PDX Agenda Tracker: The Housing Crisis Isn’t Letting Up—Neither Should We | February 24-27, 2025
Despite record spending, we’re still losing ground on housing and homelessness in the Metro region and across the state. Portland’s leaders need bigger solutions—now.
Dear Readers,
Please bear with me while I figure out how to best adjust my publication schedule to accommodate Portland’s new City Council calendar while preserving some semblance of a weekend (my Friday night is Saturday afternoon)! This week brings a flurry of committee meetings at City Hall—some have already happened, and some are still ahead. A work session on the Joint City/County Homeless Response System is also scheduled for Wednesday. Below, I’ve compiled links and video feeds for easy access.
With no full Council Meeting this week, I’ve taken extra time to examine a couple of housing and homelessness-related items coming before Multnomah County and Metro. The takeaway? Despite significant spending increases and expansions in shelter, affordable housing, and supportive services, we’re still losing ground—not only failing to meet current needs but also falling behind projected demand. (Keep scrolling past the lengthy Portland City Council section to find these updates.)
When I present agenda items, I prioritize accuracy and objectivity—though my analysis and policy solutions will always lean left of center. But this letter to my readers is where I get candid. Today, I want to say that while I want to assume the best and extend some grace to our new local leaders, I’m skeptical about some of the policies and proposals detailed below. That said, I look forward to hearing from the full membership of the City, County, and Metro Councils, as well as housing advocates and the public. As of now, nothing is set in stone. We can and must do better.
As many of you know, our ongoing housing crisis drove me to run for office and played a significant role in my unexpected win. Though Mayor Wheeler declined to assign the Housing Bureau to me, my team and I delivered some of our most transformational policies there. When it comes to housing and homelessness, we need big-picture thinkers with even bigger solutions. This 15-year crisis demands leaders who understand how we got here and what it will take to change course.
As we push for real solutions, we must be clear about what’s at stake and what kind of change is necessary. This crisis isn’t inevitable—it results from deliberate policy choices prioritizing profit over people. If we want a different future, we need policies that put housing stability, tenant power, and public investment at the center. That means reframing the debate, rejecting failed market-driven solutions, and demanding bold action to ensure every Portlander has a safe, stable place to call home.
In the Wonk Out! section at the end of this newsletter, you’ll find a selection of Street Wonk-approved books, articles, and reports to deepen your understanding of the housing crisis and its solutions. But first, here are 10 key principles that should guide our response to the housing crisis:
HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT
✅ Poverty is a Policy Choice: Fix the root causes, not just the symptoms. Raise wages, regulate rents, strengthen the social safety net, and ensure housing for all.
✅ Homes, Not Handcuffs: Stop criminalizing homelessness and expand Housing First.
✅ Renters’ Rights, Not Landlord Loopholes: Lower the Relo cap, adopt a Renter’s Bill of Rights, fight landlord harassment, and eliminate substandard housing.
✅ Democratize Housing: Invest in public housing, land trusts, tenant co-ops, and other alternatives to the private market.
✅ Keep Homes for People, Not Profit: Crackdown on illegal short-term rentals.
✅ Break the Rent Cartels: End algorithmic rental price fixing and anti-competitive landlord collusion.
✅ Evict Wall Street from Our Homes: End corporate landlord profiteering and ban institutional investors from housing.
✅ People Over Profits: Housing, healthcare, and wages must be human rights, not commodities.
✅ Public Money for Public Good: Prioritize housing, not corporate subsidies.
✅ The Free Market Fails Housing: The “free” market is rigged and will never provide affordable homes for all.
Our housing policy determines who gets to put down roots and who is pushed out. It decides whether families can stay in their homes and communities, whether workers can afford to live where they work, whether households can escape poverty, and whether we treat housing as a human right or a commodity for the highest bidder.
The decisions made at City Hall, the County, and Metro in the coming months will shape Portland’s future. I’ll be watching—and I know many of you will be, too. Let’s keep fighting for transformational policies that meet the scale of the crisis and build a more just, equitable city where safe, stable, affordable housing is a right, not a privilege.
