Meet Brian Conley, candidate for Portland City Council District 3

Editor’s note: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Stay informed with OPB on the presidential race, key congressional battles and other local contests and ballot measures in Oregon and Southwest Washington at opb.org/elections.

Name: Brian Conley

Neighborhood: Montavilla

Renter/homeowner: Homeowner

Education: Masters Degree in Nonprofit Management

Occupation: Journalist and Journalism Teacher

How long you’ve lived in the city of Portland: Nearly 14 years

Age: 43

Pronouns: He/him

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:

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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.

Portlanders have made it clear: Our housing crisis and helping the unhoused are two of the most important policy decisions for our next city government. I intend to make my arguments with facts, and connect with the media and the public to influence my fellow counselors.

First: Our politicians should stop acting like cost is a barrier to Portland Street Response. By fully staffing PSR 24/7, the program is eligible for Medicaid funding, significantly reducing the city’s overall cost. A responsible city investigates every opportunity for federal/state funds to reduce the cost of essential programs.

Second: Along with fully staffing PSR, we should Stop the Sweeps. Tens of millions of dollars have been wasted contracting private entities to sweep unhoused who have nowhere to go but right back in your front yard. That money could have expanded shelters, paid for treatment, or built permanent housing.

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What previous accomplishments show that you are the best pick in your district? Please be specific.

I’m an award-winning journalist and trainer of journalists in conflict zones, including as publisher for a media agency in Afghanistan that is majority female, which began reporting the day the Taliban took Kabul.

I helped lead the community organizing of the Save Access campaign, demonstrating my ability to work with neighbors, the school board, local businesses, the media, and the city which saved the ACCESS Academy program.

In addition to Afghanistan, I’ve lived and worked in many countries and cultural contexts, and I’ve set up news agencies and mentored civil society all over the world. In Libya, for example, I wrote a guide to strategic communication and constituent engagement for new city council offices across the country. I encourage voters to research me, I am confident you will agree I have a track record of doing hard things, in hard places, and succeeding.

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?

According to the city auditor in May, Portland built just 32% of the affordable units planned between 2017-2023. We have to find efficiencies that reduce barriers and incentives that increase interest in building. I believe that includes reviewing zoning laws and permit requirements, and instituting more frequent reporting from the housing bureau especially concerning affordable multifamily housing programs.

Along with these actions, we must identify the bottlenecks and pain points, especially whether permits, contractor licenses, System Development Changes and other fees are creating delays and inefficiencies that should be streamlined.

Last week the State of Oregon joined the DOJ lawsuit against Real Page to end price fixing and increase equitability in accessing housing, while this week our city government, rather than joining the lawsuit, directed the city attorney to focus on appealing the murder of Michael Townsend. City Hall needs to focus on people’s needs, not their egos.

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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?

We may need to make difficult decisions, but if you investigate the budget, there are many areas where the budget is routinely underspent. We need to think creatively and investigate all possibilities to streamline the budget. City government must address what are real essential services, especially as the climate crisis grows.

No matter what, we must support these essential services:

Community Safety: Ensure all Public Transit has proper ride-safety officers in place at all times. Fund neighborhood association street cleaning committees or volunteer programs that would with programs like the Portland Street Response. And provide city funds to groups like Rose Haven and other homeless service establishments.

We should properly Implement the Inclusionary Housing Reforms of 2017, stop the sweeps, and fully fund the Portland Street Response (PSR). Additionally, make PSR a 24-hour program, and revise their mandate to include responding to indoor calls and potentially individuals threatening suicide.

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?

I support creating a tax on undeveloped/blighted properties, to incentivize development and put a cost on slow development/lack of upkeep. if the property is developed, no tax need be paid, or if the lot is empty and leased to the city for TASS, the landowner should get a tax break, in addition to avoiding the tax.

I believe we should also consider a wealth tax on the richest .01% of residents in Portland. That money will be split between opening savings accounts for children in the lowest economic quintile and small Portland businesses seeking enfranchisement or expansion.

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 excited about the future of Portland. For the first time in 100 years Portland will be a truly democratic city, one that will dramatically shift Portlanders’ opinion of government – for the better. To help ensure that happens, I will spend my first 90 days engaging voters and taking as much input as possible, to build a collective agenda for a better Portland, based on peoples’ needs.

Portlanders voted for these changes to elections and government. I embrace these reforms because I respect the wishes of our voters, and elections have consequences. To do otherwise is to continue Portland’s history of unresponsive, unaccountable government.

The charter should remain a living document, and I will lead an electoral post-mortem that considers revisions based on hard evidence of what worked, what didn’t, and identifies previously unforeseen gaps.

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?

Absolutely not. It’s a waste of taxpayer money that further traumatizes our most vulnerable, and needlessly exposes officers to situations they are untrained for. We must increase shelter and housing, and use other legal and civil tools to move people into housing.

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?

No, it will needlessly tie up funds. We allocate more salaries to PPB than are paid, anticipating hiring more officers. If we don’t hire that many, that money is allocated yet unspent, unavailable for urgent city business. Allocating more will strain the budget without increasing officers on the street.

Do you support putting the Clean Energy Fund measure back on the ballot? What, if any changes, would you support?

No. Commissioner Rene Gonzalez wants to cut Portland’s Clean Energy Fund, but we need to increase funding for clean energy. This 1% tax only affects billion dollar corporations and they aren’t hurting from this fund. Portlanders know that the climate crisis is real. We need a city council that listens.

Which would you prioritize: Creation of more protected bike lanes and priority bus lanes or improved surfacing of existing degraded driving lanes?

Portland doesn’t have the luxury to choose between the two. Our climate crisis demands that we reduce traffic and cars on the road, yet we must make public transport of all kinds safer and more reliable. I reject the premise of this question. We can improve Portland transit together.

Have the problems impacting downtown Portland received too much or too little attention from current city leaders? Why?

Too much. Downtown is important, yet current commissioners are using problems they created to scare Portlanders into voting for them. Roads need to be fixed, housing reform is struggling, and Portlanders are still unhappy with leadership. Portland deserves leaders who won’t play politics with people’s lives and public funds.