February 9, 2024

Why I’m Doing This…

A few months ago my County Commissioner, Susheela Jayapal, stepped down to run for Earl Blumenauer’s Congressional seat. A few weeks after, a friend who works at the County texted and asked me if I would run for her seat. I’ve long said I wouldn’t do anything in politics until my kids were out of the house because things have changed here, and domestic terrorism has become a regular form of dissent among extremists (see Rene Gonzalez’s parents’ car being firebombed). I never wanted to put my family at risk in a fight they didn’t want to fight. But I know this moment in time is critical, and we are at a crossroads where we can do nothing and continue further down this road, or we fight.

“The County consistently ices people out; the County is not open to suggestions; and the County has consistently met me and everyone I know with defensiveness, delays and illogical decisions”

So I began discussing it with my family. It took a lot of heart to hearts, and establishing some boundaries to make sure they know they are my top priority, and even restarting couples counseling to get ahead of anything that might our way. And I told them I could only do this if they were cheering me on… In the end, they agreed we could try this wild experiment…

Many people have asked me why I’ve decided to run for a County seat instead of a City Council seat. There are a few reasons, but first and foremost, the County seems to be lower profile, so safer for my family. However, the other reason is that in my experience, the City answers the phone; the City workshops problems with the community; the City is trying.

The Current State of Multnomah County

The County consistently ices people out; the County is not open to suggestions; and the County has consistently met me and everyone I know with defensiveness, delays and illogical decisions. It can feel like the County has forgotten what their job is, the role they are supposed to play in solving our collective problems, and more than anything, that they are public servants. For those that aren’t clear the division of duties, in the simplest of terms, the City is responsible for the health of the infrastructure of a city (roads, water, permits, etc), and the County is responsible for the health of the people (public health, addiction services, resources for affordable housing, shelters, mental health, food stamp distribution, district attorney’s budget, sheriff’s budget, etc). 

It’s time to make bold changes.

My profession for the last fifteen years has been building and managing healthy and effective teams. In short, I feel I can be of greater use at the County so that we can finally start rowing in the same direction and solve these perfectly solvable problems. A friend told me you need only the will and the capability to solve any problem… we have the capability, now we need people with the will to change things and reject what we are currently doing as acceptable or normal.