The City of Portland's about to argue the legality of its brand new renter protections in front of a judge former Mayor Charlie Hales just insulted.
In a move that an opposing attorney called surprising, the Portland City Attorney's Office has asked that a lawsuit over new renter relocation fees take place in federal court, not the Multnomah County Circuit Court it was filed in.
In doing so, the city has landed its case before US District Court Judge Michael Simon—the same judge who's overseeing the city's ongoing efforts at police reform, and whom the city has repeatedly clashed with to the point then-Mayor Charlie Hales recently said Simon had "lost credibility."
"The city surprised us late this afternoon by filing a removal petition in federal court," John DiLorenzo, an attorney for two landlords suing the city, said in a message to reporters this afternoon.
As we reported earlier this week, DiLorenzo's clients, Philip Owen and Michael Feves, believe new rules the city enacted a week ago fly in the face of Oregon law, the state and US constitutions, and city code.
The new ordinance requires landlords to pay relocation costs between $2,900 and $4,500 if landlords evict tenants without cause, refuse to renew a lease, or raise rents by 10 percent or more. City council voted unanimously to pass the law as an emergency after a marathon hearing last Thursday.
City officials did so anticipating the lawsuit filed mere days later.
Along with the move to federal court, the case now has a clearer schedule. According to the federal court docket, DiLorenzo has promised he'll file a motion seeking a temporary restraining order to the law tomorrow (that's the same kind of order that's got Trump's Muslim ban on ice). The city will have until Monday to respond, and Simon will hold a hearing on February 15 on whether to halt enforcement of the new ordinance, court records show.
The city's found a lot to disagree with Simon about lately. In December, City Council voted to challenge the judge's authority, after he ordered the city to appear before him on a matter having to do with an ongoing settlement with the US Department of Justice over police abuses. It was the second time the city had challenged Simon's authority to call it to account in the case, but it came with some particularly strong words from then-Mayor Hales, who told the Mercury that Simon had "lost credibility and standing in terms of being an impartial body," and called the judge's conduct "odious."
And now he's deciding the fate of the city's new renter protections!