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Name: Jamie Dunphy
Neighborhood: Parkrose
Renter/homeowner: Homeowner
Education: Portland State University (B.S. in Political Science), Portland Community College (AS, AA, AGS), Grant High School
Occupation: Oregon Government Relations Director, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
How long you’ve lived in the city of Portland: 26 years
Age: 40
Pronouns: He/him/his
Portland is facing an historic election involving a new voting system and an unusually high number of candidates. Journalists at The Oregonian/OregonLive and Oregon Public Broadcasting share a goal of ensuring that Portland voters have the information they need to make informed choices, and we also know candidates’ time is valuable and limited.
That’s why the two news organizations teamed up this cycle to solicit Portland City Council candidates’ perspectives on the big issues in this election. Here’s what they had to say:
For each of the following questions, we asked candidates to limit their answers to 150 words.
Name two existing city policies or budget items you’d make it a priority to change. Why did you select those and how do you plan to line up at least 7 votes on the council to make them happen? Please avoid broad, sweeping statements and instead provide details.
I would repeal Title 14.A.30.1.1-.2. This is the section of police enforcement code that entitles officers to enforce a “plainly audible” noise standard, and to shut down legitimate legal and permitted commerce at their discretion, without requirement for documentation or citation. An analysis of the data shows clearly that a disproportionate number of the complaints police respond to are to professional music establishments that feature music that is often bass and drum heavy and often enjoyed by Black and brown audiences. Police still have authority to enforce Title 18 noise standards. This is the textbook definition of institutionalized racism.
Additionally, I would remove the Portland Street Response from the Portland Fire Bureau’s budget, enshrine it as a standalone budget item under the Public Safety portfolio, and expand their services to be available 24/7, citywide, and dispatchable directly from the 911 emergency dispatch system.
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What previous accomplishments show that you are the best pick in your district? Please be specific.
I have been getting results out of complicated government systems for 14 years of my public service. In Senator Merkley’s office, I fixed a flaw in the food stamps program that denied veterans their full benefits, and ensured students with a Modified Diploma from an Oregon high school can receive Federal financial aid for college. With Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, in addition to huge policy issues like the Comprehensive Plan 2035, I accomplished countless smaller victories, like converting 1,600 single-stall restrooms from gender-specific to All-User, writing the City’s Affordable Art Space Plan, creating the Musician Loading Zone program, and establishing the Universal Film Program. With the American Cancer Society I helped lead the campaign to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Multnomah and Washington Counties, the creation of a statewide Tobacco Retail License, and the state’s first voter-approved tobacco tax in over 30 years.
Portland is on track to permit the fewest number of multifamily units in 15 years and remains thousands of units below what’s needed to meet demand. What steps would you take to dramatically and quickly increase the availability of housing?
First, I would support finalizing the changes toward the creation of the city’s consolidated permitting bureau, and ensure that those processes are effectively implemented in a customer service-focused manner. We need to remove silos in the permitting systems, look for duplicative, unnecessary, and outdated processes, and intentionally look for ways to “get to yes”, rather than tolerating Portland’s sometimes hostile and unapproachable permitting system.
Second, I would instruct the Housing Bureau and Prosper Portland to find willing downtown building owners who are interested in converting their vacant office buildings into both affordable and market rate housing, and to provide concierge service and streamlined processes to convert those spaces quickly. And for those building owners unwilling to convert, I would have the city bureaus aggressively bid on those buildings when they inevitably come up for foreclosure auction.
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The next City Council is going to have to make some very difficult decisions regarding what to fund and how. What essential services must the city provide and how should the city sustainably fund them?
The city must maintain roads, sidewalks, parks and public spaces. We must maintain essential infrastructure like water, sewer, and stormwater systems, and ensure equitable and healthy access to those systems. We must maintain a robust public safety system that is responsive, timely, and accountable, one that includes police, as well as Portland Street Response, Park Rangers, parking enforcement, noise enforcement officers, and PS3s. We must put out fires and respond to medical emergencies. We must maintain community standards through robust permitting, regulation, and enforcement. And we must create the specific rules and regulations that ensure future development, investment, and opportunity through zoning codes, tax incentives, and regulation.
Portlanders have approved many tax measures in the past decade – supporting affordable housing, free preschool programs and green energy initiatives. Are there specific taxes or levies you want eliminated or would choose to not renew? Are there specific taxes or levies you would support creating? Why?
Portlanders are willing to tax themselves to ensure that the community they live in gets better, provides services to neighbors who need assistance, and provides for our children. But we need to see what we’re getting for our money.
I have a deep record of supporting robust public policies and funding in support of music and the arts in Portland. But we need to be honest: the arts tax needs to be completely replaced. It’s regressive and deeply inequitable, it has never met the funding or administrative levels required by law, $35 in 2024 does not pay for as many teachers as it did, and it’s annoying to pay. Let’s fix it and replace it with something that ties in to Portland’s success, such as a local fee on ticket sales in Portland, an adjustment to the Visitor Development Fund, or a small increase in the business license tax.
Do you have any concerns with the changes coming to city elections and city governance? If so, what would you like to see change?
I worry that this new system of voting will be too much for the average voter to understand, and that some voters will stay away from voting. I am concerned about the lack of a Mayoral veto. I’m concerned about adequately staffing each City Councilor and resourcing their district office sufficiently to meet community needs, especially in such a geographically huge district like District 1.
This system has the potential to revolutionize service delivery and community representation. But we have a long track record of voting for amazing, progressive, forward-thinking legislation, and then completely failing on implementation. Very few of the 85+ people who are running have a real understanding of what the job will actually entail, and don’t know the difference between an ordinance and a resolution or how to read a budget document. We cannot afford to have the next Portland City Council learn on the job.
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For the five remaining questions, we asked candidates to answer in 50 words or fewer:
Do you favor arresting and jailing people who camp on public property in Portland who refuse repeated offers of shelter, such as the option to sleep in a city-designated tiny home cluster?
I oppose this. We do not have sufficient facilities to house the people who actively want shelter, especially in East Portland. Our homelessness response system is so fragmented, hostile, and inconsistent that of course individuals have lost trust in these systems. Arresting and jailing folks makes housing less possible.
Would you vote yes on a proposal to fund hundreds more police officers than the City Council has already authorized? Why or why not? How would the city pay for it?
Yes, I would. The bureau is truly understaffed, and it takes 18 months from when a recruit is hired to when they can be on the beat, and we need to plan for the wave of coming retirements from an aging police force and to welcome new talent.
Do you support putting the Clean Energy Fund measure back on the ballot? What, if any changes, would you support?
No, I don’t support putting it back on the ballot, I believe that it should be protected. We should use PCEF to reframe how we spend general fund dollars to maximize the benefits of this program. It cannot be treated as a slush fund or a general purpose sales tax.
Which would you prioritize: Creation of more protected bike lanes and priority bus lanes or improved surfacing of existing degraded driving lanes?
In East Portland, I would prioritize fixing potholes in existing streets, paving new sidewalks and unpaved roads, and installing enough street lights to ensure that my daughter and her classmates can walk to school as safely in Parkrose as their counterparts in Laurelhurst or Irvington.
Have the problems impacting downtown Portland received too much or too little attention from current city leaders? Why?
Downtown has received plenty of attention. East Portland has been ignored for decades. Downtown will be fine, and they will have three of their own amazing new City Councilors to fight for them. My fight will always be for East Portland.
