A participatory budgeting initiative, Measure 26-267, is on the November ballot, and anyone claiming to know how it would work is guessing.

Campaign manager Eddie Kurtz of Your 2 Cents, who made his case at a Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting last month, said it’s about time the taxpayers got to decide where some of their money goes.

His most repeated lines were, “It’s only $16 million from an $8 billion budget,” and the reason public officials oppose it is, “They don’t want to give up control.”

The money raised would be spent on projects selected by citizens participating in a yet-to-be-defined process. It could not go for staffing or government operations, which leaves capital improvements, such as playground equipment in parks or public benches.

Kurtz said the program would rebuild sagging trust in local government. Similar programs in other cities have been popular, he said, as evidenced by the number of people who participate by proposing projects or helping to select them.

Kurtz insisted that the measure would not raise taxes. Though technically true, it would drain money from the general fund, which in turn would either reduce funds for existing programs or lead to higher fees or taxes. It would also involve an administrative apparatus, a layer of overhead uncapped in the ballot language.

This is not about giving voters a stronger voice in the spending priorities of their city. It’s a small grants program that would motivate a narrow spectrum of individuals and groups having a cause. Our neighborhoods already have access to several small grants programs administered by Metro, the Office of Community & Civic Life and the Oregon Community Foundation. These programs are beneficial, but they to not produce the transformational city engagement Kurtz touts.

Our local governments are plagued by voter-initiated levies raising far more money than is needed or can even be spent. We fund housing and homeless services, clean energy and kindergarten for all with guaranteed revenue streams that are not balanced against other spending commitments. A warm generality or touching image can draw votes from people who cannot know if the dollars to be generated are wildly out of proportion to the need.

Once the money is approved, recipient agencies will insist they need it all—if not now, then in future generations. Other cities have approved participatory budgeting systems, but none so generous and so permanent. And several of these have been overturned after a brief experience with the outcomes. Measure 26-267 is not a trial—it would permanently divert 2% of the city’s general revenues.

Mitch Green generated so many bad headlines this summer one can be forgiven for not keeping track of them all. But the thing that most disqualifies him for elected office did not make the news.

He appears to have outlived the spotlight surrounding the 10,000 tweets he posted in 2020-21 in which he called all cops bastards, fantasized about an officer’s demise and outlined a political outlook reminiscent of Karl Marx: “I only view electoral politics as a means of wielding power and not an end in itself. The end, of course, is socialism.”

The damning document I’m talking about was not dashed off in the passion of the George Floyd summer, nor was it couched in “spicy” language, which was Green’s characterization of hate he expressed toward classes of people.

Green opened his veins and pledged his full loyalty to the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America in seeking their endorsement of his candidacy for re-election to Portland City Council. His answers to 60 questions met muster and the endorsement was granted.

DSA is no ordinary political party; in fact, it is not an official political party at all, which is convenient for Green because his City Council oath of office forbids party affiliation.

DSA is an allegiance far deeper than mere political parties, which score candidates on alignment with party goals but do not control their behavior in office.

It is instructive to consider that Green, as a member of DSA since 2019, former treasurer of its Portland chapter and winner of a DSA endorsement in 2024, should have been a shoo-in for another endorsement. Instead he had to provide 13 pages of written answers digging deeper into his role as an elected official than any political party would imagine doing.

If you hold office with other DSA-endorsed candidates, will you pledge to form a Socialist Caucus with them?

“Yes.”

If elected, how would you view your role in relation to Portland DSA?

“I will plan to regularly attend SIOC [Socialists in Office Committee] meetings, and as [many general meetings] as I can handle, to ensure that there remains a close connection between my office and the chapter.”

Have you read the DSA National Platform? Do you agree with the DSA National platform? Should you be elected, will you fight for the demands in the platform?

“Yes. Yes. Yes.”

The DSA National Platform includes “Demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions and redirect funding to public services as steps toward fully abolishing the police and prison system, which protects the rich and jails the poor.”

A Portland DSA chapter further calls for action to “disrupt the capitalist municipal order.”

Portland chapter co-chair Olivia Katbi said, “Our councilors are DSA. So what they are doing is DSA until further notice, unless we say it’s not.”

Green told the NW Examiner last April that his relationship with DSA was no different than that of other interest groups that endorse or lobby elected officials. That was not true, though I had no knowledge then of the pledges he had made in private.

The DSA does not represent the majority of Portland voters, and their positions would fail a fair test at the ballot box. But they operate under a unique charter requiring only 25% support to gain power. With their extreme discipline and leaders like Green, who can sound fair and reasonable when the cameras are running, they have gained extraordinary leverage over our city.

Mitch Green is not who he claims to be.

In the April interview, I asked Green if the majority of voters hated his positions, but 25% are on board, would you consider yourself successful?

“I ran for this seat because I said I was fighting for very specific values,” he replied. “I think I’d be a failure to abandon those values.”

Green indeed fights for very specific values. But only those inside his bubble know the specifics.

“It’s written in blood,” we told the barista at Black Cat Frozen Custard on Southwest Second Avenue in downtown Portland. She nodded as if to say, “It certainly is.” Then she handed us a dagger, and instructed us to approach a nearby cabinet and open it. Had we been transported to a John Le Carré or Shirley Jackson novel? No, we were journeying into Conspirators Coffee Lounge, where people seek refuge from sunlight and prying eyes.

We stepped inside the cabinet, gliding the blade into a small chamber. This action rang a small bell and the cabinet door slid open to reveal a different room. We removed the dagger as previously instructed and handed it to a different barista, this time bearded. He offered us a leather-bound menu to peruse by the dim light of an upstairs table. Nearby, two people who may have been twins crouched over a lamp-lit table reading books in the dark.

District 4 candidates answered nine questions from the NW Examiner this week. Their answers were posted on this site Oct. 14. Now we want to know how subscribers to our Substack feel about those questions.

