Help the poor, but be filthy rich
Here's a doozy. The head of an affordable housing "nonprofit" corporation in Portland made a cool $468,000 a couple of years ago -- not to mention putting her husband on the pad as a consultant at another $9,000 a month.
Oh, and she's a Homer Williams pal. “Every (dealing) we’ve had has been very positive,” he says. I have no doubt.
| Posted at 8:14 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (20)
"Of her $468,000 in pay and benefits that year, she said with a laugh, “You think that’s a lot? I don’t think that’s a lot.”"
Oh...ok. As long as SHE doesn't think its alot, I feel better.
Posted by butch | March 23, 2007 8:20 AM
This sort of thing always conjurs up an image in my minds eye of a filthy rich televangalist who lives in a huge mansion with an air-conditioned dog house and flys all over the country in a private jet so he can fleece widows who get by on social security. It's the kind of thing that makes you want to take a shower to wash the sleeze off yourself just for witnessing it. Gotta love how she acts all coy about not having anything to do with her hubby pulling in a six figure salary as well.
Posted by Usual Kevin | March 23, 2007 8:45 AM
"Greed is... good. Greed is right. Greed works."
Homer Williams or Gordon Gekko?
Posted by Daphne | March 23, 2007 8:54 AM
“I raised a lot of money and did a lot of deals.”
You sure did.
Posted by tru507 | March 23, 2007 9:11 AM
"Buy for a dollar, sell for two" is not social policy.
Posted by skyview satellite | March 23, 2007 9:11 AM
"This sort of thing always conjurs up an image in my minds eye of a filthy rich televangalist who lives in a huge mansion with an air-conditioned dog house and flys all over the country in a private jet"...
Know what you mean, but lets leave Al Gore out of this.
Posted by Joe12Pack | March 23, 2007 9:13 AM
i wonder--what is "a lot"?
what does her husband "consult" on that warrants a monthly fee, $108,000/year?
one thing's for sure--paying out over a half-million/year to her family adds to the cost of building "affordable" housing.
man, i'm tired of this.
God Bless America.
Posted by ecohuman.com | March 23, 2007 9:35 AM
I just asked my wife, "Honey, do you think my suggestions are worth $9,000 a month?" Based on her reaction, I can definitively say that number is a little high.
Posted by Bill McDonald | March 23, 2007 9:49 AM
Like I posted on one of Jack's recent "greenie" posts lately, you have to watch out for those "non-profit" outfits. Carb non-profits are ripe for CEO, staff, consultant ripoffs just like this one. The Tribune (our only research paper now) should investigate all the other social, housing non-profits of this region and audit the expenditures.
Posted by Lee | March 23, 2007 10:02 AM
Ummm...what do they actually do?
It's stories like this that make me feel dumb for working for a living.
But seriously, can someone explain what Homestead Capital does?
Posted by NorthwestT | March 23, 2007 10:26 AM
Hey, she's a "person of color;" we can't criticize her, or we're all rascists, right?
At least that's what the PC crowd tells me...
Posted by al | March 23, 2007 10:27 AM
I think Portland's government (and the Oregonian) should pay Jack a monthly "consulting fee".
Posted by ecohuman.com | March 23, 2007 10:35 AM
What's tragic is all the kids hired by non-profits accept pittance wages for social justice.
Re. HW, developers love the PDX affordable housing scheme becasue they sell that many more units before their projects even get started.
Posted by jim | March 23, 2007 10:36 AM
I think Portland's government (and the Oregonian) should pay Jack a monthly "consulting fee".
I keep waiting for that.
Posted by Jack Bog | March 23, 2007 10:40 AM
"Hey, she's a "person of color;" we can't criticize her, or we're all rascists, right?
At least that's what the PC crowd tells me..."
Who exactly is this "PC crowd" that you refer to, Al, and when exactly did they tell you that you can't criticize a person of color? Seems to me that you're the one bringing up race as if it's an issue here, and I wonder why.
Posted by Richard | March 23, 2007 11:40 AM
"Hey, she's a "person of color;" we can't criticize her, or we're all rascists, right?"
It looks like we are criticizing her. Maybe it is a surprise to some people that she's black since 99% of the time the sleeze bag rip off CEO turns out to be a white male. Just making an observation.
Posted by Usual Kevin | March 23, 2007 3:12 PM
Can we lay off the race button? This is not about anyone's race.
Posted by Jack Bog | March 23, 2007 3:15 PM
Systenic.
Posted by ron ledbury | March 23, 2007 5:59 PM
Your search for 'systenic' did not match any dictionary results. ok i give up... what does systenic mean ron?
Posted by jocoze | March 23, 2007 7:12 PM
Great question: what does Homestead Capital do?
I'll take a stab at it, judging from a passing familiarity with such things, and from the very vague description in the Oregonian article.
It probably is a broker for the New Market Tax Credits, which are federally granted to non-profits on a competitive grant proposal basis and then packaged for developers to subsidize projects of supposedly social benefit.
The NMTC's were part of the Armory deal.
Bottom line, they are awarded to the politically connected non-profits and then they feed the beast of the favored developers - hence Homer Williams' oh-so-complimentary view of this woman.
I'm guessing Homer has been well served by the tax credits "won" by Homestead. I guess I would think my dealings with her was positive, too, if I was the beneficiary of millions in tax credits that made my big real estate developments pencil out.
Posted by Rob kremer | March 24, 2007 9:57 AM