License to extort, power to abuse

HB 2004

There's more than one way to skin a cat, 

but it's probably going to be more expensive.

If approved, Senate amendments to HB 2004 will allow, even encourauge tenants to extort concessions from their landlords when an eviction (or rent increase) is imminent.  If there are no real mantnance issues that a tenant can use to hold onto an apartment, they can always be created.  Oops!
So sorry, things just keep breaking here every 60 days.  

Landlords have used no-cause "eviction", or non-renewal of leases, as a way to weed out undesirable tenants without the expense and trouble of using the court system.  Most people don't undestand that this process has huge benefits for tenants:  By not going to court, a tenant avoids having a formal eviction on their record that will be used to exclude them from future rentals.  Laws that prohibit no-cause "evictions" will force a court case and add to the cost of doing business, but will not keep undesirable tenants in an apartment.  

In business, over-regulation makes everything more expensive.  Costs ALWAYS get passed on to the people who can least afford it.  It's one thing to create a fair business environment, but when government starts picking winners and losers, we all lose.  

Rent control that limits a landlord's income would be disastrous for everyone, but even if this option isn't in the cards this legislative session, it isn't a win for anyone when government piles on costs that makes life more expensive for everyone.  

A Proposal to Allow Rent Control in Oregon is Probably Dead

Portland Mercury, May 31, 2017 By Dirk Vanderhart

The rent control dream appears dead. 

After the Oregon House of Representatives earlier this year passed a bill that would kill the state's pre-emption on local limits on rent hikes, a Senate committee this afternoon chopped that provision before moving the legislation before the full Senate.

The removal came in a package of amendments taken up by the Senate Committee on Human Services during a work session. The amendments' passage means cities and counties likely won't win permission to adopt so-called "rent stabilization" policies that limit what landlords can charge. Legislators had heard from hundreds of renters, advocates, and landlords embroiled in the heated debate over the state's soaring rent costs. 

Interesting to see who the "winners" and "losers" are according to the press, activists and popular, albeit uninformed opinion.  

"Rent Stabilization" is a euphanism for rent control which caps a rental housing owner's income.  No one should be fooled by the name switcheroo.  There are other forms of "rent stabilization" that make doing business more difficult and expensive and interferes with productivity and raises prices.

The vote diminished the hopes of activists and advocacy groups who'd seen their caused championed by House Speaker Tina Kotek in this year's legislative session, but could not find much muscular support in the House Senate.

Both Holland and Black still see promise in the bill that's now before the full senate. It would prevent landlords from issuing no-cause evictions to tenants who are at least nine months into a month-to-month tenancy (a more lenient standard than six months, which had been in the bill), instead only allowing eviction for a set of "just" causes. The bill would also prevent no-cause evictions within 60 days if a tenant asked for necessary repairs, and prevent a landlord from raising the rents on a tenant more than once every 12 months, among other things. 

Those are wins, Black says, but they won't allow the City of Portland to create a policy for limiting rental increases within the city, which local leaders had pushed for and had been one of PTU's main goals of the session.

THEY know how YOU should live

Of course THEY do. 

And THEY will make sure WE live the way THEY want.  It doesn't matter anymore what YOU or I may want or think.  OUR thoughts, wishes, dreams, yearnings and freedoms to choose how to live are of little consequence.  That part of the Constitution that guarantees life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (and property) ---- t's not about You.  It obviously means Constitutuional guarantees are for THEM, our betters.

Even if you think Seattle's new sugar tax is a good idea, or you don't consume sugary drinks, or you think this is too silly to worry about, then which good idea of someone else's will you finally object to? When will government intrude into YOUR life?  It really isn't a matter of if anymore - an unrestrained government that is already involved in so many aspects of our private lives can easily convince us that just one more coercion is OK.  And then one more.  

Do you still not think of politicians and the vast government machine sees itself as a separate and elite class?  Take a look at how Seattle is treating diet soda.  I assume the Seattle City Council is highly educated and well paid so they don't see the conflict.  And it appears the Council is giving themselves the tax money for their own projects, though personnel costs will take the first bite.  

