2024 Elections | Portland City Council

FIND YOUR DISTRICT:

District 1

District 2

District 3

District 4

DISTRICT 1

City Council District 1 encompasses neighborhoods largely east of Interstate 205 and the Portland International Airport.None of the candidates vying to be among the three to represent the district at city hall currently serve on City Council.

Residents of the East Portland neighborhoods sometimes say they feel like the city’s poor relations — perpetually waiting for transportation upgrades, park improvements and affordable housing developments.

They also express that they are historically underrepresented in city government.

Much of what is now considered East Portland has such a unique identity that it was once a separate city, founded on a 640-acre land claim by James B. Stephens in 1846, who bought the claim from John McLoughlin of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The city was incorporated in 1871 but merged (along with the community of Albina) with Portland in 1891.

Efforts to secede from Portland have cropped up at various times since, including a failed ballot measure in 2015 by a group calling itself the East Portland de-Annexation Secession.

Candace Avalos

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

The city must invest in permanently affordable housing options, especially for underfunded East Portland. This involves growing our construction workforce, making sure our policies create housing that is truly affordable to East Portlanders, and preserving the affordable homes we already have so our neighbors can remain in their homes.

We must invest in the full spectrum of housing, from shelter options that work in Portland, to permanent supportive housing, affordable housing, a variety of homes to meet different people’s needs and homeownership.

Finally, we need to build more pathways to homeownership using models that put stability within reach.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

We need to address homelessness by preventing it in the first place. I would direct the city to fully fund rental assistance and ensure renters have safeguards like eviction protection and relocation assistance.

We also need to invest in effective ways to end homelessness like mental health and addiction resources, job training and placement, and living wages for social workers.

In the meantime, we need to decriminalize poverty and support our unhoused neighbors. I would direct investments in sanitation, water and trash services and fully fund Portland Street Response so people in crisis receive the care they need.

Portland City Council’s District 1 includes areas that are historically underrepresented in city government. What is the most crucial issue facing your district left unaddressed by prior elected officials, and how will you address it?

East Portland has the highest visibility of police but the fewest services provided. East Portland deserves a responsive, accountable public safety system rooted in what our communities need. I’ll prioritize expanding Portland Street Response and holding law enforcement accountable. We need the right responder, at the right time, for the right reasons.

More than two-thirds of the people who died on Portland streets in recent years were killed east of 82nd Avenue, and 28 of the 30 highest-crash intersections are located here. We deserve safe streets, great transit, and sidewalks. Safe transportation is a lifeline for our community’s well-being.

Jamie Dunphy

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

First, I would look toward intensive reuse of existing buildings, especially downtown vacant office spaces that could be converted to housing. I would specifically target development and more intensive reuse of vacant lots in East Portland to create a spectrum of housing choices for folks transitioning from homelessness into housing.

Second, I would continue work on streamlining permitting so that our timelines are similar to those of neighboring jurisdictions in Gresham, Happy Valley or Vancouver who can get apartment construction permitted in half the time Portland does, and they aren’t getting worse quality housing. They just have systems that work.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

The city needs to bring urgency to this response, and needs to work with the county, state, feds and neighboring jurisdictions on a common definition of success, identify who plays what roles in that response and urgently drive toward bringing more housing and services to those who are suffering on our streets and in insecure housing.

I have spent two decades working on building coalitions of diverse interests toward a single common vision and would love the opportunity to use my skills and experience on this.

I will prioritize all of my staffing and office resources toward constituent services, meeting people where they are in their neighborhoods and helping them find solutions that make their lives a little bit better every day.

In addition to filling potholes and improving street lights and sidewalks, I want to bring opportunities for young people, especially young people of color in East Portland, including more parks and green spaces, community centers, jobs, internships, sports and after-school activities.

I want to help create a system where young people can see a future for themselves where they have family-wage careers.

Timur Ender

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I would leverage every tool at the city’s disposal to address affordability, including implementing “Portland: Neighbors Welcome Inner Eastside for All” which would lead to zoning changes to make inner Portland more affordable.

I would support policies that connect transportation and housing such as the Rose Lane program, transportation wallet, BIKETOWN for All and other transit-oriented development so that people have a host of low-cost, sustainable options.

Innovative policies drive down the cost of housing, such as single-stair reform, which requires only one set of stairs for certain buildings — making more types of construction financially feasible.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

We need a comprehensive approach to homelessness.

First, I support staying engaged with the Joint Office of Homeless Services. Two local governments trying to address such a complex challenge on their own seems foolish. Second, we must do everything in our power to keep people who are housed from becoming homeless since the costs involved in getting people back into housing are much more significant than prevention.

Finally, we need to provide a range of options for the many people who are interested in accessing shelters or housing.

Higher rates of gun violence in East Portland are one of the most visible symptoms of underrepresentation and underinvestment.

My approach would be crime prevention through environmental design such as increasing street lighting and green spaces, both of which have been shown to reduce gun violence.

Use violence interrupters and street level outreach to prevent shootings. Fund community-based organizations that work to prevent gun violence by supporting people who are at risk. Support programs that build community and activate public spaces (Sunday Parkways, Movies in the Park).

Create a voluntary gun buyback program, which has seen success in other cities.

Terrence Hayes

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I would like a top-to-bottom review of our building codes and work with my colleagues who have pledged things like a 90-day permitting timeline, standard designs with auto-approvals and other ways to fix things on the city’s side of things that are slowing it down.

I want to find tax incentives for developers to want to build in Portland at all levels of housing supply. I would like to ask our government relations team to push for increased value in our housing vouchers and other social services to ensure they are keeping up with the cost of living in Portland.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

It’s unfortunate that the city has had to play such a large role when we know the

reality is that it’s the county’s job to provide these solutions and services, things we are paying into as a city with taxpayer dollars.

We need to continue this push from the city on the county for better metrics and accountability from our providers and shelter bed availability software. In the interim, I support the city funding two large shelters (100 to 150 people each) in every new council district to get our bed count up and get people off of the streets immediately.

I will push to make sure East Portland is not left out of any conversation or budget decision.

I am a public safety expert with real experience working in gun violence reduction, of which East Portland ranks No. 1 in gun deaths. That’s along with being top scorers in traffic deaths and least amount of basic infrastructure.

We need to make East Portland safe for everyone. Fully funding the Office of Violence Prevention is my top priority as your next city councilor.

David Linn

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

We need to help keep more people in the housing they already have by lowering the cost of living. Part of that would be fighting Salem to lift the pre-emption on local rent control provisions.

Renters should have protections against inappropriate fees and deposits as well as legal assistance in court so they are not defrauded or retaliated on by landlords.

I support public housing. While mostly federally funded, we can do more to lobby our other elected officials to support non-market housing for low-income families and individuals. That can come in any size appropriate to the need.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

Portland leaders need to acknowledge the failure of the past 10 years in building a sufficient response to the homeless. I helped draft several anti-sweep resolutions over the years that begged the city to change from wasting precious time and resources on sweeps and instead get people into clean, safe and dignified housing.

We need to approach the problem as if it could get worse before it gets better because economic cycles do not wait for housing plans. We need to support our county partners instead of bickering over petty things like tent and tarp distribution.

East Portland and its residents have always been looked at in how we relate to the needs of downtown Portland.

The part of the city from Interstate 205 to Gresham has always been the last in line for transportation upgrades, park improvements and affordable housing developments. East Portland is its own place and needs to be given its share of the resources.

I will fight to make it more affordable to live, work, shop and get government services right here in East Portland. We will build up the neglected system of neighborhood involvement in city affairs.

Steph Routh

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I appreciate Onward Oregon’s recent framing of a social housing pilot opportunity:

“There are a number of new and recently built market rate apartment buildings listed for sale for less than $250,000 per unit. The Portland Housing Bureau is financing a number of affordable housing projects that are costing more than $500,000 per unit.”

