From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement

from https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2026/04/home-forward-officials-spent-more-than-25k-in-public-money-on-hawaii-trips.html

Portland housing agency officials spent more than $25K in public money
on Hawaii trips
Updated: Apr. 21, 2026, 10:59 p.m.|Published: Apr. 21, 2026, 6:38 p.m. Exploring The Big Island of Hawaii

Employees of Home Forward, Portland's housing authority, attended the
Hawaii Captive Insurance Council forum the past four years. In 2023,
they stayed at the Fairmont Orchid, a 5-star hotel that features a 10,000-square-foot oceanfront pool overlooking Pauoa Bay.Getty Images

By Jonathan Bach | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Home Forward has sent several officials to Hawaii over the past four
years, spending more than $25,000 of public money on the trips, the Oregonian/OregonLive has learned.

Willamette Week first reported CEO Ivory Mathews flew to the Aloha State
in October 2024, at a total cost to Home Forward of $7,269, to attend a conference on so-called captive insurance. The newspaper noted it was
part of more than $100,000 in trips to events and conferences sherCOs made using public dollars over three years.

In 2021, Home Forward established Home Forward Insurance Group as a
captive insurance company, a form of self insurance. Mathews told
Willamette Week she attended a yearly Hawaii Captive Insurance Council
forum 2024 to stay apprised of industry trends.

Mathews was far from the only Home Forward staff member to make the trips.

The Oregonian/OregonLive subsequently filed a records request for
documents on any Home Forward employeesrCO travel to Hawaii.

The housing authority on Tuesday disclosed records showing that several
of its agency officials have attended the Hawaii conference and
associated board meetings for the Home Forward Insurance Group since
2022. The trips took place in October of each year.

In 2022, Chief Financial Officer Kandy Sage and Treasury and Risk
Manager Jeff Klatke traveled to Hawaii. They submitted a combined $3,876
in expenses from the trip to Kapolei on Oahu, according to expense
reports. Sage stayed at the Embassy Suites by Hilton, whereas Klatke
stayed in an Airbnb because the conference accommodations were full, he
wrote in his report.

In 2023, Klatke returned and Risk Management Coordinator Bernie Baker
joined him, expensing a combined $4,666. They stayed at the Fairmont
Orchid along the Big IslandrCOs Kohala Coast, a five-star hotel where the conference took place. The hotel features a 10,000-square-foot
oceanfront pool and is adjacent to the expansive Mauna Lani Golf Course.

That was the same hotel where executives from Washington CountyrCOs sewer agency, Clean Water Services, stayed when they attended the same Hawaii Captive Insurance Council conference in 2023, as an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive revealed last year. Like Home Forward, Clean Water Services had formed a Hawaii-licensed insurance subsidiary in 2016 and
sent officials to the state to attend the annual conferences. Records
show they spent at least $165,000 over seven years, in some instances on first-class airfare, premium hotel rooms or fine dining.

Clean Water Services sent the entire board of their insurance company to Hawaii for the annual conferences despite Hawaii requiring captive
insurance companies to only send one board member to the islands for an
annual board meeting. Other board members are allowed to join the annual meeting electronically.

Officials from Clean Water Services said they originally formed the
subsidiary in Hawaii because that is where the business climate was most favorable. Later reporting by the newsroom showed the choice of Hawaii wasnrCOt clear cut. Consultants initially recommended two other states for
the agency to consider before landing on Hawaii and later found Hawaii remained the best option for the agency partly because of the insurance companyrCOs history there, an advantage no other state could offer.

Following The Oregonian/OregonLiverCOs investigation, members of the sewer board instituted new oversight measures, including a new domicile review
for the insurance company. That review found that Arizona was the best
state for the insurance company and the sewer agency has since taken
steps to move the company there.

The Home Forward records also show how the conference moves around the
state. In 2024, Klatke and Mathews went to Kauai for the insurance
conference. Klatke logged $2,971 in expenses, 59% less than MathewsrCO spending on the trip. The CEOrCOs more than $7,200 in Hawaii tally also
far exceeded any individual staffersrCO expenses on any of the trips from
2022 to 2025.

A Home Forward spokesperson could not immediately account for her higher expenses, or whether the housing authority plans to send officials to
Hawaii this year.

In 2025, HomeForward sent Sage and Baker to Hawaii at a cost of $6,918, according to the records.

The Home Forward spokesperson, Rylee Ahnen, said that to offset rCLunprecedentedrCY liability and cost pressures, the overseer of the regionrCOs largest affordable housing portfolio created the Home Forward Insurance Group rCLto ensure stable, cost-effective insurance coverage.rCY

rCLHome Forward staff attend the annual Housing Captive Insurance
Conference to keep up on trends in the industry,rCY Ahnen said in an
emailed statement.

During a Tuesday board meeting conducted via Teams, unionized employees criticized the travel expenses and what they characterized as a lack of accountability for agency leadership as Mathews looked on. They said
they were frustrated to learn so much about the housing authority from
news reports.

-------------
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rCLNo one has taken accountability,rCY AFSCME Local 3135 President Jennifer McMillan told board members.
-------------------


Home Forward and other low-income housing providers have been under
scrutiny after reports have documented high vacancy rates, pests, drug
dealing and other problems undermining the livability and economic
viability of their properties.

-- Jamie Goldberg contributed to this report

Jonathan Bach headshot
Jonathan Bach
Jonathan Bach covers housing and commercial real estate for The
Oregonian. He authored the nonfiction book "High Desert, Higher Costs:
Bend and the Housing Crisis in the American West" from OSU Press, "a...more

JBach@oregonian.com
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