Here's a radical idea - make the soda tax "equal" and throw it out!  Don't YOU have use for the extra cash?  And save the taxpayer the cost of a new administrative division within the City's finance and code departments.

*

A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored.  

Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. 

-- John Adams, Letter to Abigale Adams, 1775

*

Seattle Times

Seattle will tax sugary soda — but not diet

Diet soda won’t be taxed, and the council also chose to exempt baby formula, medicine, weight-loss drinks and 100 percent fruit juice.

Sports drinks such as Gatorade, energy drinks such as Red Bull and fruit drinks such as Sunny D all will be taxed, along with syrups used in soda-fountain pop.

Note about fruit juice: Livestrong.com
According to Dr. Andrea Sanigorski of Deakin University in Australia, fruit juice could actually be playing a part in childhood obesity. Many parents believe that because they’re giving their kids “healthy” juice, they don’t have to limit the amount. The truth is that fruit juice contains a high amount of sugar in the form of fructose. Your body cannot distinguish between sugar from fruits and sugar from candy. Once you’ve consumed sugar, it’s all processed the same way. To avoid health problems later in life, be aware of what juices contain the most sugar so you can moderate how much you drink.

Grape Juice:  A 12 ounce glass of grape juice contains over 58 grams of sugars. This is 20 grams more than a 12 ounces can of Coca-Cola. At 240 calories per 12 ounces, it’s also the fruit with the highest caloric value.
Apple Juice:  A 12 ounce serving contains 39 grams of sugar -- just 1 gram less than in a glass of soda. That’s about 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Orange Juice:   At 33 grams per 12 ounce serving, it falls slightly behind Coca-Cola. However, a glass of soda contains about 145 calories, while a glass of orange juice has 165 calories.
Boxed Juices:  Boxed juices are rarely 100 percent juice and instead have added flavorings, colorings and sugars. Juices made from concentrate are usually higher in sugar, as they sometimes contain high-fructose corn syrup or other artificial sweeteners.  Compare labels.  

Metric Conversion:  
1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar volume = 12.5 grams of granulated sugar mass


Wine Folly (Wine chart)
The sugar in wine primarily comes from the fruit sugars in wine grapes (fructose and glucose). Of course, there are a few instances where cheap wine producers will use sugar or grape concentrate to sweeten a wine.  
Note:  125 g = 4 oz (1/2 cup) fluid.  Wine sugars range from 0g - 22g sugar per 100g wine. Some wines have about twice as much sugar as coke.   Should wine be taxed extra?


Seattle Passes Regressive Soda Tax
By Christian Britschgi, June 6, 2017
reason.com/FREE MINDS AND FREE MARKETS

The city will now tax soda at a rate eight times higher than beer.

Seattle's city council passed a new soda tax yesterday over the loud opposition of local business owners, teamsters, and other citizens. At 1.75 cents per ounce—that $2.52 per 12-pack—the new rate will be eight times higher than the levy on beer.

"I think after this tax my store is going to be closed," one business owner told the councilbefore the vote. The storekeeper operates his shop on the edge of Seattle, and now will have to compete with neighboring communities that have no soda tax.

Rex Sorgatz/FlickrSeattle's city council passed a new soda tax yesterday over the loud opposition of local business owners, teamsters, and other citizens. At 1.75 cents per ounce—that $2.52 per 12-pack—the new rate will be eight times higher than the levy on beer.

"I think after this tax my store is going to be closed," one business owner told the councilbefore the vote. The storekeeper
operates his shop on the edge of Seattle, and now will have to compete with neighboring communities that have no soda tax.

"It is going to be very hard on small businesses," said another shopkeeper. "I just want to let you know that we are barely surviving on the minimum wage increase." Seattle passed a $15 minimum wage bill in 2014.

The council was unmoved, passing the measure by a vote of 7-1. The tax will go into effect after Mayor Ed Murray signs the bill.

When Murray and Councilmember Tim Burgess introduced the tax in April, they presented it as a way to encourage healthier lifestyles among minorities and to fund programs that will help close Seattle's racial achievement gap. (Among the recipients: early childhood education and subsidies to farmers markets.) The original proposal also included a tax on diet beverages, on the theory that this would make a regressive tax more equitable. In the mayor's words, "the data showed that the diet drinks were consumed by more middle-class white people." But the ordinance that passed yesterday left out the diet drinks.