With Love & Solidarity,
Chloe
Hello! If you’ve been thinking about becoming a paid subscriber, now’s the time! If money is tight, I encourage you to take advantage of the budget option $3/month or $30/year. If you’re doing alright, I hope you’ll subscribe at the standard rate $6/month or $60/year. And if your finances are out of sight, may I suggest a sustainer-level subscription at $100/year?Portland City Council: Committee Meetings & Work Session
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting
📅 Monday, February 24th | ⏰ 9:30am – 11:30am
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month.This Week’s Topics:
Transportation and utilities.
Ratepayer-funded programs.
Other infrastructure needs, programs, policies, and bureaus.
Finance Committee Meeting
📅 Monday, February 24th | ⏰ 12pm – 2pm
The Finance Committee meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month.This Week’s Topics:
Serves as a subcommittee of the Council in its capacity as Budget Committee in order to make recommendations to the Council on budget amendments and adoption.
Reviews other financial and investment policies and structures of the City.
Oversees the bureaus addressing the City’s financial systems.
Governance Committee Meeting
📅 Monday, February 24th | ⏰ 2:30pm – 4:30pm
The Governance Committee meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month.This Week’s Topics:
Internal operational support and recommendations.
Review executive appointments, auditor reports that are not related to policy committee areas, and periodically review Council rules and procedures.
Review other non-policy needs including overseeing the administrative functions of the City.
Arts and Economy Committee Meeting
📅 Tuesday, February 25th | ⏰ 9:30am – 11:30am
The Arts and Economy Committee meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.This Week’s Topics:
Prosper Portland, Tax Increment Financing districts, Venture Portland, and the Small Business Hub.
Economic development, tourism, and sports.
The Regional Arts & Culture Committee, arts and culture, and music.
Recreational programing including programs within Portland Parks and Recreation.
The needs, programs, policies, and bureaus addressing Portland’s arts, economy, and business sectors.
Homelessness and Housing Committee Meeting
📅 Tuesday, February 25th | ⏰ 12pm – 2pm
The Homelessness and Housing Committee meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.This Week’s Topics:
Housing investments, permitting, and the continuum of housing supports.
Sheltering and the City’s role in homeless services.
The needs, programs, policies, and bureaus addressing housing, homelessness, and homeownership.
Community and Public Safety Committee Meeting
📅 Tuesday, February 25th | ⏰ 2:30pm – 4:30pm
The Community and Public Safety Committee meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.This Week’s Topics:
Community safety and violence prevention programs.
All law enforcement officers of the city.
Portland Fire & Rescue, Bureau of Emergency Communications, Portland Street Response and other crisis response systems.
The programs, policies, and bureaus addressing community and public safety needs.
City Council Work Session: Joint City / County Homeless Response System
📅 Wednesday, February 26th | ⏰ 10:30pm – 1pm
Work sessions are public meetings related to a specific topic where information is presented to Council. Council does not vote or take any action; public testimony is not taken. The public and press may attend work sessions when held in person or watch the live broadcast online or on cable TV.Meeting Materials:
Homeless Services Department FY 2026 Budget Transmittal Letter
Homelessness Response Action Plan Quarterly Report February 2025
Climate, Resilience, and Land Use Committee Meeting
📅 Thursday, February 27th | ⏰ 9:30pm – 11:30pm
The Climate, Resilience, and Land Use Committee meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.This Week’s Topics:
Zoning and other land use decisions; parks, urban forestry, and open space.
Climate change prevention and mitigation; community resilience.
Superfund cleanup.
The needs, programs, policies, and bureaus addressing zoning, environmental justice, and the use of land within the City.
Labor and Workforce Development Committee Meeting
📅 Thursday, February 27th | ⏰ 12pm – 2pm
The Labor and Workforce Development Committee meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.This Week’s Topics:
Internal and external investments in internships, apprenticeship, and job training programs.
