Stable homes. Stable families. Stable lives.
Everyone deserves a stable home.
The City, the State, and Multnomah County all have a role to play in solving the homelessness crisis. Right now, those roles have become ill-defined and duplicative, and Portlanders pay the price in confusion and delay.
The City must return its full focus to its primary book of business: making housing abundant, affordable, and attainable. My Portland Community Housing Plan lays a foundations for a stable housing future.
When each level of government knows exactly what it's responsible for, we can build a system that actually gets people back into stable housing, and keeps them there.
Defining the City of Portland's role clearly allows us to hold other jurisdictions like Multnomah County fully accountable to their own obligations, including shelter, mental health services, and addiction treatment.
Families are struggling in this economy.
In District 4, we can start to address the affordability crisis by reimagining our central city as what it should be: an actual neighborhood, with housing, local businesses, and the kind of year-round energy that draws people in to explore the landmarks and the river.
A downtown that works as a destination, not an office district, is a downtown that puts people to work, raises wages, and gives families a foundation they can count on.
Our economy is also boosted by maintaining our right-of-way and providing dignity for all. By diverting the resources we currently use on sheltering to city-wide hygiene programs that provide bathrooms, pick up trash, and offer laundry and showers, we can create hundreds of new jobs and offer people a better chance at reaching their goals.
A well-functioning government can improve lives.
Portland is still learning how to run its new form of government. We need councilors who understand it, not from the outside looking in, but because they've helped build it.
That means real oversight, real guidance, and an accessible council focused on delivering public well-being and community prosperity.
To achieve a progessive and collaborative government that saves tax payer money and delivers results we need an earlier budget timeline, subject matter experts that answer to council not the mayor, a strategic plan with real metrics, and more effective community engagement.