Several activists who spoke on behalf of the measure acknowledged that the tax is regressive but argued that this would be mitigated by the spending it will allow. "We understand this is a regressive tax," said a dietitian with the group Got Green. "We only support it because we know and are pushing for it to go back and serve the community." Mackenzie Chase of the Save the Children Action Network echoed the point: "Early learning is a smart investment. We have a dramatic need for an investment and this is a smart way to do that."

Yet 80 percent of the revenue from the tax will go straight into Seattle's general fund, with no restrictions on how it can be spent. For the other 20 percent, the spending will follow a weak and non-exclusive list of priorities, including the administration of the tax and, perhaps most insultingly, training for workers who lose their jobs as a result of the tax. So even if it made sense to tax low-income Seattleites so that supposedly smarter officials could then give the money back to them in the form of services the government thinks they need, there's no guarantee that the soda tax will do even that.

Beautiful minds - Beautiful visions

National Geographic: Photo of the Day 

By National Geographic

May 27, 2017

What's in your mind's eye begging to be seen by others?

These images are from Photo of the Day, where you can see compelling images taken by our Your Shot community and submit your best photos for a chance to be featured.

Photograph by Karsten Hoenack, National Geographic Your Shot

Photographer Karsten Hoenack says that he was “totally overwhelmed” by the beauty of this mountain chain in Coahuila, Mexico. “Mexico is one of those countries which surprises you around every corner,” he says. 

 Photograph by RaNa Chakrabarti, National Geographic Your Shot

A fruit vendor naps after her lunch in the Kothapet market near Hyderabad, India. The Kothapet fruit market is the largest of its kind in the whole state of Telangana.

 Photograph by Apu Jaman, 
National Geographic Your Shot

In Bangladesh, a worker in a brickyard carries stacks of bricks out from the kiln. The nation is growing rapidly, and the need for construction materials is constant.

Photograph by Mustafa Varol, 
National Geographic Your Shot

A goatherd treks through the snow in Beysehir, Turkey. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, there are 65.5 million goats and sheep in Turkey-- which works out to about 215 goats per square mile.

Home sellers cash in amid housing crisis!

Home buyers are shut out while sellers rake in big bucks 

Price gouging accused for unaffordbility of single family homes as greedy owners take advantage of those seeking to buy amid housing shortage.  Panicked home buyers pay thousands above asking price for questionable purchases risking a new housing bubble.  

Caps on home prices are being considered by legislature to curb rising housing costs.  Potential buyers protest excess profit being taken by sellers that excludes them from the market and is forcing them to move to outlying cities or continue living in undesirable housing.  

Homeowners cry foul about limits to profits while thousands of people with little money for down payments are shut out of the market. State and local governments seek emergency legislation as solution to housing instability and social and economic justice crisis.*

U.S. home prices rising 2 times faster than wages

Josh Boak, Associated Press9:08 a.m. ET May 30, 2017    

Washington — U.S. home prices climbed in March at the strongest rate in nearly three year as a dwindling supply of houses for sale is causing prices to significantly outpace income growth.

The Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday rose 5.9 percent over the past 12 months ended in March, the most since July 2014. Home values are increasing at more than double the pace of average hourly earnings, making it more difficult for many people to afford to buy a home.

“Over the last year, analysts suggested that one factor pushing prices higher was the unusually low inventory of homes for sale,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “People are staying in their homes longer rather than selling and trading up.

A steady job market has bulked up demand among many would-be buyers, but there are fewer properties on the market. Sales listings have plummeted 9 percent over the past year to 1.93 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. The shortage of homes to buy has caused prices to rise sharply in many metro areas.

The largest annual gain was in Seattle, where prices have surged 12.3 percent. Portland, Oregon recorded a 9.2 percent increase, while Dallas prices rose 8.6 percent.

