Climate & environment

Refer to voters the Charter Amendment on Environmental Justice, including a real environmental evaluation for all major decisions.

Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub - revision the CEI hub for our post-fossil fuel future. Move other toxic storage out of the liquefaction zone.

Restore Ross Island - and elevate natural resource management to be on-par with other responsibilities of the City. Facilitate tree canopy expansion in-harmony with other uses by finding permanent funding for street tree maintenance, leaf and bike-lane sweeping .

Portland Street Response - Make it 24/7 so that we can leverage federal money to pay for this critical program and positively support nearly all other goals.

There were more traffic fatalities last year than homicides. Follow the evidence based approach and increase traffic enforcement when and where it will do the most good.

Expand partnerships through Parks, PCEF, and all city operations and spending to create more economic opportunity for teens and adults.

True community safety also means putting foundational work first. The City of Portland has a strong history of protecting the rights of Portlanders but needs better City Council oversight to make real progress rather than empty declarations and plans. I will work with colleagues on Council to change this dynamic in areas such as:

· Queer rights – Reallocate investment and advance policy to thoughtfully and dramatically increase ungendered restroom availability. Set performance benchmarks toward Portland becoming a lower stress, safe haven for all gender and sexuality identities. Improve equitable access for contracting and program access.

· Immigrant & Refugee + Race – Ensure program spending will attain a welcoming environment, and investment in prosperity in a strategic way: small business, policing, jobs, infrastructure, services.

· Abortion Access – Make Portland a Sanctuary City for Abortion Access by passing laws that protect those that must leave their home state elsewhere to get the abortion and health care access they want or need in Portland.

· ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)– Reallocate spending to complete the Transition Plan as the City committed to doing more than 10 years ago, but hasn’t. Go beyond compliance to provide services and access to jobs for all Portlanders. 

Yet, ADA is just the beginning of the City’s infrastructure investment need. Potholes, structurally, unsound bridges, unreinforced masonry buildings, and missing sidewalks are all issues that unite all four Districts and multiple political affiliations. As an engineer with an insider’s view on multi-million dollar projects, codes, and investment decision (or non-decisions), I will bring unique qualifications to turnaround the City’s $80 billion in infrastructure:

· Priority Investments – Taxes are high enough and there is not enough to do everything that everyone wants. I will rally colleagues around an infrastructure budget that puts the basics first: fix the roads, fix the parks, provide year-round restrooms.

· Permitting Reform – The main issue was never that permits went to multiple bureaus, its that city code requires that in the first place. Code needs to be re-written through Council legislation that I will sponsor that puts the applicant first, especially for housing, and small businesses, and still protects our environment and human health and safety.

· Government Reform – Voters gave clear mandate for change and we should not stop with just ending the commission form of government. Transparency around infrastructure decisions and reallocation of resources to the everyday work of fixing potholes, keeping bike lanes clear, and parks clean will all be part of my budget priorities.

I group Human Rights and Infrastructure in the same section because they are foundational work the City of Portland must deliver, that I will champion.

Accelerate Permitting Reform and make more housing available - Get at the root cause of delays and high costs by prioritizing and streamlining the codes while incentivizing dense residential construction downtown, where the supporting infrastructure already exists. 

Provide immediate shelter for all homeless people as soon as possible. We need to treat it like an emergency and stop arguing about the best approach. We need rooms with doors and we need shelter beds.

Prevent more people entering homelessness by creating more living wage jobs in Portland.

The City has a clear mandate to provide infrastructure and first-response like Portland Street Response. The County has a clear mandate to provide public health services including treatment for mental health and addiction. I will work with the County to determine how best the City can facilitate their work including expedited permits for treatment facilities. 

See housing section. No one is going to get clean and sober living on the street.