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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2017)
2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017 Tenants, landlords speak out on proposed rent restrictions said. “And it will not get bet- ter unless we act.” Some want statewide protections Local authority By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — North Portland resident Coya Crespin melted into tears Thursday as she recounted to legislators the ordeal of experiencing a mass eviction. “These notices have been recently rescinded,” said Cre- spin, a mother of two small children. “This is a small vic- tory in the broader issue in the lack of proper rental protec- tion for Oregon families. We need our state leaders to help us. We need you to level the playing fi eld.” A new Portland ordinance helped to reverse the course of Crespin’s eviction and those of other residents of the 72-unit apartment complex in the St. Johns neighborhood. The regulation requires land- lords to pay tenants reloca- tion expenses in a no-cause eviction. Crespin and more than 100 other tenants called on lawmakers to expand simi- lar tenant protections state- wide. Their comments, and testimony from a nearly equal number of landlords, were part of a fi ve-hour hearing at the state Capitol on a contro- Paris Achen/Capital Bureau Coya Crespin and her son, 5-month-old Titan, sit inside the Oregon Capitol in Salem Thursday during a hearing on a tenant protections bill. Crespin is a tenant at Titan Man- or in n orth Portland, a 72-unit apartment complex where eviction notices were issued to residents in January . versial bill to do just that. The legislation, favored by House Democrats, would outlaw no-cause evictions and lift the statewide ban on rent increase limits. State House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, spoke in favor of the bill Thurs- day morning, describing it as one of many remedies the state will need to address the affordable housing crisis. While she admitted lack of supply is the underlying cause of the crisis, she said the Leg- islature needs to take immedi- ate action to protect tenants. “The current rental mar- ket is failing too many Orego- nians when it comes to stabil- ity and predictability,” Kotek FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TONIGHT SATURDAY SUNDAY 45 34 35 Mostly cloudy with a couple of showers ALMANAC Chilly with periods of rain Tillamook 38/46 48 40 Chilly with periods of rain Full Newport 39/45 Mar 12 Coos Bay 41/49 New Mar 20 Mar 27 The Daily Astorian A political advocacy group that formed in response to the p residential e lection will hold its fi rst public meeting Saturday. The meeting, organized by Indivisible North Coast Ore- gon, will take place at 1:30 Baker 31/44 Grandview Bed & Break- fast in Astoria is accepting longer-stay guests for a month or more at a time. Owner Charleen Max- well said she started offer- ing monthly rentals from fall through spring four or fi ve years ago. “People, they come into Ontario 34/50 Bend 29/42 Burns 27/41 Klamath Falls 32/43 Lakeview 32/40 Ashland 32/45 p.m. at the Fort George Lovell Showroom . Group organizers will lead discussions to develop ideas, connect like-minded citi- zens and inform attendees how to contact local representatives, according to a press release from the organization. Indivisible, created by for- mer congressional staffers, has registered more than 4,500 groups across the country. “Indivisible North Coast Oregon is a local chapter of Indivisible with the purpose of encouraging citizens to advo- cate for their views and ensur- ing that local government representatives hear their con- cerns,” the release said. town and they can’t fi nd an apartment,” she said. “They need something for a month, two months, three months.” Two or three rooms will become available Monday on a monthly basis, depend- ing on availability. Maxwell said she’ll keep the rooms available until mid- to late- May, although the time will be negotiable depending on need. The rooms are $595 a month, with only one per- son allowed, and no smoking, alcohol or pets. Maxwell said each room has its own bath- room, but no kitchen. “There’s no cooking,” she said. “It’s not an apartment.” For more information, call 503-325-5555. