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Angelita Morillo, candidate for Portland City Council District 3, in an undated photo provided by the candidate.
Courtesy of the candidate
Name: Angelita Morillo
Neighborhood: Kerns
Are you a renter or homeowner? Renter
Education: Lincoln High School; BA, Political Science, Portland State University
Occupation: Policy Advocate and Legislative Strategist, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon How long you’ve lived in the city of Portland: 16 years
Age: 28
Pronouns: she/they
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.
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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.
I will make it a priority to fully fund Portland Street Response so that it can provide service across the entire city 24/7 every day of the year. I believe that this priority is shared across the political spectrum–progressives want more ways to get folks back on their feet and keep them out of the criminal justice system and moderates understand PPB’s resources are better spent on other types of calls.
I will also make it a priority to streamline requirements for the construction of housing projects above a certain number of units by pushing to allow single-stair buildings, expediting upzoning requests, and mandating shorter timelines for permitting approval for large housing projects that fit Portland’s inclusionary housing goals, especially for those within a half mile of existing mass transit infrastructure.
What previous accomplishments show that you are the best pick in your district? Please be specific.
I am one of the only candidates who has experienced unsheltered homelessness. I’ve never owned a car and am a lifelong transit user; I am a first-generation immigrant and college student, and I’m one of the youngest candidates in the race, despite having six years of experience in policy and government.
While in City Hall, I managed constituent services, which included connecting Portlanders to essential services and gathering community feedback, and worked with the Tribal Relations Office to uplift the needs of tribal governments. Now, I work as a SNAP Policy Advocate, where I have helped pass numerous policies to expand food access across the state and made sure that our policies are informed by the communities that are most impacted by them. I know what it takes to work with people who aren’t like me while holding ourselves accountable to those we vowed to serve.
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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?
I am proud to have been endorsed by Portland: Neighbors Welcome and I am an ardent supporter of their Inner Eastside for All plan. Incentivizing high-density development in transit-rich neighborhoods will be key to creating more abundant, more sustainable, and more affordable housing. The perfect example of this is the Pearl District where we built dense housing, added thousands of new residents, and created a vibrant neighborhood. We can replicate this all over Portland.
Additionally, identifying ways for us to convert underutilized or vacant properties and empty office buildings into housing or shelter spaces will be critical to both solving the housing crisis and revitalizing the downtown core. On Day One, I pledge to compile a list of these properties (especially along major corridors) that the city can use for rapid housing development and the creation of shelters to ensure that housing is plentiful, affordable, and available for all.
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?
Two services the city should provide are clean energy housing and a streamlined sanitation system.
With our rapidly changing weather patterns, our summers are hotter and our winters are colder. We need to build sustainable, clean energy infrastructure that can endure both. The city should subsidize clean energy construction in historically marginalized communities with a history of disinvestment by using PCEF dollars alongside money from the federal government that we can acquire through the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA incentivizes clean energy construction by granting federal subsidies to local municipalities.
Our region also needs a centralized sanitation system. Right now our sanitation is handled by City, County, and Metro, with countless contractors under each. This makes it difficult for Portlanders to navigate the services. This centralized bureau would be a shared cost between municipalities, with a centralized system where people call for information, similar to our 211 system.
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 long hoped for local government that can effectively implement initiatives where the private sector is slow to act. While I would not currently approve of eliminating any active taxes or levies, I am interested in seeing if we can reduce taxes on multi-unit residential, commercial, or mixed-use development that takes place on vacant lots, underutilized buildings, surface parking lots, or close to neighborhood cores or MAX stations to incentivize infill development in our most desirable neighborhoods. It’s long past time for Portland to elect leaders who can implement our aspirational policies, and I will bring my City Hall expertise to get Portlanders the implementation they deserve.
Related: Listen to 'OPB Politics Now'
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 am concerned with the cooperation that will be needed between the mayor and the new City Council to hire a city manager that both of them can agree on. If not done collaboratively, this might end in a power struggle between the two reminiscent of the issues between bureau directors on our current City Council. I am also concerned about the limited voter education on the ranked-choice voting system which will disproportionately impact immigrants. However, I have faith in the new system. I am happy to see Portland stand for real change in the face of a city government structure that wasn’t working for anyone. In the future, when we know the challenges that this new system presents, I look forward to putting any necessary changes back in front of voters to ensure that the system works as well as it can.
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?
No. Being unhoused–regardless of being due to housing affordability, mental illness, disability, or addiction–is not a crime. These services are often offered with barriers making them difficult to access. I favor providing low-barrier housing, the effective delivery of behavioral health services, and the expansion of Portland Street Response.
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. Given the issues of excessive force and unequal treatment of BIPOC Portlanders endemic in the Portland Police Bureau, we need to talk about accountability and rebuilding public trust before giving them a blank check. The City needs to do regular audits to ensure the bureau is responding to calls effectively.
Do you support putting the Clean Energy Fund measure back on the ballot? What, if any changes, would you support?
No. We need to implement the will of the voters as they originally intended. I will only support changes to the fund where the money will continue to be used to address the effects of climate change that primarily affect communities of color.
Which would you prioritize: Creation of more protected bike lanes and priority bus lanes or improved surfacing of existing degraded driving lanes?
The creation of priority bus lanes would be my top priority to serve the most people possible. The creation of bike lanes would be my next priority, with surfacing of driving lanes being my lowest priority. Obligate transit users like myself deserve better and safer infrastructure than we currently have.
Have the problems impacting downtown Portland received too much or too little attention from current city leaders? Why?
A vibrant downtown is important to Portland’s cultural scene, but it has captured so much attention that we’ve neglected other areas with amazing potential like 82nd Avenue. With the new district system, all parts of Portland will have someone to advocate for them.