We’ve seen recent examples of how a single, smart, motivated individual can change the course of public policy. Think of William J. Hawkins III and restoration of the Elk Fountain, and Aubrey Russell and placement of the Abe Lincoln statue.

Next up: Karen Whitman and her concerted effort to improve the existing Keller Auditorium instead of building a more expensive new auditorium on the Portland State University campus.

Whitman lost her first attempt, in an 8-4 decision by the City Council favoring the PSU site, when the majority preferred a large auditorium at PSU and a smaller one at the Keller site. But four members who voted for PSU also said they wanted financial details for the two projects confirmed by Dec. 1.

And here’s is why Whitman likely will eventually prevail: Neither the city of Portland nor PSU has the money in hand to build either proposed venue. Renovating the Keller Auditorium into a 3,000-seat performance venue is a much less expensive option that also offers a better location for traffic, parking and lodging for visitors. Preliminary plans for the New Keller have already been prepared – another potential savings.

As the coming weeks unfold, Whitman is using her estimable skills in public relations, civic involvement, public administration and business relations to muster political support for the “new Keller.” Drawings show a dramatic new entrance for the Keller as it faces the monumental Keller Fountain across Southwest Third Avenue. Among her many credentials, Whitman is executive director the Halprin Landscape Conservancy, a non-profit devoted to preserving and protecting the series of fountains (including the Keller) that were designed by the office of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin in the urban renewal era of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Whitman is well-known in Portland’s artistic, business, and public management circles. She became a well-known graphic artist early in her career, and led downtown Portland’s Artquake celebration for 15 years before becoming director of Pioneer Courthouse Square. She also helped the formative years of the Oregon Sports Authority and the Portland Business Alliance, two non-profits aimed at encouraging the local economy.

PSU, meanwhile, is suffering from budget losses and declining enrollment. Rather than focusing on its primary mission of higher education, its leadership chases in a new direction. If PSU’s management can’t successfully run a university, why should it be entrusted with the region’s primary entertainment auditorium?

As this scenario unfolds, Whitman is meeting with public and private groups to muster support for the updated Keller proposal. She has a website with details at savethekeller.com. Interested people can sign up for her emails at outreach@savethekeller.com

Whitman will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2026 NW Examiner Community Awards on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m., at the Ecotrust Building, 721 NW Ninth Ave. The event is free and the community is invited.

No AI is used in creating this blog. You can join Building on History’s email list by writing “add me” to faroverpar463@gmail.com

The NW Examiner asked for brief written answers from District 4 candidates. Below are their responses.

1. Does the city’s neighborhood program, Office of Community & Civic Life, need a different place in the city’s organizational chart? It’s now placed under the City Administrator, where its unique role in supporting independent citizen participation depends on the discretion of one official.

Regardless of where the Office of Community & Civic Life is on an organizational chart, neighborhoods and neighborhood associations are too important for one person to propose and implement major changes without oversight. That means consideration of the proposed changes by the City Council.

Eli Arnold

Yes. I think the neighborhood program should exist as an office that reports directly to the council president to create a closer connection to constituent services and policy making.

Mitch Green

Keeping it in the city administrator’s office means less interference by council offices. Moving it and the neighborhood program to council operations leaves it vulnerable to the influence of councilors who might be tempted to leverage it during a campaign. Rest assured that I will remain a strong neighborhood association advocate.

Olivia Clark

The bureau needs significant leadership. That’s why I am supportive of the direct leadership and accountability of that bureau to the city administrator while they work out the old culture that tried to dissolve neighborhood associations and has not produced a meaningful community engagement program in years.

Eric Zimmerman

2. What changes are needed in the city charter? How soon should such changes be brought to the voters?

I would recommend moving to an odd number of single-member districts. This would provide better geographic representation. For example, no District 4 councilor currently lives in the northwest or southeast portion of the district. At a minimum, such a change should be proposed during the regular charter review.

Eli Arnold

The charter needs two amendments: Strike reference to Prosper Portland from the charter. The city should have the option to reconfigure its economic development agency at any time. The charter should be amended to facilitate reform of the Fire and Police Disability and Retirement system so we can move to an actuarial-based system for the legacy retirees.

Mitch Green

Reduce the number of councilors, give the mayor a vote and the veto and either remove ranked-choice voting or drop the peculiar Portland “single-transferable-vote” system. Normally, charter evaluation happens every 10 years but could be sooner. Let’s give it two more years to settle in.

Olivia Clark

I think reducing the size of the council to eight is appropriate and keeps elected representatives accountable to the majority of their district. The mayor should serve as the presiding officer with at least a tie-breaking vote on all matters. Any changes must be voter approved.

Eric Zimmerman

3. Should Portland Street Response remain a separate agency, or can mental-health incidents be handled better through the Portland Police Bureau’s own Behavioral Health Response Team?

Street Response can remain a separate agency, though coordination between PPB’s behavioral health responders, Project Respond, and PSR needs to improve. If PSR is going to meaningfully assist in handling call load, we need to work on improving their utility.

Eli Arnold

PSR should remain separate and independent.

Mitch Green

PSR should be under the Police Bureau to better coordinate with the bureau’s Behavior Health Response Team and the city’s emergency response system. When PSR was created, it should have been part of the police bureau, but politics sent it to the Fire Bureau.

Olivia Clark

We have a serious issue on our streets and in our communities with mental health issues. PSR, like BHRT, has a place within our emergency response system. I don’t have a problem with PSR being its own agency, insofar as it is integrated as part of our emergency response system.

Eric Zimmerman

4. What will you do to curtail severance payouts to former bureau managers? Can nondisclosure agreements covering managers be banned or limited?

The issuing of golden parachutes needs to end. No one else in the city—nor in the private sector—receives such generous payments on the way out the door. I’ll work with the rest of the council to implement a plan to address this excess.

