PRIORITIES
Homelessness
Voters approved a regional tax to solve homelessness. That tax has now generated over a billion dollars. The problem has gotten dramatically worse. The Metro Council's job was to ensure that money was spent wisely and produced results. It failed.
ECOnorthwest, the research firm that produced three annual evaluations of regional homelessness spending, noted the region still hasn't connected spending to outcomes. Their researcher described the situation as "all still sort of stumbling around in a poorly lit room." That is unacceptable.
I will demand ongoing independent performance audits of SHS spending tied to measurable outcomes: not just "people served" but permanent housing placements, retention rates, and reductions in unsheltered counts.
I will work to redirect funds away from programs that aren't producing measurable reductions in homelessness. We need to prioritize mental health and addiction treatment infrastructure, not just temporary shelter. I will fight to stop using one-time money for ongoing obligations
You deserve transparency and results.
Transportation
East County has the highest traffic fatality rates in the region and traffic congestion is being made worse. I’ll fight to decrease congestion, improve public transportation, and prioritize projects that actually reduce fatalities.
I support pedestrian, bike, and public transportation infrastructure but don't support removing lanes, increasing congestion, and making life harder for the vast majority of us in East County who commute, take their kids to school, and go shopping by car.
For too long, the residents of East Portland and East County (District 1) generally have been ignored when it comes to transportation policy. Instead, local government has imposed changes, especially on our main thoroughfares, that we didn’t ask for and didn’t want.
The worst part is it doesn’t work. Studies from across the U.S. show “Vision Zero” has failed in every area that has adopted. Metro’s own numbers show that traffic fatalities have increased over 30% since 2019, despite a decade of the “Safe Systems Approach” at the Metro Level and a decade of “Vision Zero” at the city level. We need to stop spending 100’s of millions of dollars on projects that make your daily life worse and that don’t achieve results.
It’s time for representation on Metro Council who will listen to you, the residents of East County. A Metro Councilor who will represent and fight for you, not special interest advocacy groups who want to punish you for having to drive.
Garbage and Core Services
Metro’s auditor found 'widespread issues' at transfer stations: safety failures, untrained workers, and risky financial practices. Meanwhile, our rates keep going up. I’ll bring the accountability to Metro’s core services that I’m demanding for homeless and transportation spending.
Metro operates two transfer stations: one in Northwest Portland (Metro Central) and one in Oregon City (Metro South). Neither is conveniently located for District 1 residents. Metro's 2025 Regional System Facilities Plan envisions building six "community drop-off depots" over 20 years and converting Metro South into one — but that's a two-decade timeline for a problem residents are living with today. As always, the east side must wait. I will fight to accelerate siting of a community drop-off depot serving East County.
In unincorporated Multnomah County, parts of which are in District 1, solid waste regulatory system is less structured than in Portland or Gresham. Residents have limited hauler choices and inconsistent service levels. Metro and Multnomah County share oversight, creating a bureaucratic gap where complaints fall between jurisdictions. I’ll work to improve coordination between Metro and Multnomah County on unincorporated area service standards.
Metro received more than 7,000 complaints about illegal dumpsites in the tri-county area over a single year, creating a massive backlog. East Portland and East County bear a disproportionate share of illegal dumping. Metro's RID Patrol is the designated response, but it can't keep up with the volume. We must Increase RID Patrol capacity and prioritize response in high-dumping areas (East Portland, Gresham corridors).
Housing
Metro is responsible for land use planning and policy as well as the urban growth boundary. The Oregonian just reported that Portland has approved the fewest new homes permits in 15 years. Not since the great recession have things been this bad. Apartment construction is down 66% from where it was before the pandemic. Last year the City approved less than half the permits for new housing that the Mayor says Portland needs. Where has Metro Council been? Where has my opponent been?
The article talks about a shortage of available land. Whose job is it to manage the land supply in this region? Metro! The article talks about restrictive local policies. Metro has the ability to push cities to change policies that make it unnecessarily hard to build the housing the region needs.
Metro has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on affordable housing projects, but housing in the region will never be affordable if we continue to fail to build the housing that we need.
A developer quoted in the article said that the City of Portland’s response to this crises is “a pebble on the scale.” I think the voters of District 1 deserve more than a pebble on the scale. They deserve a Metro Councilor who will fight to open up land for new housing construction, who will work with municipalities to streamline the permitting and building of new housing, and who will demand real accountability for where your tax dollars are going.
East Portland has waited long enough.
Public Safety
Much of what we want to accomplish can’t be accomplished unless we address public safety. Traffic fatalities in Portland only began falling again when the City reinstated traffic enforcement. Studies show that illegal dumping tends to occur most in areas with the least enforcement attention. People won’t get out of their cars if they don’t feel the MAX or TriMet buses are a safe, clean, or reliable alternative: and they don’t.
I will use the Metro Council platform to demand TriMet improve transit safety and to work with the cities and counties to increase public safety throughout the Metro region.