Nick Fish Unveils Portland's First Fair Housing Plan

Portland Mercury:

Illustration by Victor KerlowPromising to smack troglodyte landlords with a cudgel—or just the rulebook, when warranted— Commissioner Nick Fish today unveiled what he repeatedly called a "bold and comprehensive" strategy for tackling housing discrimination in Portland. The plan by the Portland Housing Bureau, weeks in the works, follows intense publicity and consternation over a recent housing audit—a first for the city—in which 2/3 of would-be rental applicants reported facing discrimination. Those landlord names have since been forwarded to state authorities for further investigation. It comes as Portland completes a citywide review of "housing impediments," required every five years to keep the city eligible for federal grants. Fish mustered a show of support for the plan in a city hall press conference, bringing in both tenant and landlord advocates, but also heavy hitter from government: Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, and Michael Trasviña, assistant secretary of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Under the plan, expected to head before Portland City Council this summer, the bureau would begin paying for regular testing of rental properties, with a pledge to report those results at least annually. Fish also persuaded the Metro Multifamily Housing Association, the state's largest landlord advocacy group, to begin its own testing regimen, with those results also to be made public. A panel would be created to ride herd on both the city and Multnomah County. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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