The PHB Doesn’t Have Time to Review Data

After the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) claimed in official budget documents that 400 apartment complexes in East Portland had outstanding code violations, the Oregonian double checked the numbers by comparing the city’s list of code violations with a government database of multifamily properties. Reporters found that only 19 properties had code violations at that time. In response to a question about why the PHB had not reviewed the data themselves, top official Kurt Creager suggested that reporters have more time to perform reviews than housing officials do. On Tuesday, Creager told the Portland City Council, “we are committed to integrity in the data,” but did not address how the PHB came up with the numbers in its budget request Read more.