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New rental law signed by Governor focuses on renter protection
But property owners, landlords express concern that restrictions are example of government overreach.
By Mark Brennan
for The Sentinel
Gov. Kate Brown recently
pushed Oregon to the heart of
the national housing debate by
signing the nation’s first state-
wide rent control measure late
last month. Brown signed Sen-
ate Bill 608, which caps the
amount a landlord can raise the
rent on a particular rental loca-
tion to 7 percent per year, plus
the amount of any increase in
the cost of living.
The law also limits rent in-
creases for residential tenan-
cies to one per year and bars
no-cause evictions for tenants
with one year of occupancy. The
bill was passed as an emergency
measure, allowing for its imme-
diate implementation.
“This is a groundbreaking
piece of legislation as we are the
first state in the nation to enact
this level of protection for our
renters,” Brown said Thursday.
“The bill is a critical tool for
stabilizing the rental market
throughout the state of Ore-
gon. It will provide immediate
Community
rallying to help
house fire victim
By Ned Hickson
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
Just days before the March 3 snow-
storm that temporarily changed the daily
lives of those in Cottage Grove and the
surrounding area, the Wilson family was
dealing with the aftermath of a tragedy
that has meant changes in their lives that
are anything but temporary.
The early evening of March 1, neigh-
bors of Jared Wilson and his family
were awakened by a loud explosion that
prompted frantic calls to emergency re-
sponders.
According to South Lane County Fire
& Rescue Division Chief Joe Raade, fam-
ily members had been evacuated by the
time SLCFR crews arrived, with Wilson,
who suffered severe burns, being tend-
ed to by neighbors. Though the home’s
smoke detectors had awakened the two
children at home during the incident,
Wilson presumably didn’t exit the home
until after the explosions.
Though the explosion and fire, be-
lieved to have been the result of an acci-
dent involving a turkey fryer, was quick-
ly contained, Wilson was transported
to the hospital before eventually being
moved to a burn center in Eugene.
Two days later, the tragedy was com-
pounded by the worst snowstorm in
nearly a century as the family of four was
already trying to recover from the devas-
tating house fire.
Shortly after power and Internet ser-
vice were restored to the area, communi-
ty members began rallying for the Wil-
sons, collecting donations of food and
clothing, setting up a GoFundMe page
and organizing a benefit set for this Sat-
urday at Cottage Bowl, where Jared Wil-
son’s wife, Andrea, works.
“We’re like family here, so it was dev-
astating when we got the news about her
husband and home,” said Cottage Bowl
owner Natalie Cardoza. “They can use
any help that they can get. The family is
looking at a rough recovery.”
This Saturday’s fundraiser for the Wil-
sons includes three games of bowling for
$20, including shoes as well as a 9-pin
no-tap, 8-pin no-tap and 3,6,9 strike.
In addition to bowling, there will be a
relief to Oregonians struggling
to keep up with rising rents
in a tight rental market. But it
doesn’t work on its own. It’s
going to take much more work
to ensure every Oregonian has
access to housing choices that
will ensure that they and their
families can thrive.”
Consumer advocates and
housing alliances across the
state supported the bill, which
was motivated by the dramati-
cally increasing rental costs in
Oregon, coupled with the slow
pace in constructing affordable
housing units.
Patty Wentz is with Stable
Homes for Oregon Families and
she believes the law will make a
major difference in the lives of
those at the edges of society.
“Passage of SB 608 shows that
lawmakers recognize that rent-
ers across Oregon have liter-ally
been left out in the cold during
the housing crisis, especially
in the rural parts of our state,”
Wentz said. “Now fewer chil-
dren will be showing up at
See RENT A3
COURTESY IMAGE
Rolling with the snow
Dorena students find temporary
home at Harrison
ZACH SILVA/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Students from Dorena Elementary enjoy recess while temporarily relocated to Harrison Elementary following the recent snowstorm.
Schools across area still
recovering from ‘Snowmageddon’
Students, faculty in Dorena
take detour to Harrison
By Zach Silva
By Zach Silva
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
A
week of snow was promptly
followed by a week of re-
covery for local schools. Af-
ter the snow storm blitzed the area
starting on Feb. 24, schools across
the area — for the most part — were
able to open their doors once again
on March 4. While some schools it
was business as usual, the snow that
continues to stick around presented
a unique set of problems for schools
all the way from Yoncalla to Cottage
Grove.
But no area was more impacted
by the storm than Elkton where the
city is still without power.
“The freaky part about that is
once things started to go down
and the power went out, we lost all
communication with everybody up
here,” said Elkton superintendent
Andy Boe. “Every redundant sys-
tem (was down): cell towers, inter-
net, pigeons, whatever. I didn’t talk
to anybody up here until basically
Thursday morning.”
See SCHOOLS A7
I
t was a homecoming of sorts
for Dorena School on Mon-
day morning. After weather
kept the school closed for the past
two weeks, the doors were back
open and school was in session
once more.
“It’s felt just like back to nor-
mal,” said Dorena principal Linda
Folkman on Monday morning as
she went from classroom to class-
room welcoming students back to
their building. “I think we’re to-
tally back to normal, back to what
we do.”
The historic snowfall that be-
gan on Sunday Feb. 24 closed
school throughout the South
Lane School District from Feb.
25 through March 1. On Mon-
day March 4 schools across the
district were hit with a two-hour
delay before starting school once
again while power outages at
Dorena kept the school without
power until Thursday. Folkman
See WILSON A3
FEATURED COLUMN
Offbeat Oregon
Learn about the Lurch
Family history
Old-time country doctors
led colorful lives.
PAGE A5
PAGE A10
INDEX
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Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
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