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.
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 mayoral 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.
About the candidate
Name: Liv Østhus
Neighborhood: Mount Tabor
Are you a renter or homeowner: Homeowner/Landlord (duplex)
Education: BA in cultural anthropology from Williams College, MA. 1996
Occupation: Artist (stripper, writer, musician, actress)
How long you’ve lived in the city of Portland: 28 years
Age: 50
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Why are you the best candidate to serve as mayor at this time? Please point to specific accomplishments as part of your answer.
This is a critical juncture in our city’s story. The next mayor will set the template for our future mayors for years to come. In Portland’s new form of government, the mayor’s role is largely ceremonial. I believe our next mayor should be a champion for our city, who reflects Portland’s best facets back to Portlanders, and to the world, while also addressing our challenges with innovative thinking and compassion.
I want a mayor who is a storyteller and an artist, NOT a veteran politician or a policy wonk. I am a storyteller and an artist. At Mary’s Club, a dancer’s job is to connect with, listen to, and ultimately inspire EVERY person who walks through the door, regardless of political allegiance, color or creed. I want exactly those skills in our next mayor. And I’ve been perfecting them on stage for 28 years.
What are one or two issues that you’d like to draw attention to or champion as mayor that are overlooked or receiving less attention than they deserve?
1. The environment. The climate crisis is first and foremost on most Portlander’s minds, ahead houselessness and addiction. For without Mama Earth, we are all homeless. Also, I see in our addiction crisis a crisis of hopelessness. One huge, undersung tool of healing is to reconnect with nature and natural rhythms. This is especially true when healing from addiction.
Our natural environment here in Portland is unparalleled. Let’s start with our rivers. Celebrate them, clean them up, center them in civic dialogue as the lifelines they are, connecting all of Portland. Walt Curtis, the salmon poet, wanted to see salmon back in these waters. I carry Walt’s dream.
2. No More Zombie Buildings. Office workers are not coming back, nor should they (see: environment). The city should use all tools at its disposal to reimagine these spaces. If they truly serve no purpose, reclaim the land and create something useful.
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What specific examples do you have that demonstrate your competence to oversee a city with an $8.2 billion budget?
I am a single mom who gets by and thrives on an artist’s shoestring wages. Talk about a fiscal conservative! Even so, I put a premium on beauty, education and nature, knowing that these are not luxuries, but as essential as food and shelter. I have no doubt that the three council candidates will point to their current government experience, but frankly, taxes are high, people are unhappy with services provided and I don’t think council experience is much of a flex here. As mayor, I will support consensus within the council while also bringing my own version of fiscal conservatism to the table. As an outsider, I will measure the value of programs with objective outcome points versus friendly relationships.
Liv Østhus, Portland mayoral candidate, in an undated provided photo.
Courtesy of the candidate
What are your biggest concerns, if any, about the new form of government? What role do you think the mayor should play in it?
It’s conceivable that the mayor could become siloed in the new form of government. As mayor, I would meet frequently with our 12 city councilors, for they represent Portlanders, and are tasked with transforming their ideas and dreams into legislation. It’s been a great joy campaigning alongside the numerous candidates for council. They are exceptionally bright, dedicated and impassioned. These relationships must be productive, and nurtured.
How would you work to promote and boost Portland nationally as mayor and reinvigorate people’s sense of civic pride?
Herein lies the crux of the new mayor’s role, in my opinion. The new mayor, as Head Storyteller, should tell Portlanders and the world a radically different story than we’ve been hearing from our elected representatives and our media these past years. Portland is known worldwide for its creative culture, its small businesses, its food, its beauty and its compassion. My campaign’s raison d’être is to champion Portland, to remind Portlanders and the world of just how special it is.
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Mayor Ted Wheeler has already warned that next year’s budget will be a difficult one as costs rise and forecasts call for lower revenue. What would guide your decisions in developing a budget, what specific ideas would you explore to minimize service reductions and are there specific areas where you would look to make cuts?
