Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced the departure Thursday of two of the city’s bureau directors, the latest in a series of shake-ups in leadership that have stretched from the police bureau to the city human resources department.
One the directors is leaving voluntarily. Dante James was hired by the city five years ago to help launch the city's Office of Equity and Human Rights.
James is moving back to Colorado, where he spent much of his life and career. He is following his wife, who is in school there.
“It was time for him to get back with family,” said Jeff Selby, the office's communications manager. James' last day with the office will be Dec. 15.
“His leadership at the helm of OEHR will be missed,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement issued by his spokesman.
Koffi "Jean-Pierre" Dessou, currently a program manager in OEHR, will serve as interim bureau director.
Wheeler simultaneously announced that the director of the Portland Housing Bureau, Kurt Creager, is stepping down at the end of the week.
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Creager has held the top post at the Housing Bureau since 2015. He was hired by Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversaw the bureau at the time. Wheeler campaigned on a promise to increase the city's affordable housing supply, and shifted the housing bureau into his portfolio when he took office.
Creager's departure is voluntary — at least on paper. But it’s happening through a targeted severance program city commissioners have often used to push bureau heads out.
The city has agreed to pay Creager $96,715, or seven month's pay, according to his severance agreement.
It will also pay his health care premiums for six months. In exchange, Creager has waived any legal claims against the city.
“Kurt has been a tremendous asset as we work to add more affordable housing units in Portland and implement stronger protections for tenants,” Wheeler said in a statement issued by his spokesman. “I wish Kurt all the best as he moves on from his time with the city.”
Creager has led the bureau during a period of intense change. The City Council spun off much of the bureau's work on homelessness in 2016 when it created the Joint Office of Homeless Services with Multnomah County.
At the same time, the council expanded the bureau's work on affordable housing production, housing policy and renter protections.
Creager worked with the city and housing advocacy groups to dedicate several new sources of funding for affordable housing, including a commercial excise tax, short-term rental tax revenue and a $258 million housing bond passed by voters last year.
The Oregonian has reported that Creager clashed with Wheeler over how to spend the bond dollars, and that the mayor was unhappy with the Housing Bureau's decision to purchase the Ellington, a 263-unit apartment complex, the month before Wheeler took office.
In a letter of resignation addressed to Wheeler and other city commissioners, Kreager said he had decided to pursue other opportunities in his field of practice.
"Bureau staff, management and I have worked tirelessly for the people of Portland," he wrote. "I wish you, mayoral staff, and my colleagues within the city of Portland and our many community partners and stakeholders the very best."