Eli Arnold

I have indicated to the city attorney that I want this practice ended and the use of NDAs as part of separation discontinued. I have indicated my willingness to bring forward a policy that curtails the practice. He has assured me that he shares my interest. I’m ready to bring a policy if he doesn’t lead on this.

Mitch Green

This is an administrative issue. Current City Administrator Raymond Lee inherited this situation as it was written in contracts. It is a vestige of the initial acting city administrator’s implementation of charter change.

Olivia Clark

The mayor and administrator are responsible for the hiring and firing of our senior employees. During transition we have seen significant turnover. I expect as the permanent officials are hired, we will see a reduction of this practice and become more aligned with other cities across the country.

Eric Zimmerman

5. Should people be allowed to camp in the public right-of-way if they decline available shelter?

We cannot allow street camping. We have an obligation to provide emergency shelter, but not to tolerate illegal camps in front of our homes and businesses. We are not helping people struggling with mental health issues or addiction when we allow it to continue without intervention on our streets.

Eli Arnold

This is not really a matter of opinion, as the city is under a legal settlement to clear sidewalks of camps at a rate and annual expenditure defined by that settlement. We should work with the county to ensure that we have a shelter-housing continuum that is evidence based and invests in adequate behavioral health and addiction treatment services.

Mitch Green

No.

Olivia Clark

No.

Eric Zimmerman

6. Should the council exert influence to require city employees to return to their offices?

It is desirable for more employees to return to work downtown. There is a tension now that remote work has become more normal, and I understand the desire for greater flexibility from workers. The city should engage with the unions and move toward increased presence downtown.

Eli Arnold

No

Mitch Green

Yes, but with minimal influence. Flex schedules have become a union bargaining issue. In executive sessions, when the council is consulted regarding union contracts, councilors can weigh in and express their opinion to the administration.

Olivia Clark

Yes, and I have tried to do that. My office leads by example, by being present in office every day. Work from home is a great flexibility, but it should not be the norm for any of our city work units. I support the mayor’s continued requirement of managers in office.

Eric Zimmerman

7. What norms or rules were violated when two City Council members participated in confidential negotiations with PGE? Does the public have a right to know on what authority they participated? Should they be recused from participating in a likely rehearing of the land-use proposal to extend power lines through Forest Park?

I don’t know if rules or norms were violated, but the public should be told what their role was in the discussions and how they were selected. Since they have information that other councilors do not possess, it seems they will have to recuse themselves if the upcoming decision is appealed to the City Council.

Eli Arnold

This is an odd question given that no councilors engaged in confidential negotiations with PGE. Councilors should always disclose any ex parti communication or declare conflicts of interest ahead of land-use proceedings. I will be disclosing this question as ex parti communication should a decision be referred to council.

Mitch Green

I don’t know that any rules were violated or at what point the two councilors left the negotiations. The public should have a right to know the authority on which they participated. Their recusal is a question for the city attorney. I am unclear as to whether they were part of an actual negotiation or merely an opening discussion with interested parties.

Olivia Clark

At this point, Councilors have not been briefed on what is coming forward to Council. I did not participate in any post-decision negotiations, knowing that we’d likely see another land-use case in front of us. As to the norms, councilors need to address those themselves.

Eric Zimmerman

8. Can the council continue to give assurances of support for Portland State University’s proposed performing arts center without undermining the future of Keller Auditorium?

Two things are clear. First, the city has no money available for a new performing arts center at PSU. Second, the city has no plan (or funding) for the Keller should a PSU facility be built.

Eli Arnold

Council acts by resolution. The most recent amended resolution provides the green light to engage in a non-binding design process for PSU, while expressing its commitment to the ongoing presence of the Keller. I think it’s largely a moot question because the city funds for neither of these projects. I laid those concerns into the record when we adopted the resolution.

Mitch Green

Yes. At the request of the Halprin Landscape Conservancy and my own deep support for the Keller, I brought forward the amendments requiring that the planning for the future of the Keller take place in tandem with work on the PSU proposal. It will incumbent on councilors and Keller advocates to remain vigilant through this process.

Olivia Clark

Yes, but we also have to acknowledge that this fiscal environment is extremely challenging. Councilor Clark and I brought forward an amendment that directed the city to pursue funding partners for the Keller. PSU needs to make their case and the city must plan for the Keller.

Eric Zimmerman

9. Was the Northrup Street Shelter a fair test of what happens when an overnight shelter is placed in a residential neighborhood?

Yes, it was a fair test. We need shelters, but we also need to protect neighborhoods from potential harms. If the city cannot, or will not, meaningfully address trash, mental health issues and addiction playing out in a neighborhood, then it isn’t a good location for a shelter.

Eli Arnold

There was insufficient public engagement ahead of rollout with that shelter. Neighbors didn’t feel heard or have trust from the start. That was abundantly clear in the communications I received and Northwest District Association meetings that I attended on the matter. There was also inadequate oversight for expenditures related to the site. I hope the city administrator and mayor learned from that experience.

Mitch Green

Yes. I was very unhappy with the siting of the Northrup Shelter despite the mayor’s promises (shelter operation, security, etc.). These promises were not upheld. Had they been, the situation might have been somewhat improved, but the shelter still attracted both homeless and drug dealers into the neighborhood and neighborhood parks.

Olivia Clark

Not all overnight shelters have had as large an impact on the neighbors as Northrup Shelter did. The mayor’s shelter plan allowed for camping enforcement. I support that. I am glad the city fixed the Northrup issues, and I remain focused on the cleanup and enforcement around shelters.

Eric Zimmerman

The 31st Annual NW Examiner Community Awards night is Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the Ecotrust Building, 721 NW Ninth Ave. The doors open at 6 p.m., and the ceremony begins at 7 p.m.

All are invited to an evening recognizing the contributions of 10 special individuals and groups.