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017 Source: Jim Todd, OMSI TOMORROW'S TIDES Astoria / Port Docks Time 12:02 p.m. 11:47 p.m. Low 0.7 ft. 2.5 ft. REGIONAL CITIES City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newberg Newport North Bend Hi 44 43 49 49 49 48 51 49 50 52 Today Lo 31 29 41 38 36 32 41 35 39 41 W c r sh r r c c r r r Hi 44 42 46 46 45 43 50 45 45 49 Sat. Lo W 25 sh 20 sn 36 r 34 r 35 r 23 r 32 r 33 r 35 r 37 r City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Springfi eld Vancouver Yakima Hi 48 51 50 51 50 49 45 49 53 50 Today Lo 33 34 37 41 38 37 31 38 37 29 W r c r r r r r r r c Hi 45 42 46 48 46 45 40 46 45 47 Sat. Lo W 33 r 28 r 35 r 35 r 35 r 35 r 27 c 34 r 35 r 26 r TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER NATIONAL CITIES Hi 59 36 34 63 42 31 67 0 82 37 55 70 82 56 79 49 68 39 67 40 46 54 59 50 42 John Day 33/43 Meanwhile, landlords pushed back on the proposed legislation, calling it onerous and unfair. “The need for additional housing in our communities should not be the burden … of landlords,” said Theresa Wis- ner, who owns a single-family rental property in Albany. “If that becomes the case, we … will seriously consider selling our property, with the likely outcome that less, not more, rentals are available on the market.” Wisner and her husband recently invested their life savings to purchase the rental house. The income from the rent will supplement what- ever S ocial S ecurity bene- fi ts the couple receives after Bed and breakfast to allow longer stays La Grande 34/44 Roseburg 41/48 Brookings 40/45 Tonight's Sky: Before Daylight Saving Time begins on March 12, the sunset tonight will be at 6:00 p.m. Today Lo 34 15 26 33 28 18 49 -11 69 26 42 50 53 38 66 28 51 21 41 22 37 40 49 37 26 Lebanon 36/45 Medford 41/50 UNDER THE SKY High 9.1 ft. 7.0 ft. Prineville 29/43 Landlords push back retirement, Wisner said. Her husband is scheduled to retire next year. “If we had known legisla- tion like this would be com- ing up, we would not have chosen to enter this market,” Wisner said. “It disturbs us to realize that if we have a bad tenant, we may not be able to evict them without signifi - cant and fi nancial burden that we cannot meet on a fi xed income.” Coos Bay landlord Diane Boyer said the bill penal- izes good landlords for the actions of a few bad ones. She and her husband, Don, own six rental properties in the Coos Bay area. Requiring relocation assistance could make property ownership unaffordable for them, Don Boyer said. “I know that there are bad landlords but you have to be sure to protect us, the small guys,” Diane Boyer said. Economists overwhelm- ingly agree that rent restric- tions are more likely to harm than to help the sup- ply of affordable housing. But housing experts also say the measures give more stability to existing ten- ants and prevent forced dis- placements, as those seen in Portland. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. New political group meets Saturday The Daily Astorian Salem 38/46 Eugene 38/46 Last Pendleton 34/42 The Dalles 34/48 Portland 37/46 Sunset tonight ........................... 6:05 p.m. Sunrise Saturday ........................ 6:49 a.m. Moonrise today ........................... 9:52 a.m. Moonset today ................................... none City Atlanta Boston Chicago Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Honolulu Indianapolis Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Memphis Miami Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadelphia St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC 43 35 Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs. ASTORIA 35/45 SUN AND MOON Time 5:05 a.m. 6:19 p.m. Cloudy, breezy and chilly with showers TUESDAY REGIONAL WEATHER Precipitation Thursday .......................................... 0.49" Month to date ................................... 0.58" Normal month to date ....................... 0.53" Year to date .................................... 18.46" Normal year to date ........................ 17.92" Mar 5 42 33 Chilly with periods of rain Astoria through Thursday. Temperatures High/low ....................................... 49°/42° Normal high/low ........................... 53°/38° Record high ............................ 70° in 1986 Record low ............................. 