As cherry blossoms begin to depart and the spring sun musters all it can to chip away at the gloomy canopy making its home atop the Willamette Valley, winter-weary Portlanders are treated to a quietly crucial election season.
Southeast Portland voters have to elect a new county commissioner to represent their interests. County-wide, voters have to decide whether or not tenants facing eviction should have the right to an attorney, made possible by levying a tax (almost exclusively) on the wealthiest residents in the county.
In the electoral sphere, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners District 3 seat left vacant by recently elected Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and the representation it provides for Southeast Portlanders hangs in the balance. In an area subject to rapid gentrification, skyrocketing rents, public safety concerns and a growing pocket of influential monied interests, who of the three candidates ultimately claims the seat is of high importance. (The school board races throughout the county are also of high importance, though Street Roots lacks the resources to cover them effectively due to their expansive nature.)
The new District 3 commissioner will be party to decisions about county investments in housing and homelessness, involvement with the city’s mass camp plans and a host of other governmental responsibilities.
The candidates and their views of the problems and solutions in Multnomah County, particularly around housing and homelessness, are available on page six of the April 26 edition.
As far as county ballot measures, there’s only one, but it looms over the county like the spectacle of a snowcapped Mt. Hood. Measure 26-238 — commonly referred to as “Eviction Representation for All” — would guarantee tenants facing eviction in Multnomah County have access to an attorney. The measure seeks to stem the tide of an ongoing eviction crisis that disproportionately affects Multnomah County residents of color and low-income families.
As readers will find on page four of the April 26 edition, a powerful, well-financed coalition of realtors, venture capitalists and lobby groups seek to stop its passage.
Incorrect information has been circulated by its opponents, even finding its way into news stories about the measure. Contrary to the core complaint of the oppositional fracas, the .75% capital gains tax the measure seeks to create will only affect a select — and generally very wealthy — portion of the local population.
Less than half of Oregonians reported any capital gains income in 2020, according to the Oregon Center for Public Policy. What’s more, 85% of all capital gains income was concentrated among the top-5% of wealthiest Oregonians, according to the same data. Combined, the bottom-95% income Oregonians only claim about 15% of capital gains tax income.
Experts (and data) say capital gains are a hallmark of real, generational wealth and a driving factor of growing income inequality. The tax seeks to claw some of that money back from landlords and venture capitalists who profit from the labor and rent of tenants and workers in an effort to level an objectively uneven playing field in eviction courts.
In short, the average working Portlander — typically much closer to needing a tenant attorney to fight an eviction than a tax attorney for capital gains calculations — won’t see their tax bills rise.
Street Roots chose not to present incorrect information about the tax, such as the much-circulated false claim that ‘anyone could end up paying it,’ as a valid counterargument because readers deserve accurate information when deciding how to fill out their ballots. Instead, Street Roots focused on cutting through misinformation by providing an in-depth look at who would pay the tax — and who’s paying for the effort to quash the tax.
What is, in essence, a tax on landowners, shareholders and real estate speculators would be used to fund the tenant attorneys that thousands of working Portlanders could use each year when trying to make sense of an eviction notice. Whether voters believe that’s the best way to address the eviction crisis (which directly worsens the homelessness crisis) is up to them, but the facts of the measure aren’t dictated by those it stands to disappoint.
The state will mail ballots to voters April 26 ahead of the May 16 election day. Take in the (hopefully) warm spring air, and return your ballot in a mailbox or county ballot drop.
Sincerely,
K. Rambo
Street Roots editor in chief
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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