City Councilors Reply to Home Forward CEO’s Journey: ‘Doesn’t Cross the Scent Check’

Three Portland metropolis councilors say they’re troubled by Home Forward CEO Ivory Mathews’ journey expenditures after WW reported that she spent greater than $100,000 on agency-funded journey between 2023 and 2025. Three different councilors say the company’s funds and practices advantage a better inspection.

Their statements add to mounting strain on Mathews and Home Forward’s board; since WW revealed Mathews’ dozens of journeys to housing conferences throughout the nation, the union representing greater than half of the housing authority’s workers has stated it has “no confidence or trust” anymore in Mathews’ management, even because the agency’s board has largely defended Mathews’ journey.

An October 2024 journey that Mathews took to Hawaii—she says to attend an insurance coverage convention—stays obscured from public view after Home Forward declined to offer any concrete particulars to WW about Mathews’ attendance—together with any notes she took throughout the convention, her itinerary, or a listing of particular convention occasions she attended whereas there.

As a public company, Home Forward is in some ways autonomous from native authorities. But the Portland mayor appoints board members based mostly on the suggestions of native advisers (together with the cities of Gresham and Portland, Multnomah County, and a tenant really helpful by Home Forward), and the Portland City Council is the ultimate stamp of approval for board appointments. That means the council and Mayor Keith Wilson have some oversight over Home Forward, insofar as they’ve a say in deciding on its board members.

Six councilors supplied statements to WW about Mathews’ journey.

Councilor Steve Novick says in an announcement that he spends a lot of his time arguing that “the perception that government is inherently wasteful and inefficient is inaccurate” however that spending $33,000 a yr on journey “just doesn’t past the smell test.”

“It adds fuel to the argument that government is all about waste, fraud and abuse,” Novick says. “I think public officials should be mindful of one of the rules we lawyers are subject to—‘avoid even the appearance of impropriety.’ Thirty-three thousand dollars a year on travel creates the appearance of impropriety.”

Councilor Dan Ryan says he doesn’t suppose Mathews’ journey was a “responsible use of taxpayer funds.” He provides: “It doesn’t make sense for the Home Forward CEO to be out of office, traveling more than one month of the year and at a significant expense, when their properties are in crisis. That crisis should have been getting all of the CEO’s time and attention.”

Councilor Angelita Morillo says the company’s management has an “obligation to ensure those dollars are spent appropriately and to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.” She added that the union’s issues about Mathews’ management “deserve to be heard and addressed through the proper channels.”

(Councilor Eric Zimmerman has beforehand stated: “When an organization is in crisis, you expect leaders to be present. I think the hundreds of vacant units and six-month average vacancy is damning information. The Home Forward board of commissioners and the executive team need to be fully engaged in turning this around, and I have deep concerns about the future of Home Forward.”)

Other councilors expressed issues about Home Forward’s operations extra broadly.

Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney, who attended a discussion board at a North Portland church in January throughout which tenants of the Dawson Park Apartments, a Home Forward constructing, begged company leaders and native elected officers to take their issues about security and drug dealing significantly, stated she expects Home Forward leaders to prioritize “building maintenance, getting empty units back online, security needs, and investment in meeting our City’s housing goals.”

Pirtle-Guiney didn’t say something particular to Mathews’ journey bills.

“After everything we’ve learned, we clearly need a closer look at Home Forward,” Councilor Olivia Clark stated. “The new form of government affords us a greater accountability that I hope will deliver clarity.”

Mayor Keith Wilson earlier this week stated he “expects public agencies to use taxpayer and ratepayer dollars responsibly and to stay focused on their core responsibilities.”

The elected officers made their remarks earlier than WW reported Thursday night that Mathews took 10 Home Forward workers along with her to an Orlando convention in 2024. While there, a few of her workers helped her marketing campaign for a nationwide affiliation board place, an company spokesman stated final week.

While Mathews spent a mean of 45 days annually out of the state touring to conferences between 2023 and 2025 (and campaigning, unopposed, for the nationwide management place), Home Forward’s portfolio of seven,000 reasonably priced housing items was struggling. Its general portfolio was inching nearer to monetary misery. Its residents complained of drug dealing inside buildings and a scarcity of safety measures to forestall intruders. As of November 2025, 955 items lay empty, and it took Home Forward a mean of 185 days to fill them.

The board and Mathews have constantly defended her journey.

“My participation in national affordable housing work ensures Home Forward is connected to best practices, peer agencies, and federal policy decisions that directly impact our funding and operations,” Mathews instructed WW final week. “That perspective helps strengthen how we respond to challenges locally, while our team continues to make progress on key priorities.”

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