Meet Laura Streib, candidate for Portland City Council District 2

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Name: Laura Streib

Neighborhood: D2, St.Johns/Cathedral Park

Renter/homeowner: Home owner

Education: Masters from Portland State University (Music), Bachelor of Arts from Western Washington University (Music, Anthropology)

Occupation: Founder and Executive Director of Vibe of Portland- visual arts and music educational nonprofit

How long have you lived in the city of Portland: 20 plus years

Age: 46

Pronouns: she/her

For each of the following questions, please limit your answer to no more than 150 words. If you run over, we will at our discretion cut your response to meet that limit.

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.

Two interconnected budget items we need to work on in tandem are our permitting systems and housing production to hit the stated goal of 5200 units of housing per year. Rent control protections to address our affordability crisis are also needed. By being strategic in building multi-family, multi-generational and affordable housing spaces in all 4 districts as well as tying rent caps to inflation we can maintain affordability. I am also a huge proponent of investing in affordable artists’ live/work spaces so we can continue to rejuvenate Portland by prioritizing our creatives and entrepreneurs. Housing is top of everyone’s platform so building consensus will take lots of listening and making sure all districts are being heard to pass policy to implement a solid housing plan and couple that with a streamlined permitting process to get things moving quickly.

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

I have been rooted in North Portland since 2004. I saw a need for kids to have an arts education so I founded Vibe of Portland in 2007 to provide quality visual arts and music education to 2400+ kids annually. Running an org means I create policy, run programs, write grants, manage budgets and make decisions through crises like the pandemic. I know how to navigate complex systems, work with a variety of stakeholders and collaborate to keep things running. I currently serve on the St Johns Boosters Business Association board. I understand what our small business owners need to thrive. I’ve worked on arts economic data projects and served on committees for the city. I am an involved parent through my kids’ schools. I am a leader throughout various facets of the community and connect with diverse groups of people to build coalitions for change.

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 be creative and inventory existing spaces that could quickly be turned into housing. We need to incentivize building multi-income levels of housing. We must not roll back environmental building protections but lean into eco-code as an investment for the kind of Portland we want to build. We must truly look at the needs of our multi-generational families and ensure we build units that can accommodate our aging populations as well as ensuring there is adequate space for growing families. Building duplexes, triplexes, and quads can help ensure we have a variety of buildings and still retain neighborhood landscapes. We need to make it a priority and create action plans to MAKE IT HAPPEN. No more studies of best practices - we need to find developers that catch our vision and then let’s go. It needs to be a multi-pronged approach with City, County and Metro moving together.

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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?

Basic services like keeping our streets clean and in good working condition are necessary. We need to get back to the basics of maintenance for streets, parks and public spaces. I would like to prioritize these basic services first and make sure those are covered before we allocate funding to other projects. I think the new council needs to have an overarching vision with goals and strategy for where we want to go and then we can allocate resources that stem from that larger vision for where we want to head as a city.

This could also be a space where Participatory Budgeting can come in. What are the needs that our community sees? 1-2% of our general funding can be allocated to community voiced projects. Our community has great ideas and we need to listen to them.

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 not to renew? Are there specific taxes or levies you would support creating? Why?

Portlanders have tax fatigue. I 100% get that. I want to investigate what our tax structure looks like for taxpayers, before considering any more taxes, or initiatives. The community feels the weight of property taxes, new bonds/current bonds, and various levies. We need to have a reckoning of what we are really spending our money on before we add any more taxes for our residents.We need to identify ways in which to partner with the State and Federal governments to better address the tax burden on Portlanders, and to ensure we have a streamlined, affective, data-based approach in addressing any new taxes or renewing existing taxes. Gov. Kotek has asked for a pause on taxes and I agree with that so we can look at systems and see areas that have duplication of services before adding to what we have.

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 an eternal optimist. I hope the new city council will be able to really dive in together as a cohesive team, and work with the new mayor and city manager. We need to rebuild avenues of communication and trust to have a constructive working relationship with the Multnomah County Commissioners to jumpstart our housing and mental health needs for our community. We also need to develop relationships with the bureau directors and understand how policy affects programs, listen to experts, and address community concerns through a lens that centers all Portlanders. We cannot be willing to change our government structure and then be unwilling to do the hard work. I am a changemaker. I saw a need and founded a nonprofit to address that need. I know I would continue to advocate for better government systems that can work for our community.

For the five remaining questions, please 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?

I do not favor arresting and jailing people who are houseless - we must add a multi-pronged approach for our unhoused neighbors to sleep and rest. I think we should have designated camping spaces while we increase housing options, deflection, and social service options.

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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 would not vote to support adding hundreds more police officers. I am in favor of restructuring our police department to include community police and recruit people within Portland. I am in favor of working with the State, and our local colleagues to ensure there are better pathways for law

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

No, I think it is too soon to make more sweeping changes. I want to ensure that money generated from this fund actually is used how it was intended to be. It needs to fund environmental projects in historically underinvested spaces in the city. So let’s do that.

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

Ideally I would do both. If we improve driving surfaces, cars won’t veer into bike spaces. If we create protected bike areas we can work towards Vision Zero. It’s a both/and situation to build a strong network of safe multi-modal transportation layers, especially around school zones.

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

Downtown needs support, but we have 50+ business districts throughout Portland that need support and investment. I have first-hand experience with the St Johns business district and the huge challenges it faces. We can’t only focus on one area. All of Portland needs investment, including downtown, but not only downtown.