Of the 20 cities in the index, the weakest gain was in New York City—an area where home prices are already high relative to median incomes. Home prices in New York City have risen 4.1 percent in the past year, still much higher than U.S. average hourly earnings that have increased 2.5 percent over the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

*  The text above asks the reader to make comparisons to current housing-related issues that are being considered by state and local governments.  (HINT:  If you are still confused, replace 'homeowner" with "landlord" and "buyer" with "renter."  All sales including rents are legal transactions and require equal treatment and protection.)  

The new "normal" for housing nationwide is changing from one where 30% of gross income is spent on housing needs to over 50% and competes with medical, food, energy, water and other necessities.  Society must ask the questions - what is a necessity, and what is governments role in providing it - or forcing others to provide it at their expense?  

For most commodities there is an easy solution - allow the free market to supply what the customer demands at a price they will pay.  Regarding housing, when population or in-migragion decreases, or housing units (houses or rentals) increase, prices will stabilize.  Like everything else, the days of "cheap" housing are in the past.  

Where are rents going?

higher?  lower?  holding steady?  

It depends. 

The answer depends upon where you live, but rents are currently trending in the tenants' favor.  For a look at Portland's multifamily market as of May, 2017, see what the Portland State University Center for Real Estate Quarterly Report has to say:

 Multifamily Analysis

By Carlo Castoro 
This year may prove to be the crescendo of a six year multifamily construction and rent growth boom for the Portland metropolitan area. New deliveries and vacancies are up while rent growth is down and even reversing in some parts of the central city core. However, as the saying goes “All real estate is local.” Digging deeper into the numbers reveals robust rental growth in select submarkets while others follow suit with downtown. 

Supply must be catching up to demand! The free market works.  (Duh.)

In case you want to jump in to complain that rents have been and are still too high, then you might want to look back to see that things have not always been this way.  If landlords have been fortunate enough to have had some good years recently, it doesn't erase the fact that there have been some lean years too. When landlords were taking a beating, tenants were not up in arms protesting.

Commercial real estate cycles eventually balance out before they swing in the other direction as supply and demand work to reach an equilibrium, over and over.  Renters and landlords are in this dance together as the balance shifts - unless government interference or an economic disaster upsets the cycles.  Unfortunately, Portland has been discovered - by newcomers as well as investors - which adds extra pressure on rents and wider swings in the cycles.

Luckily for all, nothing can stop the cycle from self-correcting - EXCEPT - ill-conceived government interference, aka: rent control, rent stabilization, inclusionary zoning, etc.  How ill-informed and unreasonable are Oregon governments these days?  

What is your time and labor worth?

DO YOU WORK?  

IS YOUR INCOME REGULATED BY THE GOVERNMENT?

WHAT PRIVATE BUSINESSES SHOULD BE REGULATED AND THEIR OWNERS' INCOME BE MANAGED BY THE STATE? (Utilities not included) 

MAYBE YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL AND CHARGE BY THE HOUR, SHOULD THE STATE  DECLARE THAT YOUR CHARGES BE REGULATED AND DEFINE WHAT YOUR LABOR IS WORTH?

IF YOU WORK FOR A PRIVATE BUSINESS, SHOULD YOUR BOSSES' INCOME BE REGULATED SO THAT YOUR INCOME IS AFFECTED TOO?  

HOW CAN PROPERTY OWNERS' RIGHTS TO EARN AN INCOME BE DISPLACED BY TENANTS' SO-CALLED "RIGHTS" TO HAVE A SHARE OF THAT INCOME?   

WHAT IS ANY PERSON'S LABOR WORTH?  THE CONSTITUTION SAYS EACH OF OWNS THE FRUITS OF OUR OWN LABOR.  HOW DOES THIS SQUARE WITH RENT CONTROL?  

Tenant protection bill now before
state Senate
By: Chuck Slothower in Real Estate and Development May 9, 2017 11:22 am 

A bill that would lift Oregon’s pre-emption on local rent control, require landlords to pay relocation expenses and limit no-cause evictions had a hearing before a Senate committee last week. In the Senate, the legislation has attracted chief sponsors Michael Dembrow, D- Portland, Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, and Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham. The House passed the bill, H.B. 2004, on April 4 by a 31-27 vote. Landlords have fiercely opposed the legislation, fearing it would limit their flexibility to get rid of disruptive tenants and raise rents to fair market value.