24° in 1896 First MONDAY The bill would give local jurisdictions the authority to enact ordinances to limit how much rents may increase. It would outlaw no-cause evic- tions and require landlords to pay tenants relocation assis- tance equivalent to three months’ rent in the case of no-fault evictions, such as a landlord moving into or sell- ing the residence. Andy Miller, executive director of Human Solutions, wrote that no-cause evictions are the most common rea- son given by families com- ing into homeless shelters, according to testimony read by Ruth Adkins, policy direc- tor of Oregon Opportunity Network. Elaine Friesen-Strang, president of AARP Oregon, said seniors are particularly at risk of being priced out of the rental market. Seniors who rent live in fear of being evicted without a valid reason, Friesen-Strang said. Don Moeller, a 75-year- old stroke survivor, said he lives in an independent-living retirement center where the landlord regularly raises rent by up to $150 a year. Many times, residents have to move out because they can’t afford the higher rents. “My fellow tenants and I generally have no personal means of transport to meet our dietary, pharmaceutical, medi- cal and dental needs,” Moeller said. “(We) have opted to live out our lives at a residential facility which we could afford and which would provide us with bus transport to meet our everyday needs — however, without any mention by our landlord that Oregon lacked any laws which prevented them from charging succes- sive, annual rent renewal increases exceeding a tenant’s previously disclosed limited ability to pay.” W s s s s pc sf pc pc pc s s s s s c s s sf s c s pc pc r c Hi 60 21 44 68 65 33 75 11 82 52 69 76 69 68 76 65 70 32 63 36 68 58 60 45 42 Sat. Lo 39 11 34 38 48 25 49 -10 68 33 50 53 53 46 66 38 57 17 49 18 47 43 48 36 23 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W s pc sn pc pc pc s sf sh s s s pc s pc s pc s pc s s pc r r pc Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. Business awards hit Seaside LOTTERIES OREGON Thursday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 7-0-4-4 4 p.m.: 8-0-9-3 7 p.m.: 0-7-7-3 10 p.m.: 9-5-7-3 The Daily Astorian WASHINGTON Thursday’s Daily Game: 3-3-7 Thursday’s Keno: 05-07-08- 16-19-28-34-38-40-41-57- 58-59-61-63-69-71-72-74-78 Thursday’s Match 4: 12-18- 20-21 Clatsop Economic Devel- opment Resources will hold its fi fth-annual busi- ness awards ceremony March 22. Businesses will be recog- nized for job creation, tech- nological or manufacturing advancement, customer ser- vice, economic impact, entre- preneurship or service to the community. Last year, 10 busi- nesses were honored. The event will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 22 at the Seaside Civic and Conven- tion Center . The cost is $25 per person, and includes an hors d’oeuvre buffet and compli- mentary beer and wine. For more information, or to reg- ister to attend, call 503-338- 2402, or email sbdc@clat- sopcc.edu DEATH March 1, 2017 CLARK, Shirleen Ann, 82, of Seaside, died at home. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary & Crema- tory in Seaside is in charge of the arrangements. PUBLIC MEETINGS FRIDAY Clatsop Care Health District Board, 1 p.m., special meeting, Clatsop Care Retirement Village, 947 Olney Ave. MONDAY Knappa School Board, 5:30 p.m., Knappa High School library, 41535 Old U.S. Highway 30. Youngs River Lewis & Clark Water District Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Busi- ness. Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. OBITUARY POLICY AAA MEMBER A P P R E C I AT I O N ALASKA CRUISE The Daily Astorian publishes paid obituaries. The obituary can include a small photo and, for veterans, a fl ag symbol at no charge. The deadline for all obituaries is 9 a.m. the business day prior. Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper punctuation and style. Death notices and upcoming services will be published at no charge. Notices must be submitted by 9 a.m. the day of publication. Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at www.dailyastorian.com/forms/obits, by email at ewilson@dailyastorian.com, placed via the funeral home or in person at The Daily Asto- rian offi ce, 949 Exchange St. in Astoria. For more information, call 503-325-3211, ext. 257. September 9-16, 2017 Starting at $899* The Daily Astorian Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Join us on this AAA Hosted Cruise, sailing out of Seattle’s scenic Puget Sound aboard Holland America’s classic ms Eurodam. Enjoy up to $50 shipboard credit per stateroom, an onboard social reception, and other AAA surprises! Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503- 325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. 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