Dear Community Stakeholders,

Over the past four months, the City Council’s Housing Committee has been soliciting feedback from a wide range of stakeholders in a heightened effort to identify and address housing issues in Portland. The Committee has heard from a variety of individuals and groups including: tenant advocates, landlords, state officials, affordable housing developers, national leaders on housing policy, real estate experts, social service providers, senior housing advocates, advocates for the homeless, neighborhood associations, and general members of the public.

This process has led to over 135 policy ideas, issues and other recommendations from the public for the Committee’s consideration.  To help the Committee work through the many potential options, the City will be hosting a special community discussion on Wednesday, May 25th from 5:30 – 8:00 PM at USM’s Wishcamper Center located at 34 Bedford Street, in Portland. Free parking will be available in the abutting parking garage located as part of the USM Abromson Center building entered from Bedford Street.

This special meeting asks attendees to engage in an organized discussion about what parts of that list merit priority attention for a more detailed analysis by the City. There will be smaller discussion groups with facilitators to support the dialogue as well as a concluding session with the Committee and all attending.  This departure from the traditional hearing-style input to the City will help the Committee deliberate on priorities beginning in June. No decisions are being made at this community discussion meeting and the Committee will be there to listen to reactions to the results of the last four months.

For anyone with questions related to what the City has done recently or is currently doing to address housing concerns please take a moment to look through the Housing Reference Policy Binder linked below:

Housing Policy Reference Binder

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