We are now 100 days into Portland’s new form of government. As the first governing body to enter City Hall from Portland’s newly drawn districts, we are more representative of our community than ever before.
Portlanders are showing up to make their voices heard: turning out for town halls, budget listening sessions, neighborhood forums, and other community events. I’ve personally hosted or attended almost a dozen town halls and forums in these first few months, and my fellow Councilors have done the same.
These last 100 days have included a lot of work behind the scenes implementing charter reform. I am committed to creating a City Council where Portlanders can be part of the debate – making our work visible and transparent, providing time for the public to weigh in, and ensuring the issues we’re debating are clear. I appreciate Portlanders’ patience with us as we work to build this system of government.
Over the last three months, we designed and launched the City's first policy committees, daylighted the work of the City Administrator and City bureaus, reestablished Portland in regional policy conversations, and defended Portlanders with a lawsuit against the Trump administration when they threatened funding for critical community safety programs.
My fellow District 2 councilors and I worked with the Mayor to stop demolition of Columbia Pool and keep the Sunderland RV Park open. And in Salem, I testified on a bill directing the state to develop a transition plan for the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub, where 90% of all of Oregon’s liquid fuel is stored on the most seismically unsafe land in our city.
We have momentum. And while the city budget will continue to be Council’s number one focus, I’m committed to changing the narrative around our city. The Oregonian published my opinion piece where I shared a vision for the Portland we want to see and pushed back on the idea of getting stuck in a ‘doom loop’. Portland is coming back, and I’m working to ensure we’re getting ahead of the curve instead of trying to play catch up. What investments can we make to build a better Portland both now and for future generations?
We need a future-focused approach to decision-making now more than ever.
There are still 265 days left in the year. As Council focuses on Portland’s future, I know that together we can tackle big issues and make this city better for everyone. That’s why, after conversations with many of my colleagues, I’m asking Council to take on the following issues this year:
- Create a long-term plan to address city-owned assets and begin to catch up on our
deferred maintenance
- Fund infrastructure projects that make our neighborhoods safer and create good jobs
- Make building code requirements predictable and easier to navigate
- Update the noise code to support our music scene while providing clear standards
- Make it cheaper and easier to host community events in Portland’s public spaces
- Develop a comprehensive strategy for shelter with Multnomah County and prioritize shelters that successfully move people into permanent housing
- Create a plan to incentivize investment in housing development in the short term
- Align city work around the full spectrum of housing needs and solutions
- Bring together developers, advocates, and local organizations active in land banking and affordable homeownership programs
,to identify strategies and funding sources to increase affordable housing development
- Refer a parks levy to the ballot to continue low- and no-cost programming at our parks and community centers
- Increase the City’s investment in internships, apprenticeships, and high-wage jobs through our internal policies and procedures and our contracting practices
- Develop a timeline to apply for Medicaid funding for Portland Street Response
- Create a workgroup to review Portland’s fee-setting policies and create a comprehensive, city-wide, approach to user fees
- Review audits of City bureaus from the last three years and determine whether follow up, through committee hearings, is necessary
- Develop comprehensive rules for how the new Council operates so that Portlanders have better access to information about our policy proposals and procedures
- non-emergency ordinances and resolutions should be publicly available at least a week before moving to committee or council
- you should be able to track legislation, including all past actions and previous drafts
- recordings of council debates should be collected all in one place
- all active ordinances and resolutions need to be easily accessible and searchable