It makes sense for the city to buy apartment buildings that are on offer at prices below what we could build them for. It’s an elegant path to immediately unlocking affordable housing.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Our unhoused population is also our most diverse population in terms of age, race, ability — everything except class.

And so we need a diversity of shelter options as we relentlessly pursue housing production. Homelessness is a housing problem, and it also highlights the expanding wealth gap.

We do not currently have enough available homes for everyone, and housing costs have been increasing at a faster rate than wages for some time now. Our reality is profoundly inhumane and disproportionate, and we need both downstream and upstream solutions to move us through this crisis.

Being underrepresented — and by extension underfunded and not prioritized — is the most crucial unaddressed issue.

We must be allowed to expect effort and results from our government, and trust that they’ll actually follow through.

The first job of the new council will be to coordinate with the mayor and city administrator to stand up a more responsive and accountable form of government that knits East Portland into the fabric of citywide decision-making.

This transition must center transparency and ensure that all Portlanders can both decide and track how their tax dollars are spent.

Cayle Tern

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

The problem is multifaceted. Portland needs to address how we can put more existing housing on the long-term rental market. The existence of rental organizations like Airbnb, VRBO and other short-term rental organizations has discouraged property owners.

Property owners are not going to risk property damage and non-payment if a more viable option exists. We need to consider a vacancy tax on short-term rentals to fund the program to support landlords and housing programs so they can be sustainable. Portland also has to increase public housing units, and units for middle-income families to stimulate lower rental units.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

I would like to lead the committee that develops solutions to support the houseless communities. I believe in the housing-first model. Whether it is emergency shelters or long-term shelters, we need to address our houseless population with compassion and urgency.

We have expanded our emergency shelters, but people need a place so they can focus on becoming self-sufficient. We have homeless folks that experience mental health issues. We need to expand access to these facilities. We need to increase access to public housing programs that support low-income families and offer better transitional housing opportunities.

The biggest issues that have gone neglected are the streets and sidewalks. In some of our neighborhoods, it is hard to see at night because of poor lighting. In many different parts of East Portland, the only thing that protects pedestrians from vehicles is a white line, not a sidewalk.

The lack of sewage lines in our streets has created flooding in many different parts of East Portland during the rainy season. In unpaved areas, there are ditches and potholes that form. During hot months, residents are open to the high heat due to a lack of tree canopy.

Candidates Noah Ernst, Joe Furi, Deian Salazar, Thomas Shervey and Loretta Smith did not respond to Street Roots’ questionnaire.

DISTRICT 2

Portland City Council District 2 encompasses most of the North and Northeast Portland neighborhoods north of Sandy Boulevard.

Current city commissioner Dan Ryan (elected in 2020) is among the candidates who want to be one of the three councilors who represent the new district.

Portland’s North and Northeast neighborhoods have a history of diversity. They were home to a large Jewish immigrant community in the early part of the 20th century and developed large Black neighborhoods when families moved from the South to the Kaiser shipyards during World War II.

The neighborhoods have seen extensive gentrification, more than any other part of Portland.

North Portland also includes the highly polluted Columbia Slough and numerous other sites of environmental concern, many of them deemed contaminated by the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, and Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ. This includes many industrial sites in the area, known as “brownfields.”

James Armstrong

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

The rise in rent as a percentage of household income is a serious issue that’s pushing many Oregonians to the margins. We need to explore creative solutions to curb rising rent prices.

Montgomery County, Maryland, provides a model worth considering with their revolving low-interest loan program for mixed-income apartments. This approach is set to create thousands of homes, many of them affordable, with minimal long-term public subsidy.

If Portland adopts a similar model, we can build more homes, boost economic integration and save money in the long run.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Our current efforts aren’t meeting the scale of this crisis. We need to support projects like the Arbor Lodge Shelter, which offers shelter and support services designed to help individuals successfully transition to permanent housing.

While others are working on improving the relationship between city and county leaders, I’ve already established a direct line of communication between the shelter provider and the local community. I believe Arbor Lodge can serve as a model, showing other neighborhoods that we can provide essential services safely and effectively.

Portland City Council’s District 2 hosts numerous sites of environmental concern, including multiple sites deemed contaminated by the EPA and/or state DEQ. How will you address these ongoing concerns?

Our city doesn’t currently have the resources to tackle the estimated $3.5 billion in deferred maintenance for our infrastructure, let alone address the years of environmental degradation, much of which is concentrated along the Willamette River.

Tackling these cleanup projects will require collaboration with state, federal and private-sector partners. Addressing these issues is in everyone’s best interest, and as a city council member, I’ll ensure we remain open and engaged with all available resources to find solutions.

Marnie Glickman

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Here are some measures I support. 1. Cracking down on investors acting like slumlords. 2. Urgently opening new funding streams for deeply affordable housing. 3. Advancing initiatives to increase renter leverage and limit outlandish landlord abuses. 4. Putting an end to predatory, algorithmic rent pricing practices. 5. Working on a new supportive housing bond and exploring expansion of its scope. 6. Supporting removal of state level tax breaks for owners of multiple homes and put that $500 million per year into vouchers and housing supports.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

We need more Safe Rest Villages, more treatment and detox facilities, more low-barrier supportive housing and more shelters. Nationally and locally, we are beyond the peak of unsheltered addiction and suffering, and we are moving to better times. I will not push reactionary steps because they are largely counterproductive and unwise.

The city should stay away from [Portland Commissioner] Wrong Way Rene [Gonzalez]. He has shown a total inability to play well with others or put forward productive plans. People who come visit Portland love it here.

The keys to solving these problems: prioritization, perseverance, competence as a leader. I have the backing of Sierra Club and respected conservationists because of my track record and environmental leadership.

Clean rivers and clean air are some of my top priorities. I am on the record as a backer of the CEI Hub safety platform and expanding modes of transportation that use clean, green energy. We have a lot of cleanup and resilience work to do, amidst challenging circumstances.

I intend to spend my time in public office as a leader of climate and environmental action.

Mariah Hudson

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

To address Portland’s housing crisis, I will expand affordable housing programs and preserve existing units, aligning with the city’s Housing Needs Analysis, which outlines 85 strategies.

We must leverage public-private partnerships, use surplus public land for affordable developments, increase emergency rental assistance and support people before they face eviction. I will also streamline permitting and adjust zoning to encourage diverse housing types like duplexes and accessory dwelling units.

By focusing on these strategies, and working to raise wages through job training, we can ensure everyone has safe, affordable housing.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Portland must take a compassionate, comprehensive and consistent approach to addressing houselessness and homelessness.

We need to invest in diverse shelter and housing options, expand mental health and addiction services – starting with a sobering center – and create pathways to stable employment. On the council, I will advocate for increased funding for emergency shelters, transitional housing and the use of public land for Safe Rest Villages.

I’ll work to streamline processes and remove barriers so people can access help quickly. My goal is to ensure all Portlanders have access to the support and services they need.

As chair of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, I partnered with communities and nonprofits to shut down air polluters and block the expansion of the Zenith terminal.

I will continue this work by advocating for stronger enforcement of cleanup standards at contaminated sites and pushing for greater transparency and community involvement in the remediation process.

I will seek funding for ongoing monitoring and support initiatives that prioritize the health of residents, especially in neighborhoods that have historically faced disproportionate environmental impacts. By collaborating with state agencies, local organizations, and community members, we can ensure a cleaner, healthier future.

Sameer Kanal

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

We have to both make it easier for people to stay in their homes and expand affordable housing options.

I am a Day 1 signer of the Renters Bill of Rights which, among other things, caps fees and deposits and prevents evictions during extreme weather events.

