I am sorry to announce that as of today May 1st, 2024, I am officially ending my campaign for Portland City Council. I do not have the resources to run an effective campaign against an ever-widening field of committed candidates. I want to thank everyone who supported me, and I hope that Portland will elect strong progressive voices to lead the city to a better place.
Our seniors, disabled veterans and those living on fixed income need our help. We CAN and SHOULD pass legislation that can prevent this vulnerable population from becoming homeless because of uncontrolled rent increases. Reducing their medicine or eliminating essential services must not be an option just to remain in their homes.
I have a plan that will fix this problem.
Preventing Homelessness
Rent prices in 1-3 bedroom types in Portland, Oregon experienced the following year-over-year rent increases in Q1 2023:
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1-Bedroom: 15%
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2-Bedroom: 20%
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3-Bedroom: 11%
The Plan
RENT INCREASES ARE LIMITED TO 14.6% STARTING IN 2023.
Mandatory relocation assistance? To where? Anywhere outside of Portland. This is not a plan, this is a concession to landlord and developer lobbyists.
There is an effective and "Doable" plan to address this problem. As with many good ideas, the devil is in the details. In its most basic, The plan is to limit any rent increases for those that are living on fixed income to the Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLAs), that they receive. This would apply to anyone whose sole source of income is from social security, pension or disability payments. This would apply primarily to seniors but also to a large portion of disabled veterans and those on other forms of permanent disability both physical and mental health related causes.