I see Portland as a city where people see a need and work hard to fix it. Weird or not, Portlanders are a spirited lot. I laughed when I first moved to Portland and saw the motto “The city that works” on the side of a truck. I told my husband that that was a bold statement to try and live up to. Currently the City is not living up to that statement. However, I do see a majority of residents living up to that motto. I see my neighborhood working hard to clean up the downtown St Johns plaza so it is a community space for everyone - games nights, makers festivals, food pod gatherings, community farmers markets, movie nights, dance events with lovable local DJ Prashant, holiday gatherings, ugly sweater events, and more!

I see the Cully community take back an underutilized, crime prone corner in their neighborhood and turn it into an affordable community housing facility with resources and support. I see teachers working hard in their underfunded schools, to help care for their students in a variety of situations, including my real experiences with arts and music classes through my nonprofit creating a safe place for kids, offering scholarships to ensure access., I see adjacent neighbors with locally run business, public parks to take the dog and the kids, community led events and engagements, new pop ups, and smiles.

Fixing one need/issue can help address another issue.

For example - we invest in our neighborhood safety and livability while also investing in education- we retain families who in turn drive economic growth in our city, kids are enrolled in their public school - declining enrollment isn’t a thing because the schools have the support they need to thrive. Everything is connected to everything else.

When we have safer streets, people want to come out and enjoy our shops, restaurants, our nightlife (but only until 9 p.m. which I joke is Portland’s collective bedtime), our cultural, and artistic hubs. Community and connection is huge. WE know this and do not need to do a city survey. That has been done for years, asking the same questions, being answered by the same people. The people have spoken. They want change. They understand this opportunity is now, and we can all help shape the future Portland we want for all of us as we emerge from this post pandemic reality and reflect on our collective crisis and work together to solve our collective responsibility we have in being part of our community, our network of friends, our families, and those new relationships we have not yet discovered.

Portland is a place brimming with possibilities and opportunities. We need to erase the narrative that Portland “is over” and move the needle to support the ethos and confidence in her residents that Portland is the City that Works - for everyone. There have been systems in place designed to exclude, to marginalize, and to actively prevent inclusion. The state of Oregon has a long history of exclusion. I know many of us are working to educate our community through the acknowledgment of these discriminatory practices such as sundown laws, redlining, gentrification, highway expansion, and more. I also know that some want to pretend the past is the past and just move on. WE cannot just move on until we all walk on the same foundation. One way is through the changing of the representation of our city council. It is a start.

We now have the opportunity to implement a new form of governing, to put equity, access, and inclusion into practice for who we are now - and for those who will follow after us.

We are doing it now by changing the structure of our city government. This new era of giving regional support to 12 council members that are elected through ranked choice voting by the people in their neighborhood (yes I’m totally humming a Sesame Street song right now - and yes I know that gives away my age demographic- GEN X!!!) We get to ensure voices that have been routinely marginalized to be heard. Maybe some voices got through, but no one really listened. Now, as we saw with the Charter Reform Commission and the vote to change city government, we will now have a concrete way to define how our city will be shaped in order to help center our ecosystems in equity ,access, and inclusion, shaping a future for us all. a

When we lift up all voices - we learn, we grow, we support, we hear new ideas, new ways to do things are discovered, and everyone wins. Community. Connnction Collaboration.