Economic Justice.
I put this part of my platform 1st for a reason - there are systemic issues of equity and fairness in Portland’s economy, and nationwide for that matter. Think about this: America’s billionaires alone have more wealth than half of America’s households, and that is a conservative estimate. Cities like Portland need to start fighting back.
In fairness, city governments can’t address all (or even most) the issues of economic injustice. Yet the federal government doesn’t even try to address them. So the actions of local representatives often pale in comparison or are outright ignored. But we can make the economy work better for everyone, not just the wealthy and the corporations, both of whom depend on the rest of us for their fortunes and political power, ironically. Here are just a few of the policy considerations that I will push for if elected:
Properly Implement the Inclusionary Housing Reforms of 2017 (See: Portland City Auditor’s 2024 report on the failures thus far).
Rents in Portland are unaffordable for too many people, with a particularly high impact on the BIPOC community and low-income Portlanders. We need a renter’s bill of rights for Portland, such as the PDX Renter's Bill of Rights.
Fully fund the Portland Street Response (PSR). Additionally, make PSR a 24 hour program, and revise their mandate to include responding to indoor calls and potentially individuals threatening suicide. Expanding service will make PSR available for Medicaid funding, reducing the program cost while providing more services to Portland’s most disadvantaged community.
Restrict private equity and hedge funds from purchasing Portland public land and potential public housing.
Institute a non-partisan, civilian oversight committee whose sole focus is addressing economic inequality in the city of Portland. Occupants of this board would be academics, advocacy experts in the field of economic inequality, small business owners, and so on. The only people NOT allowed on this oversight committee would be elected officials themselves. We report to the people anyways, it’s time we bring them into the fold.
