Emails with city officials raise questions about what is and isn’t lobbying
Sam Adams, then-director of strategy and innovation for Mayor Ted Wheeler, professed optimism in an interview with the newly minted Revitalize Portland Coalition, or RPC, published summer 2022. Adams expressed excitement at working with the RPC, one of the latest groups pushing to kick-start the downtown economy, in the brief Q&A.
“I think this is my (fourth) time to do something like this over the years — so I’ve seen it come back,” Adams wrote in reference to downtown revitalization efforts. “And it is with these partnerships with folks like you that it happens more quickly and in a more enduring, beneficial manner.”
The collegial mood of the conversation is something familiar in Portland, a city in which business influences loom large and elected officials maintain close ties to the business community. It’s also a place where the line between special interest groups and community is often blurred.
While the RPC — a “real estate collective” boasting membership from groups like Schnitzer Properties and Multifamily Northwest — has been in contact with city officials advocating for specific policies to address the city's core challenges, Street Roots found the RPC isn’t registered as a lobby group.
Street Roots obtained hundreds of emails between Commissioner Dan Ryan, his staff and a handful of business interests via public records requests. A Street Roots analysis shows how these business interests can sway elected officials’ decisions. Even though they aren’t violating lobbying rules, the correspondence sheds light on vulnerabilities in oversight.
According to city code, lobbying means “attempting to influence the official action of City officials,” an effort that includes time spent preparing emails and letters, talking with officials and funds spent on grassroots or indirect lobbying that encourages others to lobby city officials, though the particulars of lobbying and violations are granular.
The first in a series examining the relationship between business interests and local government, this article examines interactions demonstrating an effort to influence decision-making — some fitting into the category of lobbying, and some falling outside the parameters.
Revitalize Portland Coalition
The Revitalize Portland Coalition is a “real estate collective” backed by real estate mogul Jordan Schnitzer, aiming to “engage with elected officials and policymakers as well as the commercial real estate community, media and the general public” around homelessness, housing, crime, safety, economy and public image.
The RPC is yet another special interest group devoted to renewing downtown Portland through investment and addressing homelessness. As reported in the Portland Business Journal, Schnitzer hand-picked new executive director Erik Cole to lead the revitalization charge. Cole previously served as director for the mayor’s office of economic opportunity and empowerment in Nashville, Tennessee, and later chief resilience officer for the city of Nashville.
According to an Aug. 25, 2022 email, Cole met Ryan at a dinner party hosted by local musician and cultural figure Thomas Lauderdale. In the email, Cole told Ryan “a few members of our Coalition leadership” were interested in talking with him, and requested a meeting.
On Oct. 5, 2022, Ryan met with Cole, board chair Kara Unger, public image committee chair Evan Bernstein, and Kelly Ross, RPC founder. Ross also serves as executive director of NAIOP, a commercial real estate development association that refers to itself as the “strongest unified advocacy voice for commercial real estate in the region through strong relationships with elected officials,” on it’s website. Bernstein served as president of NAIOP at the time of the meeting.
On Oct. 18, 2022, Cole emailed Terri Theisen, the city’s permitting improvement strategy manager, CC’ing Bernstein, inquiring about city permit changes and requesting a quote from Ryan for the upcoming RPC newsletter. Though Bernstein was linked to RPC operations in the email, he was CC’d in his capacity as a representative for a property management company, PNW Properties.
“Could we find a time to follow up with you on the permitting process work?” Cole said. “Please use RPC as a resource as you work on your permitting process work. As I mentioned, we are waiting on the results of the comparative study RPC commissioned on permitting processes (comparing Portland to a handful of other municipalities).”
Theisen responded with some details about a “Permit Improvement Project” and extended an invitation to Cole to meet up and share information.
“The Permit Improvement Project will have a number of important and hopefully compelling updates in early to mid-November, including project capacity growth and the results of our second annual customer survey,” Theisen said. “Working with you on how best to share this information in a way that is pragmatic and relevant to your stakeholders would be wonderful and welcome. Perhaps we could find a time to meet the first week of November?”
The RPC is not yet registered as a lobby group. In response to questions from Street Roots, Cole said the referenced RPC communications took place early in the establishment of the organization, whose efforts weren’t underway until Summer 2022.
“Yeah, what it was, the organization was kind of getting off the ground,” Cole said. “Those were initial communications and introductions. And so since that time, we were going to commit more fully to this effort so that we will get registered now.”
Cole confirmed the RPC intends to register as a lobby group.
“We have a group of folks that are looking at a variety of quality of life issues in the city, and we'll want to talk to elected officials about it,” Cole said.