Apprenticeship and workforce utilization goals.
Workforce and workplace policies and worker protections.
Labor policies.
Multnomah County Board of Commissioners
Thursday, February 27th | ⏰ 9:30 AM
Regular Agenda
R.2 (10:35am): Briefing on Mayor Wilson's Blueprint for Ending Unsheltered Homelessness
Mayor Wilson’s Plan to Address Unsheltered Homelessness: A New Approach
Portland’s newly elected Mayor, Keith Wilson, has introduced his ambitious strategy to eliminate unsheltered homelessness by December 2025. His plan focuses on rapidly expanding emergency shelter beds, establishing day centers, and enforcing public space regulations. This marks a significant shift from previous policies that prioritized permanent housing solutions.
Key Components of the Plan:
Expansion of Nighttime Shelter Beds
Goal: Add up to 1,500 low-barrier overnight shelter beds by December 1, 2025.
Details: Utilize existing spaces such as businesses and community centers to provide safe sleeping areas during nighttime hours only.
Introduction of Day Centers
Goal: Establish four day centers across the city's voting districts, serving up to 600 guests daily.
Services Provided: Access to restrooms, showers, laundry facilities, and connections to social services.
Enhanced Public Space Enforcement
Goal: Eliminate the 72-hour notice requirement for clearing encampments.
Vehicle Regulations: Prohibit long-term parking of unregistered or unsafe vehicles on public streets.
Operational Shifts: Transition the Portland Street Response team to a proactive model, focusing efforts near shelter locations.
Coordinated Emergency Response
Goal: Implement a centralized command system to synchronize efforts among government agencies and service providers, treating homelessness as an immediate crisis.
Focus on Shelter, Not Housing
Mayor Wilson’s plan emphasizes rapid shelter solutions to reduce visible homelessness immediately. While he acknowledges the need for permanent housing, his focus is on getting people off the streets first. The strategy suggests expanding emergency shelters as a first step.
Concerns from Advocates and Service Providers
Several advocates and service providers have expressed concerns about the plan’s focus on temporary shelters without addressing long-term housing needs:
Emphasis on Temporary Solutions: Advocates argue that focusing on shelters does not address the root causes of homelessness and could lead to cyclical patterns without permanent housing options.
Implementation Challenges: Some question whether the city can quickly establish the proposed shelter beds and day centers within the given timeframe.
Public Space Enforcement: There are concerns that increased enforcement of encampment removal could criminalize homelessness and not provide meaningful alternatives for those displaced.
What Does the Research Say?
Studies consistently show that while emergency shelters offer immediate relief, permanent housing solutions are the most effective long-term intervention. The Housing First model prioritizes providing permanent housing without preconditions and has been shown to improve housing stability and reduce reliance on emergency services.
Conclusion: Will This Work?
Mayor Wilson’s approach offers immediate solutions to a visible crisis but raises questions about its long-term effectiveness. While the emphasis on emergency shelter may reduce the number of people on the streets in the short term, without integrating permanent housing options, the crisis will continue. Until or unless long-term housing strategies are included in his plan, I doubt that he will find much support for this approach among advocates and affordable housing providers.
Further Reading
Supreme Court Lets Martin v. Boise Stand: Homeless Persons Cannot Be Punished for Sleeping in Absence of Alternatives (National Homelessness Law Center)
Metro Council
Thursday, February 27th | ⏰ 10:30 AM
This week’s Metro agenda consists of minor and/or housekeeping items. They will adjourn to a work sesssion at the end of the agenda. 6.1 Supportive Housing Services Data Sharing Agreement Work Session
Why Metro’s Data-Sharing Agreement Matters
Metro’s Supportive Housing Services (SHS) measure funds housing and homelessness services in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. A data-sharing agreement ensures transparency, accountability, and the ability to measure program effectiveness.
This agreement allows Metro to track who is being served, how well the programs are working, and where gaps remain. It also protects individual privacy through de-identified data.
