PAT PAC 2024 Pre-Interview Questionnaire

April 25, 2024

1. What is your understanding of the responsibilities of a City Commissioner to public school families and educators? How can you use your position to help advance the mission of fostering a community where students and educators can thrive?

Portland will have a new government charter this coming November, yet the Public School Board and the City Council will remain separate entities. Locally elected government officials must work closely with our academic institutions, and listen to the educators, the families and the students. Education is key to Portland’s overall success. We will create ad hoc committees for community driven projects of shared interest and mutual benefit. As Commissioner, I will advocate for more municipal funding from the state. This desperately needed funding will provide more essential services, including safety, for educators and public school families. In return, I will ask families to become more engaged with their schools and develop better fundraising strategies, including campaigns, for example, campus amenities, learning gardens, ADA improvements, and increasing access to the internet.

Active collaboration between school boards and city council does not have a default mode, and that is a good thing. Around the country, concerted efforts to cultivate robust partnerships have generated a cornucopia of creative ideas. Any community can adopt these practices and take their collaboration from “good” to “great.”

As commissioner, I will intently listen to ALL perspectives, bringing into account community opinions and positions no matter how they might differ with mine. I will also adopt a zero- tolerance policy on spending public taxpayer dollars on schools/systems outside of the public school system. While I respect parents' decisions on how/where their children are educated, be they charter/private schools or homeschooling, public taxpayer dollars are for the public school system. PERIOD.

2. Portland has areas with concentrated poverty and concentrated wealth. This creates schools in different neighborhoods with vastly different levels of resources. What can you do to address these disparities?

To address income/resource levels disparities, I propose keeping school districts in name only while pooling all revenues/tax funded resources into one huge bank voted on by all members in a parliamentarian style house of commons. By placing all boats in the same 'borderless' body of water, this will bridge the vastly wide income gaps between the rich and poor neighborhoods forcing members to collaborate to support all students. FAILURE TO PASS A BUDGET AND/OR TIME SENSITIVE items will be automatically deferred to city council. Decisions must be made in a timely manner that benefit all students, not just the well off. All other non budget/financial matters/decisions will remain with the individual school boards/districts. I will also be an ardent proponent of school choice. Where someone lives should not dictate where he or she attends.

3. Public schools take on the huge responsibility of helping young people in our city to meet many of their basic needs and this burden has only grown since the start of the COVID pandemic. Unfortunately, as the challenges educators face has grown in recent years, we have not seen a corresponding increase in either resources or staffing for public schools. In your view, what are two areas of student need where the city could do more to support this community of young people and relieve some of the pressure facing educators and staff?

Two areas of student need where the city not only could, but should, do more to support communities of young people receiving the mounting pressure facing educators and staff are affordable meals and skills training as opposed to a 4- year college path. For many students, the only meal they receive is at school. There's no reason the city can't partner with food banks, nonprofit organizations like meals on wheels, and countless grocery stores like Safeway and Fred Meyer. Food banks already play a vital role providing low income/houseless populations with nutrient dense food. Why can't they collaborate with the poorer school districts in achieving the same? Meals On Wheels delivers low cost fully prepped meals to senior citizens and those physically challenged. Why can't they do the same for students in poorer school districts on days they can't make it in to ensure an uninterrupted intake of healthy food? Safeway and Fred Meyer throw away so much perfectly good either because it's deformed/malformed (like fruits/veggies) or just past its expiration date. Why can't/don't they instead donate that food to school cafeterias?

Trade skills training as opposed to a 4-year college path would be a much better avenue for many students who are either hands on or don't excel in academia. Plumbing, construction, electrician, and nursing just to name a few are jobs that pay very well. There will be untold openings with the impending retirement of the current workforce. There already is a massive shortage in these of occupations. Having a bachelor’s on top of untold student debt has yet to land me a job where i can use my higher education. Had trade skills been offered to me as an option, i would’ve taken it. The city can partner with trade schools/universities/companies in dire need of these essential workers to segue students in high school onto these paths. While I am not accrediting higher education, it simply isn’t the best fit/path for all. Education is supposed to empower the next generation to take that step towards true independence and self-sustainment in the young adult years. For too many, it's become a revolving door from schools to prison.

4. What specific actions have you personally taken in the past to support Portland public schools?

As I haven't held public office, I haven't been able to in the past explicitly support Portland public schools, but I do share PAT's interests and beliefs in more school investments and equality. I have joined many picket lines before protesting on behalf of workers and teachers alike. I am a strong advocate of living wages for our educators. I am vehemently opposed to spending public taxpayer dollars on schools/systems outside of the public school system. I will champion students' rights to attend the school of their choice regardless of zip code and/or geography.

5. How do you see yourself working with the PAT? What is your commitment to fostering a collaborative relationship with educators?

As a staunchly pro-union advocate, I see myself working very well with the Portland Association of Teachers. I will fight for living wages for all educators so they can focus delivering the best education for our up-and-coming next generation instead of running to their second barely making ends meet. I will make myself available to PAT. As a physically challenged individual living without arms, I understand the struggle all too well. When Kroger wrongfully terminated me over the use of my adaptive bike commuting to/from there, I refused to allow that kind of dehumanizing discrimination and hateful humiliation and sued them as covered by the Washington Post is the interview regarding my wrongful termination from KATU. I have been fighting my entire life, and I will apply that fighting spirit when it comes to advocating for Portland Association of Teachers' 4500 professional educators in the Portland Public School system. I commit to keeping parents out of educators' w ay so they can be left to collaborate with each other and professionals in their fields whether it be drawing up school curricula or deciding on whom to/or not to hire/promote.

6. Please share your plan to win this campaign, including your plan for fundraising and any endorsements you have received.

As the only former 2022 gubernatorial candidate in this race, I plan to win this campaign by getting my message out to the constituents in district 4. I do that by completing surveys like yours, holding house parties and events, attending public events with other city council candidates, fundraising, and receiving endorsements all with a very heavy presence on social media like Facebook, X(formerly Twitter), and Instagram to name a few platforms. While it is a bit early for endorsements with November months away, the friends of Portland Street Response have endorsed me for pledging to prioritize, introduce budget amendments, and vote in favor of full funding for expanded 24/7 citywide PSR coverage in every budget cycle.