PORTLAND, Maine — The Portland City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to dissolve the city's Rental Housing Advisory Committee on Monday.
The committee was formed in 2016 to provide the council with recommendations on rental issues and find educational opportunities for landlords, as well as, tenants.
Monday night's vote isn't expected to be contentious, according to Portland City Councilor Kate Sykes.
"What we've heard from [the committee] is a frustration of purpose," Sykes told NEWS CENTER Maine.
She said the frustration likely started near the committee's formation when it proposed changes to application fees for rental housing. The proposal was made before the city council but with changes made to it. Committee members felt disappointed and their recommendation wasn't taken seriously.
Mary Davis, who oversees the committee in her role as Portland's housing community development director said, "They've just struggled."
"I think [committee members] came in thinking they had more influence over the process than they really did," she added.
Challenges worsened for the rental advisory committee after the city's influential Rent Board was formed in 2020.
"It kind of made the Rental Housing Advisory Committee obsolete," Sykes said, hoping committee members would come to the Rent Board if the committee is dissolved. "That is really where all the power is," she added.
