Hours after being officially sworn in, Governor Tina Kotek signed three executive orders focused on housing and homelessness. One creates a new advisory board to develop recommendations for speeding up home construction enough to bring an end to our chronic housing shortage within 10 years. The council is supposed to issue its recommendations by the end of 2023. 

The executive order creating the council doesn’t require that local governments be represented, but the governor’s office recently contacted the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) to encourage its members to apply. Applications are being accepted now at this website; no deadline to apply has been announced.

Contributed by: Michael Burdick | Legislative Affairs Manager