PART 1 OF 5: IS ASTORIA OREGON’S TEST CASE?
Let’s take a deeper look at where Astoria’s proposed Vacancy Tax came from, who is behind it, and why our small town of approximately 10,000 residents is being asked to become Oregon’s first testing groundfor this kind of tax.
This ordinance did not appear out of nowhere.
It grew from an organized housing-advocacy network and has received the formal endorsement—and promised campaignsupport—of the Working Families Party.
WHAT IS THE WORKING FAMILIES PARTY?
Most people have probably heard of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA.The DSA is an activist organization—not a registered political party.The Working Families Party—the WFP—is an actual political party local level upward.
From its own website:
“We take on elections from city council to U.S. Senate—wherever
there’s a path to win…”
The WFP’s close alignment with democratic-socialist politics—and its strategy of recruiting, training,supporting, and electing candidates at every level—is thoroughly documented.The WFP operates as an organized electoral force on the progressive-left flank of American politics. It recruits and vets candidates for alignment with WFP priorities, runs them through Democratic primarieswhen advantageous, and supports endorsed campaigns with funding, strategy, advertising, texting,canvassing, and volunteers. It works through Democratic primaries and local elections to defeat moremoderate officeholders with candidates committed to a substantially more progressive agenda and move government substantially further left.
Its promoted policies include rent freezes, fare-free public transit, government-funded universalchildcare, Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, expanded tenant protections, “reimagined” publicsafety, and increased taxation of wealth and property.The Communist Party USA (CPUSA) has itself described the WFP as a useful electoral organization through which communists and other left-wing activists can participate in electoral politics. CPUSAencourages involvement with the WFP and sometimes supports the same candidates.
That does not make every WFP candidate—or the WFP itself—communist. But it reveals how far left theWFP sits within America’s political landscape and why its organized involvement in a small municipalelection deserves far more public scrutiny than it has received.
THE WORKING FAMILIES PARTY HAS OFFICIALLY ENDORSED THIS TAXAt the August 3 Astoria City Council meeting, Thomas “Tom” Jenkins appeared to speak in favor of theVacancy Tax.He provided his address and openly acknowledged:
“Postally, I’m in Astoria. Geographically, I am outside of the city limits.”
That means Jenkins cannot vote in Astoria elections.
He then announced:
“I address the City Council and the residents in the room tonight as a member of the Oregon WorkingFamilies Party here in Clatsop County.” Jenkins confirmed publicly and on the record:
“We have endorsed this petition…” He also promised: educate voters…”
“Should it go to the ballot this fall, the Working Families Party stands in support and will be out there to show support.
Let’s be perfectly clear:
The Working Families Party has formally endorsed Astoria’s Vacancy Tax and intends to campaign for its passage.
That is a member of the Oregon Working Families Party speaking directly to the Astoria City Council aboutthe party’s involvement.
Jenkins has also been one of the tax’s most persistent advocates online.
His position toward owners who may be unable to absorb another $3,000 or $6,000 annual tax is blunt.
“If you can’t afford taxes on your vacation home or your investment property, you can’t afford to have a 2nd home. The community cannot afford it, either.”
Jenkins does not live within Astoria city limits. He cannot vote on this tax.He will not be deciding whether Astoria property owners must file annual declarations with the City. Yet he and the Working Families Party intend to persuade Astoria voters that owners should rent theirhomes, sell them, restructure their lives—or pay thousands of dollars every year.
Jenkins has every right to express an opinion. But Astoria voters have every right to know who is attempting to influence their election—and whether those advocates will personally live under the law they are promoting.
WHY ASTORIA?T
Astoria is not Seattle, New York City, Vancouver, British Columbia, Berkeley, California, or any of the other large cities that have adopted or considered a similar second-home or Vacancy Tax. Astoria is a small historic town of approximately 10,000 residents. Yet in a February article enthusiastically promoting this initiative, 1000 Friends of Oregon stated:“If Astoria’s initiative passes, it may set a precedent for other cities in Oregon…” The possibility that Astoria is being used as Oregon’s first test case is not an accusation invented by opponents.
Favorable coverage of the initiative has openly celebrated the possibility that this political model could be expanded to other Oregon communities. If this ordinance passes, Astoria residents will be the first people in Oregon required to assume its administrative, financial, enforcement, privacy, and legal risks. Astoria taxpayers will also bear theCity’s costs of defending any lawsuit and legal challenge that follows.
San Francisco provides a warning. Its voters approved an Empty Homes Tax in November 2022. Property owners sued in February 2023, and a Superior Court later ruled that the tax violated the federal and California constitutions and was preempted by state law. Enforcement was halted, and the City
appealed.
Nearly four years after voters approved it—and more than three years after litigation began—SanFrancisco’s official tax page still says owners are not required to file or pay unless the ruling is reversed.The tax was projected to generate $20 million to $37 million annually, but it has collected none of thatprojected revenue. Instead, San Francisco taxpayers have borne the public cost of defending itthrough years of litigation.San Francisco’s ordinance and California law are not identical to Astoria’s. But its experiencedemonstrates the very real danger of asking voters to approve a legally questionable tax first and leaving taxpayers to fund years of litigation afterward.
And if the Astoria experiment succeeds politically, other Oregon cities may be encouraged to follow.
That brings us to the question every Astoria voter should begin asking:Is this truly a locally developed response to verified Astoria housing data—or is Astoria being usedas Oregon’s first testing ground for a political model intended to spread elsewhere?
A VACANCY TAX WITHOUT A PLAN.
VOTE NO.
Democratic Socialists of America:
Working Families Party:
WFP candidate vetting and campaign support:
ahead-of-2022-state-legislative-races/
WFP policy agenda:
WFP-backed candidates and policies:
Communist Party USA discussion of the WFP:
1000 Friends of Oregon:
Astoria City Council meeting, August 3, 2026, Item 8.h:
Bernie Sanders quotation:
socialism/
San Francisco Treasurer—Empty Homes Tax halted:
San Francisco Proposition M and projected revenue:
Vacant_Residential_Units_Initiative_%28November_2022%29Edit
VOTE NO VACANT HOME TAX 