We must also support fixed-income residents with direct aid. We need to enable housing growth by acquiring commercial buildings and converting them into subsidized or social housing. We need to change our permitting process to make housing expansions and accessory dwelling units easier.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

Housing is a human right, and government has an obligation to make it accessible to all.

I will work to end the criminalization of poverty and forced displacements. We should scale up the Shelter Services’ outreach team, which has dramatically increased shelter placements despite a shoestring budget.

We must create a city-run dashboard so houseless people and providers can see where beds are in real time. I’ll also scale up sanctioned campsites where connection to services is easier, including self-governing models like Right 2 Dream Too.

Climate change is an existential threat, and we need leadership that meets the moment and addresses it with the urgency it deserves.

We must reduce, then eliminate, the transport and storage of toxic, dangerous chemicals in Portland (including at the Critical [Energy] Infrastructure Hub), and until then, ensure that companies involved (not taxpayers) are held financially accountable for the risks they pose. We must also promote river access and evacuation routes in North Portland.

Jennifer Park

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

We need to restructure how we price “affordable housing” to prevent tenants in affordable units from paying more than 30% of their income on their housing.

We should incentivize and invest in commercial conversion to bring units online more quickly while also improving the climate burden of our existing built infrastructure and revitalizing neighborhoods overly burdened by vacancy rates.

We must adopt a Renters‘ Bill of Rights, and develop policy that tackles that vision statement with pragmatic and effective legislation with accountability built in.

We should implement a vacancy tax to reduce the manipulation of the housing market.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

I have long been an advocate of the city investing in the technical infrastructure that allows us to know where beds and units are available and whether they meet an individual’s needs.

We expand a variety of options for re-entry into housing, from Safe Rest Villages to permanent supportive housing to families moving directly into affordable housing.

We need to implement a model of peer advocates and mentors to rebuild trust in services and relationships with our houseless and underserved communities so that people who need supports trust the system and are therefore able to accept supports, treatments, and services.

As part of the restructuring of our Safety Service Area we need to prioritize emergency preparedness, and that includes environmental health and safety. We need to implement risk bonding at the CEI Hub, we need to invest in upgrading our unstable emergency routes.

I also see massive potential for partnerships on healthy, community centered revitalization of our brownfields. If we invest in the remediation we can partner with organizations like CHEM Alliance and Portland Food Forest Initiative to turn these contaminated areas into rich community projects that provide educational opportunities, healthy food, green space, shade equity, and climate resilience.

Tiffani Penson

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Convene state, county, Metro and city leaders to share information on housing plans, identify allocated funding and co-create plans to better serve the public.

Assess the work of developers, contractors and private partners that build affordable housing and that of organizations that serve vulnerable populations to ensure communication, collaboration, and fiscal responsibility.

Review housing policies and practices and/or create new policies to ensure the most efficient way to create shelter, temporary housing and affordable housing to provide options that meet the needs of all community members.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

I would convene government leaders as described above and co-create a comprehensive plan to include how all organizations will work together.

We will review shelter, temporary and affordable housing policies and practices, commit to what has a proven track record of working and develop new policies to ensure that we find the most efficient way to address all housing and service needs, providing options for all community members.

As a Portland Community College board director, I approved the 42nd Avenue Opportunities Center which includes affordable housing, wraparound services and daycare.

We should first share information about the sites as marginalized communities may not be aware of the negative impacts.

Then, together with the community, ensure that state and federal governments prioritize site cleanup. We must continue cleaning up the Portland Harbor Superfund Site and Willamette River to mitigate human health and ecological impacts.

We should examine policies and practices to ensure new and existing businesses are held accountable if they create new contamination. This could mean requiring detailed plans to prevent and/or address contamination and/or requiring companies to set aside funding to address potential new environmental issues.

Dan Ryan (at-large incumbent)

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

In addition to supporting private housing development, we must make housing more accessible and affordable for all Portlanders.

I’ve led efforts to streamline our permitting process to reduce costs and speed up construction. I’m advocating for our state legislators to refine the average median income metric, especially between 30% and 60% AMI, to better define “affordable” housing.

We must also preserve existing affordable housing, particularly for seniors, and explore innovative solutions like converting empty spaces into housing. Shared housing for elders is a promising strategy, such as matching widows with extra space to those who are rent-burdened.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Portland needs a compassionate yet firm approach to homelessness. When my brother was on the streets, addicted to heroin, it was clear his heart and mind weren’t connected. We have a responsibility to help people move from homelessness to stability.

I’ve led efforts to establish Safe Rest Villages, which provide temporary shelter and essential services, and I’m committed to expanding these successful programs. These Villages are effective because they reflect what chronically homeless individuals say they need.

We must also prioritize mental health and addiction services by building stronger partnerships between the city, county and state.

I will continue advocating for stricter accountability for industries that have caused contamination and push for resources from all levels of government to address these concerns. I support the county’s efforts to secure funding to upgrade infrastructure and protect the Willamette River. We need a clear cleanup timeline and transparent communication about progress.

Environmental justice is a priority. I’ll ensure District 2 residents aren’t left behind in pursuing a healthy environment. In 2021, I denied a permit to Zenith, prompting them to shift from crude oil to renewable fuel – a significant step toward cleaner air.

Laura Streib

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I see Portland and the multiple challenges we face as a connected ecosystem.

If we are going to address the housing affordability crisis, we must look at wages, green building, permitting and transportation. I believe we need to invest in social housing as well as wraparound services to ensure people stay housed.

A tenant bill of rights will help navigate systems to ensure individuals’ rights are not being violated. We need to take stock of what buildings can be refitted to be used for housing and push those with an enhanced deadline. We need to be bold and plan big.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

We must look at the unhoused crisis as a trifecta: mental health, substance abuse and wraparound supports.

These services are crucial for recovery and creating safe spaces for the community. We must address these unmet needs in tandem to ensure people have the support systems in place to stay housed. We also must include services – ongoing healthcare, employment, job training and child care.

As a policymaker, it is up to the city to work with community partners to create real solutions.

As a parent, I feel we need some tough love mom energy to set expectations for Portlanders.

We’ve done enough studies and now need decisive action to: Revisit the Zenith contract; demand infrastructure upgrades to the Critical [Energy] Infrastructure Hub; be an equal partner with the Environmental Protection Agency in the Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup; use the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund to add to our tree canopy in heat island spaces throughout Portland; and partner with industry for restoration projects.

This is not just a District 2 concern. Every policy must have an environmental lens.

Jonathan Tasini

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I have said throughout that we need to look to make public housing investments – that is, create housing that doesn’t hand money to private developers who take public capital for profit. Instead, we view housing as a universal right, similar to the right to Social Security and Medicare and, thus, as an important investment of public money.

I am the lone candidate explicitly calling for raising the Metro minimum wage to $25 per hour – which only begins to raise the minimum wage to the $32-an-hour required to rent a two-bedroom place in the city.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

I will lead a statewide effort to raise the minimum wage. We have to put more money in the pockets of folks.

As well, we need to ensure that people who are homeless can obtain full-time work, including a city-funded jobs program. I have endorsed the Renters Bill of Rights, which, among other key provisions, links rent “to the minimum wage such that all full-time workers can afford a one-bedroom apartment with no more than 30% of their income.”

Crucially, we need “home rule” to implement economic solutions for our city, which I will champion.

I was the first District 2 candidate to propose risk bonding for fossil fuel companies. I believe that risk bonding should be extended to all companies, especially those responsible for the contaminated sites.

I would, in alliance with community groups, demand faster remediation of EPA-DEQ-designated contaminated sites. I also would reference the Critical Energy Infrastructure. I’ve worked closely with the community voices to demand a real plan to move the tanks.

While the focus is on the potential for a catastrophic earthquake-related disaster, our communities are exposed daily to the toxins released into the air.

