Policy Priorities
I’ve dedicated my entire professional career to bringing more people into the fabric of our civic life because our democracy is stronger when more people are involved, and I believe my role on the council would be to restore faith that the city can serve its people effectively
After nearly a year of the city in transition, I am even more convinced that fundamental systems change is necessary in Portland, and possible by changing who we elect to govern and listen. Our new government can’t come soon enough. As your City Councilor, I will fight for:
Climate Action: The climate crisis is a crime and Portland must lead our state and nation.
Climate change is hurting Portlanders, with heat waves and wildfires continuing to intensify and become more frequent. On the hottest days of the year, when Portlanders need access to cool spaces, our Willamette River is too toxic to swim and too many neighborhoods face dangerous heat levels compounded by pavement, without the help of tree canopy. Our climate action must be about resilient, connected communities, ensuring all Portlanders can afford the energy they use, and breathe easier in their homes. These growing threats also put additional economic pressure on families already pushed to the brink. Climate action is a matter of economic justice. Currently, too many families in our city face large barriers in being able to install smoke filtration systems and insulation/weatherization for their homes, because they are renters, or they lack the financial capital to find these projects.
The climate crisis is not just a tragedy, it’s a crime. Fossil fuel companies like Zenith Energy continue to build and expand their fossil fuel infrastructure throughout the region, and our city rolls out the red carpet and aids greenwashing campaigns for fracked methane gas. The climate crisis offers an opportunity for us to remake our systems in a way that is more democratic, localized, and resilient, while also providing investments and protections for our most vulnerable communities. Portland must lead on our climate action goals so that our state can follow.
Safe Transportation: I’m running to fight for safer streets that support strong neighborhoods.
I care about transportation because I care about people. I am a Montavilla resident who lives right off the intersection of 82nd Ave and Glisan Ave, one of the deadliest intersections in all of Portland. Six of the city's top-30 high crash intersections are already found on 82nd Avenue. Our streets are not safe, and they are not becoming safer because our government is not prioritizing safety on our local streets.
I care about our transportation system because I care about climate (40% of our state’s emissions are from transportation), clean air (Portland’s air is among the worst in the nation), and racial justice (highways, major transpo corridors, and distribution centers often carve through BIPOC neighborhoods). I care about economic opportunity (which communities have affordable access to our job centers), I care about cost of living (transpo is often the #2 largest household expense), and education (transportation to school and extracurriculars remains a huge barrier for families).
I bike, I walk, I take public transit and I drive throughout the city to make health appointments, shop for groceries, and access the park – just as countless other Portlanders do. No one should have to walk across the street with fear that they won’t make it to the other side of the road. These deaths due to traffic design are unnecessary and preventable. Portland is seeing an epidemic of record-setting fatalities on our streets – enabled by our failure to prioritize safety and fairness in our transportation system. I’m running to fight for funding safer streets, slower and well-maintained roads throughout our city, and to demand transportation agencies prioritize our local roads over highway expansion. Saving lives is worth the investment.
Economic Development: We need to grow our local businesses who are invested in our city’s future.
I believe in an economy based on the well-being of Portlanders, not profit. We need to embrace what makes our city unique and strong: Portland is a small business town. Our economic systems and the gains from our prosperity need to flow back to the people, not to polluters, private equity, or the rich and powerful. We must strive to be a city where families, workers, teachers, young people, renters can afford to live in the communities that they serve, to not be displaced by rapidly increasing cost of living. Portland should not compete in the race to the bottom for tax cuts and corporate giveaways. Instead we need to continue to grow our own businesses, to “garden our economy” and foster community-invested businesses that believe in strong labor protections and wages for all workers, from all backgrounds. We know what we’re good at as a local economy, and should continue to compete for development in what makes sense for our region.
Housing & Homelessness: We must prioritize the affordability and public health crisis, upzoning buildings and expanding treatment and care for people living on our streets.
Every neighborhood in our city should be open and available to people with diverse backgrounds and incomes, for every age, wage, and stage of life. I believe our neighborhoods need to be places where we can live in harmony together, and better enjoy the best thing about our city: its wonderful people.
I support the Inner Eastside for All Policy (from Portland Neighbors’ Welcome) vision of four floors and corner stores in close-in neighborhoods because we can already see how vibrant it makes our city. We need to upzone the Inner Eastside (from 12th to 60th, Fremont to Powell) and allow mixed-use buildings up to 65 feet high. Many of Portland’s great streets and livable corridors (think Belmont, Burnside, Stark, Hawthorne, Division, etc.) are mixed use zoning and thrive when allowed to build denser. All Portlanders benefit from walkable, mixed-income neighborhoods, and more abundant housing to meet our needs. This is where Portland needs to go.
We cannot criminalize existing in our city, and it is not effective to jail in costly prisons or sweep our homeless neighbors from one street to another when we are not building adequate housing, drug addiction treatment beds, mental health care and supportive services to meet the need. This is a public health crisis, not a criminal nuisance. We must align all our city and county policies to allow for more treatment beds, health clinics, support service providers alongside our push to build more housing. We know what works: keeping people in their homes, offering a range of shelter options that meet different needs, and housing people quickly with the supports that will keep them stable.
Community Safety: Portlanders deserve a trusted police force, an expanded Portland Street Response, and an integrated system of accountability.
One of the first acts of the new Council will be to recruit and confirm a new Chief of Police and City Attorney to represent law enforcement in the city. The public deserves the best from its law enforcement, and community safety is dependent on trust and accountability. Portland is still the largest police department in the country without a body camera program and has spent the last decade under U.S. Justice Department oversight. I will be focused on oversight with the independent monitor on the Portland Police, and work to implement the body-worn camera policy for Portland police officers.
We must partner together for treatment-centered law response, where we deploy our resources wisely and put law enforcement in the best position to succeed and work with other behavioral and first response specialists, so that police can focus on where their expertise is best used in fighting violent crime and organized crime. We should reduce police involvement from situations where their presence may just further escalate the crisis, and instead also invest in expanding programs like Portland Street Response, a program that assists people in crisis without the intervention of an armed police officer.
In addition to our many challenges, we face an epidemic of loneliness that does not lend a sense of belonging and safety in our city. A resilient, safer community is a connected community, a place where neighbors feel welcome and social bonds can be formed.
Community safety must be measured by more than the number of cops on a beat. It must be measured by our response to hate and bias, by a city where all are welcome and Portlanders can be who we want to be (as long as no one is hurting anyone else). It must be measured by the safety of the air we breathe and water we drink, free from toxins, and by the lights in our public parks and neighborhood streets. It should be measured by reductions in gun violence and traffic violence, and the economic opportunities and social alternatives our city can offer to combat violence and hate, poverty and despair. I will tackle community safety with an eye beyond just conversations around police.
Portland’s Democracy: We must protect and expand the ability for Portlanders to be engaged in the decisions that affect them.
Portland is ready for change and for a deeper investment in our collective civic life. Portlanders love our city, we deeply care about these serious issues, and we know we can do better if presented with real avenues to participate in governance. For too long, the people’s voice has been tied to their proximity to downtown and their connections to political power. In 2025, our new form of government offers a golden opportunity to put our democracy back in the hands of the people who know and understand the city.