Sources: OPB says Hardesty paid more by NAACP than known

Monday report says City Council candidate wrote $9,000 to her consulting business, did not report it on her taxes.

Jo Ann Hardesty earned more money from the Portland chapter of the NAACP when she was volunteer president than previously revealed — and didn't pay taxes on it — according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The NAACP chapter had told the Portland Tribune that Hardesty, who is running for City Council, received but did not report a $3,600 stipend to the IRS in 2017. But OPB reported that Hardesty also was paid $9,000 by the chapter to organize a conference, which she did not report to the IRS. The Sept. 17 story by Amelia Templeton said the money came from a grant.

Hardesty said she did not remember the payments because she did not receive the required 1099 reporting form from the chapter. Templeton noted that Hardesty personally wrote the $9,000 check from the chapter to her consulting business, which has other clients, and that IRS rules prohibit nonprofits from paying stipends to board members.

Hardesty is opposed for the council seat by Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith.

OPB is a news partner of the Portland Tribune. You can listen to their story at tinyurl.com/ybgxagac.

Bond backers dominate Voters Pamphlet

Backers of Metro's $652.8 million affordable housing measure flexed their muscles in the Voters Pamphlet for the Nov. 6 general election. They submitted 16 pages in support of the property tax bond. in contrast, opponents only submitted three pages.

The pages supporting Measure 26-199 were submitted by a wide range of people and organizations. Most of the filing fees were paid for by Yes for Affordable Housing, the political action committee that supports the measure.

The opposing pages were submitted by the free market-oriented Cascade Policy Institute, the anti-tax Taxpayers Association of Oregon, and Affordable Housing for Who?, the political action committee formed to fight the measure.

Although Voters Pamphlets will not be mailed out until closer to the election, the pages are now available at the Military/Overseas Voters' Guide link on county elections department websites.

Oregon officials mum on new I-5 bridge

Southwest Washington elected officials and business leaders are continuing to call for the aging I-5 bridge to be replaced, even though they have not yet received any formal responses from their Oregon counterparts.

The ports of Vancouver, Camas-Washougal and Richfield became the most recent governments to support a replacement bridge. Their commissions recently passed resolutions urging Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and the Washington State Legislature to provide funds to the Washington State Department of Transportation to advance the project. Such calls have also come from the Vancouver City Council and Identity Clark County, which represents businesses in the county.

The Columbia Crossing Project, a previous bi-state project to replace the bridge, collapsed in 2014 after Republicans in the Washington Senate blocked funding for the project. The Portland City Council, the Port of Portland, and the Portland Business Alliance have yet to ask Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and the Oregon Legislature to relaunch the project.