Nat West

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Increasing supply will have the greatest impact on housing affordability.

Beyond that, I will work to increase fully funded inclusionary zoning to create more mixed-income developments, work with developers to find opportunities to streamline our permitting bureau, update zoning to encourage denser development, increase tenant protections including expanding eligibility criteria for rental assistance and ensuring counsel representation during eviction proceedings, build on our public-private and nonprofit partnerships to encourage sufficient collaboration on housing projects.

I will also lead an effort to find opportunities to convert our over 1,700 historic residential buildings to modern standards.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

I will work to build more housing, both affordable and market rate.

With increased supply, fewer Portlanders will be rent-burdened, which will slow the tide of new homelessness. The 2018 Housing Bond hasn’t been put to its fullest effect, so I’ll work to build more publicly-owned and financed homes. I’ll work to add more tiny home villages on a smaller scale across the city in under-used parking lots with nearby existing restroom facilities such as in churches.

And finally, I won’t “stay in my lane” by insisting that only the county should be providing services.

I’ll ensure that the city is vigorously represented in legal proceedings, and I will personally lobby the state and federal governments for clean-up allocations.

Those who made the mess must pay for the cleanup as much as possible. I will also champion greater use of our waterfront property, for both parks and recreation as well as commercial use.

I’ll make sure that the Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group includes people representative of our community. When the public sees these areas as valued, we will have more allies to ensure cleanup is timely.

DISTRICT 3

Portland City Council District 3 encompasses areas west of Interstate 205 and roughly south of Sandy Boulevard.

Voters in those neighborhoods are asked to rank 20 candidates to determine the top three who will represent the district on the council. None of the candidates currently serve on the council.

District 3 contains multiple high-crash corridors, including Sandy Boulevard, 82nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard. Powell Boulevard saw 16 fatal pedestrian and motor vehicle accidents between 2017 and 2021, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation and Public Bureau of Transportation. Sandy Boulevard saw 10 during that same period.

Matthew Anderson

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

To address our housing affordability crisis, I would do everything possible to increase our economic activity.

This would increase our number of housing units by improving the ability of developers to finance construction and improve our residents’ ability to afford the homes, which exist by raising paychecks across the board. More profits need to be generated in this city. Every problem requires more money.

At the beginning, Oregon had an extractive economy. Then, owing to its proximity to the sea and the river, and the highway, it was a transportation hub.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Portland must first recognize that there are many involved in homelessness in this city.

There are developers, service providers, neighbors and those who are homeless. The city council must recognize that the crisis to be solved now is the crisis of live- and workability being faced by the neighbors.

Builders and service providers always need help and more money. Those on the streets are facing the timeless and age-old struggles of life. My role will be to ensure that we are producing solutions for the neighbors, while ensuring that builders and service providers have space to do their work.

Portland City Council’s District 3 contains multiple high-crash corridors, including Sandy Boulevard, 82nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard. How will you advocate for traffic safety in your district?

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has long-standing and elaborate plans for these corridors.

Getting them done requires extraordinary and technical coordination between the city, state and federal governments as well as Union Pacific. As a representative of our central district, I will insist upon a seat on any transportation committees.

I will ensure that going forward, any plans for these corridors are done with residents and works in mind. I will ensure the replacement of PBOT’s main garage. I will initiate a project to pave all the unimproved road sections within our city limits.

Rex Burkholder

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Re-legalize a larger variety of homes, including apartments, throughout the city. Support efforts like the Inner Eastside for All campaign to re-legalize mid-size multi-dwelling buildings. Protect historic buildings instead of whole districts or neighborhoods.

Reduce building costs and streamline permitting. Reduce permit timelines and streamline process. Re-evaluate infrastructure charges. Redirect city/publicly owned land for new housing. Consider using assets like water bureau land or city golf courses for housing. Partner with schools, churches, private landowners to turn parking lots into housing. Improve zoning, building code and infrastructure plans to use scarce space.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

I support the investment to create safe and humane shelter to accommodate everyone on the street today, paired with services to address causes of homelessness such as access to housing, jobs, health care and treatment for addiction and mental health.

I would work within the council to allocate the resources needed, support intervention programs and also work outside the council to ensure that critical partnerships with Multnomah County, the state and Metro – as well as with neighbors and advocacy organizations are creating accountable and effective actions.

Traffic crashes kill as many Portlanders as does gun violence.

We need to address this through redesign, education and enforcement. Getting the Oregon Department of Transportation out of urban street management is one major step but we need to demand the money to retrofit these and other car-oriented streets to reduce death by car.

As founder of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, as well as Metro councilor for 12 years where I led regional transportation policy for most of those years, I have been an effective and strong advocate for making our streets safer for everyone since 1990.

Jesse Cornett

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

In addition to supporting private development, I will streamline the permitting process, advocate for creative solutions like community land trusts and reduce city fees for projects addressing homelessness.

I’ll also push for stronger tenant protections and expand affordable housing through state and federal partnerships. By leveraging state and federal funding, collaborating with nonprofits, and enhancing wraparound services, we can transition people from shelters to permanent housing.

Addressing affordability requires bold, equitable solutions to ensure all Portlanders have access to stable, affordable homes.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Portland must prioritize building affordable housing, expanding wraparound services, and streamlining the permitting process to address its homelessness crisis. We should enhance Safe Rest Villages, improve partnerships with nonprofits, and use state and federal funding to transition people into permanent homes.

I’ll advocate for tenant protections, rapid rehousing and affordable housing expansion while reducing barriers for developers focused on homelessness solutions. I’ll work to ensure city policies support long term solutions, not temporary fixes, so we can provide stability and dignity for all Portlanders struggling with housing insecurity.

Collaboration is key, and I’ll lead by fostering strong partnerships.

To improve traffic safety in District 3, I’ll advocate for increased funding to upgrade infrastructure on high-crash corridors like Sandy Boulevard, 82nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard.

This includes better lighting, more crosswalks, protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements. I’ll push for speed reduction measures, enhanced enforcement of traffic laws and more public education on road safety.

I will work closely with the Portland Bureau of Transportation, Oregon Department of Transportation and community stakeholders to ensure these corridors are prioritized for safety upgrades. My goal is to create safer streets for all, reducing accidents and saving lives in our district.

Chris Flanary

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I’ve worked in affordable housing for more than a decade. While I agree that we need more housing to be built, I also know that Portlanders don’t make enough to pay the rent that developers would need to charge to make a project worth the investment.

Living wages are the cornerstone of my platform because they are the base for a strong community and economy. If you work here, you should be able to live here.

I also support building publicly owned social housing, emulating successful models around the world.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

My priorities are focused on strengthening our crucial social safety nets that prevent people from losing housing in the first place. We also need solutions for those already in crisis.

Short term, I want enough beds available to meet the needs of those sleeping out on our streets and a centralized database for available shelter beds to make the process easier to navigate. For now, let’s designate safer spaces that include basics like trash service and access to sanitary bathrooms.

We also need long term, housing-first solutions that are proven to make a difference and save money for all Portlanders.

Living near some of the most high-crash intersections in the city, I know there’s more we can do to make our roads safer.

I support proven strategies like reducing speed limits, protecting walkways and bike lanes, narrowing roadways and using elements of our built environment to calm traffic.

Roundabouts are safer and they reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Paint isn’t enough. We need protected walkways and bike lanes.

We shouldn’t remove these traffic interventions (as the city did, citing maintenance cost) because drivers ran into them. Let’s fix the problem and follow staff recommendations to add protective curbing.

Theo Hathaway Saner

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I will work to expand access to affordable housing through community land trusts, housing cooperatives and nonprofit-led housing developments.

