Vienna's Social Housing Tour Costs $20K for Portland Team, Council Staff Reveals

A Trip to Vienna: Portland Councilor's Investment in Social Housing Research

Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos recently led a three-person team on a trip to Vienna, Austria, to study the city’s social housing model. The trip was funded by her office’s budget, with nearly $20,000 allocated for travel and related expenses. This decision sparked discussions about the cost and value of such an investment.

The breakdown of the costs was shared in a blog post published on Avalos’ city web page by her chief of staff, Jamey Evenstar. Before the trip, KGW’s Blair Best asked Avalos during an interview if she knew how much the trip would cost. At the time, Avalos and a spokesperson could not provide a clear answer. However, Avalos defended the expense as a discretionary choice within her office’s budget.

The trip to Vienna was part of a resolution introduced by Avalos and Councilor Mitch Green in March, which directed city staff to examine social housing models. The resolution passed unanimously in the city council. More recently, a group of around 20 people, including Avalos, Green, and Jamie Dunphy, decided to travel to Vienna for a more immersive learning experience.

Evenstar clarified that the idea for the trip came from the group Neighborhood Partnerships, not the councilors themselves. This organization also arranged the lesson plan for the visit.

"The trip was an opportunity to learn from a city that serves as the gold standard for housing models that create stable long-term housing and build community wealth and livability," Evenstar explained. "As the Chair of the Homelessness and Housing Committee, Councilor Avalos felt a responsibility to the cause and also knew this would be a rare chance to learn directly from experts, residents, and government officials."

Evenstar mentioned that they initially considered the cost of the trip and explored ways to save money. However, they ultimately decided against remote learning due to the nine-hour time difference between Portland and Vienna. “Zoom calls were just not possible,” she wrote.

Final Cost Estimates

According to Evenstar, city councilors are required to submit travel forms with estimates for the maximum amount they might spend on a trip so that budget staff can reconcile the actual costs later.

Evenstar’s breakdown showed that for Avalos and two staff members, the estimated costs included $6,714 for flights, $3,900 for a hotel, a $1,963.14 food per diem, about $100 for transportation, and $7,000 in program fees. The total estimated cost came to $19,677.14, or about $6,559.04 per person. Evenstar noted that the actual costs may be lower due to savings on meals and potential refunds on program costs.

Evenstar defended the decision to request per diems be paid out before the trip. “This is not standard city policy, but we believe that bearing a personal cost for work-related educational trips is classist and undermines access to people who don’t have large nest eggs or credit cards,” she wrote. “Our office will never require our staff to pay for food or transportation out-of-pocket when traveling for their job.”

Evenstar also explained that their office paid more for flights than other groups because they used the city’s contracted travel agents instead of booking the flights themselves. “Our office was told we had to use the City’s contracted travel agents to book flights but only learned later that flights can be booked directly without going through a third party that charges large fees,” Evenstar said.

Inclusion of Staff Members

Avalos’ trip was not exclusive to her office. Her group included herself, Evenstar, and a Portland Housing Bureau staff member who otherwise would have needed to pay out of pocket. Evenstar emphasized that the staff member responsible for drafting the report required in Avalos’ resolution should not be prevented from learning directly from experts due to personal costs. “We decided to sponsor her trip as well because we felt it was the right thing to do.”

Evenstar concluded that they “don’t apologize” for spending their office budget in a way that prioritized their values and goals. “In the end, we are very glad we went,” she said. “We learned so much, came back inspired about the future, and are connected to an entire cohort of other Portlanders and experts in Vienna who we will work together with to secure quality housing and affordability for all Portlanders.”

KGW reached out to councilors Dunphy and Green to ask how much each of them spent on the Vienna trip, but has not yet received a response from Dunphy. Green’s chief of staff, Maria Sipin, estimated that the trip cost $12,153.70 between the two of them, and they each declined the per diem. They plan to share their experience of Vienna at a town hall Friday at the Sellwood Community House.

Budget Context

In the adopted budget that took effect in July, each city councilor had an office budget of about $1.4 million for staff, office space, and expenses. However, councilors have discretion on how much to spend and on what. City councilors make just over $133,000 per year.

On Wednesday, the city of Portland announced that it would freeze most hiring, overtime, and employee reclassifications for the rest of the fiscal year after the city budget office projected business license tax revenue coming in $12 million below forecast. This decision highlights the financial challenges facing the city.