26 -0800

For more than a year, the Central Eastside community has been discussing the possibility of extending the Urban Renewal District.

Sam supports an extension on the basis that the Central Eastside has not realized its full potential. Specifically, additional investments in affordable housing, context-sensitive transportation infrastructure, and economic development are needed to ensure the district redevelops in a way that mitigates the worst characteristics of gentrification.

With approval of Sam's amendment thanks to support from City Commissioners Randy Leonard and Erik Sten and community support, City Council approved extending the Central Eastside Urban Renewal District, leveraging a total of $51 million for strategic investments.

Related Documents

Central Eastside Accomplishments

Community Partners

Media Mentions

"Central Eastside Industrial District gets a push," Portland Tribune, July 20
"Vote extends urban renewal district's time," Oregonian, July 16
"Council set to extend east-side renewal," Portland Tribune, July 6

Weblogs

Central Eastside Industrial District Needs More Investment to Succeed

Clean River Rewards

Leah Barbaree — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:17:40 -0700

Sam filming the introduction for the Clean River Rewards videoThe Bureau of Environmental Services is launching a Clean Water River Rewards Program that will offer new incentives for homes and businesses to make their property more eco-friendly. Eligible accounts will be able to receive up to 35% percent off their monthly stormwater management fee. As part of the program, BES is putting together two informational videos for the website. One will lead you through how to fill out the registration form and the other describes ways to make your property more stormwater safe. There are separate versions of each video for residential and business property owners. All versions begin with a clip of Sam introducing the program and talking about the importance of stormwater management.

Sam Chris Prescott uses his rainwater barrels to irrigate his yard.filmed the introduction yesterday morning at the home of BES employee Chris Prescott. Chris's home is a poster child for proper stormwater management. All of his down spouts are disconnected and the water is instead diverted into rainwater barrels. Filters catch debris and Chris uses the accumulated water to irrigate his yard. Should the rainbarrels fill up, the overflow runs onto stone trails where the water absorbs into the ground before causing erosion. Plus the native vegetation Chris uses to landscape his yard is gradually beating out invasive non-native species.

So, kudos to Chris for making his yard eco-friendly. The city and the local wildlife appreciate it. And, if you like the idea of knocking 35% off your stormwater management fee by making your property more eco-friendly, visit the website (www.cleanriverrewards.com) or call 503-823-1371 to get started.

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My Statement on Council's Consideration of 30% TIF Set-Aside

Sam Adams — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:22:52 -0700

We are at a pivotal decision point in our collective and ongoing city-making and city-remaking responsibilities.

Depending on the choices we make, and how we spend tax increment financing, we can greatly influence affordability for perhaps the next two generations of Portland families.

Rarely have the stakes for Portlanders been higher.

The state legislature has been resistant to taking needed action on housing.

The current federal administration has made some phenomenally bad choices that now have them defunding many federal affordable housing programs.

In the FY 06-07 budget, we as a City Council backfilled some of the federal cuts on a one-time basis with local funds. But the City's General Fund cannot continue indefinitely to backfill all of these federal government affordable housing cuts.

State inaction and the federal government disinvestment in affordable hosing come at a very bad time for Portland - many local wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of living. We do not control things in Salem and we cannot immediately change the misadventures of the current federal administration, but until times get better with this nation's government, we must respond locally.

Are we going give in to gentrification or fight it? Are we going to be a city with a diverse range of incomes or are we going to be a city that hollowed out its middle class?

I know first hand that low-income families rarely make the leap to middle income status without getting help through tough times. And with this discussion about setting aside 30% citywide, we have the opportunity to municipally to actually do something to help poor families become middle income earners.

My approach is to raise the maximum indebtedness in increment districts where housing can be built to reach the 30% set aside. By raising the debt we do not raid projects already approved in each tax increment district. As always, if someone has a better idea, I look forward to hearing about it.

I want to thank Commissioner Erik Sten, Mayor Tom Potter, the Portland Development Commission and the Bureau of Housing and Community Development for shepherding this conversation. I look forward to the discussions ahead.

For more information about the proposal to set aside a percentage of urban renewal dollars, visit PDC's website. Read The Oregonian's coverage here.

BLOG: "I am the product of subsidized, affordable housing..."