I also support strengthening tenant protections to prevent displacement and reducing barriers for low-income renters. My experience at Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, working with low-income families, has shown me the importance of long-term affordability measures, including rent control and property tax relief for vulnerable homeowners.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Portland must focus on both immediate relief and long-term solutions.

I support expanding micro-villages and shelter options, like those created by WeShine, while investing in permanent supportive housing. As a member of the community advisory committee for supportive housing services, I’ve seen firsthand how coordinated services can transition people from the streets into stable housing.

I’ll advocate for increased funding for mental health and addiction services and work to streamline zoning and permitting to build more affordable housing quickly.

I will advocate for Vision Zero policies that prioritize pedestrian and cyclist safety by redesigning high-crash corridors with better lighting, crosswalks and protected bike lanes.

I’ll work closely with transportation officials to secure funding for infrastructure improvements on Sandy Boulevard, 82nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard. Additionally, I’ll push for traffic-calming measures and stronger enforcement of speed limits to protect all road users.

Patrick Hilton

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

To create real solutions, you have to understand the problem fully.

Status-quo belief with Portland affordability is more units equals lowered cost. Not so. This is a uni-dimensional analysis of a multi-dimensional problem.

The reasons include but are not limited to the loss of affordable rentals to demolitions and tech products that broke old paradigms as well as short term rentals favored over long term tenants.

Global investment outcompetes locals trying to buy housing, corporate landlords prefer vacancies over lowering rents. The list goes on. These issues will be addressed with innovation, subsidies and urban design to create working-class ownership.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

My main role will be to advocate and work against a growing Homeless Industrial Complex that will siphon off funding from those that need it most.

My other role is I will support realistic solutions. We need to meet people where they are at and understand and serve the diversity of needs within the unhoused. I will support leadership and innovation coming from the unhoused – tapping into their human potential for long term solutions – and offer creative ways to transform despair into meaningful lives.

I live close to 82nd and Sandy and am familiar with it as an intimidating intersection to cross as a pedestrian, cyclist and motorist.

Because it is at the intersection of two downhill streets that induce high speed traffic through it, and has higher pedestrian crossings than most nearby intersections on Sandy, this intersection (like the one on Powell) needs to be prioritized for Portland Bureau of Transportation funds.

I will advocate for the funding needed for traffic slowing infrastructure such as pedestrian islands, better overhead lighting, flashing slow-down signs as one approaches and improved pedestrian crosswalk technology.

Harrison Kass

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Inclusionary zoning was implemented with the best intentions, but the policy isn’t working. IZ has discouraged developers from building in Portland, which runs directly counter to the goals of creating more affordable housing. We should remove the IZ requirement.

We should incentivize developers to build denser housing – multi-family units instead of single-family units and multi-bedroom apartments instead of single-bedroom apartments/studios.

Affordable housing has been billed as the panacea for our homeless crisis. That’s inaccurate. Too many of Portland’s homeless are suffering from drug addiction/mental illness and are not currently equipped to live on their own.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Portland needs to end unsheltered and RV camping and provide a shelter for every person currently living on the street.

We need to expand our temporary alternative shelter and Safe Rest Village sites, plus establish pop-up shelters and day shelters. We also need to provide counseling services for those suffering from drug addiction and/or mental illness. The ultimate goal for those who enter the shelter/counseling system is permanent housing.

With shelter beds available for everyone, Portland and its partners will need to enforce the unsheltered camping ban. Tent encampments are not safe, sanitary or sustainable for anyone.

We need a combination of traffic enforcement and traffic calming infrastructure. For improved traffic enforcement, we need more police officers who can properly address speeding, reckless driving, street racing and DUI.

Expand traffic safety cameras to monitor speeding on our most dangerous roads, increase traffic calming infrastructure like lighted crosswalks, speed cushions, etc. Consider removing street parking near certain intersections to improve driver visibility.

Tiffany Koyama Lane

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I’m excited by the energy around social housing – including an op-ed in The New York Times recently.

The city has a lot of vacant land, and that’s an ideal opportunity to try out city-owned, union-built, environmentally resilient housing for people of any income. It’s also imperative that we keep families in their homes.

As a public school teacher, I’ve seen families lose housing during the school year, and I know how destabilizing it is. I support a renters’ bill of rights with protections like preventing rent hikes when there are outstanding code violations or evictions for late rent.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

I believe the focus needs to be on permanent housing options with wraparound services.

We need much closer cooperation with the county to address bottlenecks like the waiting list process and better communication between the many nonprofits and bureaus who do overlapping work on homelessness.

We also need to look at our workforce. Workers doing the critical work of connecting people to housing and other services are underpaid, overloaded and burning out. The city has a role in ensuring that public dollars are spent in ways that support and cultivate workers.

We need to abandon the false binary of “fix potholes” versus “have good public transit and bike lanes,” with the latter portrayed as a luxury.

Street design is an accessibility and justice issue. Low-income and BIPOC communities see higher numbers of pedestrian deaths, and both unsafe and unpaved roads are concentrated in east Portland.

If we don’t have the funds to address safety engineering, then we need to change our funding mechanism.

Other communities have changed heavy vehicle licensing, for example. And other communities have ended traffic fatalities with street design.

Angelita Morillo

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Many landlords in Portland use artificial intelligence software like RealPage to determine the cost of rent. RealPage is under investigation by the federal government because landlords were coordinating to artificially inflate the cost of housing. San Francisco is the first city to ban the use of algorithmic software for setting rents, and Portland should investigate and follow suit.

Portland should loosen restrictions on zoning to allow for more housing construction and conversions. When the Concordia University dorms were available for purchase, the biggest barrier to conversion into communal housing was that it was zoned for a school instead of housing.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Policy should be shaped by those who are directly affected by issues. As a person who has been homeless in Portland, I would approach policy through that lens. We have to keep renters protected and housed, and we need diverse shelters to meet people’s needs.

The city should push for public housing that will remain affordable regardless of shifting economic markets. Land trusts would circumvent the highest cost of new builds: land acquisition. We also need autonomous shelter models like Right 2 Dream and Dignity Village, where unhoused residents have a voice and a vote in how things are run.

We can’t change driving behavior by upgrading signage and assuming people will drive more carefully. We need to design our roads to influence human behavior and force people to slow down.

Narrowing high-crash corridors, hardening our bike lanes and pedestrian paths by adding cement planters with flowers both beautify our public spaces and force people to drive carefully.

I’d also love to work with state legislators to change the law that only allows police officers to pull people over when they’re speeding or driving unsafely. We can have a non-armed response, issuing income proportional citations for repeat traffic offenders.

Ahlam Osman

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

To address the affordability crisis, we must develop policies that help tenants stay housed through affordable rent and expand homeownership opportunities for low-income individuals and families.

Additionally, it’s important to fund programs that support renters facing housing challenges such as legal aid (such as the Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project) and tenant rights education (such as the Community Alliance of Tenants).

I would also advocate for increased funding for mental health and addiction treatment services and expand outreach programs like Portland Street Response, which are vital for connecting the houseless community with necessary resources and support.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

The issue of homelessness is multifaceted and requires an approach that addresses both social and economic barriers to housing. Collaboration between government agencies, nonprofits, businesses and those directly affected by the homelessness crisis is crucial. I would work actively with my council peers to pass policies and engage with affected communities to build safety nets that ensure protection and support for all.

It is also necessary to use federal resources such as the HOME Investment Partnership Program within HUD to subsidize construction costs for affordable social housing in our city and add onto the Continuum of Care program.

Traffic safety is a public health issue that requires collaboration between the city and other agencies. I will advocate for policies promoting systemic improvements rather than individual interventions to our transportation system, such as the city’s Vision Zero program.

I would make sure we are funding street improvements that can slow down cars, make more crosswalks accessible and make sure there is accommodation for anyone using the street. Supporting safe driving behaviors is key. I support funding for timely post-crash emergency response as these elements create layers of protection to prevent accidents and reduce harm.

