PUBLIC HOUSING = MEANS TEST + GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIY + RENTAL AGREEMENT
ALL Public Housing is controlled by government.
The city of Portland, Multnomah county, the Housing Authority of Portland and the state of Oregon control the administration of the annual expenditure of $200,000,000 on 50 to 60 thousand public housing clients in Multnomah county.
The mayor of Portland has the singular statutory authority over the Housing Authority of Portland and the Portland Bureau of Housing.
The current mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, has refused to exercise his responsibility to hold the Housing Authority of Portland and the Portland Bureau of Housing accountable to the taxpayers by providing authentic, accurate, complete and timely Public Housing Statistical Data.
Contrary to the official published location policy goals of the Portland Bureau of Housing, the city of Portland, Multnomah county, the Housing Authority of Portland and the state of Oregon support the discredited and abhorrent policy of UNLIMITED neighborhood concentration of Public Housing.
Richard Ellmyer and many groups and individuals support the only moral, legitimate, defensible and fair public housing policy, namely, Equitable Distribution of Public Housing.
Public Housing is a regional issue. All Public Housing agencies in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties should be under the control of the Metro Regional Government following a policy of Equitable Distribution of Public Housing throughout the region.
Mayor Adams And HAP Chair Moore Push Public Records Law Flaw To Its Limit - Add Cops To New Columbia 8/16/10
Exploiting an unintentional loophole in the Oregon Public Records Law, Portland mayor Sam Adams and his subordinate, Housing Authority of Portland Chair Lee Moore, continue to legally ignore a public records request made on July 1st (see below). Members of the Oregon legislature who will consider Attorney General Kroger's admirable proposals to repair the deteriorating Public Records Law next session should pay close attention to this example of contempt and failure.
Mayor Adams Quietly Convenes New Columbia/Portsmouth/North Portland Public Safety Meeting July 22 - 7/19/10
Violence at Columbia Villa, renamed New Columbia, has always had a chilling affect on the quality of life in North Portland since before is was the scene of Oregon's first drive by killing. The recent shootings, one fatal, at New Columbia continues to reenforce the highly undesirable impression that North Portland is a dangerous place to live and do business.
Mayor Adams/HAP Ignore Public Records Request Made On Behalf Of Portland Police Officer 7/15/10
Portland's mayor Sam Adams has sanctioned the Housing Authority of Portland to ignore a request for Public Housing Statistical Data made by Richard Ellmyer on behalf of Portland police sergeant Willie Halliburton (see below) for two weeks, taking advantage of the major flaw in what has become known as the "Keep Oregon Records From The Public Law" that allows jurisdictions to indefinitely ignore requests for public information thereby preventing county district attorney's and the Oregon Attorney General from enforcing the law.
Public Records Request On Behalf Of Portland Police Officer Willie Halliburton 7/1/10
Portland police officer Willie Halliburton has engaged me in a public conversation regarding the quantity and kind of HAP clients at New Columbia and elsewhere* . To advance this public debate I am making, on officer Willie Halliburton's behalf, the following Public Records request:
Murder At New Columbia Exposes HAP And Government Failures 6/28/10
The multiple failures of our governments’ social engineering experiment at New Columbia were exposed at a hastily called public meeting by mayor Adams on June 24, 2010. About 250 citizens, politicos, bureaucrats and police officers gathered to speak to each other about the recent shootings, one fatal, in New Columbia which is located in but not an integrated part of North Portland’s Portsmouth neighborhood.
South Waterfront Merely The Tip Of The PUBLIC HOUSING ICEBERG 6/12/10
The flap over PUBLIC Housing in the South Waterfront neighborhood is merely the tip of the PUBLIC HOUSING ICEBERG. We taxpayers spend about $200,000,000 annually in Multnomah county on PUBLIC Housing which requires MEANS TEST + GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY + RENTAL AGREEMENT and is COMPLETELY CONTROLLED BY OUR GOVERNMENTS.
Portland, Gresham, Multnomah Co. Reject Barak Obama's New Public Housing Plan 6/7/10
The Obama administration, through the Housing and Urban Development department, has proposed new sweeping changes to national PUBLIC Housing policy. The “Preservation, Enhancement, and Transformation of Rental Assistance Act of 2010”, PETRA*, is now before the U.S. congress. Elected officials from Portland, Gresham and Multnomah county and its candidates Karol Collymore (protege of Jeff Cogen) and Loretta Smith (protege of Ron Wyden) have indicated their united opposition.
Serving The Interests Of Your Jurisdictions With Online, Real Time Statistical Data 4/26/10
HAP's policy and spending decisions, made while imposing self-inflicted ignorance of HAP's Public Housing Statistical Data and building barricades to keep taxpayers, elected officials and candidates for public office from accessing that same Public Housing Statistical Data, are wrong, indefensible and unsustainable.
Non-Denial Denials, Exorbitant Fees Make Public Records Law Almost Useless 4/21/10
I urge the only government body that confirms HAP’s board and the mayor of Portland, the only elected official with the statutory authority to nominate and dismiss HAP’s board, to accept your inherent, commensurate responsibilities of oversight and accountability over those unelected, unvetted citizens who YOU have given the power to make public policy affecting the lives of 700,000 citizens of Multnomah county and annually spend more the 80 million dollars of taxpayer money.
The Objective First Amendment And The Subjective Value Of Trust And Respect 3/30/10
The fact that Mike Schrunk may send flowers to his mother on Mother's Day, is congenial with fellow DA's at state bar functions or has a high rate of success prosecuting criminals is totally irrelevant to the Multnomah County District Attorney's legally binding decisions regarding specific Oregon Public Records Law requests.