“Oftentimes you don’t know a tenant or their entourage until they move into your property,” Alex Ianos, a Portland-area landlord, stated in written testimony. “The no- cause notice allows flexibility to rehab a property and also protect other tenants living on the property. A for-cause eviction is an extremely difficult process.” The legislation comes on the heels of Portland’s emergency ordinance requiring landlords to pay tenants’ relocation costs. Landlords have challenged the ordinance in court; a ruling has yet to be issued. Portland tenants have complained of steep rent hikes forcing them to leave their neighborhoods. Advocates say tenants have little protection from sudden displacement. Groups such as the Community Alliance of Tenants have become more vocal as the housing crisis has deepened. Landlords should use the existing for-cause eviction process, CAT Executive Director Katrina Holland said in an interview. “We cannot understand why no-cause evictions are so near and dear to someone’s heart,” she said. “If some tenant is violating the lease and bothering other tenants, there is a very clear for-cause statute in our law that allows landlords to hold someone accountable.” One Portland tenant, Brenna Bell, recalled how she was issued a no-cause eviction in 2004 a week after giving birth to her first child. “The first month of my daughter’s life became a time of intense stress rather than the period of peace I long imagined,” Bell wrote to legislators. The bill would also give municipalities the ability to cap rent increases, which are unregulated at present. The bill appears to be headed for a work session and then a floor vote, said Alison McIntosh, deputy director for policy and communications at Neighborhood Partnerships,

a Portland-based nonprofit. “That is our hope, and we’re working really hard to make that happen,” McIntosh said. The bill’s hearing Wednesday was before the Senate Committee on Human Services. Bill sponsors were not available for comment on Friday.

Oregon PR staffers outnumber Capital reporters

When government starts looking for ways to save money, this shocking article from The Capital Insider should be a warning about waste of public money.  The next time you hear a politician or public employee talk about "branding" or "marketing", follow the money.

The Capital Insider is an online newsletter from the State of Oregon available to anyone who signs up to receive it.

If you have a news tip send us an email at: tips@oregoncapitalinsider.com

Agency PR staffers outnumber Capitol reporters 10-to-1

Created: 25 May 2017 | Written by Capital Bureau

Organization raps state for number of agency public releations reps.

Take a look at the state of Oregon's advertising and you'll quickly wade into a very expensive cesspool of absurdity — one that came under ridicule this week by a conservative transparency organization. 

While we concede that some public relations may have to do with educating constituents about state services, some of the millions of dollars spent on PR every year goes to projects like the infamous Cover Oregon ads, one of which features cellists, saccharine lyrics about taking care of each other, and, of course, references to "The Oregon Way." 

It's hard to make a public interest argument about that kind of spending, especially in the context of a $1.4 billion budget shortfall in the next two-year budget, and when Cover Oregon was a spectacular failure. 

There's very little hope that the gravy train for the state's spin doctors will stop soon: In fact, the Oregon Capital Insider had the privilege this weekend of meeting a young fellow who has a contract with the state to make a "concept album" about Oregon's beaches, which featured free stays at Oregon State Parks cabins on the coast during the winter.

Adam Andrzejewski, of Open The Books, an organization that has pursued prior reports on spending by state agencies, published an editorial in Forbes earlier this week on his findings. 

According to Andrzejewski, among 87 state agencies, there are 303 state public relations and communications employees, which cost the state $110 million in salaries between 2012 and 2016. 

The state has employed 2,200 outside firms for advertising purposes, spending $168 million on outside vendor payments for marketing and PR between 2012 and 2016, according to Andrzejewski's findings. 

For context: There are approximately a dozen journalists covering the state politics and government beat full time in Salem, with some additional reporters floating in and out or reporting from Portland. 

If we assume, generously, that at any given point, double that amount — including local journalists — are doing work that requires interacting with state government, that is a ratio of 10-to-1 paid PR professionals to journalists, not including private contractors doing PR. 

Adding a layer of irony to the mix, the Senate Republicans' spokesperson rather gleefully distributed the report via a press release this week. But, we ask, what is his job? And who pays his salary?

