Portland’s rising costs have been pushing people out of their neighborhoods for decades. Now with unchecked inflation and a lack of affordable housing in the region we see record numbers of people living in tents, cars and RVs.

On City Council I will work with our newly elected government toward identifying and utilizing existing buildings in our community, district wide, that are available right now and can be converted to temporary safe & clean shelters that are open, funded. These spaces would be established for restoring dignity and hope to our struggling neighbors and finding meaningful long term solutions. People living on the streets and in tents is unacceptable regardless of how or why they might be there.

Homelessness without solutions leads to unsafe conditions in our neighborhoods, around our schools and our storefronts. The city must do more as a matter of obligation.

In many cases, homelessness is a symptom that highlights Portland’s lack of affordability. The cost of everything is out of control and when people who work in Portland struggle to afford to live in Portland there’s a problem. If you can’t afford to live in the city you work in, then the city is failing its community. The challenges we face in Portland are not unique and certainly won’t be solved overnight, but we need forward-thinking representatives and a strong problem-solving policy approach that will address the unchecked housing unaffordability and our homelessness crisis as a matter of urgency. On the City Council, I plan to work with our local community groups across all districts to identify meaningful long term solutions.

Protecting Portland’s middle-class is critical to holding onto what makes Portland the Rose City and we need a body of councilors determined to fast-track solutions that incentivize those willing to invest in these types of tenant improvement projects and housing solutions.