Should Oregon Zoo Upgrades Come Before Low-Income Housing?

Elected officials are tripping over themselves to prove to voters they’re serious about getting people indoors. But Metro is pursuing a side quest.

Polar bear at the Oregon Zoo. (Will Corwin)
By Aaron Mesh

The regional government Metro has long overseen a grab bag of public services for the three counties in the Portland area.

Taking a couch to the dump? Metro runs waste management. Catching a show at the Keller? Metro operates downtown venues. A day at the zoo? Metro. A weekend on the Sandy River? Ditto: Metro.

But in recent years, one Metro task has assumed center stage: publicly subsidized housing. In 2018, voters approved a $652.8 million Metro housing bond. Two years later, advocates floating a tax on high-income households to fund homeless services demanded Metro collect the revenue, which will exceed $2 billion over a decade.

The proceeds from that tax are now the subject of bitter wrangling between the counties and Metro—in part because Metro has tapped its housing bond dry. The region remains conspicuously heavy on tents and light on housing. Elected officials are tripping over themselves to prove to voters they’re serious about getting people indoors.

Yet Metro’s next entreaty to voters is a return to its other tasks. With Measure 26-224, the agency is asking voters for $380 million to upgrade exhibits at the Oregon Zoo, including the tiger habitat and the penguinarium.

That summons some awkward questions about where Metro’s priorities lie. At least, it certainly got awkward when WW reporter Nigel Jaquiss put the question to Metro Councilor Christine Lewis at our endorsement interview.

Watch the video here:

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