Liberal dystopia

With so many California immigrants residing in Oregon, I can only hope that they have left their progressive silliness in our neighbor state to the south along with their propensity to make choices for everyone else via government edict.  Oregon has always been the home of independent and free men and women who respected the rights of others to have different beliefs and opinions as long as they were left alone to make thei own choices about how to live.  That open spirit is what attracted so many people to our soggy state.

Living in California sounds like being tied up in a progressive, artificially moral straight jacket.  No matter how beautiful the landscape, or how wonderful the climate, it is not worth giving up my freedoms to live in such an iliberal state.  People have died for Americans to live free, and Californians are throwing all of that away.  Intolerance begets tyranny.

How do you use and r-use your plastic bags?  I line my wast baskets with them and use them for trash in my car.  What I don't use I recycle at the grocery store.

In California, ‘Paper or Plastic?’ Is Against the Law

Supermarkets can no longer give out shopping bags, though the claimed benefits are dubious.

By ALLYSIA FINLEY

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 30, 2017 

There’s no such thing as a free bag—at least not anymore in California. Voters in November approved, 53% to 47%, a law outright banning single-use, carry-out plastic bags. Grocery and convenience stores can offer paper or reusable bags, but the law requires them to charge at least 10 cents a pop. While pot is now legal in the Golden State, plastic bags are contraband. Welcome to the liberal dystopia.

Rents sluggish as apartment glut increases

Rents stabilize nationwide amidst apartment building boom
It is always a matter of time before housing conditions change - unless government interferes with the market.

Looks like the "need" for rent control is easing.  Actually, there is never a need for rent control because it is a political scam and doesn't work.  The popularity of rent control lies in the fact that so few people are taught basic rules of economics like supply and demand.  If one believes that government can manage a real estate market (or any other market), they are willingly delusional and close-minded about learning new facts.  How does the real state cycle work?

1. Demand went up and created a shortage of housing units.
2. Short supply drove up the price of all types of housing.
3. For many reasons, the lag in new supply could not keep up with accelerating demand and housing prices pushed higher. 
4. High housing prices finally created a positive economic environment for [expensive] new construction, and housing supply began to increase.
5. Because of the cost of new construction, new housing units have been been in the luxury and high-end category.  Affordable units are still on n short supply.
6. High-end housing units have reached a saturation point in many cities where rents are stabilized.  Concessions lower prices further.
7. As high-end housing prices stabilize, so do the moderate and low-end units.  
8. Supply reaches an equilibrium then over-supply before new construction stops or slows.  
9. New supply will not return until rents are again on the rise and the market supports it. 

This is the real estate cycle - a continual chase for economic returns, and retreat from oversupply and low returns.  Perfect equilibrium in pricing (supply and demand) is fleeting and impossible to maintain.  Conditions today are at or nearing the peak of the cycle.  The last trough was 10 - 15 years ago when appartment owners struggled to be profitable.  When concessions (free rent) come back, we are at or near the trough where pricing is decreasing.  No government action is needed to cure the housing crisis - the market will respond.  Rent control only shuts off supply and makes things worse.

Q:  How will a changing rental housing market affect new construction in Lake Oswego?

Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2017 By Laura Kusisto
Luxury Apartment Boom Looks Set to Fizzle 
in 2017

Building glut outstrips demand, likely forcing landlords to slash rents

Landlords of upscale properties across the U.S. are bracing for rough conditions in 2017 that will likely force them to slash rents and offer deep concessions as a glut of supply brings a seven-year luxury-apartment boom to an end.

The turnaround follows a more-than-26% jump in U.S. apartment rents since early 2010, far outstripping inflation and income growth. But in 2016, rents rose a modest 3.8%, a significant drop from the recent high of 5.6% year-to-year growth in the third quarter of 2015, according to a report to be released Tuesday by MPF Research, a division of RealPage Inc. that tracks the U.S. apartment market.

Developers in New York are already offering up to three months of free rent on some projects. In Los Angeles, some landlords are offering six months of free parking, and some in Houston are waiving security deposits. Meanwhile, MPF Vice President Jay Parsons said he expects little or no rent growth in urban rental markets this year.

“This will be a very challenged leasing environment almost everywhere,” Mr. Parsons said.

