Rep. Drazan calls out rental relief delays, disaster

Representative Drazan Calls For New Leadership at Oregon Housing and Community Services Department
By State Representative Christine Drazan,

SALEM, Ore. – Representative Christine Drazan (R-Canby) called for new leadership at the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department (OHCS), citing the agency’s repeated failures to implement Oregon’s emergency rental assistance program.

Representative Drazan urged Governor Brown to dismiss the current director and to respond to calls from housing providers to take concrete steps to address the agency’s systemic problems in advance of next week’s Special Session of the Oregon Legislature.

“The rollout and implementation of this much needed program has been grossly inadequate for struggling renters and landlords alike, who were promised relief but instead have been expected to wait patiently while the bills pile up,” said Representative Drazan. “Even today, thousands of promised checks have yet to be delivered. Oregonians should not have to keep waiting while this agency continues to underperform and put stable housing at risk. It is time for Governor Brown to take responsibility for this failure and appoint new leadership within the agency instead of simply throwing millions more taxpayer dollars at the program and expecting different results.”

“Oregonians need a functioning agency,” she continued. “I urge Governor Brown to take decisive action to fix this broken program and remove Director Salazar immediately.”