Former employees hired to study Lane County barriers to affordable housing

Lane County commissioners this week voted 3-2 to pay $60,000 to a pair of consultants to study barriers to affordable housing in Lane County, with an emphasis on the county's land management division's role.

Consultants Kent Howe and Jim Mann are both former Lane County Land Management division employees who switched to private-sector consulting. Howe was the division's planning director from 1996 to 2013 and now does consulting for developers trying to navigate that division. Mann was a land use planner for Lane County from 1979 to 2002 and did similar consulting work from 2002 to 2022.

In their application, Howe and Mann said they will focus on the county's land management division, giving commissioners a report with emphasis "on the County code and the manner in which it is utilized by LMD staff to serve client applications … to determine barriers to affordable housing that exist within the permitting process system."

The three commissioners who voted in favor said they selected Howe and Mann over four other groups who applied because of their experience in Lane County.

"We've talked about how difficult Lane County is to work in," Commissioner Ryan Ceniga said. "Rather than trying to get someone else up to speed, I think these guys are here, and sometimes you pay for what you get."

The commissioners opposed, Heather Buch and Laurie Trieger, wanted Morant McLeod consulting firm. They said the Beaverton-based firm was their preference because it offered to do the project for less money (on a three-tiered scale of $29,320 to $37,090), it had more experience than Howe and Mann working together and doing public-sector consulting work, and because Howe or Mann (they didn't specify which) had an active land-use application with Lane County, creating a potential conflict of interest.

"For me, that is a red flag," Buch said. "Having an active developer as the consultant who has an application submitted with the county would cast a great shadow on the real, true work that we're trying to accomplish here."

Commissioner David Loveall said this represented not a conflict of interest but experience on both sides of Lane County permitting.

"They're displaying lived experience," he said. "These people know the ins and outs of the department."

The county commissioners often hear complaints about the land management division from people trying to get building permits.

"It does really seem like there is a problem at the county building department," resident Haley Lesh told commissioners. "They do not want to be approving any applications, do not lean towards seeing towards property owners. I just implore you guys to … provide some oversight and accountability to the building department."

Keir Miller, LMD division manager, told commissioners that while "there's a narrative currently that staff is bent on denying applications," he doesn't think that narrative is accurate.

"We approve 85-90% of applications," he said. "Staff is very careful on which applications they approve and deny and then we issue those decisions. The vast majority of the time, they're upheld in a legal court."

Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached by email at atorres@registerguard.com or on twitter @alanfryetorres.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Lane County hires affordable housing barrier consultants