Sam Adams — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:01:05 -0700

This is a summary of the comments I made at today's City Council meeting regarding the housing resolution that I co-sponsored with Commissioner Erik Sten:

I am the product of subsidized affordable housing.

My single Mom raised four wily and independent kids while she attended college. She was able to do so because of affordable housing programs and other public benefit programs we were fortunate enough to be eligible for.

But my co-sponsorship for this resolution is about more than honoring my roots.

I want change and results.

A recent in-depth study in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that about 30% of income earners in Multnomah County subsist as the working poor. This compares to about 20% in King and Snohomish counties. A recent Economist.com study ranked Portland as the 3rd least affordable city in the U.S. Why? Because our buying power as Portlanders just doesn't match up to our costs.

My co-sponsorship of this resolution is part of my overall mission to help boost the economic self-sufficiency of Portland’s families, and so is my support for:

• $10 million in new city government funding for local schools;

• new grants for neighborhood businesses districts; and,

• reforms to WSI, Inc., the organization that trains Portlanders to increase their earning power.

We can create more opportunities for our families to reach economic self-sufficiency by increasing their affordable housing options. This resolution is about those options.

This resolution begins a process that will require an informed discussion of stakeholders. It will identify opportunities and potential trade offs for the use of tax increment financing.

I look forward to being informed by this discussion.

Investing in Artists

Jesse Beason — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 22:49:27 -0800

As Sam points out, investing in the economic success of our local artists is more than buying public art. In recognizing that work/live space meets Portland's economic development and affordable housing goals, we began to meet with developers, non-profits and public agencies to figure out what were obstacles to work/live, what public resources are potential sources of investment, and what was the first step the City could do to ensure more creation of affordable work/live spaces.

We settled on a pilot project for new construction of work/live as a suitable aim. In December, we drafted a preliminary Request for Information (RFI) to solicit ideas from developers and non-profits interested in the endeavor. We hope to have a final RFI out by the end of February.

Related Documents

The draft RFI

Weblogs

Five Promises for the Arts

From Homelessness to Affordable Housing

Jesse Beason — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:21:31 -0800

To meet the growing demand for affordable housing in Portland, the City has continued to invest in community development corporations and other organizations providing affordable housing and implementing the City's 10 year plan to end homelessness. During the 2005-06 budget cycle, Commissioner Sten and Sam advocated for allocating budget savings and other one-time money totaling $2 million into the Housing Investment Fund. Sam has also instituted a waiver program on Bureau of Environmental Services' system development charges, resulting in $1 million savings for affordable housing development.

City Council Supports Plan for Urban Natives

Warren Jimenez — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 14:22:24 -0800

Today, City Council unanimously passed a resolution to support the Urban Indian Regional Strategic Plan “Restoring a Cultural System of Plenty” to reducing poverty in the Urban Native American population.

With funding provided by the Northwest Area Foundation, community members in Portland, Seattle, Rapid City, and Billings have been able to meet for 2 years to devise community generated strategies to reduce poverty in Urban American Indian/Alaskan Native communities. The resulting strategic plan has been submitted to the Northwest Area Foundation which will decide by December whether or not to fund this effort.

The Portland Urban Native community, organized as the Youth and Elders Council on Poverty Reduction, held over 30 meetings to generate discussion, problem-solving, and cultural unity. During this time, they conducted two rounds of community-based research, employing 9 young adults and reaching out to approximately 650 community members.

Over the course of this year, the Urban Native community has combined efforts with three other Urban Native community pilot sites and leaders to complete a 10-Year Strategic Plan to Reduce Poverty in an eight state region.

According to census data, 50% of American Indians and Alaskan Natives in Multnomah County live 200% below the poverty level. This strategic plan is a community based approach to empowering Natives and reducing poverty in the Urban Indian Communities.

BLOG: To 'TOD' or Not to 'TOD'?

Sam Adams — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:48:05 -0700

The Portland region helped pioneer the transit oriented development (TOD) concept with the construction of Pearl District, The Round and the emerging South Waterfront district.

What are the lessons learned?

How can we improve the TOD of the future?

The Pearl, Orenco and South Waterfront were built on nearly vacant or under utilized land: What about TOD-like projects in existing neighborhoods?

To help answer these questions, on third day of the Rail-Volution Conference here in Salt Lake, I attended at seminar titled,