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Name: Steph Routh
Neighborhood: Lents
Renter/homeowner: Homeowner
Education: B.A., Linfield College (now Linfield University); Graduate, Parkrose High School
Occupation: Small business owner; Adjunct instructor, PSU
How long you’ve lived in the city of Portland: 37 years
Age: 48
Pronouns: She/they
Portland is facing a 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.
Our inefficient and time-consuming permitting process has been a barrier to building more housing in Portland. Currently, it is funded by permitting fees. While this may work for the water bureau, which has a regular service delivery model, it doesn’t work for housing permitting, which is cyclical. When we have an economic downturn that impacts housing production, the city has to lay off staff, which further slows our region’s economic recovery. We need to diversify how we fund permitting. We have some options, and I’d look forward to leading on that priority.
Portland Street Response is a cost-effective, successful program to respond to low-acuity calls. We need to fully fund this program and make it available to all neighborhoods 24/7, including East Portland, where it was piloted.
Many City Council candidates have expressed broad support for these two issues, so I expect forward movement once council is in session.
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What previous accomplishments show that you are the best pick in your district? Please be specific.
I have lived east of 82nd Avenue for the majority of my life. From leading Oregon Walks as its first executive director to volunteering on Portland’s Planning Commission, I have worked for over 20 years for safer, walkable neighborhoods, more affordable housing choices, and better economic opportunities for East Portland, in particular.
- When the council tried to take away $8 million for vital sidewalk funding for East Portland, I pushed back and ensured the city followed through and built sidewalks along roads like Southeast 136th Avenue.
- I served as a committee co-chair for the Jade District, investing in neighborhood-based small businesses.
- When East Portlanders were facing potential displacement, I mobilized homeowners and renters to pass policy protections to keep people in their homes.
- As a planning commissioner, I have an understanding of zoning code and permitting issues that is unique among candidates in District 1.
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 have an uphill challenge before us to spur housing development to the level we desperately need. Here are some steps I would take:
- Lean on the single permitting authority currently in process to reduce wait times. Time and uncertainty are two expensive aspects of housing development, and these are solvable problems.
- Purchase discounted apartment buildings by working with Metro and the state to unlock immediate funding.
- Explore an office conversion pilot project.
- Enact zoning changes to the central city and inner east side to make multifamily units financially feasible.
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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 need to fix the damn roads. Potholes and dangerous intersections impact all road users. Street maintenance and repair become much more expensive once the pavement degrades, and we need to catch up on basic street maintenance. Voters just renewed the local gas tax for four years. We need to use that funding wisely, look to the future of transportation funding at the local and state levels, and lean on our congressional delegation to help us fix our aging infrastructure.
First response — fire, police, Portland Street Response, and CHAT — are critical basic safety investments we need to preserve. We also need to invest in community policing. We can fund these through the general fund.
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 to be eliminated or would choose not to renew? Are there specific taxes or levies you would support creating? Why?
I think we need to rethink the Arts Tax. It is a regressive tax with a large administrative burden. We absolutely need to fund the arts, but we should be funding the arts in an efficient manner. We also need to revisit how we pay for our road maintenance. The gas tax has diminishing returns in the age of hybrid and electric vehicles. For families living on lower incomes who can’t trade in their gas-guzzler, and in car-dependent parts of town like East Portland, the tax burden is even greater. I would like to explore more equitable funding mechanisms.
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 to move away from the current commission form of government and toward more coordinated city services. I think we may be pleasantly surprised at how greater bureau coordination translates into cost savings across the board.
I hear from many East Portlanders on the campaign trail about the need for accountability, transparency, and meaningful community involvement. I’m concerned that the lack of an in-district field office as well as only one staff person per councilor, as is proposed, will prevent us from being responsive to community needs and able to offer the level of constituent services our district desperately needs yet has not experienced.
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?
With wait lists for the few tiny homes available, I assume this person is engaged in dangerous behavior that threatens public safety. In that case, arrest and jail are appropriate. Jail space is limited and our most expensive shelter option, and we cannot incarcerate our way out of homelessness.
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?
The Police Bureau, like any other city agency, should have the staff it needs to accomplish its critically important public safety mission. We can’t appropriately staff the PPB, though, by setting some arbitrary hiring goal. Budget requests should be evaluated in the context of funding proven, effective public safety programs.
Do you support putting the Clean Energy Fund measure back on the ballot? What, if any changes, would you support?
I do not support putting the Clean Energy Fund back on the ballot.
Which would you prioritize: Creation of more protected bike lanes and priority bus lanes or improved surfacing of existing degraded driving lanes?
Maintaining and repairing existing infrastructure is a basic level of service for all road users, as is improving dangerous intersections. These can happen at the same time, and often do. The question I wish you would have asked is, “How are we going to fund sidewalks in long-forgotten East Portland?”
Have the problems impacting downtown Portland received too much or too little attention from current city leaders? Why?
Downtown revitalization is an important part of Portland’s recovery. And it absolutely cannot come at the expense of finally delivering investments in East Portland. We are done with that too familiar tune.