HAP Makes A Fool Of DA Mike Schrunk. Nonexistent Records Miraculously Appear - For A Price 3/24/10
As a candidate for the North Portland House seat I have proposed legislation that would set an annual income for a one person household of $30,000 as the maximum allowed to enter and remain a public housing client in Oregon. I seek statistical data revealing the number of one person households that currently exceed an annual income of $30,000 in order to have a conversation with voters on this subject.
Sunshine Week NOT Celebrated In Oregon 3/19/10
Oregon is one of very few states in which not a single member of the Oregon press corps nor a single Oregon attorney has volunteered to be a state coordinator. So the question arises: Is open government and freedom of information a value of Oregon's ruling class or not?
DA Mike Schrunk Neuters Public Records Law In Multnomah County - Sets Statewide Precedent 3/15/10
Schrunk has singlehandedly thwarted the Oregon Public Records Law and its spirit of encouraging citizens to actively participate in their government by helping to hold public institutions accountable and make transparent their otherwise hidden activities.
Who Is Defending Uniform Interpretation Of The Oregon Public Records Law? 3/11/10
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk's ignorant, misguided, prejudicial, indeed, perverted, albeit legally binding, interpretation of the legislature's intent is tantamount to a revocation of the Oregon Public Records Law in Multnomah county.
Mayor Sam Adams Betrays His Oath Of Office And North Portland Voters 3/10/10
Oregon law gives singular control of HAP through the power to dismiss board members to the mayor of Portland. This power REQUIRES that the mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, monitor and hold accountable the HAP board for every policy decision and the annual spending of their $80,000,000 budget. In this JOB REQUIREMENT mayor Sam Adams has miserably failed.
Mult. Co. DA Mike Schrunk Decrees Housing Authority Of Portland ABOVE THE LAW 3/8/10
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk has joined the ill fated former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, in making an end-of-career public pronouncement that exposes him as either a fool or a liar or both. Powell destroyed his credibility by unequivocally asserting the massing of large quantities of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq requiring a march to preemptive war. Schrunk destroyed his credibility by unequivocally asserting that the Housing Authority of Portland is above the law and therefore exempt from the Oregon Public Records Law.
Mult. Co. Asst. DA John Hoover Petculant After Competence Challenge 3/3/10
In a fit of pique Mult. Co. Asst. DA John Hoover threatened retaliation against a candidate for the North Portland House seat, Richard Ellmyer, because Ellmyer challenged Hoover's competency to professionally judge a public records request from the Housing Authority of Portland.
If YOU Don't Hold HAP Accountable Then Who Will? 2/6/10
The Housing Authority of Portland is OUT OF CONTROL. It is NOT ACCOUNTABLE to Anyone.
We have a situation where a public employee, Steve Rudman, paid by taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $190,000 per year in salary and benefits, who singularly controls the spending of about $80,000,000 in public funds and directs public policies that affect about 33,000 HAP clients and 700,000 citizens of Multnomah county.
Ellmyer Confronts Portland Over Coverups Of Bad Policy, Disrespect And Incompetence - 2/3/10
All of you accept mayor Adams’ indefensible, foolish and slightly nutty assertion that there is NO PUBLIC housing in Portland only affordable housing.
None of you are prepared to try and correct the imbalance between 77% qualified students for the free lunch program at the Roosevelt school cluster and 9% at the Lincoln school cluster which is primarily caused by deliberately overloading North Portland with public housing clients.
Ellmyer Confronts Gresham Over Coverups Of Bad Policy, Disrespect And Incompetence - 2/2/10
All of you support Portland’s mayor Adams’ policy of UNLIMITED neighborhood concentration of public housing.
None of you have requested nor do you have an interest in statistical data that would inform you about the total number and the neighborhood location of every public housing client in Multnomah county. With the approval of the Gresham city council, member David Widmark, who is also a HAP commissioner has denied your constituents information important to public decision making and the quality of life in Gresham neighborhoods.
Ellmyer Challenges Metro To Run Regional Public Housing Agencies 1/28/10
Gretchen Kafoury, who was on the legislative committee that wrote the original Metro charter, recently reminded me that public housing was included as a regional issue but somehow fell off Metro’s agenda. I am here today to request your support for putting it back on.
Ellmyer Confronts School Board Over Withholding Data And Enrollment Diversity 1/26/10
Despite the PPS board's best efforts to thwart citizen participation by making those who signed up to testify wait THREE HOURS for their three minutes I finally got to speak. Here's what I learned while patiently waiting my turn listening to schoolspeak.
Ellmyer Confronts Multnomah County Over Coverups Of Bad Policy, Disrespect And Incompetence - 1/21/10
My name is Richard Ellmyer. I am a candidate for the North Portland House seat in the May Democratic Primary. On December 28 I sent you a request for Public Housing Statistical Data which I mentioned was intended to be used as a basis for discussion with voters during my campaign for public office. Despite my admonition that time was of the essence for 24 days of my campaign you have not provided me or the voters with any one of the four separate reports I requested.
Ellmyer Confronts HAP Over Coverups Of Bad Policy, Disrespect And Incompetence - 1/20/10
My name is Richard Ellmyer. I am a candidate for the North Portland House seat in the May Democratic Primary. On December 11 I sent you a request for Public Housing Statistical Data which I mentioned was intended to be used as a basis for discussion with voters during my campaign for public office. Despite my admonition that time was of the essence for 39 days of my campaign you have not provided me or the voters with any one of the four separate reports I requested.