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recently rescinded,” said Cre-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
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Today
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Sat.
Lo W
25 sh
20 sn
36
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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
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Sat.
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28
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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
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s
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pc
sf
pc
pc
pc
s
s
s
s
s
c
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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
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pc
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pc
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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.
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