Central Oregon YIMBY

Well that was an eventful day!

HB 2138 is Governor Kotek’s big housing bill this year, fixing some deficiencies in HB 2001 from a few years back. It’s a “strong support” from us and many other groups.

First off, a big thanks to Corie from COLW (Central Oregon LandWatch) for organizing the trip. She was headed there to speak in favor and reached out to see if anyone else wanted to go. Ian Karasz and I both decided to tag along, and signed up to give testimony at the hearing in the afternoon. This was Bend YIMBY’s first visit to Salem in person.

In the morning there was a press conference with governor Kotek and a bunch of people/groups who advocated for and worked on 2138. It’s a pretty diverse group, from environmentalists to the Oregon Home Builders Association.

Jesse Russell from Hiatus Homes here in Bend got to say a few words in support:

Unfortunately, we also learned during the press conference that, because of some early pushback, they were pulling some language around historic districts in the bill. The idea isn’t to bulldoze them, but to permit redevelopment of structures that are not individually listed on the national register but just happen to be in the area. That way we get historic preservation, without preventing change in central, desirable portions of our cities.

They didn’t even wait until the hearing to pull that which seemed a bit premature to many advocates who were there.

Governor Kotek liked my “Legalize Housing” hoodie from YIMBY Action:

Portland Neighbors Welcome (PNW) bought lunch for everyone (thank you!) and we got to hang out with them a bit before going to the hearing.

The hearing was a bit of a disappointment as there were a number of pro-housing people who could not make the trip to Salem, who wanted to speak in favor via Zoom, but they did not get a chance to speak because the chair cut it short. Their group worked hard to get people lined up to participate in the process and it’ll make it more difficult for them to turn people out in the future.

Corie, Ian and I were all able to speak because we checked the “traveled more than 100 miles” box when we signed up. Ian’s moving stories about his friends’ struggles with housing were the star of the show in my opinion and remind us all, yet again, of why we do what we do as YIMBYs.

Thank you Representative Levy!

This hearing is just one step along the way and there were no decisions or anything like that, so we’re going to keep pushing for it!

State-level legislation is a whole new ‘difficulty level’ in terms of tracking it and advocating for it. We’re still trying to figure out the best ways for us, as volunteers, who can’t work on it full time, to follow things and make an impact.

As always, a HUGE thank you to everyone who added their name to our written testimony or sent something in themselves.

My caption: “Density is good. Both for hair and housing

Julia Shumway, who spent a few years reporting on Bend’s city council, is now a reporter with the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Both Ian’s moving stories of his friends’ struggles with housing and my quote about the people who built Bend made it this coverage:

Oregon Gov. Kotek, housing advocates push for more options, fewer regulations

Really proud of Bend “punching above our weight” in terms of showing up. Governor Kotek also had good things to say about Bend during the press conference.

Thanks again to Corie for organizing the trip, and Ian for his moving comments during the hearing and both of them for making the long road trip much more fun.