1. Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
in Oregon
Pegge McGuire, Executive Director
www.fhco.org
503-223-8197 x112
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2. The Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO)
is a Private, Non-Profit, Non-Partisan
Organization Serving the Entire State of
Oregon
Promoting and protecting
fair housing rights
(since 1990)
Providing expert
testimony in fair housing
litigation and in housing
policy discussions
Supporting local
jurisdictions with
technical guidance on fair
housing impacts of
zoning, land
use, housing, policies and
practices
Facilitating community conversations
on fair housing impacts of
laws, rules, polices, and practices
related to creating, accessing, or using
housing or housing related programs or
services
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3. What is Fair Housing?
•The set of federal, state, and local laws that protect
individuals based on their membership in a protected class
from individual or systemic discrimination
•Proactive elimination of segregation and promotion of
equal opportunity access to housing (intentional inclusion
and strategic community investment)
•The body of case law and HUD regulations interpreting
FHAA and other fair housing laws that require publicly
supported housing and housing programs to proactively
remove barriers to access and stability in housing
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4. Who is Covered by Fair Housing Protections?
•Race
•Color
•National Origin
•Religion
•Sex (Gender)
•Familial Status (children under 18)
•Disability (broadly defined, requires barrier removal)
•Marital Status
•Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity
•Source of Income (now including HCV participants)
•Survivors of Domestic Violence

5. Illegal Discrimination in Housing
•Direct Discrimination
•Overt and covert
•Systemic Discrimination
•Disparate impact
•Policies and practices that perpetuate
segregation
•A few words about testing

6. 1 in 10 report
discrimination
4,000 calls per year, 400 formal
intakes, 100 complaints, 65 “for
cause” charges
Rental
Lending
Homeowner’s Insurance
Real Estate Sales
Zoning, Siting, Permitting
Neighbor-on-Neighbor Harassment
40% disability
25% race and ethnicity
25% familial status
10% religion, sexual
orientation, etc.
Fair Housing Complaints in Oregon
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7. The Leavening in the Recipe
•Oregon Territory-20-39 stripes
•80% of the Native population decimated by disease
•1859-Slave vs. Free State (Eliminated from the constitution in
the 1920’s)
•1859 Chinese Exclusion (Repealed in the 40’s)
•1920’s largest KKK this side of the Rockies
•Anti-Immigrant activism through the 1940’s:
• English, Germans, Scotch, Irish, Scandinavians
• North Italians
• Bohemians, Czechs, Poles, Lithuanians
• Greeks
• Russians, Jews
• South Italians
• Negroes
• Mexicans3/19/2014 7

8. We’re From the Government,
We’re Here to Help
•1940’s to 1980’s Institutional policies further
solidify policies and practices leading to
segregation
•FHA appraisal standards
•VA loan policies
•Transportation “improvements”
•Urban Renewal/Removal
•White flight
•1968 FHA enacted
•2013 HUD draft rule enacted to clarify the FHA
mandate to address segregated housing patterns
and promote diverse, inclusive communities

9. Fair Housing, Needed Housing,
Affordable Housing: Fair Housing Planning
Albany
Ashland
Beaverton
Bend
Corvallis
Eugene
Gresham
Hillsboro
Medford
Portland
Salem
Springfield
Clackamas County
Multnomah County
Washington County
Balance of State
Grants Pass
Redmond
Use federal funds to
erase historic
patterns of
discrimination
Prevent future
segregation/
Promote integration
Redress past
segregation patterns
Identify elements of
segregation and integration
Identify areas concentrated
by poverty, race and national
origin
Create access to areas of
opportunity
Create an appropriate fair
housing environment
Consider infrastructure
investments in the past
Ensure robust public
participation
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10. Indicators of Barriers to
Equal Opportunity in Housing-Separate is Not Equal
•Education: school performance, test scores, graduation rates,
teacher ratios, free school lunch percentages
•Economic Development: land use policies, zoning decisions,
incentives for mixed use and affordable housing, affirmative
marketing
•Economic Health in the Neighborhood: job opportunities, grocery
stores, publicly funded economic development/infrastructure
investments
•Accessibility of housing: near transportation and services, barrier
free, meets design and construction standards
•Location, availability, accessibility of housing: unit sizes, accessible
features, environmental features
•Special considerations: group homes, mixed income, first time
homebuyer (gentrification), foreclosures and other predatory
indicators, public transportation and LIDs, environmental issues
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11. Oregon land use
statutes in place
since
1973, establishes
14 goals for land
use (#10 is related
to housing)
Department of
Land Conservation
and Development
adopts policy and
reviews plans
Local governments
plan and regulate
land use (submit
plans and
amendments to
LCDC for review
Goal 10
Establishes the
requirement for
jurisdictions to
assess and plan for
“needed housing”
in a variety of
price ranges, rent
levels, housing
types
A few notable
exceptions since
adoption in 1973:
Accessibility for
people with
disabilities
Considerations
for affirmatively
furthering fair
housing
Policies to help
rectify the
detrimental
effects of
gentrification on
historically
underserved
communities
Land Use Planning the Oregon Way
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12. Changing the Recipe
Changing the Paradigm
•Challenge our assumptions and standards
•Has the decision-making process included
robust input from a broad spectrum of the
impacted populations and viewpoints of
historically underserved communities?
•What does the data tell us?
•What is the legitimate business reason for
the rule, policy, practice?
•What are the barriers created by our current
process/rule?
•Is there a less discriminatory way to
accomplish our goals?

13. A Few Opportunities
for this Group to Consider
•Modifications to Goal 10 to incorporate
provisions of Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing
•Assign a role for OHCS to participate in the
periodic review of local plan amendments for
AFFH issues
•Create a process for statewide housing planning
across state agencies engaged in housing
development and subsidy using public funds
(OHCS, OHA, DHS, DOC, etc.)
•Housing is part of a system that includes
environment, transportation, education, quality
of life, non-traditional partners (e.g. DOT, DEQ,
ODOE, DOE, etc.) should be required to consider
their impacts on housing opportunity

14. Q & A?
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