The slowdown, he said, is being driven not by a pullback in demand but rather a flood of new apartments. Demand for urban properties jumped after the housing bust as young, high-earning professionals eschewed homeownership and flocked to big cities. Developers responded by focusing most of their efforts on high-end properties.

Rents in San Francisco, New York, Houston and San Jose, Calif., all declined about 1% year-to-year in 2016, according to MPF. Monthly rents now average $1,248 nationally.

The sluggishness is expected to spread across the U.S., hitting markets from Nashville, Tenn., and Dallas to Los Angeles and Atlanta.

The bad news for landlords is good news for tenants.

“This is going to be one of the best apartment markets that I’ve seen [for renters] since 2011,” said Ric Campo, chief executive of Camden Property Trust, one of the country’s largest apartment owners. “The consumer is going to have much broader choice at a lower price.”

In some of the country’s more expensive markets, the slowdown at the top end is showing signs of trickling down to more average-priced apartments. Benjamin Gable, a 31-year-old advertising copywriter, recently scored a $200-a-month discount on 1.5-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn’s trendy Greenpoint neighborhood.

Most real-estate analysts expect luxury construction to slow in coming years as markets work through supply gluts.

Landlords believe the market will revive over time, however. While they don’t expect it to return to the highflying days of 2015, they say the apartment market should settle into its usual position as a steadily growing but largely unexciting part of the real-estate market.

“I don’t see it getting white hot again,” said Mr. Tirrill.

2017 Planning Commission Goals

The Planning Commission acts as the City of Lake Oswego's State-mandated Commission for Cotizen Involvement.  Be sure to let the Commission know how you think Citizen Involvement on land use issues can be improved.  Be specific about where you believe problems exist, and make suggestions to make citizen input on the future of our city more meaningful.
 
The following announcement is found on the Council Digest webpage - located in the Public Affairs Department section of the City website.  Perhaps the first suggestion should be better notification to citizens about opportunities to connect with City Boards and Commissions. ;)

PLANNING & BUILDING

PLANNING COMMISSION SEEKS INPUT ON 2017

DECEMBER 22, 2016

The Lake Oswego Planning Commission (also serving as Commission for Citizen Involvement) is reviewing potential goals for 2017 and is seeking input from the community.  The Planning Commission’s roles and responsibilities, along with a list of its current projects and 2016 goals, can be found on the Planning Commission webpage, click here.

The Commission invites the community to provide feedback in one of the following ways:

• E-mail your written comments to the Planning Commission at PlanningCommission@LakeOswego.city, no later than 4:00 p.m. on January 9.
• Attend the Planning Commission’s January 9 meeting to share your comments. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chamber.

The City Council will review the proposed Planning Commission goals and may provide direction at their 2017 Goal Setting meeting in January.

12 days to comment on Council goals

2017 City Council Goals 

Is there something you would like your city council to work on in 2017?  Now is the time to comment.  Ask today (January 1, 2017), there are 12 days left to comment online through Open City Hall.  

I heard from other sources that there was an option to comment on Council goals, but had to go searching to find out how to do it.

The following announcement was found under the City Manger Department of the City website:
City of Lale Oswego Home Page >  Departments > City Manager Home > Programs > Open City Hall > City Council Goals for 2017.

One would think that the City Council didn't care about what citizens had to say at all. If so, they would have made sure this inadequate effort would have been given higher priority and visibility.  Even if they ignored everything citizens wrote, it still makes for good PR to look like one is interested in what citizens have to say.

If you have the time and feel like it would do some good, go ahead and give it your best.  While you're at it, see what is going on with our Stormwater Permit Renewal - another much beleaguered and politicized subject.

Open City Hall
http://www.peakdemocracy.com/portals/55/forum_home

2

Stormwater Permit Renewal Sampling and Analysis Plan

33

2017 City Council Goals

What goals should your City Council set to accomplish in 2017?

12 days left before deadline

This topic has 33 visitors and 7 statements: 6 registered statements and 1 unregistered statement. That's 21 minutes of public comment @ 3 minutes per statement. The deadline for participation is 5:00 PM on January 13, 2017.

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