Fully fund Public Parks & Community Centers

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Portland parks and community centers are a source of health, wellness, community, education, and connection for Portlanders across our city. As a business owner who has created centers focused on health and wellness in our communities, I have seen firsthand the benefit of centers focused on wellbeing that serve as community gathering spaces. As a dad and a community member, I have also benefited from many programs available for my kids, as well as classes and other recreational opportunities I have enjoyed.

 

I refuse to buy into the notion that we need to sacrifice our parks and community center programs in order to meet a raft of other competing needs.  I  will push to redouble our commitment to community centers as a way to meet a myriad of intersecting needs.

 

A Community Center in Inner SE Portland

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We should also follow through on plans for an inner eastside community center at or near the Washington High School site. When that site was acquired by the city for a potential new community center, eastside neighbors were thrilled. There is no inner eastside community center, and those plans would have filled a long-overdue need.

 

Instead, the site was sold to developers, and there is no community center there today. However, the land has not been developed and we can still dedicate that land to a community center as originally proposed. I will pursue the development of an inner eastside community center within the next two years.  

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Deploy Public Broadband / Internet 

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I do not believe the city should allow ourselves to be at the mercy of for-profit corporations for our essential services, particularly in times of crisis. The time to shift to a more resilient, self-reliant position is now. We can start by establishing fast, reliable, affordable internet that assures net neutrality, and respects privacy rights, as well as the right of end-users to own the data so often used to influence our decisions from what we buy to who we vote for. 

 

Consider Public Utilities for our Essential Services

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We should also conduct feasibility studies to explore creating public utilities for our other essential services, including electricity production and delivery. Public utilities are managed by community members elected by the public to make sure essential services keep running efficiently, and there are no profits siphoned off by for-profit corporations run by managers seeking to maximize returns for stock-holders. Oregon has a proud tradition of public utilities. We can learn from our neighbors in other counties throughout Oregon and do the same here.