Francesconi, Potter and Leonard Ignore Public Housing Issues 4/12/04

We no longer rely on a page in the Voter's Pamphlet and a postcard from candidates to tell us where they stand on the issues. A candidate's web site can and should now tell us everything we need to know to make an informed choice.

Would you vote for candidates that refused to tell you how they intended to spend $217,500,000 of your money? (That's how much the Bureau of Housing [$51.8 million], the Portland Development Commission [$75.7 million] and the Housing Authority of Portland [$90 million] will spend this year on public housing.)*

Those seeking public office MUST address the issue of government accountability for setting public housing policy goals and the expenditure of tax dollars to accomplish those goals. Both of the candidates for mayor and one candidate for portland city council have failed to do so. Why is that? If they are either unwilling or afraid to address the major budgetary and moral issue of public housing then why do they want to run for public office? And why should we consider voting for them?

Tom Potter: http://www.tomformayor.org/
Jim Francesconi: http://www.jimfrancesconiformayor.com/
Analysis: Grade F
There is no excuse for this. They both have had plenty of time to think about, write about and upload their thoughts to their web sites. [I made a special point of telling each candidate on April 5th that I would be writing about whatever I found on their web sites relating to public housing on April 10th] Shame on both of you for belittling and dismissing the issue of public housing policy.


Sam Adams: http://www.samforpdx.com/build_more_affordable_housing.htm
Analysis: Grade A
"None of us want to overload any one neighborhood with too much low-income housing to the point that we have concentrated pockets of poverty in Portland.  We need to have measures in place to insure that this doesn’t happen."

Once again Sam Adams shows the value of his experience and the power of his mind to solve problems. Sam's thinking on the subject of public housing is so clear, so articulate, so well reasoned, so committed that he towers above his competition. Bravo! Bravo! Bravissimo!


Nick Fish: http://www.gofish2004.com/archives/000269.html#Link3
Analysis: Grade D
Nick Fish makes a lot of promises, takes a lot of credit but never mentions accountability. Of course he can't. Fish supported former HAP Chair Howard Shapiro's arrogant unreasonable rejection of neighborhood map based accounting of HAP clients in favor of an indefensible zip code plan. Fish failed to acknowledge his role as HAP VP in HAP's programs that were in direct contravention of Portland's public housing policy which advocates distribution not concentration of public housing clients. Dozens of HAP commentaries found here, http://goodgrowthnw.org show a multitude of failures while Fish was HAP VP.

Fish lied to Oregonian reporter Renee Mitchell about his support for neighborhood map based accounting which sunk his credibility. He takes credit for things he exercised little influence upon and conveniently ignored things like his failure, as a HAP commissioner and lawyer to stop HAP's lengthy and numerous zoning code violations at Columbia Villa which included at least one official citation. VP Fish and his board sanctioned the illegal behavior and ignored the citation. As VP, Nick Fish sanctioned the sending of HAP staff to the Planning Commission to establish ten acres of seventy at Columbia Villa with business zoning. Fish's staff had no idea where the ten acres would go nor did they care that establishing a ten acre business zone at Columbia Villa would be antagonistic to the interests of Kenton, St. John's/ Lombard plans and business districts. The Planning Commission came close to laughing them out of the room for professional incompetence, unpreparedness and an outrageous proposal. Any private developer making such a pitch would have been cut off and "thrown out of the building" for wasting the Commission's time.

Nick doesn't mention his approval to falsify the HOPE VI grant submitted to HUD by listing a financial commitment by Multnomah County of $3,758,500 for a branch library to be sited at Columbia Villa which was never budgeted nor sanctioned by the Multnomah county commission and opposed by the local library citizens committee that spent years working on the issue.

Nick doesn't mention misleading the public by approving the publishing in HAP's newsletter and in the official Hope VI grant revision of December 20, 2002, a set aside of 4 acres and a rudimentary proposal for a new elementary school at Columbia Villa at HAP's initiative without commitment or funding from the Portland Public Schools.

