Mel Rader is a strong progressive dedicated to social justice and defending the environment. He has a decade of experience as a political advocate championing public health and economic opportunity, and he runs Upstream Public Health, a nonprofit that researches and advocates best practices to address climate change, health equity and food access.
Rader is running for Multnomah County commissioner in District 1. Here are his responses to Street Roots' candidates pop quiz — a mix of short-answer, yes-or-no, and multiple-choice questions. (Read other candidates' responses.)
QUESTION 1
What area of the county government are you most interested in working with and why? (100 words or less)
I am interested in working with the health system. I have run a public health nonprofit for 10 years, and I serve on the board of Health Share, which serves 230,000 Medicaid members in the region. My background is uniquely suited to promote a health system that is more equitable, focused on prevention and able to achieve better results for lower costs. I will prioritize filling the funding gap for mental health and addictions. I will also champion a more community-focused approach to provide services to people on the street and through community organizations in a culturally responsive manner.
QUESTION 2
What is one solid step you will take to expand affordable housing countywide? (150 words)
The root of our housing crisis is income inequality. While large developers make windfall profits off real estate, our home shortage deepens. Solving the problem means moving forward policies that promote rent and income equality. The first thing that needs to be done is to greatly expand the public investment in affordable housing. I support a significant investment in housing aimed at low-income families, paid for through general obligation bonds by the county. As part of the Welcome Home Coalition, I’ve been proud to advocate for more investment in this area.
We should also look at additional strategies to promote rent equality including: (a) inclusionary zoning to ensure big developers are doing their part to promote affordable options, (b) greater fairness in property taxes, including shifting more of the burden onto commercial property away from residential, and (c) fixing the problem with the ADU tax issue at the county.
QUESTION 3
Yes or No: Would you support establishing a safe injection site?
Yes.
QUESTION 4
Beyond Portland, Multnomah County encompasses smaller municipalities all dealing with housing and homeless issues, with the county often picking up the slack. How will you get other municipalities to better address these issues? (150 words or less)
Implement a housing-first policy that provides very basic housing options for everyone. It costs far more to provide services for the homeless than it does to provide a home for them to live in.
Using bonding authority, the county should provide all homeless people with a basic home, then connect them with medical resources to stabilize health conditions and economic services to promote job opportunities. This approach provides a compassionate approach to solving our homelessness problem, and it saves money overall.
We can also promote more housing near transit lines to increase housing options that are better connected to jobs and services, including mixed commercial and residential neighborhoods.
Finally, we need more cross-agency collaboration. The causes of homelessness are varied and dynamic, and the Health Department must collaborate with housing authorities so that people facing a web of barriers can be supported with a web of services.
QUESTION 5
Story question: If Multnomah County’s budget projections showed a severe deficit by 2017, what would be your approach now to prevent or mitigate that situation? (150 words or less)
I would seek to find funding to support critical programs. Opportunities for funding include:
(a) Refer a proposal for general obligation bonds to pay for low-income housing, (b) advocate at the state level for a reform of the property tax system, including increased taxes on commercial properties, (c) use of targeted excise taxes such as a tax on e-cigarettes at the same level as regular cigarettes to pay for addictions treatment programs, and (d) implementation of a construction tax as now allowed within the inclusionary zoning legislation.
I would also seek to find savings in current programs with the highest opportunity being to (a) reduce enforcement of nonviolent crimes to save money in the corrections systems and (b) negotiate with health systems to take on some of the health services currently paid for through general fund dollars.
QUESTION 6
Complete this sentence with the following options: I smoke marijuana ________________
a. For medicinal purposes only.
b. To decompress after a stressful day.
c. Recreationally. Hey, it’s legal.
d. Rarely.
e. Never.
d. Rarely.
QUESTION 7
Make one promise to the city’s people of color that you will deliver on as commissioner. Street Roots will check on its status every year.
Find significant funding to implement Multnomah County’s new Community Health Improvement Plan that will be finished in September 2016.