Portlanders are craving radical transparency regarding how our tax monies are spent. I would welcome an outside audit to identify redundancies. I would agitate for more federal and state funding and coordination, where appropriate. I want to further explore a vacancy tax; perhaps that will help connect the abundance of vacant buildings and apartments with people in need of shelter, and those who would like to open a small business or an arts space. I would also explore a luxury tax. Too many people have too much. Too many people have too little.
How can the city of Portland and Multnomah County improve their existing partnership to more effectively address the homelessness, addiction and behavioral health crises?
1. Transparency. Weekly meetings, open to the public, and available for all to tune in when convenient. Portlanders are in charge of the city and the county, not vice versa. Let’s hold our elected leaders to task. If they’re not doing their jobs, replace them.
2. As mayor, I would agitate for coordination of these agencies from the top down. Massachusetts has a similar population as Oregon, yet spends a fraction of the $$ on housing/addiction services, and with much better results, largely because in Massachusetts, those services are coordinated from the top down. Every community in Oregon is suffering from the twinned crises of addiction and houselessness; furthermore, these populations move around. If we pool our knowledge and our resources, we can help people wherever they’re at, and smooth their journey, and at less cost.
Editor’s note: Oregon’s population in 2022 was 4.2 million, while the population for Massachusetts that year was 7 million.
If elected, you will oversee the police chief. What is your opinion of police bureau priorities and operations and what changes, if any, would you make? Would you push for the city to fund hundreds more police officers than the City Council has already authorized? If yes, where would you find the money?
Our police bureau has a culture problem. It would be unconscionable to grow the force until that culture has changed. The Department of Justice still oversees PPD because of its egregious history of poor treatment of the mentally ill. Racism is endemic. Portlanders exercising their right to protest are met with a show of force that is absolutely inappropriate.
When the Police Accountability Commission that Portlanders OVERWHELMINGLY voted for is a well-established, well-oiled machine that can ensure policing practices are what Portlanders are comfortable with, only then can we in good conscience grow PPD. Until then, let’s fund detective units, Portland Street Response, anti-trafficking initiatives, and ensure our public transit is well-staffed with public SAFETY servants (i.e. armed only with non-lethal force). For new PPD hires, let’s hire from within Portland proper, to ensure our public safety servants know and understand our community.
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 have refused repeated offers of shelter, such as the option to sleep in a city-designated tiny home cluster?
No. Arresting and jailing people destabilizes them further, and makes it that much harder to heal and share their gifts with society. What is the end game here? Has anyone recommending this actually thought it through? This is also fiscally irresponsible.
Have the problems impacting downtown Portland received too much or too little attention among current city leaders? Are there other specific neighborhoods in the city that have not received enough attention?
The violence happening on and around east 122nd has not received enough attention or resource allocation. People in tents are not nearly as dangerous as people with guns.
Do you support the decision to use millions from the Portland Clean Energy Fund to backfill budget holes in various city bureaus? Would you seek to continue, expand or halt that practice?
I do not support this. Portlanders overwhelmingly voted for these measures to prepare for and combat climate emergencies. We could throw ten times the amount at the problem and still need more. Use the funds to hatch an actionable plan to move and improve the CEI hub.
Do you support a potential change to the region’s homeless services tax that would direct some of the program’s unanticipated revenue to construct more affordable housing? Why or why not?
Not necessarily. This money was earmarked by voters for houseless services, for which the demand is HUGE. Staffing in particular is needed in great quantity, and is cost-intensive.
Describe the qualities and experience you will seek in a city administrator. Describe the working relationship you plan to build with the top administrator and their half dozen deputies.
I would seek an administrator who is supportive of audits, evidence-driven and fully supportive of transparency. This person should be a humanitarian who supports the hard work of consensus while proceeding boldly with administering. I expect civil relationships that grow as trust grows in our new government and city leaders.