Street roots
Oct. 12, 2012
C harlie H ales: Clearly, we continue to
have challenges we must address
downtown, but the answer doesn’t lie with
simply moving the problem from one part
of the City to another. Enhancing the City’s
nuanced approach will be the best way to
help our homeless residents and make
downtown a welcoming environment for all.
New approaches are starting to take effect.
For example, Central City Concern is
participating in a low-yield bond program
that has had initial success in workforce
training. But we still have further to go. As
mayor, I will be committed to working with
Multnomah County and all of the nonprofit
service providers in addressing mental
health issues. We will work with
organizations that help people find housing
and employment options, and we will train
a police bureau to de-escalate wherever
possible, protecting the safety of everyone
in Portland. There is great interest in the
city getting these issues right. You have my
commitment to keeping our downtown the
livable center of a livable city, and to
exploring all ideas and partnerships that
will help us make that vision real on the
streets. In the interim, until we can find
and implement lasting solutions I support
Right 2 Dream Too. It’s not perfect, but it
provides Portland citizens with basic
fundamental rights of shelter, water and
food.
Jefferso n Smith: I support Dignity
Village and Right 2 Dream Too. Going
forward, we need to better link
encampments with services. These are
places where people living on the streets
can get rest and feel safe. It’s ironic that
well more than half of Portland’s residents
don’t feel safe at night, and yet, in so many
cases, we are reluctant to recognize that
people living on the streets also often live
in fear. Opportunities such as the
temporary shelters at Right 2 Dream Too
are critical to finding ways to reach out to
people on the streets and provide them
with services they need. As mayor, I will
actually build affordable housing rather
than just discussing it, and I will work with
the PDC and city bureaus to make sure
affordable housing takes precedent over
urban renewal type development.
The issues of the Sidewalk Management
Plan and panhandling are clearly
intertwined. Recently, I spoke to the Pearl
District Neighborhood Association and
heard their concerns about these issues.
Protecting the constitutional rights of
people on the streets while at the same
time being aware of the concerns of people
living in neighborhoods will require
significant efforts to get at the root causes
of homelessness and the fear associated
with people on the streets. I will lead that
conversation as I believe it has great
implications on all of our city.
We can and should do a better job of
meeting the needs and concerns of
neighborhoods and the people who
populate them. Providing meals and
services to people living on the street,
e n su rin g they have a safe place to go and
warm food are critical to ending the
conflicts we see today. There are no easy
answers, but I will bring all sides together
to work on real solutions.
5. MAYORAL CANDIDATES ONLY: Previous mayors, including
Mayor Sam Adams, have spent countless hours and community
capital in crafting city plans, only to see them pushed aside and
replaced when someone new takes office. If elected, would you
follow the current The Portland Plan as drafted, or would you create
a new plan forward? If so, what would that plan be?
C harlie H ales: As Mayor I would use
the Portland Plan as a framework in
moving forward. We’ve done enough
planning in this city over the past eight
years. It’s time to implement, starting with
the very basics that will help make all our
neighborhoods safe, livable and thriving.
Jefferso n Sm ith: I will work to build
upon the work rather than restart it. The
issue is not one of developing plans, but
of implementing them. The Portland Plan
was an exhaustive look at our city’s needs
with significant outreach to many people
and communities. But there has been too
little work done to implement its
recommendations. Far too few of our
citizens are civically engaged and do not
participate in the hard work of governing
our city. There are limits to what city
employees can do; there are far fewer
limits on what 580,000 citizens of
Portland can accomplish if we work
together.
As mayor, my charge would be to
analyze recommendations from the
Portland Plan and put the best of them
into action, developing specific goals,
objectives and strategies that will address
the needs of our citizens and our city. As
part of my transition plan if elected, I will
have a broad swath of citizens (and not
just political people) analyzing each
bureau, looking at current or past
recommendations, determining the needs
of our citizens and establishing our game
plan moving forward. Plans are effective
tools for determining what needs to be
done. The hard work comes at
implementing them and that is the area I
will focus on as mayor.
Am anda Fritz: I support the Sidewalk
Mary Nolan: The fact that Portland
Management Plan. I was instrumental in
finding a solution that is working. It’s not
perfect, but complex solutions to
significant issues rarely are. It has not
been challenged in court, and it provides a
mechanism to share downtown sidewalks. I
continue to be the council’s coordinator on
sidewalks issues, meeting regularly with
the Sharing Public Spaces advisory group I
convened. I will work with all members of
the incoming council, with the PBA, and
other stakeholders including people
experiencing houselessness, to continue to
address this issue of significant importance
to all members of our community. I helped
resolve Cameron Whitten’s hunger strike,
by promising a regional summit on housing
in November. This summit is a needed step
to resolve the lack of affordable housing in
our region, due to decreased support from
the federal and state governments. We
must address the root causes that lead to
people panhandling and sleeping outside.
