but it isn't treated like one in Corvallis

THE PLATFORM

Corvallis faces a severe rent affordability crisis, and fundamentally disrespects housing as a human right.We want to change that situation making life easier for all through:

1. Public Housing

The root of the housing affordability problem is not a lack of housing supply, but that housing is treated like a commodity and an investment rather than a vital human need. This market-led approach to building housing has caused an over-abundance of luxury, high-end housing that only the rich can afford, while the rest of us struggle to pay the rent.It doesn't have to be this way, and there is a simple soultion that will make a big difference!Respecting the fundamental human right to housing means that everyone has a decent home we can afford, without scrounging to make ends meet. The only way to assure that everyone has affordable housing is if a good amount of the city’s housing is owned, managed, and leased, not for profit, but for the good of the community. A Corvallis City Council with the political will to do it can make our city truly affordable to live in simply by investing in large-scale, publicly-owned housing.

2. Rent Control

Oregon once led the nation as the first state to adopt rent stabilization. However, other states now have stronger rent stabilization laws, higher minimum wages, and local rent control laws that allow them to be comparatively more affordable. Meanwhile, Oregon has a statewide ban on local rent control laws (ORS 91.225) that has been in place since 1983.So how do we get rent under control in our city?In the long term, we need to lift the state’s ban on local rent control because everyone deserves affordable housing, and directly controlling rent prices is one of the best ways to achieve that. For now, the policy of rent control that we are demanding from the Corvallis City Council is one that legally circumvents the state’s prohibition on directly controlling the price of rent. The city can do this simply by having a significant amount of the rental units within the city publicly owned, and their rental rates kept truly affordable. When there are enough of these affordable public units, they put pressure on all other units throughout the city to keep their rents lower, or otherwise lose potential tenants to the more affordable competition.

3. Decriminalizing Homlessness

People experiencing homelessness suffer the most from unaffordable housing and lack of respect for housing rights. Some amount of people being unable to afford housing is the enviable result of not having any real public housing nor rent control. When people can’t afford food, we don’t criminalize people experiencing hunger, we give them food. We often do this personally, but we also do this at a social level, with food stamps (SNAP), food banks, programs like Meals on Wheels, and so much more. But when it comes to housing, this obvious social failure to provide a basic human necessity at a price that everyone can afford, is treated as an induvial moral failure on the part of the millions of people and families experiencing homelessness.The Corvallis City Council’s current policies of sweeps, fines, and arrests of people and families experiencing homelessness are cruel and inhuman. Rather than helping, these draconian policies are making people more homeless by destroying what meager shelter they have and forcing them further away from social service providers that could meaningfully help. Our neighbors experiencing homelessness die at a rate three times higher than Oregonians with legal housing. That’s not because those deceased were all individually morally deficient and undeserving in some way. It’s because at a social level we treat those who can’t compete as well in the job and housing market like they’re social outcasts, deserving of pity at best and death at worst.All of us need shelter to live. So why should anyone be punished not being able to afford legal housing?Our campaign's demand for decriminalizing homelessness means first and foremost an end to the city’s sweeps, harassment, trespassing and arrests of people experiencing homelessness. Stopping the sweeps and the criminalization of our most vulnerable neighbors is the easiest of our three policy demands for the city to achieve; it costs nothing and could be adopted at any City Council meeting.

• Lean more about the platform

— THE PLATFORM —

Our housing affordability crisis is caused by society treating housing as an investment, which produces expensive, luxury housing that prices out families while enriching landlords and investors. This brutal situation makes most people in Corvallis renters, with many scrapping by just to have a roof over their head. Many of our neighbors that can't afford housing are considered illegal, getting charged with crimes just for trying to live.It doesn't have to be this way and treating housing as a human right is not difficult!Other countries, like Finland, have taken a housing first approach. By providing people with housing instead of punishing them, Finland effectively stopped homelessness. Other cities, like Vienna, Austria, began municipally owned housing programs in 1923. Today, 62% of Vienna's population lives in municipally owned housing and rent is between $400 and $600 a month, with subsidies for lower income tenants. This isn't just housing that is cheap, it is desirable, it is a home. This housing provides a sense of stability, community, and safety. These are not pie in the sky ideas, these are existing alternatives we can enact here, we just need a city council with the political will to do it.By enacting the following policies, we can help everyone in Corvallis live with dignity, and we can work towards a future where we fully decommodify housing to guarantee high-quality housing to all as a human right.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this an official ballot measure?

Not at the moment. Right now we are advocating for changes that can be made by Corvallis City Council.

What do you mean by Housing is a Human Right?

It's our name, our slogan, and what we believe. If you'd like to learn how we think Corvallis can treat Housing as a human right, read our platform.

Are you affiliated with Corvallis Housing First, Stop the Sweeps, or another local housing group?

We are not, but we believe these movements do good work to provide affordable housing and help protect the our most vulnerable neighbors. However, we believe that drastic, lasting change is needed to establish housing as a human right in Corvallis. If you organize with a local group and would like to collaborate, please contact us!

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