Jon Walker

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I want to significantly improve our zoning, code and permitting to make it easier to build all types of houses. This will allow our money for affordable housing to go further. Next, I have a plan to work with the Medicaid program to effectively use the new housing funds from our new 1115 waiver. Also, the city could also help tenants collectively buy their apartments.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

We need to quickly and effectively increase all types of housing to help the homeless. That includes a massive expansion in short-term shelters, tiny villages, converted hotels, supportive housing, etc. We are not going to address homelessness until we add a minimum to have enough beds for the current homeless population. Portland can work to provide the space and pathway to approve these projects as well as funding for them.

I believe we need to actually implement Vision Zero, like Hoboken successfully did. Every major accident should be investigated in a holistic manner to see what was the physical cause such as bushes hiding a sign, bad road design, lack of barriers, etc.

The city then needs to act quickly to fix any structural issue it finds that it believes contributed to the accident. In addition, we need to increase our protected bike lane infrastructure. One of the first steps is fixing every street with an unprotected bike lane.

Luke Zac

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

The biggest root cause of our housing affordability crisis is lack of units across the entire continuum.

We do not have enough units currently available. We need to ramp up availability by more than 5,000 units annually to tackle the deficit and support future housing needs.

I believe that public housing has a large role in addressing the housing crisis and improving affordability for Portlanders, although that doesn’t need to be entirely new construction. Multi-family and commercial properties are currently underused and undervalued. There is opportunity for acquisition and retrofit where practical.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

When it comes to addressing homelessness, I believe it is more of a matter of follow-through than finding new solutions. We must ensure that we have a sufficient number of shelter options to match the need that our city is experiencing and those options need to come in a variety of formats that work for the unique circumstances that different individuals experiencing homelessness require.

I will also advocate for greater support for individuals experiencing housing instability to ensure that anybody who is currently housed stays housed.

Addressing traffic safety across these high crash corridors will require improved infrastructure and environmental design that prioritizes pedestrian, cyclist and transit safety over automobile convenience and speed.

This includes improvements such as bike and pedestrian only routes, adequate lighting, traffic-calmed streets, and separated cycle tracks. Refocusing on reducing car speed and increasing moving violation enforcement are also key components to achieving our Vision Zero and improving traffic safety.

Steve Novick

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

We need to make it easier to build affordable housing. The nonprofit housing developers face dozens of different requirements from the different funding sources they rely on. The state, city, Metro, etc. need to coordinate and simplify the rules for allocating money.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in these solutions?

The main root cause of homelessness is our housing shortage, but it will take years before we have enough housing. In the meantime, we need to prioritize humane forms of shelter like the tiny house villages. People say it’s hard to find sites to put them. I think we need to ask questions like, what about the city-owned golf courses? Lots of land there.

In addition to looking for ways to redesign the streets for safety, I would crack down on speeding.

Those three streets have some speed cameras and intersection safety cameras, but I think we could use more. People should feel that if they speed in Portland, they’re going to get caught.

Speed kills. I’d also like to get people to stop buying bigger and bigger cars, because bigger cars are deadlier, but I don’t know how we do that.

DISTRICT 4

Portland City Council District 4 consists of the city’s neighborhoods west of the Willamette River and Southeast Portland’s Sellwood, Eastmoreland and Reed neighborhoods.

Voters in those neighborhoods are asked to rank 19 candidates to determine the top three who will represent the district on the council. None of the candidates currently serve on the council.

District 4 hosts the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub. The hub is a six-mile stretch of industrial development along the west shore of the Willamette River. More than 90% of all liquid fuel in Oregon is stored at facilities in the hub. This includes the gas and diesel supply for the Portland metro area as well as all of the jet fuel for Portland International Airport.

Zenith Energy’s oil-by-rail and storage operation is also located in the hub at a former asphalt facility.

The 39-acre site has 84 tanks with a total storage capacity of more than 1.5 million barrels. In 2017, Zenith began receiving tar sands and crude oil on mile-long trains from Canada and North Dakota. Most, if not all, of the product Zenith handles is destined for places in the United States other than Oregon.

Olivia Clark

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

My career began as an organizer and advocate for affordable housing statewide, co-founding the Community and Shelter Assistance Corporation to build farmworker and affordable housing.

Today more than ever, the housing affordability crisis requires a comprehensive approach at all levels of government including public-private partnerships. I will work to ensure permitting reforms, land use planning, land banking, density bonuses and subsidies and seek increased support from state and federal sources.

We must invest in public housing and ensure a portion of housing remains out of the private market to preserve long term affordability.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

Portland must adopt a unified approach with the county and metro to tackle our homeless crisis, enhance mental health and addiction services and improve outreach programs.

Collaboration among all levels of government, as well as the private and nonprofit sectors is essential – all pulling in the same direction. I support expanding low-barrier temporary alternative shelter sites and transitional housing to provide immediate relief.

Long term stability must span the continuum of care.

Using my experience in coalition building in housing and public transit, I will actively foster partnerships to create coordinated and effective solutions for homelessness.

Portland City Council District 4 hosts the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, including Zenith Energy’s oil-by-rail and storage operations. How can you ensure the safety of Portlanders concerned by the risks associated with that area?

I will build on the work of the Linnton neighborhood and Tank the Tanks coalition. They’ve raised public awareness and developed a step-by-step strategy starting with community engagement and emergency preparedness.

Using the city’s role in regulation of the hub, oil transport and storage, I will push for safety audits, regulatory oversight, and advocate for much greater state and federal enforcement of safety and environmental regulations.

This includes a strategy to decommission inactive tanks, relocate active ones and implement necessary remediation efforts. I will prioritize safety, transparency and community engagement to mitigate risks and protect residents.

Chris Henry

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Housing is a human right, not a commodity for Wall Street profiteers. I will fight to establish a public bank that cuts out the predatory middlemen and funds publicly owned affordable housing. We need robust rent control, expanded eviction protections and to end zoning laws that cater to corporate developers.

Public land should be used to build public housing for working families, not wealthy investors. The housing crisis is fueled by corporate greed, and it’s time we take control back from the profit-driven elite.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

Homelessness is the direct result of crony capitalism and decades of neglect.

Instead of allowing private contractors to waste taxpayer money, we need to invest in permanent public housing and mental health services. I will fight to repurpose empty buildings, create a fully funded housing-first model and stop treating people as if they’re disposable.

This crisis is a consequence of policies that benefit the wealthy few while leaving the most vulnerable to fend for themselves. Portland must take bold, systemic action to confront this injustice head-on.

The Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, run by ultra-wealthy, out-of-state executives, is a ticking time bomb.

I will focus on “tanking the tanks” and shutting the CEI Hub down because we must be ready for the next Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. The Port of Portland sits on a liquefaction zone, and continuing to allow Zenith’s oil-by-rail in this area is reckless and dangerous.

We need immediate action to remove these threats and transition to renewable energy. Portlanders’ lives should never be sacrificed for the profits of captains of industry.

Lisa Freeman

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Our housing affordability crisis demands multiple interventions to ensure adequate supply of affordable units, stabilize renters and subsidize housing costs.

I will work to close loopholes in the Inclusionary Housing policy that permit developers to pay a fee in lieu of building affordable units. I will continue and expand Fair Access in Renting policies and advocate at the state level for Portland’s ability to institute rent control.

Finally, I will support the development of social housing units and subsidize housing costs for low and fixed-income residents like seniors, the fastest growing group of unhoused people in the state.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

We address this crisis by paying rent for people and investing in a variety of safe shelter options and services for unhoused individuals with many different needs.

We must also invest in outreach workers who can build trust with unhoused individuals and connect them to services. We have the money to do this in Portland, which is a gift we have given ourselves.

