Today is the 4th of July. yes, that's a national holiday and all that, it's true, but today the date stands out to me for a different reason. It was exactly two months ago that I posted my piece (see it here) promoting the idea of following Portland's lead and passing some protections for renters locally. In addition to writing about it here, I also sent the same information in to the Gazette-Times as a letter to the editor, and sent e-mail messages about it to our local (city and county) elected representatives.
As a quick refresher, Portland passed a set of rules to help protect renters. They extended the minimum notice for a no cause eviction or a raise in rent from 30 days to 90 days. These rules were challenged in court, and Portland won, so these are 100% legal approaches to take in Oregon. And, best of all, at least from the government's position, these rules won't cost them a thing.
So, again, these policies protect renters, and don't cost a thing. Why aren't we doing that here?
That was the basic thrust of my message on this topic. In two months time, our local governing bodies could have given public notice, taken public comment, and voted to put these protections in place.
But, in those two months they have done no such thing. They have ignored this issue, and, in the case of Benton County, aggressively gone the other way by pulling funds and support from the winter men's homeless shelter. (A move that was also done in a classic backroom-deal-with-no-public-oversight fashion.) Renters here continue to suffer in a market that is expensive, exploitative and often dehumanizing.
We can do better than that. We owe it to our fellow citizens to do better than that. I am at a total loss as to explain why our local "leaders" refuse to take such simple, cost-free actions to protect the people they are supposedly representing. Such reluctance to do the right and just thing will only make me work that much harder to win this election, and, if need be, push to get these things accomplished myself from the inside. It will be the first item on my to-do list when elected, because it's so obvious, and so simple.
It's just a shame that it continues to look like the renters of Benton County will have to continue to wait for their needs to be addressed. The current crop of elected officials could take this issue off the table by simply acting on it themselves. I wish they would do that. I really do.
Doubtlessly so do thousands of other renters, or, to use another name to describe them, voters.
As a quick refresher, Portland passed a set of rules to help protect renters. They extended the minimum notice for a no cause eviction or a raise in rent from 30 days to 90 days. These rules were challenged in court, and Portland won, so these are 100% legal approaches to take in Oregon. And, best of all, at least from the government's position, these rules won't cost them a thing.
So, again, these policies protect renters, and don't cost a thing. Why aren't we doing that here?
That was the basic thrust of my message on this topic. In two months time, our local governing bodies could have given public notice, taken public comment, and voted to put these protections in place.
But, in those two months they have done no such thing. They have ignored this issue, and, in the case of Benton County, aggressively gone the other way by pulling funds and support from the winter men's homeless shelter. (A move that was also done in a classic backroom-deal-with-no-public-oversight fashion.) Renters here continue to suffer in a market that is expensive, exploitative and often dehumanizing.
We can do better than that. We owe it to our fellow citizens to do better than that. I am at a total loss as to explain why our local "leaders" refuse to take such simple, cost-free actions to protect the people they are supposedly representing. Such reluctance to do the right and just thing will only make me work that much harder to win this election, and, if need be, push to get these things accomplished myself from the inside. It will be the first item on my to-do list when elected, because it's so obvious, and so simple.
It's just a shame that it continues to look like the renters of Benton County will have to continue to wait for their needs to be addressed. The current crop of elected officials could take this issue off the table by simply acting on it themselves. I wish they would do that. I really do.
Doubtlessly so do thousands of other renters, or, to use another name to describe them, voters.
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