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The Home Forward board of commissioners approved a $171,000 severance package Friday morning for its embattled former CEO Ivory Mathews, who resigned this week under a cloud that grew over her travel spending on the taxpayer dime.
The board voted unanimously to approve a severance package that includes six months’ pay at $171,000, six months of COBRA health insurance, a payout for any accrued vacation time and up to $50,000 for assistance in finding a new job. The board’s resolution also included approval of a $275,000 salary for the agency’s incoming interim executive director, current Portland Housing Bureau interim director Michael Buonocore.
Buonocore’s first day is May 18.
Board chair Matthew Gebhardt, looking remorseful at the top of the meeting, responded to the public outcry over how the board handled media coverage of Mathews’ travel expenses and prior coverage of the organization’s many troubles. Just this week, two local elected officials said publicly the entire board should resign.
“We hear you and understand your criticism, particularly regarding speed and responsiveness, and that we can do better,” Gebhardt said. “While the board has met its baseline governance obligations, we can and should do more to improve oversight and stay closer in step with community feedback.”
Following Gebhardt’s brief comments, a handful of Home Forward staffers provided public testimony in which they lambasted the board for Mathews’ severance package.
One Home Forward employee called the severance package a “slap in our face,” especially given that all staff is required to take 40 hours of unpaid furlough this year—a burden some staffers say has forced them to find a second job.
Jennifer McMillan, president of AFSCME Local 3135, the union that represents 205 agency staffers, called the severance package “insulting.” She said a union member the agency laid off this year received one week’s pay and a couple months of health insurance, and that the union fought to get the member even that much. “That could pay for at least that employee to come back and have their job, if not a second employee,” McMillan said. “Our employee that was laid off had no hand in the budget mess we’re currently in, and yet Ivory did.”
Kelly Ellis-Hernandez, another employee, took aim at the board for even considering such a package. She suggested the severance could be used to reduce furlough days for staff and support those who most need housing in Portland.
“You were appointed to this board because of your experience, your judgment, and the trust placed in you to act in the public’s best interest and to steward funds responsibly,” she said. “You’re being asked to prioritize a single payout over the well-being of your workforce and the community. That is a choice, and it is your choice, and it is one you will be held accountable for.”
Tina Nguyen, who’s been with Home Forward for 22 years, said calling Mathews’ departure a resignation “does not feel right.”
“[She] should be held accountable for her action in draining this organization to its core,” Nguyen said. “Why are we rewarding bad behaviors in this agency at the expense of public taxpayers’ dollars?”
While Gebhardt, the chair, tried to move directly to a vote following the scathing testimony by staff, board member Breann Preston said it felt wrong to approve the package without further discussion. The board then entered executive session in a separate virtual meeting room to discuss the matter. (Media may attend executive sessions, but may not report on what is discussed.)
The board rejoined the full meeting—with about 150 attendees—just 20 minutes later.
“We’ve tried to prioritize an effective and smooth transition in leadership,” Gebhardt said, looking anxious. “We’ll leave it at that, for the moment.”
The board—only five of seven members were present, and the board is supposed to have nine—approved the severance package unanimously. The meeting ended abruptly after the vote.
In a statement sent out by Oregon AFSCME shortly after the meeting ended, the union said the severance package “came as a shocking blow to staff” and that “workers are skeptical that her resignation will be enough to rebuild the organization’s credibility, or realign with their mission of keeping vulnerable Portland families housed.”
McMillan, quoted in the statement, said the board had failed.
“Our entire leadership team failed to ethically serve our communities,” McMillan said, “and enabled Ivory Mathews to allegedly misuse public funds while Home Forward struggled financially.”