This year’s event is hosted by Ecotrust, which is making the space available under a grant program to support community engagement.

Complimentary food and beverages will be served.

2026 Award Winners

Mike / Peter Albrich

Ray Davis

Lance Orton

Jim Rice

Stop the Cell Tower

Max Steele

Bruce Studer

Karen Whitman

Linda Witt

Todd Zarnitz

by Darcie Meihoff

People who want to protect Forest Park are once again rallying together to oppose the City of Portland’s and PGE’s plan to raze acres of Forest Park to expand power lines, which is known as the Harborton Project.

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, opposition organizers including the Forest Park Conservancy (FPC), Bird Alliance of Oregon, Sierra Club, 350PDX, and others, are planning public activities to encourage Portland City Council to protect Forest Park and stand behind their original decision opposing the project. Organizers are holding a rally outside Portland City Hall, at 8:45 a.m. and are asking participants to wear green to demonstrate their support for Forest Park.

Forest Park supporters are also requesting public testimony at the Hearings Office, which is reviewing PGE’s application and deciding whether to approve or deny it. Interested participants can sign up to attend the Zoom meeting on Wednesday, October, 14 at 1:30 p.m., or submit testimony via email prior to the meeting by sending it to HearingsOfficeClerks@portlandoregon.gov (reference case number LU 26-051203 CU EN GW and Hearings Office Case Number 4260012). Additional details and information can be found on FPC’s web site, here.

The Harborton Project was originally rejected by City Council in a unanimous vote last year. The fact that it is now moving forward has taken Forest Park supporters, and the public by surprise. The city signed an agreement with PGE behind closed doors following a mediation process, binding city staff to support a new PGE application.

Environmental groups say if the new deal is approved that PGE plans to cut over 370 trees, disrupt two streams and fill two wetlands in Forest Park, while opening the door to future expansion and development in violation of the city’s own Forest Park Natural Resources Management Plan.

Darcie Meihoff is a past board president of the Forest Park Conservancy.

A small group of neighbors gathered to support the Petty-Goats last Saturday, but the goats were already gone. The day before, according to Melissa Stoner, a neighbor saw the goats’ owner load them into a trailer and drive them away.

Stoner, the rally’s organizer, had wanted to draw attention to the severe bloat, infections and injuries plaguing the goats who’ve lived on a lot between Northwest 22nd and 23rd avenues for over a year. Eduard Valik of I-BuildPdx owns the property, 2812 NW Thurman St., hired the goats’ owner to bring them here to maintain the weeds.

Neighbors reported the goats’ apparent poor health to Multnomah County Animal Services many times. Stoner herself made three calls. Her photos show that one had mastitis in her udders and the goats have gone from very skinny to bloated over time. All three appear, in recent photos, to be suffering from the severe bloating that poor nutrition and dehyrdation can cause.

“I’ve seen them go without water for days,” Stoner said.

Multnomah County Animal Services confirmed receiving reports about the Petty-goats.”

A press officer at MCAS said they “followed standard procedures for calls concerning the health and treatment of animals. An animal control officer was sent to Northwest Pettygrove Street, where the goats are located, to evaluate the situation for a welfare check. The animal control officer observed that the owner is providing shelter, water and food for the goats during this check. If additional concerns are reported, we will monitor the situation.”

Stoner isn’t ready to back down. “I’m still proceeding with this because where are they have gone?”

Many people have offered to take the goats and care for them, including owners of Topaz Farm on Sauvie Island. “If the owner would surrender or even sell his goats, we have people who are happy to provide them with a life that is living and not just surviving, she said.

Writing on Facebook, a neighbor named Suzanne said she fed the goats fresh chard and visited them almost daily for two years. She hopes they are getting medical care they deserve.

I prepared questions for a Portland City Council debate that never happened.

We had lined up the participation of the three District 4 incumbents and the leading challenger. But a week before the Oct. 5 date, Councilor Mitch Green said he would pull out unless two candidates he named were also included in the debate.

We said no. If debate sponsors yield to the demands of one contestant, the notion of a fair and independent arbiter is shattered. Just as candidates should not control the questions, they should not choose their opponents, certainly not bending the rules for one without giving the same latitude to others.

We did not have the option of carrying out the debate without Green and his designees because the venue, The Armory, would not accept liability should someone file suit over their exclusion from the stage.

I was left with nothing but my questions, the questions that I had hoped would reveal consequential differences between the candidates or penetrate the foggy generalities so common in campaign speech. With those questions swirling in my head, I attended a City Club debate involving six District 4 candidates the following night. I heard answers to some of my points, but here are some that I still consider important:

1. Does the city’s neighborhood program, Office of Community & Civic Life, need a different place in the city’s organizational chart? It’s now placed under the City Administrator, where its unique role in supporting independent citizen participation depends on the discretion of one official.

2. What changes are needed in the city charter? How soon should such changes be brought to the voters?

3. Should Portland Street Response remain a separate agency, or can mental-health incidents be handled better through the Portland Police Bureau’s own Behavioral Health Response Team?

4. What will you do to curtail severance payouts to former bureau managers? Can nondisclosure agreements covering managers be banned or limited?

5. Should people be allowed to camp in the public right-of-way if they decline available shelter?

6. Should the council exert influence to require city employees to return to their offices?

7. What norms or rules were violated when two City Council members participated in confidential negotiations with PGE? Does the public have a right to know on what authority they participated? Should they be recused from participating in a likely rehearing of the land-use proposal to extend power lines through Forest Park?

8. Can the council continue to give assurances of support for Portland State University’s proposed performing arts center without undermining the future of Keller Auditorium?

9. Was the Northrup Street Shelter a fair test of what happens when an overnight shelter is placed in a residential neighborhood?

We are asking the candidates to provide their answers in writing to allan@nwexaminer.com by Oct. 13. We will publish the answers (maximum 50 words).

