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COUNCILOR RANKLES LANDLORDS WITH AI ORDINANCE: Portland City Councilor Angelita Morillo wants to ban landlords from using AI software that sets rents with a technique called “algorithmic pricing.” Morillo says her ordinance, if passed by the full council after making it out of the Homelessness and Housing Committee on March 25, could help lower rents in Portland. “Portland can set a national example in taking bold action to protect renters and ensure fair competition in the housing market,” Morillo told her colleagues at a Feb. 25 meeting. Proposed penalty for a violation: $10,000 per rental period, or triple the amount of damages. It’s the first policy ordinance to emerge from a council committee. Real estate and housing industry groups are offering full-throated opposition, saying Morillo’s policy would hurt the housing supply in Portland by discouraging construction and making it harder for landlords to stay afloat. Morillo has argued that her policy would target large property management companies, not mom-and-pop landlords.
HOMELESS SERVICES DIRECTOR TO RETIRE: Dan Field, director of Multnomah County’s embattled Homeless Services Department, says he intends to retire in June, sticking to a plan he made two years ago when he took the job. His announcement comes just a month after he and County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson held a press conference to announce a $104 million budget shortfall at the department, previously known as the Joint Office of Homeless Services, that took Gov. Tina Kotek and others by surprise. Field’s announcement also seemed abrupt, according to people at county headquarters. Commissioner Shannon Singleton, who has been questioning Field’s use of one-time funds to support ongoing programs, says she heard about it Monday. “It’s a good time for a transition” at the department, Singleton adds. In an interview, Field, 62, said few people at the county knew about his plan to stay just two years because “you can’t come in and chop your knees off by saying you’re a short timer.” Field discussed retirement with Vega Pederson in February before the press conference, he says, and she asked him to stay until the county’s budget is finalized in June. “I’m sorry to let the air out of the balloon, but this is a real retirement,” Field says. “Everyone is going to think I left because of this, but I’m not being pushed out.” Deputy director Anna Plumb will take over as interim director while the county conducts a national search for a permanent replacement.
SANCHEZ PUSHES ALCOHOL TAX: State Rep. Tawna Sanchez (D-Portland), co-chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Ways and Means Committee, has long been interested in increasing state taxes on beer and wine (which have remained unchanged since 1977 and 1983, respectively). Sanchez convened a work group with the alcohol industry last year; the group did not agree on a tax hike. But on March 25, at Sanchez’s request, legislative lawyers crafted an amendment to House Bill 3197 that proposes to implement a retail sales tax on beer and wine, starting at 2% in 2026 and rising to 8% in 2032. The money would be earmarked mostly for alcohol abuse prevention for minors. The Oregon Beverage Alliance, whose brewer and vintner members are suffering from a post-COVID drinkers’ hangover, slammed Sanchez’s proposal. “A new 8% sales tax would only harm Oregonians trying to make their hard-earned dollars stretch,” said the Oregon Beverage Alliance. “Additionally, the beer and wine sectors are seeing record closures, with 70 breweries, taprooms and brewpubs and 60 wineries and tasting rooms shuttering in the past two years as fewer people are drinking.” The Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response will hold a hearing on Sanchez’s proposal April 2.
CLASS OF 2024 ON THIN ICE: Portland Public Schools released its latest student achievement numbers last week, and the results suggest a significant portion of the class of 2024 graduated without being prepared for college or the workforce. The district’s posted 84% graduation rate stood in contrast to a 69.1% post-secondary readiness rate—a measure of whether students leave high school with the skills needed for higher education or a job. High schoolers at PPS may demonstrate post-secondary readiness via six routes, which include completion of advanced courses or career technical pathways. Others may demonstrate proficiency on standardized tests like the SAT or ACT. But even as graduation rates across the district have remained relatively stable, post-secondary readiness has fallen by 4.5 percentage points since the class of 2021. That decline is much more pronounced for Black students (down about 10 points) and Hispanic students (down about 17). The latest class was in eighth grade when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Margaret Calvert, an assistant superintendent, says the district employs different strategies to help marginalized students succeed. “The key is to remove barriers [to course participation], which leads to focused preparation in the freshman and sophomore years so students can not only access college-level coursework and advanced coursework, but then find success,” Calvert says. PPS’s data reflects broader mismatched trends in Oregon. While graduation rates soared statewide for the class of 2024, those students also posted higher rates of chronic absenteeism and lower rates of ninth grade readiness.