Clean up the city

Portlanders pay a lot of taxes and we deserve a city that is clean and safe.

At age seven I vividly remember attending my first Rose Parade–it felt magical as our city came alive to celebrate diversity and creativity. Imagine next year if that route through the heart of Portland was lined with murals and thriving businesses instead of graffiti, so all Portlanders can feel confident investing in and enjoying our city. I'm ready to make that vision a reality working with city bureaus, businesses and volunteers.

Graffiti & property defacement

The past several years graffiti and vandalism have really gotten out of hand. Small businesses like Five Star Drycleaner, Reo's Ribs and Hollywood Taekwondo have been hit hard with repeatedly smashed windows and graffiti. Instead of penalizing businesses with fines (of $250! for not cleaning up in 10 days) let's help them out and go after the criminals costing our communities.

Portland currently has one police officer dedicated to prosecuting taggers. The state of Oregon just put $20 million to cleanup of graffiti on ODOT properties (freeways etc). We need to make the most of that one-time funding by cleaning up graffiti now and going after taggers instead of penalizing businesses with fines (of $250! for not cleaning up in 10 days)

Cleaning up graffiti:

Increase police staffing for graffiti enforcement and tougher penalties for defacing safety signs.
Make clean up easier: have businesses opt out of city graffiti clean up instead of have to report and opt in.
Prosper Portland Grants to help restore small businesses.
City-sponsored monthly neighborhood graffiti clean up days to harness the power of Portland's neighborhoods and volunteers for good.

Street and drug crime

I bike commute daily and have seen a lot of street crime and behavior that is just not acceptable, or legal. Not just in downtown, but increasingly in Lloyd, Irvington, Elliot, Cully and across our district. Sometime we forget that it's not normal in other cities to see people screaming and waving weapons, openly using or selling drugs, destroying property, street racing or running a bike chop shop out of a tent/structure like the one directly across from my office in PBOT enforced parking spaces. We also don't have to tolerate days and weeks of protests that turn destructive, costing taxpayers and ruining public assets.

Cleaning up crime and drugs:

Enable Portland Street Response to transport people in crisis who want help. Currently PSR vans cannot transport people.
Fully staff first responders to bring down emergency times and ensure public safety can
Fully fund narcotics enforcement units to go after drug dealers.
Improve accountability for public safety services through communications and reporting.
Enforce existing open drug use laws especially around schools, libraries and shelters.
End protests that become destructive and provide clear guidance for legal peaceful protests.

Unregulated camping

Homelessness isn't a crime and it's not kind, safe or appropriate to allow people to sleep unsheltered on our streets. There are a lot of downstream effects for people who are unsheltered and for our communities from health impacts to trash and rats to traffic safety and crime. Our city has banned camping in the right of way and obstructing private property. To the existing camping ban, so that people cannot camp wherever they want in public spaces they must have a place to go. We can do this by ending the mismanagement of the adult shelter system under which nearly 25% of shelter beds went unused last year. AND increasing shelter capacity. See my Plan to Track Shelter Beds so we give people an option to sanctioned camping area because space is available.

Cleaning up camps:

Help people into pathways to shelter and recovery. (See this section)
Expand Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites working with neighborhoods to ensure these are sited in areas appropriate to communities.
Go upstream to prevent items from becoming campsite trash by providing easier large item pickup in coordination with Metro.
Temporarily redirect PBOT and other funding to clear the right of way in bike lanes, parking and side walks, before engaging new non-safety or maintenance related projects.