Ironically, a senior Airbnb global policy officer who is on furlough while running for office — Andrew Kalloch — wants to replace Rep. Peter DeFazio in Congress. (Until the redistricting, Rep. Kurt Schrader represented us in Congress.)
Amid a housing crisis across the Oregon Coast, short-term vacation rentals (STR or VRD) have made it even harder to find a place to stay. Despite numerous studies showing that Airbnb is reducing the supply of long-term housing and harming communities like ours, Kalloch has traveled the country to lobby local governments not to regulate short-term rentals. .
He must be deaf to tell a Lincoln County audience that STRs do not affect long-term housing or artificially inflate our housing prices by commodifying and commercializing labor housing. Rising property taxes will soon affect the ability of people on fixed incomes to stay in their homes.
The 10,080 voters who said yes to Measure 21-203 know that neither property managers nor law enforcement can control these nuisances in residential neighborhoods, no matter what Kalloch says.
Voters knew that these Internet-based service companies do not provide family jobs for their key employees, such as cleaners and landscapers. In Lincoln County, there is no credible evidence that these companies are strengthening our economy, despite what Kalloch says.
Because 24 STR property owners and managers, only three of whom are Lincoln County residents, have sued the county, we know someone is making real money, but it’s not us.
As an Airbnb executive, Kalloch spent several years lobbying against laws like Ballot Measure 21-203, most recently in New York.
Kalloch fails to mention his employer in his stump speech or on his website. The Oregon Capital Chronicle broke the news in its December 15, 2021 issue. His wife is the fourth generation Oregonian, not Kalloch, who started his way to Eugene. According to the Commonwealth Public Records, he registered as an Airbnb lobbyist in Massachusetts until 2018. He may have changed his tune to run for Congress, but a brief look at his campaign finances reveals a multitude of donations from other business leaders. In a way, Kalloch claims to be a champion of affordable housing and working families. His record says otherwise.
I don’t trust an Airbnb executive to protect our housing supply, and I certainly don’t trust anyone who twists his story before following his wife to Oregon in 2016.
Kalloch will not receive my vote for Congress, and I urge other Lincoln County voters to follow my example.
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