The NW Examiner endorses Sharon Meieran for Multnomah County chair.

Our September cover story on Meieran centered on the fact that she is the only candidate who has dug deeply into the county’s dysfunction or developed a coherent plan to reverse course. For the eight years she served on the commission, she saw how the agencies and nonprofits benefiting from the easy flow of unaccountable funding protected that status quo. Meanwhile, two successive chairs blocked reform or even the creation of an adequate record-keeping system.

While quibbling over what constitutes a plan may not move voters, a story might be persuasive.

The five-member Multnomah County Board voted 3-2 to hire Nathaniel Vergow to run the county’s Homeless Services Department. For 10 years, Vergow headed the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which this year was found to have wasted hundreds of millions of dollars, leading to a federal lawsuit and dismantling of the program.

Yet, Multnomah County Commissioner and chair candidate Julia Brim-Edwards provided the pivotal third vote to bring Vergow here.

Vergow blames our homeless crisis on high rents. In an interview published by The Oregonian/Oregon Live, he did not mention addiction or mental health as factors. In framing the problem in this way, Vergow gave himself a permanent pass in that housing affordability is a distant hope and not under his control.

Julia Brim-Edwards cannot be expected to transform Multnomah County or its approach to homelessness. Still, she would be better than the other candidate in the race, Shannon Singleton, a longtime social service agency executive endorsed by the four Democratic Socialists of America members on the Portland City Council.

Put Meieran on top of your ballot and Brim-Edwards in second place.

Candidates Forum Oct. 20

A Multnomah County Chair Candidate Forum on Solutions to Unsheltered Homelessness will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 4:30-6 p.m., at First Baptist Church, 909 SW 11th Ave. In addition to the three candidates, former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber will serve on a panel of experts. The moderator will be Blair Best of KGW TV.

The event is organized by the Homeless Solutions Coalition. To register, visit Eventbrite registration link

Two Northwest Portland neighborhoods are partnering on a “ReVive-Reclaim-Recycle” project at The St. Mary’s Cathedral parking lot, Northwest 18th and Davis streets, this Saturday, Oct. 10 a.m., from 9:15 a.m.-2 p.m.

Neighbors are invited to drop off clothing and households goods or swap them for other items donated. Electronic devices will be accepted for recycling, and a document shredder will be onsite.

The event is made possible by a Metro Refresh Fund grant. Donations will also be accepted.

For more information, visit: //www.hillsidena.org/revive-reclaim-recycle/

I stumbled upon three goats in a fenced lot on my way to meet my daughter for dinner recently. An elderly couple was taking photos and feeding them baby carrots. I later learned these goats, a small brown one and two bigger white ones, are collectively called the Petty-Goats. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why—their lot is on NW Pettygrove between 22nd and 23rd Aves. Their names are Hazel and Patty, and the small one is called Lily. She is limping. Originally brought here to manage weeds, the goats have been here for over a year.

Some neighbors have grown concerned for their welfare. A flyer announcing a rally on their behalf claims an absentee owner has left them on an empty lot without adequate food, water or medical attention.

A family-friendly rally for the goats is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10 from 1- 5 p.m. More information can be found about the goats on a Facebook page, Pdx NW Goats, administered by Melissa Stoner. According to posts by Stoner, calls to Multnomah County Animal Services have not addressed the concerns.

The Examiner is seeking a comment from MCAS and will update this post when it is received.

I attended an event last week sponsored by Revitalize Portland and Design Portland, among others, focused on revitalizing Downtown Portland. Mayor Keith Wilson kicked it off with a pep talk, but the presenters were the leaders of three downtown associations from other cities who share similar problems: Denver, Philadelphia and Seattle.

All are trying to revitalize their downtowns with more housing—especially affordable housing—along with activation of existing office space. All share a homeless problem exacerbated by drug addiction and psychosis and general post Pandemic livability challenges. All are liberal cities. But all three have much more financial and business support than does Portland due to more robust economies. Denver and Philadelphia have good public/private collaboration.

My initial takeaways were: Public/private alignment is needed for acceleration of improvement. Denver and Philly have this; Seattle does not but has made up for it with a very strong and established downtown business organization, the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA), established in 1958 when Interstate 5 was being built through downtown.

The audience got a good laugh from the speaker's joke about the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) getting so much national attention these days. It sounds like Seattle shares Portland’s political dysfunction but compensates with a far stronger downtown business association, representing a bigger swath of the central city.

All three focus on public safety, cleanliness and activation in their downtowns. In all but Seattle, the alignment is good and somewhat formalized. Seattle uses referendums have been used to get big projects done. Seattle is the only one that already has a large downtown residential population (where one in eight city residents live), though much of it is concentrated in Bell Town and South Lake Union north of the Central Business District. Downtown housing growth has “fallen off a cliff” post Pandemic for many of the same reasons it has in Portland. Both Philly and Denver are actively converting office buildings to residential use. Seattle, like Portland is constrained by seismic obstacles where Denver and Philly are not.

All are worried about older office buildings without any obvious apparent reuse. These will sit vacant for years without very deliberate public/private efforts to initiate change. But the other three cities have a plan and well-developed organizations established. Portland is just starting.

All have used weekend activation to increase foot traffic overall, but all are struggling with midweek visitation and have targeted strategies to help: building or planning stadiums and cultural venues downtown, targeting office and retail tenants, coworking, creating revitalized pedestrian shopping experiences and parks built for activation with intentional activation a key element of the planning process.

Denver has turned its major shopping street, which was suffering, into a pedestrian-only promenade with public activation opportunities and is actively experimenting with other areas. They try things, such as pop-up stores and subsidized anchors, such as neighborhood markets. Both Philly and Denver are tackling behavioral health issues head on. Denver has placed over 3,000 addicts into housing after treatment to ensure they are ready for it.

