Portland leaders pledged bold action and clear results in 2011 after undercover testing suggested that African American and Latino renters face frequent discrimination.

Yet four years later, with a new report on the persistence of bias, City Hall has offered more shrug than shriek.

Results of new testing, released in April, show landlords gave whites preferential treatment over black and Latino testers in 12 of 25 cases, or 48 percent. That compares with 64 percent of 50 cases four years ago. The samples are too small for meaningful comparisons or conclusions, and they don't prove discrimination occurred.

But the results - and city leaders' reaction to them - underscore the City Council's struggle to make good on promises in a 2011 housing "action plan." Though the city has made modest changes, overall progress is almost undetectable because of fuzzy goals, imprecise measures and blown pledges. (See scorecard below.)

What's more, leaders said last month that they were troubled by the new results but offered no new plan of attack. Instead, Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the Housing Bureau, said the city would retreat from a key 2011 promise to conduct annual tests. Thursday, he said he's reconsidering.

Taken together, city leaders give little reason to expect that Portland, despite a reputation for tolerance and inclusivity, will actually achieve the council's idealistic goal to "end discrimination in rental housing."

"To me, this report is a wakeup call. Here we are, four years later, it really hasn't gotten much better," said John Miller, who serves on a fair-housing advocacy committee that's supposed to hold city leaders accountable. "This is still really unacceptable."

"All this rhetoric about equity"

Portland, with high rents and rock-bottom vacancy rates, can be an unkind place for anyone seeking housing. But residents of color are hit hardest, as another city report on housing, released in mid-April, illustrates.

White residents earning the median income for their group can afford to rent in wide swaths of the city, according to the city Housing Bureau's "State of Housing in Portland" analysis. But Latinos earning the median for their group have only a few pockets of affordability. African Americans at their median are priced out entirely.

On top of that, the new testing results add another uncomfortable reality for America's whitest big city: more-subtle barriers because of skin color.

"We have all this rhetoric about equity, but we don't have any action, as far as I'm concerned," said Karen Gibson, an associate professor at Portland State University who specializes in housing policy and black urban history.

Portland's housing landscape became a flashpoint in May 2011 when The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that Portland officials had no plans to penalize landlords identified in the first set of audit tests.

With state lawmakers demanding enforcement of fair-housing laws, Commissioner Nick Fish, then in charge of city housing, went into damage-control mode.

He unveiled a Fair Housing Action Plan in June 2011 - with John Trasvina, then the U.S. assistant secretary for Housing and Urban Development, at his side - and pledged that city officials would be "bold in our actions and accountable for results."

Many of the plan's steps weren't new; they'd simply been plucked from a just-finished report required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development every five years to get federal funding. Other goals were vague or difficult to quantify, such as working to "secure continued funding."

Then investigators found discrepancies in the audit testing, and landlords and city leaders declared the results unreliable.

Even so, the City Council unanimously approved Fish's plan in September 2011.

"The plan will not change things overnight," Fish said at the time. "It will take time and effort, but as long I'm on this council, I commit to making this a core priority."

Fish, no longer in charge of housing, has repeatedly declined interview requests to discuss fair housing progress, most recently last week.

Modest gains

The city has charted some progress. Officials created detailed maps that rank Portland neighborhoods for access to transportation, education and jobs - a tool that can be used to guide spending decisions on public housing.

Saltzman last year landed $1 million from the city's general fund for a housing opportunity fund. Three-quarters will be spent on a project with 33 family rental units at Southeast 143rd and Burnside Street, in one of the city's low-scoring neighborhoods.

Housing officials are also working to ease the effects of gentrification and displacement in North and Northeast Portland, although that largely stems from a controversy involving a proposed Trader Joe's grocery store, not the action plan.

Progress on other goals is tiny or nonexistent.

The plan pledged that more discrimination cases would be referred for litigation. Legal Aid Services of Oregon reported 14 cases "with evidence of discrimination" in fiscal 2012 and 16 in fiscal 2014.

A draft report last year noted a drop in landlord-training participation. It claimed an increase in education for renters, but the underlying numbers show a decrease.

Efforts to streamline the fair-housing complaint process or to modify screening criteria also went nowhere. Similarly, officials pledged more money to launch a public awareness campaign by the end of 2012. But they delivered it late, with reported funding of only $4,750, and then didn't track spending in later years.

Lisa Bates, an associate professor at Portland State University and an expert on housing policy, questions the city's goals. An increase in training sessions doesn't necessarily mean landlords will behave better, and an increase in renter complaints doesn't necessarily mean enforcement is stronger, she said.

Training sessions and complaints are easy to measure, she said, and therefore they typically become a favorite focus for city officials who pledge action. But, Bates said, "I do not in general think that boldness is defined by landlord education and awareness events."

Most starkly, despite promising annual testing, officials took two years to contract with the Fair Housing Council of Oregon, which also did the first set, and another two years to produce results.

"Because it took a really long time for the testing to go through, it was hard for us to wrap our heads around what else it was we should be tackling, besides educating folks," said Miller, executive director of the Oregon Opportunity Network.

Turnover hasn't helped, either.

After Mayor Charlie Hales took office in 2013, he moved the Housing Bureau from Fish's portfolio to Saltzman's. The Housing Bureau has had two directors, and the post is now open again. The advocacy committee has featured a revolving door of members.

Justin Buri, executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants, is relatively new and has attended the past three meetings. Asked how the committee is holding the city accountable, he said: "I haven't been on there enough to really know."

At the group's April 21 meeting, members learned about the new testing results.

Maxine Fitzpatrick, executive director of Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, said she wanted more discussion, including what should be done. She hopes the conversation continues at the next meeting in three months.

"Those are really, really startling numbers," she said. "It really didn't get an answer."

Achievable goals

Saltzman on Thursday acknowledged shortfalls with the 2011 plan but said the city has made strides. Officials will pursue state-level enforcement against at least one landlord - something that didn't happen four years ago.

"As the audits continued to point out, there's only so much behavior-changing you can do from the bully pulpit," he said. "So much more can happen ... from getting serious about enforcing the laws."

Now, he said, he wants to set goals that are achievable. For example, he said he's "open" to annual audits if the Fair Housing Council of Oregon can deliver.

"What are tangible things we can pursue to make a difference? Not just stringing words together that sound good," Saltzman said. "I'm not just pointing to the 2011 report. I'm just saying we're often prone in government to do things like complete one five-year plan and begin working on your next five-year plan. Or you say what you think people want to hear you say."

Officials will need to devise some steps soon.

That five-year plan required by the feds to fight housing discrimination? Portland's is due again this time next year.

Portland Fair Housing Action Plan scorecard Pledge Accomplished? Details Conduct annual audit testing No The city has done one test since 2011. Expand audit testing No Testing wasn't expanded to all protected classes or throughout county. Create Fair Housing Advocacy Committee Yes The group meets quarterly but could be disbanded next year. Increase litigated fair-housing cases Yes Small increase from 14 in fiscal 2012 to 16 in fiscal 2014. Increase landlord training Yes/No Participation increased in fiscal 2012 but dropped the next year. Increase renter complaints Unclear The city reported an increase, but underlying numbers indicate a decline. Ease criteria for renter screening and credit No Protocols have not changed. Increase money for public awareness Unclear The city spend $4,750 in fiscal 2013 but didn't report the next year. Increase the number of affordable family units Unclear The city didn't specify whether new units are family-size.

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch