Keith Wilson (running for Commissioner position 4)
Should policies be adopted to ensure every neighborhood in Portland welcomes more neighbors, through smaller, denser, lower-cost housing options like smallplexes, cottage clusters, and small-to-moderate-sized apartment complexes, via both the nonprofit and private markets?
Yes, everywhere. The Oregon legislature's passing HB 2001 in 2019, that removed zoning restrictions for multi-family housing within urban growth boundaries, was one of the biggest barriers to developing smaller and affordable housing in all neighborhoods throughout our city. This macro change requires a complete rethinking of our policies. We must now regulate as though housing is a human right and be fearless in promoting density and lower-cost housing in all neighborhoods throughout our city. Portlanders need to be able to work and live where their jobs are and we need to provide housing for ALL incomes and stages in life.
Should Portland expand transit-oriented development (allowing apartment complexes by-right within a short walk of all major transit lines) as a way to discourage the use of single-occupancy vehicles and reduce our city’s carbon emissions?
Yes. Increasing density is one of the surest ways of reducing carbon per capita and expanding transit-oriented developments are one of the best solutions to accommodate. Additionally, transit-oriented developments designed as affordable housing has the added benefit of lowering household expenses by removing the need of an automobile. Reducing carbon and costs improves everyone’s quality of life.
Should neighborhood associations have less, as much, or more power than other community organizations when it comes to questions of housing, such as whether new apartments or homeless shelters are permitted in a given neighborhood?
The same amount of power. Our neighborhood associations and community organizations should all have input in their communities. However, none should have power to determine when and where development should apply. Our laws and zoning types must be designed for equity and fairness for all community members. So long as laws are applied, we must rely on our system to supply the needed housing and types.
Should Portland dedicate less, as much, or more money to regulated affordable housing? (If you answered "more money," what funding mechanism(s) would you pursue to build this additional housing?)
More money. Everyone needs somewhere to sleep and shelter. The best way our city can increase deeply affordable housing and affordable housing is to use system development charge exemptions, tax increment financing investments, development code updates, including incentive zoning for height and density bonuses, and for parking reductions. Transit oriented development is a key opportunity to get right the first time.
We have to recognize that government intervention should be viewed as an investor of last resort. The private marketplace generally does not deliver anything for "below-market" prices. We should accept and acknowledge housing as a human right. The previous paragraph notes many of the tools at our governments disposal to accomplish housing as a public good. We must use all of these tools and more. Limited only by our imagination.
Would you support a citywide moratorium on evictions during the three coldest months of the year, as Seattle recently adopted?
No. The private market is as important to our housing as any other enterprise. Without a functioning system that works throughout the year and recognizes the rights of all parties, we would simply create a bottleneck and overload our system to April which would put additional pressure on our already strained homeless services agencies. Portland needs to be a city that encourages development and especially deeply affordable housing to avoid evictions due to affordability as much as possible.
As Portland implements an anti-displacement plan, which policies from the Anti-Displacement PDX Coalition would you support? What additional anti-displacement policies do you support?
Require advance 90-day written notice to a tenant if the owner plans to sell, demolish, or redevelop their home.
Implement a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase policy that gives all current renters, and then the city, the first and second rights of refusal to purchase a property at fair-market value before it goes on the market.
Earmark Construction Excise Tax (CET) revenue from construction in single-dwelling zones as a source of subsidy for affordable units in single-dwelling zones.
Charge a fee for any redevelopment of a property in single-dwelling zones that does not include at least two units, unless prevented by site constraints and use the new revenue from this fee to subsidize regulated affordable units in the single-dwelling zones.
Property tax exemption for any regulated affordable units built on-site, for the duration of the affordability restriction.
To avoid sky-rocketing housing costs in our core downtown and close in areas to counteract displacement of communities and to ensure equity and inclusion, we need to develop all forms of housing in all neighborhoods: public, deeply affordable, affordable, multi-family, apartments and single-family resident housing. There should be no part of the city that does not have every choice available.
Focusing on all housing price points that co-exist together, enables our city's workforce to live and work in all locations of our city. Our businesses should be able to choose from multiple levels of skills that are housed nearby to staff their businesses so that productivity and growth, the two signs of a healthy economy, are accommodated and sustained. When these two economic benefits are achieved, wage and livability improvements contribute to a fair, equitable and healthy society.
What else should Portland pro-housing, pro-tenant community know about you & your candidacy?
I am a firm supporter that dense walkable cities have an enormous advantage as Infrastructure costs are leveraged over more households. Public transportation becomes more efficient and faster as more resources are needed to accommodate a denser population. I have had the pleasure of living in both New York City and London and have marveled at the efficiencies in these city's due to housing density that support large public transportation systems. Our focus in Portland should use these cities and their best practices as templates to plan our future. Portland Neighbors Welcome endorsement would be an affirmation that we mutually support responsible city planning and growth that is focused on deeply affordable housing, affordable housing, multi-family housing and Increased supply of housing overall. Additionally, the endorsement would also be a nod that I firmly support reducing the carbon footprint of our citizenry by encouraging inner city density. Many of my endorsements are deeply affordable housing experts (Mods PDX, Do Good) that have guided me in gaining knowledge on how to achieve dense, low cost housing for our most vulnerable, a key platform Item that will be my focus as a City Councilperson. Let’s house Portland.
Wilson received a B overall from our scoring committee. See all scores and read about our process here.