All are coordinating between state and regional and local efforts. Denver is not trying to poach business from the suburbs, but rather to attract it from outside the state, including Oregon. They aggressively recruit, poaching for the kinds of business they want to see in the state. State policies are designed to help local governments and especially central cities, which are the center of expansive transport hubs, gain traction. In short, they recognize that their state and cities are in competition with every other state and city. Oregon and Portland don’t seem to get that.

All are working at streamlining the permitting process. Denver seems further along. They have eliminated design review and have set a specific 180-day target for permit approval.

Obstacles to overcome

This tells me that Oregon generally and Portland specifically,have some obstacles to overcome, none of which alone are sufficient in themselves to encourage housing production immediately, but all of which are likely necessary for the revitalization of Portland’s Central City. Some are easier to resolve than others. All require us to work on them.

• The private sector is not going to build housing for a shrinking population, especially when the population that remains and/or is replacing those who depart cannot afford housing at the inflated cost it takes to build it today. And affordable housing is even more expensive to build than market rate due to unit size, durability requirements and financing costs. Construction costs have risen dramatically since the Pandemic for macro and micro reasons, with plenty of blame to go around. To turn this around will require policy changes at every level of government in our state as well as federal assistance, which is shrinking and currently counterproductive. It is notable that rents in affordable apartments today are about equal to the existing market rate apartments downtown. We cannot build our way out. We need to grow a population that can afford what can be built.

• The recent rise in interest rates, driven by the bond market and the growing national deficit, is making the cost of borrowing much higher for those who want to build housing of any type. That includes governments, individuals and developers and not for profits. It also shrinks demand by limiting those who can afford the housing that is built. We may need to rethink the size of the housing we expect to live in if we want to house people.

• The high prices of buildings are “sticky” and values are inconsistent with market realities. Investors and individuals bought high and financed at low rates before or during the Pandemic. It is a long process that forces those properties back onto the market through the need to refinance, foreclosure or death of an owner. Many owners are still in denial that changes are permanent.

• Lack of certainty. All of us value certainty or some reasonable basis for predictability, especially developers, lenders and investors, as well as governments. We are in an unprecedented period of anomie with the roll-out of AI, the growing realization that climate change is real and its effects are significant and growing, MAGA policies changing the world order, the surprise Iran War, the demise of our democracy and an uncertain election. Add to that, the local inability of Portland government to adjust and set a direction due to a deadlocked City Council, a new form of government and a Portland city staff trying to adjust to that new form of government. We are unable or unwilling to do some of the things Denver and Philly have found success with, even if conditions were right.

• Lack of a plan. The Downtown Recovery Plan is being worked on with a lot of energy and by competent people, but it is being second guessed at every step of the way. Hopefully the upcoming election will help mitigate that and “our DSA” will no longer be able to place a roadblock to any meaningful progress toward overcoming these obstacles.

• Lack of political willingness to deal with the public safety and homelessness issues in a meaningful way. That means getting those addicted into treatment and sober housing they are ready for—as Denver has—and to get people ill with psychosis into treatment and ready for housing—either in suitable supportive housing or an expanded functioning State Hospital—so they, their families and society remain safe.

• Lack of adequate community policing in the downtown and central city, where the most productive, diverse and integrated segments of our society live, mingle, work, recreate and participate in communal events designed to bring different communities together. It includes a safe public transit system and internal ways of getting around, such as the streetcar. This is clearly missing today and should be a relatively easy fix that Portland has control over.

• We know Portland Downtown’s attractive features; nice scale (making for a walkable city) with some very attractive architecture and parks and an underutilized waterfront, cultural amenities and an exceptional art museum. Add to that a pioneering public transit hub with the investment in right-of-ways, and the fact that we sit at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers in one of the most beautiful states in the nation. Sadly, we have not maintained or built upon these assets, and the state has not stayed competitive with policies to attract the businesses so we can have the kind of jobs we want while protecting the unique beauty of our state. We have not fully activated the assets we have to bring in more midweek visitation. And we don’t even require our publicly funded workers, our so-called “public servants,” to occupy the very nice offices we have built and maintained for them Downtown.

Conclusion

The demise of downtown is a golden opportunity to create a safe and economically and culturally diverse 24-hour city. Portland was approaching that pre-Pandemic. Now we must rethink how to get there without the over-reliance on office workers for weekday activation. We need to see this as the opportunity to create a more vibrant city where people of all economic and cultural backgrounds can live, work, play, learn, recreate, dine, seek services and be entertained in a clean and safe and livable environment with agency for each. We need to start now.

We have a mayor in Keith Wilson who is dedicated to that and has tons of optimistic energy. We have a city manager dedicated to making the administration of government more efficient by streamlining functions. We have a new 12-person City Council that can represent different issues in previously marginalized groups and ensure that all are considered in necessary compromises.

Let's set the stage for recovery. Housing growth downtown will help ensure its recovery and Portland’s recovery by helping disadvantaged individuals recover. recovery overused To do this we need the council, mayor and city administration aligned and working to stay aligned with the state and county so we are all pulling in the same direction. Let's start with this upcoming election.

Richard Perkins describes himself as a recovered heroin addict, felon and a retired and recovering commercial bank executive who finds purpose later in life as a behavioral health activist.

By Robert Miller

In 1986 Sam LeBlanc, a New Orleans progressive and eight-year state legislator, ran for mayor, and I came out of political retirement to help him. Before a speech I had written, he told me it needed a point. It was a list, not a commitment.

I asked him why he was running.

He said: “pretty good government.”

This guide holds candidates to that standard the way a gaming regulator holds a license applicant: Will they follow the rules of the house? I scored 15 candidates on five questions: litmus tests, pledges, experience, working with others and compliance. The scores, the method and the stories behind them are in the companion piece, “Why DO THIS.” But first, here is what to do.

Our slate

District 3: Kellie Torres and Steve Novick.

