Meet Eli Arnold, candidate for Portland City Council District 4

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: Eli Arnold

Neighborhood: Sellwood

Renter/homeowner: Homeowner

Education: B.S. Portland State University, U.S. Army Aviation Center for Excellence, US Army Military Intelligence Center, Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training

Occupation: Bike cop

How long you’ve lived in the city of Portland: 23 years

Age: 44

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.

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.

We need to stop being an obstacle to private enterprise giving us the outcomes we want. We need to fund and staff our permitting services based on anticipated demand rather than fees collected. The current arrangement creates a lag in the system which can throttle our responsiveness during recovery periods. I believe there is broad support for increasing the rate of housing production from both the progressive and business groups and we can get to seven.

I support withdrawing from JOHS unless the city receives very specific guarantees regarding the production of emergency shelter on a short timeline. The county has been solely focused on housing, but we need temporary measures that stabilize the situation on city streets. There are 6,000 unsheltered people in Portland and only 2,500 shelter beds in the county. We need 6,000 total emergency beds in the next 24 months.

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

I believe my firsthand experience is unique. I have served as an Enhanced Crisis Intervention Officer, written dozens of mental health holds, and seen where our responses are faltering. I’ve worked with homeless people on the streets for years and know the nuance in the issues that are playing out in the camps and with our shelter system. I have participated in the PPB/MHAAO outreach pilot, served on the Police Review Board, and in the wake of Measure 110, I designed a response to target high-volume fentanyl dealers downtown. I partnered with businesses, residents, and government organizations to use surveillance to overcome new legal obstacles and provide rapid responses resulting in more than a 100 dealer arrests.

I’m committed to taking on these challenges because this is my family’s home.

Related: What you need to know about voting in Oregon and Southwest Washington

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 woo developers back into the city with excellent customer service and a political environment where we actively partner with developers to get projects approved in a timely manner. To do that, I want the new consolidated permitting effort to commit to aggressive targets for permit approvals. I want to see the current average wait time posted in the District 4 office. I support Portland Neighbor’s Welcome Inner Eastside for All plan.

We need institutional investors and net in-migration. Both of these require rapidly stabilizing the situation on our streets. By treating homelessness like a real emergency and ending unregulated street camping, we can reduce livability issues that harm our reputation and help those who are suffering on the streets. By enforcing the laws we already have to reduce vandalism and homicides, we can regain the public’s confidence that we are on the right track.

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?

Public safety is our number one priority, followed by basic infrastructure. Our budget forecast is fairly dire. We’ll need to modify PCEF to add revenues beyond original projections to the general fund. The new council needs to conduct a top to bottom analysis of how we tax and spend going forward. We cannot increase taxes without shrinking our tax base. We’re going to have to figure out how to get more for the money we have.

Related: Issues important to Oregon voters

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 have big hearts, but our experiments in taxes have contributed to people leaving the city. We’ve been generous, but results have been disappointing. Outside of PCEF much of the issues are actually at Multnomah County and Metro. It now seems Preschool for All would have been much better as a voucher program and should probably be using held funds for grants to help get new preschools open.

I oppose any increase in total tax burden on Portlanders. We need to focus on getting our money’s worth out of existing programs. We need greater focus on accountability and outcomes. We need to build oversight and expectations into money handed to nonprofits. Our failure to achieve visible results on housing and homeless after billions of dollars spent should give everybody pause.

Do you have any concerns with the changes coming to city elections and city governance? If so, what would you like to see change?

We need to see how our new system works over the next year or two to really understand what we’ve created, but I am ecstatic about consolidating operations under a City Manager. I’m hopeful that we’ll generate a greater sense of representation, both geographically and ideologically, for Portland residents.

We need to project calm and collaboration to the city and the nation as we move through this transition. The new council won’t have an established culture for how we work together. Setting the norms is going to be very important to how City Hall moves forward.

Related: Listen to 'OPB Politics Now'

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?

Unregulated camping is harmful to everyone, especially to the person living on the street. We must create shelter space and move people off of the street. Jail is not our goal, but if people refuse to follow basic rules when the public offers assistance then we need to apply pressure.

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?

I propose endorsing a goal of 1.8 police officers per 1,000 residents. The FBI reports a national average of 2.3 in 2019. We should fund them one hundred at a time. We should use some of the PCEF revenue which greatly exceeded the program size sold to voters.

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

Yes. I believe there are exciting opportunities to use these funds for programs which are climate related, but we need budget stability and flexibility in the short run. I want to preserve the original projected size of the program and move the excess to the general fund.

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

Bikes and public transit run on roads, and degraded roads are a safety hazard to everyone. Our backlog of Infrastructure maintenance is the largest of these issues and deserves the lion’s share of effort.

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

Too little. Our reputation, for tourists, for investors, and the world is connected to downtown. No city is an island.