Nick doesn't mention his willingness to suppress from the HOPE VI proposal submitted to HUD a letter dated June 9, 2001 from the North Portland Business Association which refused to endorse the Housing Authority of Portland's Hope VI plan.

Nick doesn't mention his approval for HAP's deceitful tactics (mentioned in the NPBA letter) to unnaturally extend the Interstate Light Rail Corridor Urban Renewal District about three miles west of Interstate Avenue in order to HAP claim that Columbia Villa was within an Urban Renewal District so that it would get extra points at HUD not money from the ILRCURD. Of course, the minute HAP won its designation it reneged on its promise and asked for "a money allotment for street improvements." Then a bit later HAP came back a second time "asking for money for infrastructure improvements."

Nick doesn't mention his failure to secure free methane from the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant which could have been used for generating electric power, heat, hot water or steam across the street at Columbia Villa.

Nick doesn't mention his failure to secure free recycled water from the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant which could have been used on vegetation across the street at Columbia Villa.

Nick doesn't mention his failure to investigate utility sharing options such as those used by motels, hotels and large buildings which could have been used in planning the Columbia Villa remodel.

Nick doesn't mention his failure to have not a single one of the hundreds of structures to be built at Columbia Villa evaluated for ecological and environmental soundness by The United States Green Building Council, PGE or other third parties.

Nick doesn't mention taking responsibility for building the highest concentration, 230 units, of "chubby" houses (HAP made 50'x50' "chubby" lots instead of 25'x100' so they couldn't be accused of building "skinny" houses) in Multnomah county.

Nick doesn't mention that he is responsible for setting the price of for sale homes in the $140,000 to $175,000 at Columbia Villa when the Portland Planning Commission, the Portland Planning Bureau and the St. Johns/Lombard plan have identified the need to increase buying power in the Portsmouth neighborhood which would be accomplished by selling homes in the $200,000 to $250,000 range not the anti-business, anti-neighborhood, artificially low figures Fish supported.

Nick doesn't mention that the Portsmouth neighborhood has the highest number of HAP clients of all 117 neighborhoods in HAP's jurisdiction, Multnomah county, and that his "work" on the Columbia Villa remodel plan will maintain or increase those numbers when completed.

Nick Fish's web site comments on public housing and his tenure at HAP are full of self-serving campaign rhetoric but fail to discuss HAP's ongoing practice of concentrating its clients in a few select neighborhoods (10% of the 117 neighborhoods in Multnomah county house 26% of HAP clients) or his dismal public record as a citizen volunteer warming a seat on the HAP board while awaiting his chance to run for public office.


Paul Leistner: http://www.leistnerforcitycouncil.com/affordablehousing.html
Analysis: Grade A
" I support the City’s goals to distribute affordable housing services and opportunities throughout the community. The concentration of affordable housing do not well serve the households receiving the services or the general community. To measure the success of this strategy, HAP and other agencies must track the geographic distribution of affordable housing and make this information available to the public in a format that allows people to meaningfully understand and comment on the policies. To this end, I support providing this information according to formal neighborhood association boundaries."

Paul Leistner's web site comments regarding public housing are an excellent example of "good thinking leads to good writing." Paul's positions, like those of Sam Adams, are also clear, articulate, and well reasoned. Paul also towers above his competition on this issue. Bravo! Bravo! Bravissimo!


Randy Leonard: http://www.randyleonard.com/
Analysis: Grade F
We know that Randy Leonard is very good at bullying and harassing city employees, neighborhood leaders and citizen volunteers on the Planning Commission but it's not clear if he can throw his mind around as well as his weight. Leonard's site it completely devoid of Leonard's thoughts on public housing and everything else.

Randy did send me a very short personal email that mentioned some of his thoughts on public housing such as, "affordable housing is important to people's lives." No argument there. But so what? Randy is concerned that I will misrepresent his position on public housing policy. Well I have just the solution for you Randy. Write down your positions on public housing policy issues and then post them on your campaign web site and your official city commissioner's site for everyone to read.

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