I will work with my colleagues at the county and the joint office to ensure we are putting funds toward the most effective strategies and getting funding out the door with the urgency this crisis demands.

I will work to revoke Zenith’s Land Use Compatibility Statement, establish risk-bonding for the companies that store fuel at the hub, and work with the county to ensure we can monitor the types and amounts of substances stored at the hub at all times.

I will also work to immediately decommission old and unused tanks and work with the county and state to develop an actionable plan – including a timeline – for diversifying storage of the state’s fuel supply and ultimately shutting down the CEI Hub and redeveloping the riverfront.

Ben Hufford

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

The city should not be in the business of building housing because the private sector can build much more efficiently and inexpensively. All housing production is important, and Portland can only effectively have affordable housing if we have enough housing.

Additional measures are increasing density limits along transit corridors and public funding of affordable housing projects in a range of affordability types. Portland should limit permitting time to 120 days and consolidate review into four permit contact points.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

We need to have a lot more shelters and other protective options where people living on the street can go, not just tell the homeless where they can’t go. The city council needs to take immediate action to provide a lot more shelter options, and those options need to meet our homeless population where they are – as people with drug addictions and mental health problems, people with cars but no homes, people with pets and friends.

No one gets better on the street, and most people get a lot worse – and quickly.

Portland has a large and impending problem at the CEI energy hub. Because the risks are significant and inevitable, we need to take the following steps. First, current private sector owners must be required to bond insurance to cover the full cost of a disaster. This alone will cause the owners to change the operations to address the highest risks, to lower their insurance costs.

Second, we need to set a target of reducing petroleum storage by 50% by the year 2025. Third, prohibit new permits or changes of ownership for facilities in designated liquefaction zones.

Chad Lykins

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Amend height restrictions for affordable housing. Zone neighborhoods for mixed use, mixed age and mixed ability. Expedite permits and reduce system development charges for affordable housing. Increase eviction prevention subsidies.

Encourage home sharing and other measures that help seniors age in place. Reduce barriers for converting accessory dwelling units and spare rooms into long-term rentals. Assist with the conversion of office buildings to residential buildings.

Collaborate with other government jurisdictions (especially county and metro) to create a new funding stream for the creation of affordable housing. Create a social housing program. Encourage the development of Community Land Trusts.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

I will advocate for the construction of pod villages and motel shelters that are safe and sanitary and respect the dignity of the people they serve. This means making reasonable accommodations for pets, cohabitation, belongings, and freedom of movement.

Because temporary shelters are more expensive and less effective in the long run than permanent supportive housing, they must be conceived as temporary in two senses – both as a temporary place for residents to stay as they transition to permanent housing and as a temporary solution for a city that is rapidly moving toward housing abundance.

I support Tank the Tanks’ demands around the CEI Hub. We need to risk-bond, starting yesterday.

There are two questions we urgently need answered as we look to mitigate the CEI Hub. What will it cost to move the CEI Hub? Where can we move it to?

Tony Morse

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Beyond building, we need more rental housing and additional renter resources.

Rental assistance plays a key role in safeguarding housing stability, especially in inflationary environments with higher costs of living.

Rental assistance reduces the risk of homelessness and improves economic resilience in our communities. Multnomah County Supportive Housing Services revenue remains underused and could be used more effectively on helping renters meet their housing needs.

There is also meaningful overlap between addiction and the housing crisis. To that end, we need to support additional investment in recovery housing to provide affordable housing options for people who also struggle with addiction.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

Every Portlander deserves access to housing, and no one should be forced to live on the streets.

Building more housing will help us improve affordability and accessibility, and thoughtfully minimizing obstacles to residential construction will help us catch up with community housing needs.

Meanwhile, people living on the streets need help now. As your Portland city councilor, I will: work to expand the capacity of our homeless shelters and shelter alternatives and work to streamline the city’s building permit process and improve procedures for the approval of new residential construction to grow new housing.

Portland needs to make sure we have an effective emergency preparedness plan in place in the event our region experiences a large-scale earthquake or other catastrophic event.

It is essential for the city of Portland to work with the county, state and federal governments to ensure that all of our infrastructure, energy infrastructure included, is protected against safety threats.

All layers of government must work together to mitigate risk to all of our infrastructure.

Stan Penkin

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Streamline permitting/inspection processes. Ensure efficient implementation of permit consolidation. Encourage accessory dwelling units, duplexes, triplexes, row houses and two-family/intergenerational homes on one lot.

Review system development charges and other fees. Build with communal areas and review the size of apartments to save cost. Rethink ground floor retail for apartments. Assess Residential Infill Program to ascertain its success for middle housing and what other zoning measures can be taken.

Incentivize conversion of commercial buildings to housing; buy and renovate motels, hotels and other properties for housing. Consider manufactured housing. Build private/public partnerships. Support solutions such as the nonprofit Home Share Oregon.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

I will advocate to prioritize ending unsheltered homelessness and urgently expand behavioral health and other services, including rental assistance, job training and placement.

We should continue to build Safe Rest Villages and larger sites such as the Clinton Triangle and include wraparound services with the goal of transitioning unsheltered individuals through a continuum of care toward permanent housing.

We must ensure that the city and county collaborate effectively and develop a data system with metrics and accountability. We will need to evaluate if the city’s $30 million investment into the Joint Office of Homeless Services is achieving results.

This is a complex issue with overlapping jurisdictions, of which the city is one.

However, we must advocate for risk-bonding (currently under county consideration), address and limit air emissions, prevent Zenith Energy from expanding their operations, strongly push on fossil fuel companies to follow through on seismically upgrading their tanks and to remove empty tanks.

I want to form a city council task force to address this issue, which not only affects District 4 but is an issue for the entire city and region.

Moses Ross

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Public housing projects can fill in the gap in the middle-income housing supply.

We can work collaboratively with community-based groups, local nonprofits and faith-based organizations to implement these projects. The tenants of any new public housing system should be given the chance at owning their unit after a set amount of residency in good standing, say 10 years.

As these units cater to those in the middle-income levels, they would need to pay rent, but without the pressure of investors looking for returns, they could be charged below market level and keep the building(s) financially sustainable.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

I have been an active and effective leader on the issue of homelessness and livability and have learned that we must collaborate and communicate with all stakeholders to fill the housing gaps at all levels.

We faced challenges and created solutions in conjunction with the city, Joint Office of Homeless Services, neighbors and those that are houseless to create and integrate the Multnomah Safe Rest Village into our neighborhood.

We have the ability to create a Portland where every resident has access to affordable, safe and sustainable housing that meets their needs and promotes citywide diversity and inclusivity.

We must better educate the public about the dangers posed by the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub. It must be part of our emergency and disaster preparedness programs for both the public and emergency responders.

I will establish a standing CEI Hub committee that is charged with holding public hearings on CEI Hub dangers and options for prevention and risk mitigation and with issuing a public report and recommendations for action.

I will create a task force to work in conjunction with county, regional, state, federal and tribal governments to develop prevention and risk mitigation measures, including risk-bonding, monitoring and relocation.

Sarah Silkie

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I will encourage the conversion of existing unused office space into single-room occupancy units that will provide long-term affordable housing for elderly and fixed-income residents. I will incentivize dense residential construction, particularly downtown where infrastructure already exists, to address affordability while revitalizing the urban core.\

I will incentivize homeowners to rent out spare rooms and ADUs and make the most of our existing housing stock. I’ll accelerate permitting reform to get at the root cause of delays and high costs for both public and private projects. Streamlining the codes will make housing available faster by reducing the barriers for new projects.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

I will tackle homelessness as the emergency it truly is and push for immediate shelter for everyone experiencing homelessness.