How Better Data Leads to More Effective Spending
Accurate data helps:
Prevent waste by identifying inefficiencies.
Ensure programs meet targets and funding is used effectively.
Guide future investments based on meaningful performance metrics.
Better data means smarter policy decisions, ensuring that funds go where they are most needed and that the public can track whether the SHS program is working.
Are Counties Hitting Their SHS Goals?
Each county has set its own goals based on projected need. Here’s a breakdown of their performance vs. targets:
Clackamas County
✅ Permanent Supportive Housing: Goal: 405 households | Achieved: 412 households (Goal Exceeded)
✅ Rapid Rehousing: Goal: 120 households | Achieved: 196 households (Goal Exceeded)
✅ Eviction Prevention: Goal: 625 households | Achieved: 1,228 households (Goal Exceeded)
✅ Shelter Capacity: Goal: 155 units | Achieved: 210 units (Goal Exceeded)
👉 What’s working? Clackamas exceeded all SHS goals, demonstrating that increased investment in services is producing measurable results.
👉 What’s not? No major shortfalls were identified.
📌 Source: Clackamas County Exceeds Supportive Housing Services Goals
Multnomah County
✅ Permanent Supportive Housing: Goal: 2,235 units over 10 years | On track to reach 85% by June 2025
✅ Housing Placements: FY 2024: 2,322 individuals housed (76% increase over the previous year)
✅ Shelter Capacity: 52 shelters with over 2,700 beds | 280 additional beds being added
👉 What’s working? The county is ahead of schedule in reaching its long-term supportive housing goal, with 85% of the target expected to be met by June 2025.
👉 What’s not? While progress is substantial, demand for supportive housing still outpaces supply, meaning some individuals who need housing now may still be waiting.
📌 Source: Multnomah County’s Supportive Housing Services Report
Washington County
✅ Permanent Supportive Housing: Goal: 1,665 units over 10 years | On track to reach 85% by June 2025
✅ Shelter Capacity: Doubled year-round shelter beds, adding 220 units | Now totals over 400 beds/rooms
⚠️ Budget Surplus: $9.8 million in unspent funds due to slower-than-anticipated spending
👉 What’s working? The county has expanded shelter capacity significantly and is on track to meet its long-term supportive housing goal.
👉 What’s not? Slow spending has resulted in a budget surplus, raising concerns about the pace of service delivery and housing placements.
📌 Source: Washington County Supportive Housing Services Report
The Scale of the Unmet Need
Despite progress, thousands of people remain unhoused or at risk of eviction in the Portland metro area.
How Many People Still Need Services?
Unsheltered homelessness remains high, with thousands still living in emergency shelters, on the streets, or in vehicles.
Demand for eviction prevention and rapid rehousing exceeds available resources, particularly as pandemic-era protections expire.
While permanent supportive housing is expanding, the need continues to outpace supply.
Is Current Funding Enough?
Metro’s SHS measure has funded nearly 6,000 housing placements, prevented over 15,000 evictions, and created/maintained 1,450 shelter beds. However, service providers report that current funding is insufficient to meet the region’s full needs. Metro is considering both reducing the SHS tax rate and expanding its use to fund housing construction, raising important questions:
Is now the right time for a tax cut?
Will diverting SHS funds toward housing development take money away from critical services?
What additional data is needed to ensure Metro and the counties are making informed decisions?
📌 Source: Metro's 2024 Supportive Housing Services Fund Reports
Question for Metro: Instead of cutting the tax, why not raise the income threshold to reflect current cost of living in the region and make it progressive? The wealthiest households in the U.S. have received massive tax cuts—they can afford to pay their fair share locally. Note to readers: this is a marginal tax, meaning only income above the threshold is taxed at the higher rate.The SHS program has made significant progress, but homelessness and housing insecurity remain pressing issues. Metro’s data-sharing agreement is essential for ensuring that SHS funds continue to be used effectively. Before reducing taxes or redirecting funds, Metro and its county partners must thoroughly consider rising housing costs, staggering income inequality, and the growing demand for services.
