The Hood River City Council is set to make a decision on awarding the 129-unit affordable housing project at 780 Rand Road tonight at its regular meeting at 6 p.m. tonight.

At the February 24th meeting of the Hood River City Council, members unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the city’s commitment to inclusivity and creating a welcoming environment for all community members.

Ben Mitchell is selected to take the seat held by the late Tim Counihan. Lawsuit brings ammendment after City’s short-term ordinances is hit with allegations of discrimination towards property owners living out of state.

Candidate filings are still being accepted for Hood River Mayor and three City Councilor positions. The filing deadline is no later than 5 p.m., Tuesday, August 27, 2024, and voters will choose in the November 5, 2024, General Election. Paul Blackburn is currently the Mayor and Mark Zanmiller, Megan Saunders, and Gladys Rivera hold the Council seats that are in play.

Frustration over the timing and required payback costs to ODOT bubble over. “It just breaks us, you know, and there's no other option,” said Councilor Megan Saunders. “ Like the option is to spend a bunch of money to get nothing, and we can’t keep doing this.” 

On Monday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. the Hood River City Council will hold a Zoom public hearing on a proposal to increase the number of dwellings allowed on a single city lot to as many as four dwellings or 12 cottages.