Worker advocate Kyle Allen runs for Hillsboro City Council
A union activist and graduate of the
Oregon Labor Candidate School is run-
ning for an open seat on the Hillsboro
City Council.
Kyle Allen, director of field opera-
tions for the Oregon chapter of Work-
ing America, is facing a challenge from
business consultant and Hillsboro
School Board member Monte Akers.
They both want to succeed council
president Aron Carleson, who is term
limited and cannot run for re-election.
Allen, 29, is a native Oregonian
raised in a union household in the Port-
land Public School District. His mother
is a mental health nurse for the State of
Oregon and is a member of the Oregon
Nurses Association. His father recently
retired from Union Pacific Railroad as
an engineer and is a member of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
and Trainmen.
After graduating from Madison
High School, Allen attended Mt. Hood
Community College (MHCC). He
went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in
education through Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity’s satellite program at MHCC.
While attending school he worked
in the nonunion service industry, and
part-time at UPS on Swan Island,
where he joined the Teamsters Union.
Working America hired him in 2008
to do outreach for the Merkley for Sen-
OCTOBER 17, 2014
ate and Obama for President cam-
paigns. At that time he joined the Of-
fice and Professional Employees Inter-
national Union. Working America is a
community affiliate of the national
AFL-CIO. It was started as a way for
people who don’t have a union in their
workplace but who sympathize with
the economic fairness political agenda
of the union movement. To date, the
Oregon chapter has 197,000 registered
members.
After the election Allen did some tu-
toring. He rejoined Working America
in 2012 as its Oregon field director.
He and his wife and two young chil-
dren have lived in Hillsboro for nearly
three years. Allen serves as president of
his homeowners’ association and is on
the Hillsboro Budget Committee. He
volunteers in the community for Home-
Plate (collecting clothing for homeless
youth), Family Bridge (providing
meals to homeless families), and
SMART (Start Making a Reader To-
day). He’s a Democratic Precinct com-
mitteeperson and has served as an al-
ternate delegate to the State Central
Committee for the Washington County
Democrats.
Allen said he became interested in
the city council race after inquiring
about getting sidewalks put in front of
the elementary school that his children
Kyle Allen (right) poses for a photo with Joe Esmonde, political coordinator
for IBEW Local 48 at this year’s Labor Day picnic at Oaks Park. Allen is
running for an open seat on the Hillsboro City Council.
would be attending. School budget cuts
eliminated bus service and kids were
literally walking in the streets, he said.
Two schools in particular — 61-year-
old Brookwood Elementary and 46-
year-old WL Henry Elementary —
were in dire need of sidewalks.
One thing led to another, and he de-
cided to throw his hat in the ring.
Allen attended the Oregon Labor
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Candidate School, a union-sponsored
program that trains union members to
be successful candidates for elected of-
fice. He graduated in April and has
been campaigning hard ever since.
He has endorsements ranging from
the Northwest Oregon Labor Council
to the Hillsboro Chamber of Com-
merce. He also has backing from the
Hillsboro Fire Fighters Association,
United Food and Commercial Workers
Local 555; Portland Community Col-
lege (PCC) Federation of Faculty and
Academic Professionals, Oregon Attor-
ney General Ellen Rosenblum, Metro
Council President (and former mayor
of Hillsboro) Tom Hughes, and current
Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey.
The term-limited incumbent Aron
Carleson supports Allen, and she has
become somewhat of a mentor to his
campaign, said Allen, who regularly at-
tends City Council meetings and work
sessions.
In late August, a third candidate vy-
ing for the open Ward 2 seat withdrew
and endorsed Allen. Brenda McCoy
cited insufficient fundraising and con-
cern that splitting votes with Allen
would result in the election of Akers.
Hillsboro City Council is a volun-
teer, nonpartisan position. However,
Allen is a registered Democrat and Ak-
ers is non-affiliated, though he’s en-
dorsed mostly by Republicans.
Hillsboro is in Washington County
and is Oregon’s 5th largest city with
93,340 residents. It is expected to add
25,000 new residents over the next
decade, Allen said. The City has more
than 700 full-time employees and 250
part-time/temporary employees. Only
police and firefighters are represented
by a union.
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