Wonk Out!
In Defense of Housing: The Politics of Crisis Peter Marcuse and David Madden (Verso, 2016): This searing critique of the global housing crisis argues that housing has been transformed from a basic need into a vehicle for speculation and profit. Madden and Marcuse call for decommodifying housing through strong tenant protections, public investment, and structural policy changes. By exposing how neoliberal policies have fueled mass displacement and inequality, In Defense of Housing makes a compelling case for treating housing as a fundamental right, not a market good.
The Tenant Class Ricardo Tranjan (Between the Lines, 2023) Tranjan frames renters as an exploited class in a system rigged for landlords and developers. Rejecting the idea that homeownership is the only path to stability, he argues for tenant organizing, rent control, and public housing expansion. The Tenant Class pushes beyond policy debates to advocate for tenants reclaiming power through collective action, making it a must-read for anyone serious about housing justice.
Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State Samuel Stein (Verso, 2019) Stein unpacks how urban planning has been co-opted to serve real estate interests rather than the public good. By tracing the deep ties between developers, policymakers, and financial institutions, Capital City reveals how housing has become a battleground for corporate profiteering. This book is essential for understanding why housing crises persist and why public investment, land reform, and community-driven planning are necessary to challenge the dominance of private capital.
A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Daniel Aldana Cohen & Thea Riofrancos (Verso, 2019)
This visionary book argues that the housing and climate crises are deeply intertwined—and that solving one requires solving the other. The authors call for mass social housing construction, public control of land, and an end to predatory real estate speculation as part of a radical Green New Deal. A Planet to Win connects housing justice with environmental justice, making the case for bold, systemic solutions that put people and the planet over profit.A National Homes Guarantee Briefing Book (People’s Action Institute, 2021)
This comprehensive plan lays out a bold vision to decommodify housing and guarantee homes for all. It calls for the construction of 12 million social housing units, reinvestment in public housing, universal tenant protections, and reparations for communities harmed by discriminatory housing policies. The Homes Guarantee presents a clear roadmap for shifting housing from a profit-driven commodity to a fundamental human right, making it essential reading for housing justice advocates and policymakers.The Housing Crisis Is Class War (Jacobin) How landlords, developers, and financial elites profit while working people struggle to afford a place to live.
Adequate Housing is a Human Right (American Bar Association) A legal argument for why housing should be recognized and enforced as a fundamental human right. Note: This is on JSTOR—sign up for a free account and access 100 free article views a month!
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Tina Smith: Our Solution to the Housing Crisis (New York Times) A call for federal investment in social housing, public housing expansion, and rent caps to combat the affordability crisis.
New Report Shows Rent Is Unaffordable for Half of Renters as Cost Burdens Surge to Record Levels (Harvard University) Research confirms that Oregon is one of the most cost-burdened states, with renters struggling with skyrocketing housing costs and wages that don’t keep up.
Support the Renters’ Bill of Rights (PDX Renter Power) An advocacy push for stronger tenant protections, lower relocation caps, and an end to landlord exploitation.
Proven Solutions: Housing First (Portland State University) Evidence-based research shows that housing, not policing or shelters, is the key to solving homelessness.
Support the Algorithmic Rental Price Fixing Ban (Portland Tenants United) A proposal to ban corporate rent-fixing algorithms like RealPage that artificially inflate housing costs.
We made a simple eviction data request to all 50 states. This is what we learned (Eviction Lab) Eviction Lab requested eviction data from all 50 states and uncovered major gaps in tracking, transparency, and tenant protections nationwide.
Justice Department Sues Six of the Nation’s Largest Landlords in Effort to Stop Alleged Price-Fixing in Rental Markets (ProPublica) A federal lawsuit exposing corporate landlord collusion that has driven up rents nationwide.
End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act (Next City) A legislative effort introduced by Oregon’s own Senator Jeff Merkley to ban Wall Street and private equity firms from buying up single-family homes and rental properties.