by Joanne Zuhl
Mayoral candidates squared off on issues of the street this afternoon
in the Mayoral Candidates’ Forum on Housing.
The forum featured frontrunners Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales and
Jefferson Smith, along with Joshua Nuttall, Loren Charles Brown and
Shonda Colleen Kelley in what has become a crowded race for the city’s
top post.
The event was sponsored by Oregon Opportunity Network,
Street Roots, JOIN and 211Info, and featured questions drilling down
on the candidate’s plans for addressing homelessness and affordable
housing in Portland during tough economic times.
Common threads in the discussion were streamlining city government,
creating more public-private partnerships and focusing on finding
dedicated funding sources for low-income housing, with praise for the
success of the 30 percent set aside from urban renewal districts.
Look for a more in-depth report in the up and coming Street Roots on Friday or go to the Twitter hash tag #housingpdx. You can also view the candidates answers in order to qualify for today's event.
