From his mayor’s city council chair in January 2005 Tom Potter announced that he would fulfill his campaign promise to require the Housing Authority of Portland to account for its client base by producing authentic, accurate, complete and timely public housing statistical data for their 33,000 clients. Two months later Tom Potter reneged on his commitment, actively prevented access to HAP’s public data and refused to meet, discuss or even use the words PUBLIC HOUSING for the rest of his term in office.

Every decision and vote related to housing in four years made by Tom Potter supported the discredited and abhorrent public policy of UNLIMITED neighborhood concentration of public housing and rejected equitable distribution of pubic housing as the policy overwhelmingly endorsed by the voters and taxpayers of Portland.

Every nomination to the HAP board and the Portland Development Commission made by Potter supported the discredited and abhorrent public policy of UNLIMITED neighborhood concentration of public housing and rejected equitable distribution of pubic housing as the policy overwhelmingly endorsed by the voters and taxpayers of Portland.

Tom Potter voted for the PDC 30% Urban Renewal Area housing set aside resolution which allocated more than 90% of more than a hundred million taxpayer dollars to PUBLIC HOUSING and yet never used the words PUBLIC HOUSING anywhere in the document.

Tom Potter never cared enough to learn the big difference between PUBLIC housing and Affordable housing.

PUBLIC Housing = Means Test + Government Subsidy + Rental Agreement

PUBLIC Housing is TOTALLY controlled by government which is accountable to taxpayers and voters.

AFFORDABLE  Housing = What is "affordable" to any individual or household. For example, a 1.3 million dollar home in Portland's west hills was "affordable" to former Portland city commissioner Erik Sten but NOT affordable to any client of the Housing Authority of Portland and any other Housing Authority. Affordable housing includes both rental and for sale property and does NOT REQUIRE government subsidy or supervision.

Tom Potter’s sad and pathetic legacy leaves weighty evidence of his conscious propensity towards public housing policy decisions that lead to short term economic segregation and long term low-income housing ghetto building.

Tom Potter will not be missed by those of us who support the moral, reasonable and defensible public policy of Equitable Distribution Of Public Housing.


Richard Ellmyer