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Multifamily NW—the organization of Oregon's largest landlords—spent more money lobbying in Portland in the first quarter of this year than any other entity.
That's significant because the group loudly complained at City Council hearings in February that landlords had been left out of deliberations before the passage of the city's landmark relocation ordinance, which requires landlords with more than one unit to pay tenants' moving costs when they're evicted without cause or their rent is increased by 10 percent or more in a year.
Multifamily NW spokesperson, John McIsaac, declined to account for how exactly $35,198 was spent, but lobbying forms show before the city ordinance was passed, the group's lawyer and lobbyist John DiLorenzo met with the mayor once and talked with him three other times by telephone about the relocation ordinance.
Wheeler also had a second meeting with representatives of the group, including its executive director Deborah Imse, on the issue.
Prior to City Council's Feb. 2 vote to approve the ordinance Multifamily NW provided bitter testimony, claiming they hadn't been brought to the decision making table.
"My organization represents 200,000 units throughout the state of Oregon. I'm an industry expert, there are many other industry experts in the room…we were not asked to participate," said Tokola Properties VP and Multifamily NW board member Jeff Edinge during the testimony.
McIsaac, contacted after the lobbying forms were released, continued to attack Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, who along with the mayor championed the legislation.
"Commissioner Eudaly's ordinance was founded on alternative facts and fueled by emotion, and we don't believe that's good for landlords, tenants, or the city at large," McIsaac says.
Eudaly shot back via email, saying Multifamily NW's intentions are also suspect.
"Given the motivation of emotion or greed, I would choose the former," Eudaly tells WW.
"Relocation assistance was the only tool left that could provide any meaningful protection to renters, thanks to special interest groups like [Multifamily NW] lobbying our legislature to ban rent control and preempt just cause evictions at the state level decades ago," she adds.
Grievances aside, the monetary magnitude of Multifamily NW's lobbying efforts stands in contrast to other businesses and groups with in the city. It's $20,000 more than the second most financially active group, Lyft, and a massive sum more than Portland Tenant's United $0.00 in lobbying. PTU backed the the relocation ordinance.