PORTLAND, Ore. – Several Portland city leaders are packing their bags for Vienna, Austria, this week on a taxpayer-funded trip to study the city’s celebrated “social housing” model. While officials insist the excursion is about research and policy learning, critics are questioning both the timing and the necessity of sending nearly 20 people overseas at public expense.
A European Study Tour
Councilors Candace Avalos, Jamie Duny, and Mitch Green are among the elected officials making the trip, joined by their chiefs of staff and members of the Portland Housing Bureau. In total, around 20 participants are listed as part of the delegation.
Vienna is often praised as a global leader in affordable housing, with roughly 60% of its residents living in units owned or managed by the city or nonprofit cooperatives. Portland leaders say visiting in person will help them understand how such policies function on the ground.
“This isn’t a vacation,” Avalos said in a recent interview. “It’s an opportunity to see in person how Vienna has been able to implement social housing successfully and what lessons we can bring home.”
Taxpayer Concerns
That explanation has not satisfied many Portland residents, who have voiced frustration over yet another publicly funded overseas trip by city leaders. Dozens of emails to local news outlets echoed the same concern: why spend thousands of dollars on airfare, hotels, and meals when academic studies, policy papers, and virtual tours already exist?…