Hey Portland,
It's hard to believe that 2025 is almost over. It's been a rollercoaster of a year for me personally and for our city– the highs have been incredible, and the lows have been tough. Looking back, it feels unreal that we learned how to work in a new form of government, with a whole new set of elected leaders, all while grappling with unprecedented federal overreach, aggressive immigration enforcement, and the threat of the National Guard being deployed to Portland.
The throughline that I see through all that's happened over the past year is East Portland showing up and showing out. In the Old Portland, City Hall made decisions for people living in our part of town. In the New Portland, East Portlanders are at the table and making themselves heard. Representation does matter, and I can guarantee you that our communities and neighborhoods will never again be an afterthought in our city's future.
I've been asked to choose my favorite moment of the year for a couple 2025 wrap-ups, and I have to be honest: it's almost impossible to choose. In this 2025 End of Year Report, you'll see why it's so hard for me to pick just one favorite moment from this year. In 2025 we saw major policy wins like the unanimous passage of the Protect Portland Initiative, East Portland community gatherings like the D1 People's Picnic, and marathon budget sessions that ended with saving funding for parks maintenance.
You'll also learn more about my many plans for the new year. I'm a bit of a workaholic (my staff probably wish sometimes that I wasn't) and I'm not close to being satisfied with what we were able to accomplish in Year One. In Year Two, I'm hitting the ground running with a full slate of policies and community initiatives that will bring more of East Portland's voice into City Hall.
So, here's to the new year. I hope you enjoy the rest of this holiday season with your friends, family, and loved ones, and I'll see you in 2026!
In solidarity,
Candace