Socialist Portland City Councilor Kate Sykes’ proposal for a task force to study how city might utilize a new “social housing” model to combat the city’s housing crisis was met this week with pushback from her fellow councilors and city officials, and was ultimately postponed until the start of next year.
WATCH:
District Five Councilor Kate Sykes, former co-chair of the Maine Democratic Socialists of America (Maine DSA), brought her proposal to the Council’s Housing and Economic Development Committee meeting Tuesday evening, after the other Councilors on the Committee expressed interest in her idea for social housing in September.
Sykes’ proposal would create a task force that would be charged with studying how the city could implement city government-developed and -owned affordable housing, as opposed to the city’s current model of using housing trust funds and tax credits to fund projects run by private developers and the Portland Housing Authority.
The task force, as proposed by Sykes, would be on an ambitious timeline of completing a final report with a strategic framework for Portland’s social housing initiative after 12 months.
“As we know, we’re in a housing crisis, we are looking at ways to address that,” Sykes told the Committee on Tuesday when introducing her proposal.
“We obviously have market rate housing, we have subsidized housing, we have public housing already through the Portland Housing Authority — but there seems to around the nation a growing consensus that there is a way to supplement housing production by looking for areas where we can do what’s called social housing,” Sykes said.
[RELATED: Maine’s Unprecedented Housing Crisis Is Worse Than You Think…]
Sykes said that there are “many definitions” to social housing, which may include housing bonds or using other financial instruments to create more housing than the city can currently.
“It’s intended to be a complement to market development, not replace it or to box people out,” she added.
Following her presentation, the proposal was met with skepticism from City Councilor Regina Phillips, who questioned the workload and timeline of the task force, and expressed concern voting for Sykes’ proposal without it first getting a fiscal note from city staff.
“I’m not sure how real that is,” Councilor Phillips said of the proposed 12-month task timeline. “I don’t know whose work this going to be doing under [sic].”
Phillips said that the city has already struggled to fill vacancies on the city’s other committees and boards, specifically lamenting the fact that people of color don’t serve on the committees because “they just absolutely do not have the time.”
“We’re missing the voice of people of color to sit on these committees, because they can’t do it,” Phillips said.
“I’m not comfortable bringing this, or voting on this and bringing it to the council, without knowing how much this is going to cost,” she added later in the discussion.
[RELATED: Mills Admin Outlines Recommendations for Meeting State Housing Production Goals by 2030…]
Councilor Roberto Rodriguez commented that he thought the 12-month timeline “seemed ambitious,” but that the task force’s work could be extended, and was more optimistic about finding people to sit on the task force due to the novelty of the proposal.
“I think this is super exciting, and I think it will get a lot of attention,” Rodriguez said.
“I’m ecstatic to see actually see what comes of it,” he added, saying social housing may be “an important piece of the puzzle to solve our housing crisis.”
Later in the discussion Councilor Phillips made a motion to postpone Sykes’ proposal to the Committees next meeting, which would in effect make it one of the first items taken up by the Committee in January after the newly elected City Councilors are sworn in, and give the city time to assess the financial impact of the task force.
Sykes voted against the motion to postpone her proposal, while her three colleagues voted in favor of the motion.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="32636 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=32636">11 Comments
Wonder how many unhoused, people of color, oppressed or immigrant people Kate is letting live with her? Come on Kate, a real socialist would open their doors to the underserved. You see even in socialism somebody is in charge and Katie thinks it should be her. Tell you what you support a dozen of the underserved for a year then come back and ask again.
You want to know how to solve the housing crises? Get energy prices down. 4 years ago a 2×4 was $2 now, thanks to joe its $5-6 what did you think would happen? It’s the same with all building materials, diesel, and electricity. Fix this and the rest will fall in line, groceries, transportation, insurance….
Like Howie says, “Cheaper to deport than to support”
Once the illegals are gone Maine will be more affordable for Mainers.
If the Legislature would grow up and stop making us buy electricity from a foreign country and the PUC would quit approving every rate hike we can get businesses to come her so people can have jobs.
Socialist love spending other people’s money but as has been pointed out many times, that eventually runs out or the people move away.
People of Portland you just get dumber and dumber electing these Communists. You can’t fix the roads and schools in your city and you want to screw around with “socialized housing” This is another reason to never go to Portland because you are turning it into a sewer.
““As we know, we’re in a housing crisis,” No you are in a working crisis! not enough willing workers in Portland.
Does she have any homeless living with her yet? Not like a nun.
Home for Bayside animals, don’t go for walk
Sounds like communism to me.
A typical democrat getting Maine citizens to foot the bill for everything they give away to illegals and asylum seekers.
How many f…g tasks forces this f..g city has already?
Isn’t the DSA a hate group?