Values and Goals

Some of the overall goals when I hold City Council. I am not going to be someone who performs at protests because simply put that does no good. City council is to make the people of the city be able to live as best they can so if they want to protest they can, if they want to build business they can or if they want to walk safely around they can.

• Homelessness – We must be honest about where compassion meets accountability. I support helping people who are genuinely trying to survive and get back on their feet, while also clearly defining expectations for those who refuse available help, treatment, or services. Having spent nine months on the streets myself, I’ve seen firsthand what actually works and what doesn’t. Policy should be guided by reality, not ideology.
• Business Opportunity – When Portland runs, the state follows. We are the economic engine of the state, and we need to get back to allowing businesses to grow and flourish.
• Safety – If people don’t feel safe, they don’t come to the city. They shop online, they go elsewhere, and neighborhoods suffer. Portland has failed on this for years. I want to work with police and community partners to reduce high-priority call response times and restore trust so people feel comfortable calling for help when they need it.
• Livability – During my time in class I decided to estimate living in Portland and the costs for different communities. Taxed and bled with fees from state on down is the death of thousand cuts. We need to make this city more livable and it needs to be done by clearing chaff from our processes and making everything work more effectively
• Value – Money is tight for a lot of people right now, if we as a city cannot be thoughtful in our spending then we have no right asking the citizens of any district for more taxes. Bad spending decisions have been made and their will be pain to set things back to a more pleasant way but my focus will be to make the pain as short as possible while still making sure we spend wisely.