Homer Williams Hedges His Bets in the Portland City Council Race

Williams gives $1,500 to former legislator Jo Ann Hardesty after giving the same amount to her rival in the primary.

Wapato Jail. (Sam Gehrke)

Real-estate developers have given heavily to the Portland City Council campaign of Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith, The Oregonian noted over the weekend.

They fear her opponent, former state Rep. Jo Ann Hardesty (D-Portland), will support rent control.

But one developer appears to be hedging his bets: Homer Williams gave $1,500 to Smith's competitor last week, campaign records show.

Williams gave the same amount to Smith and to another opponent, mayoral staffer Andrea Valderrama, in the primary.

(Williams declined to comment beyond acknowledging the fact of all three donations.)

In some ways, it's a surprising donation for Williams, who is supporting the effort to open a large homeless shelter at Wapato, the never-used county jail in North Portland.

By contrast, Harsch Investment Properties, which now owns the Wapato property, has given Smith $15,000 in the general election, making the company among her largest donors. (The company also gave $5,000 to the architect Stuart Emmons in the primary.) Harsch owner Jordan Schnitzer has said he favors using the Wapato site to address the homeless crisis.

Update, 1:45 pm: The Hardesty campaign says it was unaware of the donation until reading this story.

"Homer Williams didn't tell us he was giving money so we didn't know that was happening," says campaign manager Anna Nguyen. "We usually look for big checks when people tell us about them."

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.