Freedom of speech expressed by
panhandling is a constitutional right. I will
continue to uphold the constitutions of the
state of Oregon and the United States.
Everyone should have the right to sleep
undisturbed when no public safety issues
are violated. There are valid reasons why
Right 2 Dream Too in its current location
cannot be legalized, however commmunity
leaders there are providing an excellent
demonstration of how safe, self-governed
settlements can help reduce the impacts of
houselessness. I will continue to listen to
and work with advocates of people living
outside, to find more solutions.
even felt a need to establish a Sidewalk
Management Plan, or that panhandling
raises tensions between people who beg
and people who pass them by, or that
anyone should need the services offered
by Right 2 Dream Too, the existence of
these plans and services speaks volumes
to the much deeper problem we seem to
want to evade. Portland faces a slow but
persistent (and probably accelerating)
decline in its capacity to provide
employment, self-sufficiency and upward
mobility for a significant portion of its
residents and neighbors. I support
responsive and short-term social services
to give people the help they need to get
through a tough time. I also support (and
in the legislature helped expand) long
term services for seniors, persons with
disabilities and families with special needs
as either new arrivals or historically
excluded groups. But I am most focused
on not just “giving a man a fish” but
“teaching a woman to fish.” I want to
help existing companies that are locally
oriented to expand and hire more
Portlanders. I want to expand technical
training and apprenticeships to be
available to more people, I want to make
it easier for hard-working Portlanders to
start a small business and succeed at it for
themselves and the people they will hire.
4. What do you fear most for the city if your opponent is elected?
Charlie H ales: If my opponent is
elected I would support him however I can
to make all of our neighborhoods safe,
livable and thriving. However, I’m
concerned that the “us-versus-them”
mindset that is part of being in the partisan
atmosphere of the State Legislature is
really counterproductive in city
government, where you need to be able to
bring divergent groups and points of view
together and not only reach a decision, but
then implement a plan to get things done.
Jefferson Sm ith: The status quo. For
20 years now, we’ve had a succession of
people who really think the same. They
have the same funders, the same political
consultants and the same way of doing
business. If we want to change the status
quo, we have to elect someone who
understands that Portland needs to see the
big picture and that our entire city must
benefit from the decisions made in Council
chambers. For too long, we’ve neglected
significant populations and significant parts
of our city.
Am anda Fritz: I fear the citizens’ voice
in City Hall would be replaced by the
political insiders’ voice. I also worry that
needed systemic changes in caring for
people with mental illnesses will not happen
without my expertise and leadership on the
City Council.
Portlanders know that whether they agree
with my decisions or not, I consider and
value their input. I am not afraid to lead
discussions on contentious issues like
sidewalk management, houselessness and
spending taxpayers’ money wisely. I read
and responded to over 20,000 emails from
community members in my first three years
in office. I limited campaign contributions
to $50 per person in the primary and to
$250 per person in the runoff. I don’t accept
money from corporations, unions, political
action committees, or any entity that is not
an individual human being. Corporations are
not people, and money is not speech.
Money in politics is a huge problem. My
re-election would help buck that trend. If I
lose, I doubt public campaign financing will
return to Portland anytime soon, and that
would mean the influence of Big Money in
politics is here to stay.
I work well with other members of
council and with the county board. I came
from the community, I work hard to remain
connected with all communities, and I serve
all communities. I love interacting with
Portlanders. I attended over 1,000
community events and spent quality time in
all 95 neighborhoods in my first term. I
believe Portlanders would be best served by
re-electing me to continue listening to and
advocating for all.
Mary Nolan: My opponent is genuinely
and admirably committed to improving
Portland and the opportunities available to
Portlanders. She has a good heart and
good intentions. As the issues you’ve
raised in these important questions point
out, though, too many Portlanders are at or
near crisis point. They urgently need
actions and results more than new studies
or task forces. Among the big differences
between me and my opponent is that I am
focused on delivering results, improving
outcomes and getting important things
done in ways that families can see real
benefits right now. I have been a
progressive leader in expanding access to
health care, improving education and
expanding college scholarships, supporting
minority-owned businesses and culturally
competent training programs. And I have
delivered big results. I want to continue
that sense of urgency and my effective
leadership as city commissioner, and I ask
for your vote and your engagement in
making Portland better.