Multifamily Northwest
Street Roots identified three instances of communication between Ryan and Multifamily Northwest, a residential property association and lobby group headquartered in Tigard. The group is also a member of the aforementioned RPC.
On July 14, 2021, Multifamily Northwest representatives, including Michael Havlik, deputy executive director, invited Ryan and other city employees to a Zoom meeting. In an email with the subject line “Multifamily Northwest,” political lobbyist Molly McGrew requested a meeting to discuss “some major issues that are going on with OHCS (Oregon Housing and Community Services).”
“The state is looking at losing millions of dollars because of the slow roll of rental assistance, and they are not going to make the September 30th deadline,” McGrew wrote.
Notably, McGrew requests to resume a regular meeting schedule.
“We need to set up monthly meetings again, asap (sic) please,” McGrew wrote.
Street Roots reviewed Multifamily Northwest lobby disclosures for 2020, 2021 and 2022 — spanning the window of time since Ryan took office — and found only one report disclosing any meetings at all. In this instance, five communications with city officials are disclosed, all taking place in March 2020.
City regulations require lobbying entities to report lobbying activities if they surpass eight hours or $1,000 in spending within a quarter. Theoretically, monthly meetings could fall below this time threshold, allowing lobby groups regular unreported communication with officials.
Two other interactions found in emails, a July 30, 2022 Zoom meeting with Havlik and an Oct. 28, 2022 email regarding information disseminated by the Community Alliance of Tenants, or CAT, were not disclosed in lobby reports, which is not necessarily a violation.
In the unreported Oct. 28, 2022 email, Havlik approached Ryan in a bid to have the city intervene regarding advice CAT dispensed to tenants. The email states CAT informed renters they were not required to disclose confirmation of rental assistance with their landlords until an eviction notice is issued.
“Correct information at the outset of processing dramatically speeds the delivery of assistance. I wanted to share with you the counterproductive instruction CAT is providing to tenants,” Havlik said. “We can’t condone recommending this information be concealed until termination is commenced. Hiding the fact a tenant has applied for help guarantees more eviction filings, more acrimony and more uncertainty.”
Havlik goes on to say housing providers are more likely to refrain from court processes if they know a tenant is seeking help paying their rent.
“The City of Portland funds CAT extensively, and I thought you’d be interested in their messaging,” Havlik said.
Gary Fisher, deputy director of Multifamily Northwest, told Street Roots Multifamily Northwest requested monthly meetings with Ryan at the height of the pandemic to discuss rental assistance and other pandemic consequences, but never established a permanent meeting schedule with Ryan.
“As housing providers in the city of Portland, we do request meetings from time to time when there are issues of particular impact to Portland renters and housing providers before the council — like the efficient distribution of rental assistance, addressing anemic housing production, and other things that cause the housing instability we’re seeing across the city,” Fisher said.
Fisher said meetings with city commissioners typically “never last more than 30 to 45 minutes.”
“Multifamily NW staff diligently reports all lobbying efforts at the city of Portland on a regular basis and is compliant with the laws and regulations set by the city,” Fisher said. “Through scheduling and participating in meetings with Commissioner Ryan or his staff, we have not crossed the threshold that would require reporting our time or resources spent.”
Portland Business Alliance
The Portland Business Alliance, or PBA, a trade group functioning as Portland’s supercharged chamber of commerce, is one of the most influential special interest groups in the city.
In 2021, the city auditor’s office found PBA committed 25 lobbying violations. Violations typically entail a lobby group failing to report its communications with officials. The auditor’s office can issue a fine of up to $3,000 for each violation, with a maximum penalty of $75,000. The Portland Business Alliance was fined $450 total for the violations.
The alliance has continued robust lobbying efforts. Lobby reports show dozens of communications between PBA and city officials every quarter on a range of subjects.
In one instance, Jon Isaacs, PBA executive director, emailed Kellie Torres, Ryan’s chief of staff, on Sept. 19, 2022, thanking her for a meeting. In the email, Isaacs sent bulleted notes intended for Ryan to ask regarding proposed tax reforms, items 772 and 773, at an upcoming City Council meeting.
“Here are the suggested questions for the Commissioner to ask for items 772 and 773 on Wednesday:
- I want to make sure I am understanding what you are telling us — these technical changes will align our rules and the way we calculate our business tax obligations with the State’s rules and calculations? And we are doing this because it will make it simpler and more convenient for Portland businesses and your team to file returns. Is that correct?
- And I’m also hearing you say that this will make our business taxes more friendly to our local employer community by shifting some of the burden from businesses located in our city to businesses located outside of our city? Is that also correct?
- And finally, I want to make sure I am reading this right — this will, at a minimum, not impact revenues, but if we have the same experience the State has had we may actually see revenue increase because we will be capturing economic activity that we were not capturing before from companies outside the city. Is that also correct?”