This means creating rooms with doors and shelter beds to provide safe, secure, and dignified spaces, without getting bogged down in debates about the perfect approach. The immediate priority is to get people off the streets and into safe shelter.

I’ll address the root causes of homelessness by focusing on job creation and affordable housing. Promoting living wage jobs in Portland will prevent people from becoming homeless. A strong local economy with accessible employment opportunities is key to preventing housing insecurity.

I will work with the county to require risk-bonding or some other form of insurance that requires higher safety standards and incentivizes the facility owners to consider moving operations to more stable locations or investing in less risky ventures.

I will also work with the Linnton area to create a vision for the land in and around the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub to guide us toward our post-fossil fuel future. I will work with the state to pass House Bill 4044, the Toxic Plumes Study. This is the first step to getting non-fossil fuel toxics in the hub area regulated.

John Toran

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

We can encourage more public/private partnerships through affordable housing initiatives. Also, we can look at opportunities to repurpose public land or create land trust to lower property costs for affordable housing developments.

We can make sure that existing tenant laws are enforced rather than being treated with feel-good lip service. The loss of single-room occupancies has been a disaster for Portland. We need to preserve existing affordable housing. We can be more strategic in how we support nonprofit housing providers. Probably the most important is to expand rental assistance programs to help people remain housed.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

We need to end unsanctioned camping by creating sanctioned camping areas. Each district would get them, and I’d like a portion of them to be sober. With those in place, we’d be one step closer to bringing people indoors where they can receive medical treatment and begin the long process of drug rehabilitation and connecting with government services in a safe and regulated environment.

The CEI Hub poses a huge risk to our district and the entire region. Steps I’d strongly consider include requiring seismic resilience upgrades by requiring hardened infrastructure and burying power lines.

Citywide, we target projects that use renewable energy sources, thus decreasing demand. We should also be encouraging the creation of microgrids. Modular construction is key to resilience. Strengthen cybersecurity with the latest security protocols and collaborate with federal agencies that have identified the latest threats.

Commit to regular comprehensive risk assessments and emergency response drills. Audit the backup and redundancy systems. Require physical security enhancements.

Eric Zimmerman

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

I’ve proposed an aggressive reform to the permitting and the design review process to allow for cheaper, quicker developments of housing that remain fire-life-seismic safe but also reduce the aspirational requirements.

This is important to maximize units and to do so quickly. I don’t think the Design Review Commission should be able to stop housing projects for obscure subjective reasons. I also proposed doubling the height limits in the central city, and I want the city’s investment to be toward our toughest and most needed units – single-room occupancy and three-bedroom units. We are in desperate need of these units.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in those solutions?

I helped pass the largest shelter funding package our community has ever seen. As a city councilor, I will push for rapid opening of those shelters and work to expand another funding package for even more. Our Safe Rest Villages and other large pod villages are our most successful shelters. We need more.

If we can do that for temporary stays, we can reduce the need for street and RV camping. Portland should invest in shelter housing development and supportive housing pathways to end homelessness. Portland Police also need to target drug dealers exploiting people living outside.

I’m supportive of Commissioner Meieran’s bonding plan to ensure companies frontload the cost of recovery and to incentivize safer practices. Ultimately, I think investment in how fuel is stored and transported must be the safest possible, given the proximity of the CEI Hub to neighbors and our river.

Long term, I want to work with the state and community to find a new home for this hub. Portland should work today to increase safe operational practices, and we should work tomorrow to find it a new home.

Mitch Green

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

If elected, I will fight for renters’ rights and tenant stabilization policies as modeled by the Renters’ Bill of Rights pledge. Additionally, I will pursue policies that create social housing — a public development approach that sets rents in proportion to one’s income. My target is 30% of income.

We spend a lot of public money to incentivize the creation of affordable housing via indirect tax abatement methods, with little accountability and effect. It’s time to take a direct approach.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis, and what role will you play in these solutions?

It took decades of underinvestment and laissez-faire ambivalence to create the homelessness crisis we have today. It’s going to take a bold and crisis-oriented approach to address it.

There are no shortcuts. We will never solve homelessness unless we address the root of the problem that generates it, which is poverty and the lack of deeply affordable housing. Criminalizing homelessness is not only expensive and immoral, but it makes it harder for one to leave poverty by creating further barriers to income earning opportunities and housing.

As a PhD economist, I can play the advocate role for evidence-based policies that address the root issues.

Portland City Council District 4 hosts the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, the Zenith Energy oil-by-rail and storage operations. How can you ensure the safety of Portlanders concerned by the risks associated with that area?

There is a tripartite fight ahead for the CEI Hub that we can tackle head on.

First, we must work to revoke Zenith Energy’s license to operate in Portland using all legal tools at our disposal. Second, we must work with the county to establish a risk bonding policy for tank owners at the CEI Hub, using the pre-funding method to ensure the city is not financially exposed to a disaster.

Third, city council must build on the success of Oregon Senate Bill 1567 and continue lobbying state and federal partners to move forward with alternative site-ing for the tanks at the CEI Hub and work towards expedited decommission.

Bob Weinstein

Aside from supporting private housing development to increase supply, how will you address the housing affordability crisis?

Streamline permitting for affordable housing projects. I’ll work to create an expedited approval process for developments that include a significant percentage of affordable units. By reducing bureaucratic hurdles and expediting approvals for affordable housing projects, we can significantly cut down on soft costs and time-related expenses.

San Diego recently reduced permitting time for certain residential and commercial construction projects, including affordable housing, from 12 months to 30 days. Why can’t we do that in Portland? We also need to make sure that Home Forward is properly funded and is working well with its community partners.

How do you think Portland should address its homelessness crisis and what role will you play in those solutions?

Ensure that this issue is a top priority for the new mayor and council and that we are brought up to speed on the current status as quickly as possible. This would include a review of current needs for permanent supportive housing, as well as regional success in moving people into housing.

We need to learn what has been, and has not been, working and make appropriate adjustments. Assure that there is clear leadership and accountability to streamline decision-making and resource deployment. Develop a coordinated entry system for all services to reduce duplication and ensure individuals receive appropriate services.

Portland City Council’s District 4 hosts the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, including Zenith Energy’s oil-by-rail and storage operations. How can you ensure the safety of Portlanders concerned by the risks associated with that area?

The CEI Hub is a time bomb, demanding our immediate attention and action. Despite the known risks, we lack a solid, comprehensive plan to address this issue.

This includes insufficient seismic upgrades to existing infrastructure, inadequate emergency response preparations and the presence of old, unused tanks that pose additional hazards.

I will prioritize the development of a comprehensive risk mitigation plan for the CEI Hub, including relocation of the concentrated storage of fuel oil and jet fuel, push for stricter regulations on seismic upgrades for existing infrastructure and advocate for the removal of old, unused tanks to reduce potential hazards

Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.

This article appears in October 9, 2024.

DISTRICT 1

Candace Avalos

Jamie Dunphy

Timur Ender

Terrence Hayes

David Linn

Steph Routh

Cayle Tern

DISTRICT 2

James Armstrong

Marnie Glickman

Mariah Hudson

Sameer Kanal

Jennifer Park

Tiffani Penson

Dan Ryan (at-large incumbent)

Laura Streib

Jonathan Tasini

Nat West

DISTRICT 3

Matthew Anderson

Rex Burkholder

Jesse Cornett

Chris Flanary

Theo Hathaway Saner

Patrick Hilton

Harrison Kass

Tiffany Koyama Lane

Angelita Morillo

Ahlam Osman

Jon Walker

Luke Zac

Steve Novick

DISTRICT 4

Olivia Clark

Chris Henry

Lisa Freeman

Ben Hufford

Chad Lykins

Tony Morse

Stan Penkin

Moses Ross

Sarah Silkie

John Toran

Eric Zimmerman

Mitch Green

Bob Weinstein

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