On October 30th, Mayor Keith Wilson placed Portland Housing Bureau Director Helmi Hisserich on administrative leave with no explanation.
Director Hisserich is an internationally recognized expert on applying social housing models to US cities. The City Council voted unanimously to study social housing back in April. In September, NP led a delegation to Vienna to study their system up close. Now, Director Hisserich has been removed, and this work has been thrown into an uncertain future.
We believe that Mayor Wilson’s action undermines a critical long-term solution to homelessness and housing insecurity.
Why?
- Social Housing Works
For decades, the U.S. has tried using tax credits, public/private partnerships, and state-guaranteed loans to close the housing gap. Despite it all, costs are still going up faster than wages, squeezing more and more people into homelessness.
Director Hisserich was leading the way for Portland to try a different approach, one that’s being implemented in Vienna, Montgomery County Maryland, and most recently Seattle.
Social housing creates permanently affordable housing that does not expire. It creates mixed-income housing that helps create upward mobility for lower-income residents.
Most importantly, it’s an approach that has proven to work in contexts around the world. - The City Council Set a Mandate
Through its unanimous vote to study social housing, the City Council set a clear mandate for exploring this system. The mayor’s decision to fire Director Hisserich clearly undermines the Council’s decision and the work that’s already been done under it.
Removing leaders who are doing the work of implementing the Council’s decisions is fundamentally undemocratic. - A False Choice
The mayor has been clear that his priority is working to end unsheltered homelessness. Only long-term, structural solutions, like the ones being led by Director Hisserich, will get us there. The only realistic path to ending unsheltered homelessness is ensuring there is adequate housing to meet the needs of the entire community. Moving people temporarily off the street and out of sight doesn’t solve homelessness.
Emergency response without permanent solutions leads to a permanent emergency.
We need leadership that can balance priorities. Additionally, the Portland Housing Bureau isn’t even the primary shelter agency, so the mayor’s stated priority when it comes to housing (temporary shelter) doesn’t justify removing her from a role focused on housing production. - The Real Costs
Our communities have become increasingly frustrated with the persistence of the housing crisis despite years of investment. The truth is simple: you can’t solve a housing crisis by addressing symptoms. You have to address affordability itself.
Social housing is a proven approach to addressing affordability through creating mixed-income, publicly owned, and permanently affordable housing development. By removing Director Hisserich, we are losing expert leadership that was guiding Portland to apply this proven model.
We call on Mayor Wilson to reinstate Director Hisserich. Portland is in crisis when it comes to housing. Oregon is in crisis. We need expertise. We need proven solutions that have worked in other places. We need to be bold and fearless in reaching for them.