PORTLAND, Maine - An advocacy group representing the rights of tenants in Maine's largest city is calling for the creation of a Housing Safety Office. The Portland Tenant's union made its case at a press conference seven months to the day after a fire on Noyes Street killed six young people.
The Portland City Council is expected to vote this evening on the proposed Housing Safety Office when it approves its budget for 2016. And Grace Damon, co-chair of the Portland Tenants Union, says this would be a good first step in improving fire safety standards in the city's estimated 17,000 rental units.
"That initial first step is what really needs to happen in order to get the ball rolling," Damon said, "to get landlords to understand that they need to start somewhere in getting their housing up to code."
Justin Irish is more aware than most of the importance of fire safety. A former tenant at 20 Noyes Street, he survived the deadly fire that ripped through the building in the early hours of Nov. 1 because he was out at the time.
He describes his former landlord Greg Nisbet - who's now facing legal action and possible criminal charges over the fire - as neglectful. "We called him numerous times for out boiler being broken, he wouldn't come and fix it. So we were actually out of water, couldn't take showers."
In the seven months since the fire, Portland has been looking at ways of improving the fire inspection process. The city's proposed new Housing Safety Office would include the creation of four new positions - a director and three building inspectors. Mayor Michael Brennan says the $336,000 cost of setting up the office will be paid for by a new fee to be charged on landlords.
"It's a recommendation that was made by a committee that was put together to look at ways for the city to improve its inspections process," Brennan said. "It's something that I support, and it possibly will be a point of discussion tonight when we take up the budget."
The City Council is expected to vote on the FY '16 budget during a meeting that was scheduled to get underway at 5.30 p.m.