Everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed in life. Providing that opportunity supports the health and economic well-being of our entire region and everyone who lives here. Yet, too many hard-working families must sacrifice putting food on the table in order to pay for a place to live. Seniors are forced to choose between medication or paying rent. Children’s grades suffer when they don’t have a stable place to do their homework. That’s why it is critical that Metro support regional affordable housing strategies.
While our region leads the nation in protecting open space, providing alternative transportation options, and protecting farm and forest land, not everyone shares the benefits of our quality of life. This is why we need a strategy that makes housing accessible and affordable throughout the region.
Today, and during this year’s legislative session, we have taken two steps to advance important regional housing strategies:
- This afternoon, the Metro Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting tax exemptions in Beaverton for nonprofits that build affordable housing. This policy enables more construction of housing that is affordable to working families, seniors, and people with disabilities so that they can better access jobs, schools and other services. I hope you will join me in thanking Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle for his work and leadership in forwarding this program.
- In my first days in office, I asked the Metro Council to support state legislation to ensure Section 8 housing would be available throughout the region (instead of predominantly in lower-income neighborhoods). The Metro Council supported and worked on the legislation. We helped to articulate the impact the new law would have on our ability to provide housing throughout the Portland area. House Speaker Tina Kotek and many others did a tremendous job in leading the passage of this legislation!
Until everyone has stable housing as the foundation to build a successful life, we still have a lot of work to do. Yesterday, we kicked off Metro’s Equity Committee. I’m optimistic that these key leaders from around the region will help us identify additional strategies to address disparities in poverty and race to make our region equitable for everyone who lives here.
If you have ideas to share or would like to help I would be happy to hear from you.