Portland has taken a big hit since the beginning of COVID. We need to accelerate our work restoring the unique spirit that defines our special community and our reputation as one of the nation’s most livable cities.
Ending homelessness
Homelessness has multiple causes—including economic hardship, mental illness, drug addiction, and crime. I’ve worked with clients in all of these categories, and their reasons for ending up homeless differ substantially. We need a collaborative and integrated effort to address these root causes, including a stepping-stone approach to permanent housing.
Revitalizing Portland’s economy
With more companies offering hybrid work arrangements, some are cutting costs by downsizing and moving to the suburbs. Others have moved out of Portland because of increased crime and theft. We can revitalize the downtown core by encouraging investments in high-quality jobs and by developing tax incentives that spur economic development. Police officers can be directed toward the protection of our residents and businesses.
Removing trash and graffiti
As a city, we must invest the funds needed to remove trash and graffiti on a regular basis. Mounds of trash have been littering Portland streets since the beginning of COVID, and graffiti complaints have grown substantially. To make Portland a livable city, we must fix our fragmented sanitation system, while coordinating the removal of trash on an ongoing basis. We must discourage graffiti and restore the Portland Police Bureau’s graffiti unit to prosecute those who deface our city.
Restoring historical statues
Since 2020, several prominent statues—including statues of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt—were toppled or damaged and transferred into city storage. The Regional Arts and Cultural Council (RACC) should restore these statues. Removing them sends the wrong message both to city residents who need to understand our past and to the vandals who illegally damaged these landmarks. Rather than erasing our history, I believe RACC should add to it—by incorporating more statues that represent a diverse range of cultural identities and histories.
Every Portlander deserves a safe and affordable place to live, work, and thrive.
Getting drug use off the streets
While Measure 110 was filled with good intentions, it ultimately increased drug use and drug sales on the streets of Portland, making our city a haven for criminals. I support the recent reforms to Measure 110 by HB 4002. By restoring criminal penalties for the possession of drugs, we now have more power to steer users to treatment and recovery.
Increasing affordable housing
Although progress has been made since Portland declared a housing emergency in 2015, a lot of work remains to be done. I believe the best way to lift up Portlanders is to increase affordable housing across every neighborhood. We should also encourage innovative solutions that Increase our housing supply such as converting vacant office space into housing.
Enhancing community safety
We must adequately fund our police and restore the personalized style of community policing first introduced by Mayor Bud Clark to forge relationships with neighborhood citizens. This humane style of policing, which works to prevent criminal activity rather than react to it, will lead to the safe yet compassionate city that Portlanders can be proud of.
Portland is at an inflection point; the foundation we lay today will have a profound impact on our livability of tomorrow.
Becoming more climate resilient
Over the past decade, Portlanders have lived through increasingly intense wildfires, heatwaves, and drought. There’s no time to waste as we combat global warming and increase our climate resiliency. We must also protect Portland's tree canopy to reduce high summer temperatures and absorb rainwater. And we must accelerate our efforts to reduce carbon emissions across all sectors including buildings, transportation, and industry. We must also prepare the emergency centers for Portlanders to shelter during these extreme events.
A thoughtful approach to planning
As Portland continues to develop, we must ensure new buildings preserve the city’s architectural heritage and majestic skyline, that buildings match the character of their surroundings, and that business and community functions are neighborhood appropriate.
Protecting a river in peril
One of Portland's defining features is the Willamette River. The river weaves its way from the neighborhoods and natural areas in the south reach to the Tillicum Crossing and Tom McCall Waterfront Park in the urban central reach and then north through Portland's working waterfront to its confluence with the Columbia River. While each of these areas has its own issues, nothing compares with the issues facing the north reach. Most of the fuel for all of Oregon is stored or flows through the riverfront land that will likely liquify in an earthquake. The sediments in the river are already contaminated by legacy industrial pollution, and threatened salmon struggling for survival must swim through these waters. Portland needs to do whatever it can to help resolve these issues through its own regulatory power or its power of persuasion.
Elect Bob Callahan - Portland City Council
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