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In this provided photo, Michelle DePass, who is running to represent North and inner Northeast Portland on the newly expanded Portland City Council in the upcoming 2024 election.
Courtesy of the campaign
Name: Michelle DePass
Neighborhood: King
Renter/homeowner: Homeowner
Education: PSU, community development B.S.; Bainbridge Graduate Institute, sustainable business
Occupation: Climate policy analyst, city of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
How long you’ve lived in the city of Portland: I was born and raised in Portland, and have lived here for over 50 years
Age: 63
Pronouns: She/her/hers
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.
Housing - Increase rental assistance to Portlanders earning less than 80% of the median income. Housing is the number one issue on most Portlanders’ minds, and I think anyone elected to City Council ought to be committed to working on the full spectrum of housing needed from shelter beds and supportive housing, to first-time home buyer programs, to preventing homelessness through rent assistance.
Portland Street Response - I’d like to increase the funding and geography for the Portland Street Response program. Policing can look many ways, and we can create a robust system of unarmed response to the immediate crisis we see on the streets, and provide access to services and support, especially for those experiencing mental health or drug addiction.
What previous accomplishments show that you are the best pick in your district? Please be specific.
As board director and 2021-2022 chair of the state’s largest school district, I have advocated for Portland’s students and families for the past 5 years by: Working to pass two teachers’ levies and maintaining teaching positions; Passing a climate policy and establishing an oversight committee; Advocating to modernize Jefferson HS, and develop a Center for Black Student Excellence.
I served on an advisory committee to increase safety for pedestrians and bicyclists on N. Williams Ave. in which community members were included.
What I’m most proud of are things I have not done alone; an important distinction in this form of government. I can have the best ideas in the room, but the ability to move policy forward will be dependent on the relationships I am able to build and my willingness to have conversations and compromise with colleagues.
I will continue to build upon those accomplishments to serve all Portlanders.
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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?
We need to immediately fund and build shelter for every unhoused person, and we need to fund the services and support they need to be successful. This looks like leases on motels, employing eminent domain for abandoned property to be converted to shelters, and investment in immediate humane homes for the unhoused.
In terms of the entire housing spectrum, we should be spending more to prevent homelessness, by expanding rental assistance programs, and creating more opportunities for first time homebuyers through community land trust models, and home buyer down payment assistance.
Finally, the city’s adopted (8/28/2024) Housing Production Strategy outlines several far-reaching strategies to increase housing production from reducing barriers to development to increasing middle income housing, to promoting age and disability-friendly housing in high opportunity areas that result in the numbers of housing units that meet regional and local demand for housing.
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?
Portland needs to hire more safety officers, but they need to be the right safety officers, trained in de-escalation, who have the tools and support they need to be successful working in our community. We also have some historic, and on-going community repair to do between the community and the police, and we need to address the DOJ settlement by increasing the capacity for unarmed emergency response.
We also need to invest in basic infrastructure projects; road maintenance, bike lanes, parks maintenance, sanitation, that improve the quality of life for Portlanders, and improve the ability of Portlanders to traverse the city safely, enjoy parks and green spaces, and have reliable roads and sanitation services.
Portlanders value our arts and culture and the city needs to invest in local arts and culture to promote and build on the rich, creative culture that our city is known for.
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?
We have taxed ourselves to create more affordable housing, invest in a clean energy future and support early learning (preschool) because these are the things we value. And Portlanders expect tax revenues to be spent responsibly, and that our leaders be held accountable for the outcomes that were promised.
As a taxpayer and concerned citizen, I do not want to see more taxes, but rather I’d like to see more accountability, and regular communication to voters about the outcomes residents expect.
I’m not in favor of increasing or adding new sources of revenue before I understand the full landscape and how new sources of funding would impact Portlanders. We have one of the highest marginalized tax rates in the country, and I think voters want to see results before creating new revenue sources.
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’m concerned about who the council will select to represent them as president, and what the committee structure will be. How will we collectively develop a work plan?
How will we get along to move work in the long-term so that we can keep the will of Portlanders front and center? What resources do we have at our disposal? How will we know if and when we are successful?
The challenges and the opportunities are the same. Some candidates do not have government experience, while I view it as a positive, it will also be a challenge. Industry, nonprofit, and government serve different audiences and I am curious how council members will apply their experience to serve the public.
Every council member will need to understand the work directly in front of them on day one, and there are probably as many approaches to this as there are candidates.
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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?
No one should be criminalized for being houseless. I support the city’s efforts to provide housing, but those options don’t work for everyone. Some are fleeing from domestic violence or unsafe situations, and others are trying to sleep within walking distance from a job, daycare, school or other necessary services.
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?
City funds should first and foremost be used to address housing and safety. We need police officers to address safety but many cannot afford to live here. We also need to do better by our officers and community to provide training for officers interacting with people experiencing mental health crises.
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 the initiative back on the ballot. Voters approved the Clean Energy Fund in 2018 to fund infrastructure investments in our clean energy future, which is desperately needed if we care about the future of Portland, and want to meet our city’s climate goals.
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Which would you prioritize: Creation of more protected bike lanes and priority bus lanes or improved surfacing of existing degraded driving lanes?
We need to do both; it’s an equity issue. We need to engage stakeholders and businesses in every district to determine the immediate needs of those communities in an equitable way while ensuring lower income, inaccessible neighborhoods, and areas with high traffic accidents are prioritized to ensure people’s safety.
Have the problems impacting downtown Portland received too much or too little attention from current city leaders? Why?
Downtown Portland will have received enough attention when people feel safe to walk the streets, shop at local businesses, ride our transportation and live their lives without fear. The Oregon Values and Beliefs Center reports the views about downtown are more positive the more people who respond to the surveys visit downtown.