QUESTION 8
How will you ensure young people of color will succeed in Multnomah County? (150 words or less)
The wage gap between whites and people of color is greater than it’s been in many years with African-Americans earning 76 percent and Hispanics earning 74 percent as much as whites.
The exact causes of these disparities are complex, but it’s critical that we address the solutions we can at the county by:
• Continuing to increase the minimum wage by looking into repealing Oregon’s law that prohibits us from determining what our livable wage should be
• Advocating for labor unions’ priorities including expanding hours for existing part-time employees rather than hiring more part-time staff to avoid paying benefits
• Serving undocumented residents with dignity and care
Another way to increase economic opportunity is to expand affordable childcare. This would allow all working parents to better provide for their families and reach their professional goals, and it would also reduce the likelihood of children’s future interactions with public safety and corrections departments.
QUESTION 9
Pair the issue with the sentiment. Use each sentiment only once:
1. Sell Wapato Jail
2. Appointed (not elected) sheriff
3. Rent control
4. Regional Air Quality Bureau
a. Great idea
b. Good idea
c. Needs work
d. Nope
1. Sell Wapato Jail – c. Needs work
2. Appointed sheriff – d. Nope
3. Rent control – b. Good idea
4. Air quality bureau – a. Great idea
QUESTION 10
The county’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities Report reveals that black people are 320 percent more likely than whites to be prosecuted for a crime, 500 percent more likely to spend time in jail, and 600 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison. What will you do to help correct that? (150 words or less)
The recent Racial and Ethnic Diversity Report showed that disparities deepen at each step of the criminal justice system. It’s clear that we need a suite of strategies to reduce this web of disparities, and we need to affect both programs and policies.
Key approaches must include:
• Training police, prosecutors, parole officers, judges and other criminal justice system personnel to reduce racial biases.
• Encouraging prosecutors to prioritize violent crimes.
• Seeking options to divert nonviolent offenders and people with mental health histories into programs that address their needs.
• Limiting pretrial detention to those who are a threat to public safety.
We must also collaborate with a broad range of community groups to ensure transparency and accountability. Local organizations are aware of how systemic barriers affect communities, and it’s critical that those advocates keep the county on track for measurable changes.
QUESTION 11
What is one thing you will do to better serve people experiencing mental health crises? (150 words or less)
I will advocate to fund a system of peer-support counselors. We need community health workers and peer support counselors working with diverse communities to promote the social support systems that are necessary to promote mental well-being.
This will provide a first point of contact that can monitor and support people at risk or experiencing mental illness, and they can help people navigate the health care system when more acute care is needed. But perhaps more critically, community health workers can support a management plan that prevents individuals from having a crisis in the first place.
The Community Capacitation Center can help with training and building relationships with community organizations to host and support this workforce. We should also partner closely with health systems to provide coordinated approach to community health, and we should support a continuum of care from community and social supports all the way to acute care in a crisis.
QUESTION 12
As the community faces a housing crisis and growing economic and racial disparities, services aren’t going to cut it. Give an example of one thing you will do to prevent this opportunity gap from widening.
Quality preschool is one of the best investments we can make in our children’s future.
Multnomah County should commit to the future of our children by establishing affordable preschool and by expanding employment-related day-care programs to more families.
In addition to supporting parents in the workforce, universal preschool has a significant return on investment for our economy. The earlier we invest in children, the lower our future costs will be for jails and prisons, health care and behavioral health services. Rates of return range per study up to $711 for every $1 invested, and the evidence is so strong that we can’t afford to delay.
Expanding affordable child care is integral for young working parents to become more competitive in the workforce, and this is especially true for women of color; African-American women earn 64 cents, and Latina women earn 56 cents for every dollar earned by a white non-Hispanic man. Expanded affordable child care would better allow all parents to provide for their families and therefore minimize the opportunity gap that affects families who couldn’t otherwise afford quality child care.
QUESTION 13
Select a local artist – professional or amateur – to draw your favorite thing about Multnomah County.