Priorities
When it comes to getting things done, Portland needs leaders with the right values, the right ideas, and the right experience. If you want our community to have a voice in City Hall, you need a Councilor who seeks out community input. And if you want solutions that work for our neighborhoods, you need a creative problem solver in office. You need someone who can take that input and turn it into workable, good-policy solutions. I have the experience to do both.
Portland is facing a lot of challenges right now. Together, we can take them on.
These challenges require a system of short- and long-term solutions, which are too often pit against each other.
Tackling any of these issues requires active coordination with our partners in the State and the County. But there are solutions that the City can pursue alone, as well. As a member of the City Council, I will insist that we work in coordination with our partners, all while prioritizing opportunities for City-led action.
There is so much Portland can do: actively support the Albina Vision Trust to create new affordable homes and homeownership opportunities for Black Portlanders; ensure our policies don’t continue to diminish so-called naturally occurring affordable housing; maintain sheltering villages that are near services for people experiencing homelessness; and invest in our 911 system and Portland Street Response to ensure people experiencing health crises, physical and mental, can get help when they need it.
These challenges impact all of our neighborhoods. They have also changed the nature of the work many of our City employees do. While we tackle the root causes and implement long-term solutions, we also must ensure the safety of our City workers who have suddenly found themselves on the front lines supporting people in crisis while doing their jobs.
Budgets reflect our values. What we invest in, and what we’re willing to cut, say a lot about what matters to us.
Portland is facing steep budget cuts for most services this year, right when we need investments the most. Meanwhile, a few specialized programs with growing revenue sources have more money than they expected or planned for.
How can both be true? Property taxes from downtown offices are significantly lower, driving down available resources. Cities across the country are facing cuts for this same reason. Extra money from the Federal Government to tackle growing issues during the pandemic is mostly spent, but the problems it was meant to fix aren’t resolved. Meanwhile, many parts of our economy are actually growing in ways that support some specialized programs, but not the budget as a whole.
The next few years will require hard conversations, creative solutions, and aligning our values, our long-term goals, and our vision for Portland with our budget – work I’ll be ready to do on day one. It will also require tight coordination with the County, Metro, and State to make sure we’re using all our resources efficiently to increase our region’s affordability and livability.
We literally can’t afford not to work together.
We are going to hear a lot about livability in this election, but we also need to talk about affordability.
Portland must be a place where people can afford to live. If we continue to lose our young families, our artists, our small business owners, our middle class, Portland’s challenges will be even harder to solve in the future.
It’s time we are honest about how the City Council’s decisions affect our economy – who it helps and who it hurts. Zoning changes incentivize some types of development over others. Business subsidies like tax breaks and fee waivers help some businesses but not all. And transportation decisions can change the face of neighborhoods in a matter of a few years. If we aren’t centering working people and underrepresented communities in these decisions, we won’t create a sustainable economy.
When our communities are resilient, we can adapt to a changing economy – and we know our economy will change, from climate change and automation to predictable population changes. Portland has a long history of supporting workforce development. Our investments in job training must support workers looking for a good job today and also prepare Portlanders for the jobs we’ll need in the future.
I will support every opportunity to create good jobs, registered apprenticeship programs, and career pathways, in diverse industries to help keep us resilient, including using opportunities like the Portland Clean Energy Fund to drive the development of these pathways in the public and private sectors.
Portland is built from the neighborhood up. We love our schools, our parks, our neighbors. Some of the most meaningful investments in Portland right now are happening through neighborhood-based nonprofits.
We must continue to invest in solutions that support neighborhood centers across the City. We need more parks for a growing population and transportation solutions that help people get to nearby neighborhoods. We need to listen to our neighbors, as well as the small businesses, community members, and organizations helping our neighborhoods thrive.
I’ll be meeting with constituents in every neighborhood in District 2 so that I can hear from you about what makes your neighborhood great, and what needs to change. Can your kids walk to school safely? What businesses hold your neighborhood together, and what support do they need? Each of the communities in this district has unique challenges and strengths to build solutions on. We will grow stronger together.