District 4: Olivia Clark, Eric Zimmerman, and Eli Arnold.

Novick and Torres, Clark and Zimmerman are the top two scorers in their districts. Arnold is on the slate because he can win: in 2024 he drew 8,123 first choices, more than any other District 4 challenger, and lost the last seat on transfers.

What you do

In District 3, Novick will draw first choices on his own. Ranking Torres first is how she wins a seat alongside him. We stop at four. Rank more only if you would rather see one of the others win than none of them.

In District 4, the birthday rule splits first choices evenly between Clark and Zimmerman, so neither is knocked out early. Arnold is third on every card. Which order you use for the first two matters less than ranking all three.

The order on your ballot matters.

Your ballot isn’t one vote. It’s a list of backups. If your first choice wins easily, or has no chance, your vote moves to your second choice. Then your third. It keeps moving until it helps someone win. But it can only move to people you ranked. When it runs out of names, it stops counting.

That happened to thousands of voters in 2024. When Eli Arnold was eliminated in District 4, his 12,900 votes moved to each voter’s next choice. About 6,459 went to Eric Zimmerman and elected him. The other 6,440 went nowhere. Those voters hadn’t ranked anyone still in the race.

By the end of the count, about 19,175 votes’ worth of District 4 ballots had stopped counting. A seat takes 19,180. Almost a full seat’s worth of voters ran out of choices before the count was done.

A card can’t create votes that aren’t there.

Seats come from first choices. What a card does is make sure no vote is wasted:

• Finish your list. Don’t let your ballot drop out before the last seat is decided.

• Rank the whole slate, not just your favorite. In District 3, only 22 percent of Novick voters ranked the next-strongest candidate in their lane.

• Put pretty good candidates first. That’s the whole game. If you like a candidate on this list, rank them first and tell your neighbors to.

Sam’s speech needed a point, because a list is not a commitment. Your ballot is a list. Ranking it with care is the commitment.

Every judgment and every score is mine, and so is every mistake. Every score, the method behind it, and the sources: [Why Do This]

About the author

I am president of a gaming technology company, and I have spent five decades in the gaming industry. I may bring business proposals to the city in the future. I have no financial relationship with any candidate in this guide or with the mayor’s office. I have publicly called on Mayor Keith Wilson to build an election machine; I hold no role in one. I have discussed the District 4 race with people who support some of these candidates. I used AI tools, Claude and ChatGPT, to gather public records, run the numbers and check facts, including the recount of the 2024 ballots.

Bearing Service Co. announced its closure in July 2025. The machine shop operated on the corner of NW Everett and 11th Avenue since 1944, fabricating engine parts and bearings that make metal parts glide smoothly. Designed by leading architect Richard Sundeleaf, the building has been described as “streamline, moderne style inspired by the machine age and aerodynamics.”

This will be Arium Botanicals’ second location; plant installation and maintenance will also be offered in addition to a welcoming atmosphere where plant lovers of all levels can thrive. Arium’s first store is located at 2046 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

For a previous story about Bearing Service Co., click here.

Founded 80 years ago in another part of town, Alano moved to 909 NW 24th Ave. in 1967, after Portlander Cora Klein gifted her estate, and this home, to the organization. Klein lived alone and rented rooms to single women. Not much else is known about her.

This is the nation’s largest Alano Center, serving 10,000 people a month, according to the club. It hosts 12-step meetings, Narcotics Anonymous, an all-recovery meeting, and countless other mutual aid meetings. No matter the theme, each meeting is centered around support and recovery, with most open to anyone who wants to join.

It’s busy with people coming and going, 130 meetings a week are held here. Some start at 6:30 a.m., others as late as 10 p.m. A staff of 22 people, including seven peer mentors oversee a caseload of about 30 people each and their individualized recovery plans. Volunteers set up for events, and do other odd jobs.

Kasey Anderson became executive director of Alano Club of Portland after the sudden death of Brent Canode in March 2025. In recovery since 2012, Anderson started as a volunteer and worked his way through nearly every job here.

”I feel bad for our staff,” he laughs, “because I’m always saying that there’s nothing that I ask you to do that I haven’t personally done. No amount of cleaning, or whatever work that I haven’t done, or that I’m not still willing to do.”

Alano is funded by federal and state grants, and private donations. Recently, a family member donated money for new carpet in the common areas and new furniture in a room where their loved one spent a lot of time.

Anderson explains that classes are interwoven to address issues that meetings may not, on topics such as legal services, record expungement, and obtaining a GED.

“Many Alano clubs are just rooms where meetings happen,” Anderson said, adding that here a person sees that their lives can be different. “They can find recovery here in a comfortable, beautiful space.”

There are financial workshops, career classes, and fitness and wellness classes at two off-site gyms. That’s not all. There is yoga, meditation, CrossFit and weightlifting. Various arts classes, running groups and walking groups meet here as well.

Many of the national care entities beyond these doors, Anderson says, are a labyrinth of loopholes to navigate. When someone comes in to Alano for the first time, “We say, let me make a call and try to cut through all that and see what we can do. And while you’re here, do you need a meeting, do you want to sit with a mentor, sit in the café?”

The basement room looks like the dim confession rooms seen in countless movies. A small sign reads, “Well Apparently Rock Bottom Has a Basement.” A young man sweeping among neat rows of chairs says dryly, “we have a sense of humor here.”

Restaurants for Recovery and ProjectRED

Recently, nearly 30 Portland restaurants donated portions of their sales to Alano of Portland as part of Restaurants for Recovery, an annual September program in its fifth year marking National Recovery Month. Specially curated non-alcoholic drinks are highlighted.

‘It’s a way to highlight how prevalent substance use and alcoholism are in the service industry,” Anderson says. Two of Portland’s leading chefs who are vocal about their recovery, Gabriel Rucker (Le Pigeon, Cannard) and Gregory Gourdet (Kaan, Sousól), have forged deep ties to Alano Club, with Gourdet serving on its board.

