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.
Harrison Kass, candidate for Portland City Council District 3, in an undated photo provided by the candidate.
Courtesy of the candidate
Name: Harrison Kass
Neighborhood: Mount Tabor
Renter/homeowner: Homeowner
Education: JD, University of Oregon School of Law; MA in International Relations and Global Journalism, New York University; BA in History, Lake Forest College
Occupation: Policy advisor, Commissioner Rene Gonzalez
How long you’ve lived in the city of Portland: did not respond
Age: 37
Pronouns: did not respond
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.
One: Fund internal police training rather than outsource all training to DPSST in Salem. Our police staffing is at a critically short level. We have the facilities and racetrack to train police internally, which is necessary to accelerate the pipeline and bypass the bottleneck that is slowing down the much-needed growth of our police ranks.
A larger police force would allow PPB to properly patrol, and respond to emergency calls. Also, police are less mistake prone when they are properly rested – which requires adequate staffing.
Two: Expand investment/urgency for opening of TASS and SRV, and develop/incentivize pop-up shelters. We need to provide a shelter bed for every person living on our streets.
I am moderate. My agenda is results-based rather than ideology-based. No qualms about working with anyone. I work for council now. No secret about raising votes. Talk to other offices. Find areas of mutual interest.
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What previous accomplishments show that you are the best pick in your district? Please be specific.
I have an eclectic background and accomplishment-set demonstrating resiliency and optimism. Scratched my way from homelessness to homeowner. Earned an ultra-selective spot as USAF Pilot Trainee and Officer Candidate. Earned Private Pilot License in just seven weeks. Played semi-pro hockey as 34-year-old rookie after several year retirement. Earned three degrees (BA, JD, MA) after finishing high school with a sub-2.0 GPA senior year. Taught myself the guitar. Published journalistic work with millions of readers. Married best person I know.
At City Hall I guided the critique/cut down of the Police Accountability Commission’s original recommendation, led legislative efforts to crack down on graffiti (forthcoming), worked to prevent auto/catalytic converter theft, pushed to ban unsheltered camping, directly worked with constituents to resolve their personal public safety concerns, and generally supported/shared the accomplishments of Rene Gonzalez’s office.
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?
One, Inclusionary Zoning was implemented with the best intentions – but the policy isn’t working. IZ has discouraged developers from building in Portland, which runs directly counter to the goals of the policy (creating more affordable housing). We should remove the IZ requirement.
Two, we should incentivize developers to build denser housing. Multi-family units instead of single-family units. Multi-bedroom apartments instead of single-bedroom apartments/studios. Taller buildings. We need to take action akin to the council decision to lift the parking density requirements for developers. Truth is, while an emphasis has been placed on affordable housing, housing would simply be more affordable if there was more of it.
Note: affordable housing has been billed as the panacea for our homeless crisis. Inaccurate. Too many of Portland’s homeless are suffering from drug addiction/mental illness, and are not currently equipped to live on their own, meaning rent price is not their barrier to housing.
Related: Listen to 'OPB Politics Now'
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?
Funding decisions should be made in accordance with the objective hierarchy of needs for any city. At the top of the hierarchy is emergency response (+ drinking water). Portland’s emergency response system is at a critical level, and the result endangers lives.
We cannot continue to accept response time of 4x longer than national standard. To remedy, we must re-allocate funding. One, hire more police officers. More PPB patrol offers would drop response times/save lives. (Consider that Milwaukee has 50k less people, but double the police).
Two, hiring and retention of BOEC 911 call-takers. BOEC is understaffed and suffering from atrocious morale. Our failure to properly support BOEC has directly harmed our emergency response system. We need the staffing sufficient to answer all calls within 15 seconds.
To fund: streamline non-essential services, redirect funds to emergency response services. Use PCEF corporate surcharge. Apply for state/federal grants.
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?
The cost of living/taxes in Portland is too high. The perceived ROI from our high taxes is perceived as too low and is driving our population loss. We cannot apply such financial pressure on Portlanders without offering robust essential services i.e. emergency response.
The arts tax is conflicting to me. I am passionate about the arts (practice guitar religiously, Movie Madness member with Minor in cinema, writer). But most of my artistic exploration has been self-guided. Regardless, funding the arts cannot be our priority at the moment simply because: our 911 response time is 4x the national standard; first responders critically understaffed; homeless crisis… We need to stabilize before we have earned the privilege of taxing for the arts. In short, our basic public safety priorities are being neglected while citizens are being financially burdened.
I am not interested in adding new taxes or levies at this time.
Do you have any concerns with the changes coming to city elections and city governance? If so, what would you like to see change?
Yes. First, I am concerned that PDX is making so many profound changes at once (expand council, City Administrator, RCV). We have created a Frankenstein system, with pieces from other jurisdictions, which is untested as a whole. The results are hard to predict, and have the potential to be chaotic.
Two, I am acutely concerned for the composition/structure of the new council. The candidate pool suggests the new council will be inexperienced, plus eager to be heard as individuals. Also, if the new council happens to be out-of-sync politically with the new Mayor, the City may experience the gridlock that inspired charter reform in the first place. Last, one staffer per councilor is inadequate and threatens to reduce council efficiency. Part of the intent in expanding council, was to increase constituent accessibility to their councilors. With just one staffer, the councilors will have a difficult time engaging with their constituents.
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?
Yes. For the sake of all Portlanders, we need to end unsheltered camping. Jail should be used as a last resort. But if someone repeatedly refuses to stop camping on public property, we need to enforce our camping ban. The alternative is not safe, clean, or sustainable for our City.
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. PPB is critically understaffed at 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents. The result is an emergency response time 4x longer than national standard; reduced ability to perform basic law enforcement; officer burnout. We must siphon the funds from non-critical services, consider using the PCEF corporate surcharge, apply for state/federal aid.
Do you support putting the Clean Energy Fund measure back on the ballot? What, if any changes, would you support?
Yes. PCEF has generated vastly more than expected. We are a City with a budget shortfall and inadequate critical services. PCEF corporate surcharge could and should be used to bolster our critical services, starting with, but not limited to, public safety support.
Which would you prioritize: Creation of more protected bike lanes and priority bus lanes or improved surfacing of existing degraded driving lanes?
As much as I want more bike/bus lanes, the priority is improved surfacing. PDX is already a premier bike/bus city. Our degraded driving lanes, however, are unacceptable; the cost is diffused amongst our citizens in the form of maintenance/repairs – an indirect increase in our already-too-high cost of living. Also unsafe.
Have the problems impacting downtown Portland received too much or too little attention from current city leaders? Why?
Appropriate amount. While the attention has been high relative to other beleaguered neighborhoods, downtown Portland is the economic engine of the city; the city is the economic engine of the state. Addressing the homelessness/drug/sanitation/office vacancy/low foot traffic/retail departures should be a paramount concern for leaders in Portland and Salem.