Home Forward's Former CEO Took Unauthorized Taxpayer-Funded Travel for Years; Agency's General Counsel Says No Authorization Was Ever Required for the CEO's Own Trips

Ivory Mathews resigned in May 2026 as CEO of Home Forward, the public housing authority serving Multnomah County, after Willamette Week reported extensive taxpayer-funded travel — including trips to Hawaii, Orlando and Las Vegas, and a 3-night stay at a downtown Portland hotel 9 miles from her home. A 19-page preliminary investigator's report for the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC), obtained by WW via public records request, found Mathews received no authorization for that travel, regularly exceeded federal per-diem/reimbursement rates, and that Home Forward's own general counsel admitted the agency's written travel-authorization policy does not apply to the CEO.