Alano Club of Portland launched ProjectRED in August 2022. The lifesaving naloxone program grew from the DIY efforts of Ellen Wurship, who gleaned as much naloxone, or narcan, as she could from Alano and then delivered to local bars and restaurants where she knew staff were using.

“Ellen had lost a couple of friends to overdose,” Anderson said. “When I asked what she was doing with it, she said she was walking into bars and giving it to staff and showing them how to use it. I thought that was the coolest thing, that she was doing this on her free time.”

After Anderson wrote a proposal and received funding from a drug policy alliance for naloxone delivery, he offered Wurship a job that could be funded for a year. Meanwhile, he’d been in discussions with the band Pearl Jam, whose guitarist, Mike McCready has been in recovery since 1994, and mentioned the fledgling program. Anderson asked if the band ever wanted narcan their concerts so that people who attended could take the life-saving emergency medicine back to their communities. According to Anderson, a Pearl Jam representative replied, “What about every show?”

“So Ellen’s program went from supplying local bars and restaurants to touring with Pearl Jam in about a week.” Today ProjectRED is the largest nongovernmental Narcan distribution program in the state. Wurship won a Skidmore in 2023 for her work.

In Portland, it often feels like our governmental agencies and support systems around drug use are broken.

“It’s easy to say ‘the state needs to do better’ and to find a scapegoat,” Anderson said. “But I work with many people at OHA who care very, very much about this, and can only do what they can do. The people I work with at the county are incredibly passionate, incredibly thoughtful, and are doing their level best to make sure people have the resources they need.”

No one is turned away.

“Everyone of us who works here has been there,” he said. “It could have been us. So we say, ‘Come in, we’ve been waiting. You’re welcome here.’ It’s very rare that we ask someone to leave the facility. It’s more like, ‘Hey, it doesn’t seem like this is the right space for you today. Why don’t we try tomorrow, and see how tomorrow goes? It’s not going to work out today, but we’d love to see you tomorrow.”

Anderson’s favorite book that touches on themes of recovery is “Martyr!” by the Iranian-American writer Kaveh Akbar. Anderson first met Akbar in an online basketball forum, and Akbar has since joined the Alano board. The book “did a really beautiful job of capturing the nuance of a life in recovery that is not perfect. It’s not the driving narrative of the book, but it captured a character who is trying their best in recovery.”

Asked what he’d say to Portlanders distressed about open drug use in their communities, Anderson said, “I’d say what I say to my daughter, who is 5. We live in an area that is party industrial; there are encampments, there’s some drug use. What I say to my kid is these are people who are suffering, and who have needs that are not being met, who either don’t know how to access the care they need or aren’t able to. They’re not interested in hurting you. You don’t go up to them. Same way we tell her that we don’t go up to people we don’t know.”

On Sept. 22, Alano Club of Portland announced that its ProjectRED program had received philanthropic support from Boulder Care, a leading virtual addiction treatment program, and the Vitalogy Foundation, founded by Pearl Jam, allowing the program to continue operating through 2027.

In 2025 ProjectRed distributed more than 13,600 doses of naloxone statewide, including more than 5,600 doses send directly through a partnership with NEXT distribution.

“We’re all deep in the work here,” Anderson said. “And people can come into this space and see so many people whose lives in recovery are really beautiful.”

A community-led citizen advisory committee meets today, Oct. 5, at 4 p.m., at Lucky Lab, 1945 NW Quimby St., to discuss its role in plans for a Slabtown park at Northwest 20th Avenue and Pettygrove Street. Tonight’s event is not sponsored by the city.

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 6:30-8 p.m.

• Open House at Slabtown Square lobby, 2070 NW Quimby St.

• Starting at 7 p.m.: Slabtown history presentation by local historian Tanya Lyn March and Norm Gholston, co-author of “Portland’s Slabtown.”

Saturday, Oct. 17, 1-3 p.m.

• Chat with the project team

• Drop-in office hours at Northwest Library, 2030 NW Pettygrove St.

City Club of Portland will hold a District 4 debate at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the University Place Hotel, Southwest Third Avenue and Lincoln Street. In addition of incumbents Olivia Clark, Mitch Green and Eric Zimmerman, three candidates are vying for their first elected offices: Eli Arnold, Jamey Evenstar and Jeremy Beausoleil-Smith.

The NW Examiner had invited the incumbents and Arnold to debate at The Armory Oct. 5, but Green said he would not participate if his Democratic Socialists of American allies, Evenstar and Beausoleil-Smith, were not included.

To register for the City Club event, visit: pdxcityclub.org/event/city-council-district-4-debate-2026/

It’s murder on the dancefloor at BodyVox, where a choregrapher’s showcase unfolds at BodyVox’s Northwest Portland Dance Center, 1201 NW 17th Ave. Performances are Oct. 8-10 and 15-17.

Live showcase “Creepy Cupcakes” reveals new work by Asteria Howard, who writes about her piece: “Have you ever had a night out go completely off the rails? See what happens when five divas are poisoned by a mysterious radioactive substance. As the veil grows thinner, the chaos gets thicker.”

Another dance is inspired by film noir murder mysteries, while Daniel Kirk’s dance attempts to “dive beneath the celluloid of classic Hollywood horror” films. Below is a clip from a recent rehearsal of “Creepy Cupcakes.”

Everybody Bart Simpson

PhaseOne Dance just signed a three-year lease on a space at 128 NW Marshall St. Drop-in classes for ages 16 and up are offered in hip hop, choreography and street styles that move quickly from beginning foundations to advanced. At a recent 5:30 p.m. Monday evening beginner’s class taught by instructor Stephen Goodly, students learned classic hip-hop steps such as the Bart Simpson and ATL stomp.