By Joanne Zuhl, Staff Writer
Housing Commissioner Nick Fish rolled out his fair housing action plan this morning in reaction to an audit earlier this year that found considerable discrimination against renters of color.
Durring the special forum in City Hall, Fish was flanked by John Trasvina, the assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD, and Brad Avakian, Commissioner of Labor and Industries for Oregon, or BOLI, which is the lead inforcement agency on fair housing violations. BOLI is currently reviewing the test results of the housing audit commissioned by the city that showed a discrimination rate of 60 percent among rental units tested. The audit, conducted by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon and released in February, was the first such audit commissioned to determine barriers to housing.
The plan announced today packages education and outreach efforts with enforcement priorities and regular testing. It includes streamlining the intake and referral process, in collaboration with many organizations and government agencies.
“What it says is that in Portland, we will not tolerate discrimination and we are going to do something about it,” Fish said.
The plan follows the recommendations of the Fair Housing Committee's Analysis to Impediments report. It emphasizes enforcement efforts, which Fish has been attacked for being lax after the report was first released. Today’s article in The Oregonian implies that Fish’s office didn’t have any enforcement intentions prior to the story going public in May, and that the audit showing discrimination was given in advance to a landlord representative on the Fair Housing Advisory Committee in an effort to help them craft their response.
After the forum, Fish responded to the allegations.
“I announced in May that we intended to pursue enforcement of the fair housing laws against landlords identified in the audit. We then took concrete steps to act on our commitment, including referring all the evidence of discrimination to BOLI for further action. Our deeds matched our words.”
Fish also countered the suggestion that the Metro Multifamily Housing Association, which represents landlords, had preferential treatment.
“No landlords received any preferential treatment during the Fair Housing committee process,” Fish said. “The Fair Housing Council gave MMHA a copy of the audit test results a day or two before a scheduled committee meeting. The intent was to avoid surprise and encourage a united response to the data. Later, during Fair Housing Month, my housing bureau solicited a quote from MMHA for a press release, designed to capture their commitment to ending discrimination in rental housing."
"We have always believed that landlord associations could play a vital role going forward in ending discrimination, and treated them as a partner in our work," Fish said.
While the city isn’t the enforcement agency, Fish says they will now conduct annual fair housing audits and refer all results to the Civil Rights Division of BOLI for further action. Those test will be expanded from the initial one conducted in February, and will test for more protected classes, including people with disabilities, which make up the bulk of fair housing complaints filed with the state.
All of this would be overseen by a new Fair Housing Advocacy Committee, which will review data on rental processes, and ensure that reports and complaints are sent to BOLI for enforcement.
The other cornerstone of the plan is outreach and education, on both the behalf of renters and landlords to make sure both understand their rights and responsiblities.
Daryl Dixon, the chief Diversity and Equity officer with Multnomah County, addressed the forum to say while the 60 percent rate of discrimination in the fair housing audit might have been alarming to some, it was not to him or others who work in the field. “What was alarming was the response on the city’s part,” Dixon said.
Repeatedly, reference was made to changing the “hearts and minds” of those violating fair housing laws, but again, Dixon was critical of taking a soft approach, recalling a history of civil rights efforts to combat racism. “You need to enforce the law,” he said, adding that information on rental rates and vacancies should be made public so renters might have a better detection that they are being discriminated against.
Housing advocates speaking at the forum lent their support, and offered suggestions moving forward. Among them was a push to allow inclusionary zoning in Oregon, Oregon currently being one of only two states that has a ban on the local planning tool.
Many people speaking at the forum gave anecdotal evidence of their own experience with discrimination, often around issues of disability and retaliation for filing complaints against landlords.
The plan also projects long-term efforts efforts to secure additional funds for affordable housing for low-income and vulnerable populations.
Look for more on the fair housing plan in upcoming posts and in the next edition of Street Roots.