“BALLOTS MAILED OUT TODAY: PLEASE DONATE
May 1st 2024
Dear Neighbor,
I am proud of my progressive values—but I am even more proud of using them to deliver real change.
This means use new approaches to addressing the crime and homelessness in the neighborhoods and business districts of North and Northeast Portland.
We have no more time to waste: It will take electing people who can not only describe the problems but also who would hit the ground running and do something about it.
I have a big agenda to help solve our big problems. Here are my priorities.
Faster, humane action on homelessness and addiction:
Help build 20,000 new units of affordable rental housing in 10 years. Multnomah County receives $125 million more each year than expected from a Metro tax. Take a portion of these extra funds and help build low-cost rental housing. The County says “no.” I will say “yes.”
Ban unsanctioned outdoor camping as new official shelters open that are currently under construction. The first one I helped open already stabilized 100 people who got into permanent housing in just 8 months.
Prioritize community safety. There is no quality of life if you don’t feel safe at home, in your neighborhood or at work.
I will dig into the county budget for more jail beds, and to hire more DAs & public defenders to unclog our public safety system.
Improve ambulance response times. When we need them, they need to be there! The County hasn’t fixed this. I will push to fix it fast.
Replace the now four-year-delayed sobering center immediately. The County has the money. They are just afraid to use them. The sobering center previously served 3,000 local clients per year.
Require a yearly independent public report card on use of $650 million budgeted for homelessness, drug addiction and mental illness, and housing.
Standing up for hyper-local North and Northeast issues:
Save our grocery stores in North and Northeast Portland. I will keep advocating to stop the merger between Kroger/Fred Meyer and Safeway/Albertsons because similar mergers have resulted in food deserts because of grocery stores shutting down.
Stop the disastrous proposal to re-location of the Delta Park bottle drop in downtown St. John’s.
Require County special interest lobbyists to register and report, and require elected officials to post their schedules, so we can see who they are really working for.
Close the revolving door between lobbyists and elected officials and staff so that people working for the county can’t immediately take lucrative lobbying jobs to lobby their former colleagues.
Hold elected leaders accountable to the public by changing the rule that gives the chair unparalleled power to stop discussion on issues she disagrees with.
I love this place: It welcomed this gay kid from a small town with at times a tough upbringing and gave me a home, a community, and opportunities I never thought possible. I have dedicated most of my adult life to making it better for everyone.
That’s why I’m running. Please help me win a better Multnomah County for North and Northeast Portland, for you, and for everyone.
Paid for by Friends of Sam Adams
www.multcoforsam.com.”
~Theresa Griffin Kennedy
A better Multnomah County for North and & Northeast PDX, and for everyone!