Portland Council Votes To Create Housing Safety Office

Portland city councilors voted Monday night to create a housing safety office that will be responsible for inspecting thousands of rental housing units in the city. Created in response to a fire in November at 20-24 Noyes St. that killed six young people, the office will employ three street-level inspectors and two office employees to enforce housing codes and address unsafe living conditions for Portland’s renters. During brief public comments, two people spoke in opposition to the plan, saying it would duplicate services that the city should already provide. “We support the ordinance as it’s proposed,” said Carlton Winslow, a landlord with the Southern Maine Landlord’s Association.