Measure 102 Will Help Facilitate More Affordable Housing for Oregon’s Communities

I don’t often voice political positions but today I urge you to vote yes on Measure 102. It is one of the pieces of the puzzle we need to help tackle the housing crisis here in Oregon.

When Measure 102 passes, an outdated piece of our state’s constitution will be removed. Right now, local governments are allowed to issue bonds for affordable housing—but prohibited from working with affordable housing developers and nonprofits to build those homes. Current law requires local governments to own and control the housing built with the bonds, and cannot use bond dollars to leverage other resources—like federal dollars—to build affordable housing.

I’ve designed affordable housing all over our state, and I know what an important part of our community affordable housing is.

We have a strong network of affordable housing developers across our state, and they are experts at building, owning, and operating affordable housing for the long term. Unfortunately, every year, Oregon leaves some of our federal housing dollars un-spent, because we don’t have local matching funds needed to unlock those federal resources. Measure 102 would fix that problem.

The change means those same governments will now be able to leverage bond resources, partner with local nonprofits such as Housing Works or Pacific Crest to further strengthen the projects, and serve more members of our community.

Resolving our affordable living crisis must be a top priority for Oregonianss—and that starts with a “yes” on Measure 102.

Thank you for considering and be sure to voice your opinion on November 6!

Regards,

Peter Baer, President
Pinnacle Architecture