Isaacs also included a talking point intended for Ryan.
“Talking point — it is so refreshing to see our city collaborate with our local employer community to just make our system more customer friendly and more favorable to businesses who choose to locate themselves in Portland," Isaacs suggested Ryan say during the meeting. "And with no risk to revenue — and perhaps even a benefit — this is one of the best proposals we have had come before us during my time here on the council. I’m also excited to hear that our other two local government partners — Multnomah County and Metro — will be doing the same. This is honest to goodness good government. Thank you for the work of Director Lannan and the revenue bureau team.”
According to footage of the City Council meeting, Ryan did not ask the outlined questions or refer to the talking point.
T.J. McHugh, a policy advisor for Ryan, told Street Roots PBA, Multifamily Northwest and RPC don’t have more sway than other constituents.
“Commissioner Ryan meets with a diverse array of Portlanders, including non-profits, community leaders, government partners, advocacy groups, public officials, volunteers, and businesses,” McHugh said. “To say one group has more influence than another is a mischaracterization of his leadership.”
A low burden of proof
While Portland is unique among cities in the state for having regulatory requirements for lobbying groups, the system for monitoring is underfunded, said Jake Weigler, a partner at the consulting firm Praxis Political. Portland’s lobbying regulation program, established in 2005, is largely driven by complaints.
“I think it points to a larger flaw in the system that almost all oversight occurs through a complaint-driven process,” Weigler said. “There's just not the capacity within government to be taking a global view of these conversations and kind of looking over people's shoulder and making sure they're doing it right unless there's a complaint or specific issue that arises.”
This lack of oversight, Weigler said, leads to inconsistency on the part of lobbyists.
“Some people are very proactive in registering to make sure that there are no problems that arise,” Weigler said. “And others are more willing to, either through not understanding the rules or an intentional decision, kind of trying to fly under the radar. And there's not necessarily accountability for that unless a particular issue arises.”
Becky Lamboley, interim elections officer in the Portland City Auditor’s office, said staff reviews reports as they are submitted and collectively at the close of a quarter.
“Outliers are noted and reviewed but do not always constitute a violation,” Lamboley said. “Where appropriate, our office may initiate investigations and request documentation or other evidence relevant to the investigation.”
The burden of proof for lobbying disclosures is low. In initial filings, lobbyists don’t have to provide verification and the ability of auditors to confirm their lobby efforts against what they report would require an investigation.
City code requires lobbying entities to register and submit quarterly reports of any lobbying activities if they surpass eight hours or $1000 in spending. Reports require the submission of “a good faith estimate of total moneys” expended alongside a lobbying report, which are simple reports that are often just one page. Lobbyists are not required to provide timesheets, receipts or other documentation alongside the lobbying report.
More detailed documentation is only requested if something spurs an investigation or more in-depth review, Lamboley said.
“If there's other information that we determine that we need or need to have access to, we would gather all of that information and conduct a formal investigation,” Lamboley said. “From there, we will make a finding of whether or not violations occur, and then we would determine the outcome for the violation if one is found.”
The penalty for violations can include warnings and civil penalties but often begins with a warning and information about regulations.
Murky boundaries
Often, the distinction between conversation, stakeholder input and outright lobbying isn’t cut and dry.
“I think where the line falls between lobbying and not lobbying is one of the most tricky questions Portlanders have answered since they instituted these regulations,” Weigler said. “Because for a lot of other localities, no one worries about blurring the lines because there are no lines.”
Stakeholders, policymakers and residents are operating in a crowded playing field, pushing to get their voices heard, Weigler said. In this chaos, an ideal system of policy development is often lost in the shuffle.
“It points to a larger problem of how we make public policy in the city right now, which in an ideal sense, you'd want it to be accessible to the public and stakeholders,” Weigler said. “And you'd want it to be deliberative. And I feel like that almost never occurs in city government right now.”
Lobbying restrictions are an effort to shore up the integrity of this process, but the ability of the elections staff who actually oversee all these competing interests is limited. Currently, Portland has two full-time staff dedicated to lobbying oversight, a position requiring monitoring thousands of quarterly lobbying reports, claims or tips of violations and investigations.
“To have kind of a front-footed system would require so much more public spending, I think you don't see a lot of enthusiasm for what the alternative would look like in terms of the trade-off of what else we could be spending our money on,” Weigler said.
The result, according to Weigler, is a lack of comprehensive oversight.
“You don't have an ongoing watchdog role where people are getting these reports regularly and digging into them and trying to really make sure that they're holding everyone's feet to the fire,” Weigler said.
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