GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING

Portland Tenants Union Balks

By Noah Bruce

In case you missed last week’s story (see "A more perfect Union"), there is a tenants union forming in Portland. This should be good news — a great demand and small supply of housing in the city has left renters vulnerable to skyrocketing rents and unscrupulous landlords. The Portland Tenants Union could be an equalizing force. That is if they ever get their act together.

Since January, the group has been struggling to get off the ground. Aside from a well-attended roundtable discussion on rent control and increasing the housing stock in October, in nine months the group has accomplished little. This inertia disappointingly continued at the group’s first public meeting since February, on November 14 at King Middle School.

The meeting was originally going to serve as the group’s first annual meeting where its bylaws would be ratified and its officers and board of directors elected. Unfortunately, the group decided that due to a low turnout — about 23 people showed up — these important actions would be postponed.

Due to a late change of date, the annual meeting was not properly advertised and the group reasoned that given more time they could draw a bigger crowd.

Yet, the PTU could have done something. The group never even got to the most important part of the night’s written agenda — the nomination of officers and a board. Part of the problem was that the group, seated in a circle, spent over an hour introducing themselves.

This time spent on introductions irked newcomer to the group Seth Berner. “We’ve spent an hour telling personal stories which is okay,” he said. “It will be 10 before we get through this agenda. The next time there will be another meeting with new faces. If we want to work on political things, we should get to more of the nitty gritty.”

The meeting’s moderator, Bob Philbrook, calmly answered the charge. “When people hear stories that are similar to their own a camaraderie develops,” he said. “I organize people by trade, and I designed the meeting this way. I’m sorry if you feel the way you do.”

Then, for a short spell, the meeting proceeded through some agenda items and it looked like the group might actually get to the nominations. But it was not to be.

Berner, who made a good point the first time he spoke, now threatened to hold up progress by questioning whether such a small group of people could speak for 35,000 Portland renters. This type of comment should be ignored because in essence, it is asking whether the group has a right to exist at all. After nine months, a group should be convinced of its necessity. Joe Weiman, a member of the group’s organizing committee, responded well with this plea for action: “Instead of waiting until we recruit enough members, we should get active. When people see a group that is doing something they will want to join.”

Yet there was to be no action on this night. Time was spent talking about whether there was sufficient interest in a tenants union (again the group is nine months into it) and the role of landlords in the group (a non-pressing policy issue).

Finally, the nomination issue came up. The tenants union decided on the roundabout process of assigning the organizing committee — members of which form the group’s core — the task of setting up a nomination committee to select potential officers and boardmembers. But then an argument ensued about whether members of the nominating committee could themselves be nominated. This was an important issue because members who are devoted enough to be on the nominating committee are the same members who want to become boardmembers and officers.

As a reporter, I never speak up in these meetings. But due to my frustration, I meekly offered a solution. Skip the nominating committee, I said, everyone who wants to run should just nominate themselves. But no one was listening.

Finally in the last five minutes, the group decided to let nominating committee members run for office. They also set the date for the annual meeting — January 15 or 22 depending on availability of location. Maybe we’ll see some action next time.