I'm running for Metro!

With support from my family and a broad range of community leaders, I would like you to be among the first to know that I plan to run for Metro Council District 5.

Why Metro? It is charged with determining how our region grows and develops – how we will live and work, and what kind of community we will pass on to our children and grandchildren.

Why me? I have spent most of my life effectively advocating for the things that will make that future the right one: preserving our environmental legacy, strong schools, affordable housing, healthy communities and an economy that provides opportunity for all.

It isn’t enough to talk about these values -- Metro needs leaders with a record like mine of standing up for them. As our region faces unprecedented growth, we must act now to protect our urban growth boundary, fight for natural areas and parks, keep our water and air clean, and ensure our region is among the world’s most vibrant and competitive economies – in short, to protect our area’s unique quality of life now and for future generations.

I will bring a track record of getting things done:

• I am currently Executive Director of the Coalition of Community Health Clinics -- a nonprofit with a mission to improve the heath of our most vulnerable children, homeless, and disabled.
• I organized a grassroots effort that helped secure more than $197 million to repair our schools and pay for computers.
• Through my work on the board of Coalition for Livable Future, I helped to protect our streams, keep our water clean, and preserve wildlife. I co-chaired the Coalition’s first Equity Atlas -- a project that identified and addressed disparities in our region, and through which we set aside more than $100 million for communities of color and affordable housing, and effectively advocated for open space protections in park-deficient areas of North and Northeast Portland.
• I have served on the boards of the Northwest District Association, Portland Community Land Trust, The Housing Development Center and Oregon League of Conservation Voters Multnomah Chapter Steering Committee.
• I also helped elect John Kitzhaber in his first run for governor and honed my skills in effectively managing budgets and government as Chief of Staff to Portland Commissioner Nick Fish.

Ultimately, though, my reasons for running are very personal. My wife Meredith and I have two daughters -- Zoe and Tatum -- who attend Portland public schools. It is their future I am fighting for.
I look forward to sharing details of my plans and discussing them during my campaign. In the meantime, please join those who have already endorsed my campaign by making a contribution.

I can't do it without you. Together, there is nothing we can't do.
Sincerely,

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