 I’m dedicating time to meet with District 4 constituents both virtually and in their own neighborhoods — to hear what’s on your mind and to provide information on a variety of issues. You can find all of my event listings here.
An asterisk (*) indicates a neighborhood association meeting where I have been invited to speak. Please save these dates:
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Eastmoreland: 3-5 pm Thursday, October 23rd at Eastmoreland Golf Course Bar & Grill, 2425 SE Bybee Boulevard.
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Sellwood: 11am-1pm Friday, November 7th at Sellwood Community House, 1436 SE Spokane Street.
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Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association: 7-9pm Thursday, November 20th in Room 416 of Eliot Hall at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Boulevard.
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Hillside: 11 am-1 pm Friday, November 21st at Hillside Community Center, 653 NW Culpepper Terrace.
 Portland State University plays an important role in our city. Out of 20,000 students, more than 7,000 come from District 4 alone!
Last week I met with PSU President Ann Cudd to discuss student enrollment, upcoming initiatives, and ways we can work together to support students in our district.
PSU is ranked No. 1 in the Pacific Northwest for social mobility and community engagement, meaning PSU graduates are significantly improving their economic futures through higher wages, better jobs, and expanded opportunities. PSU graduates see a 65% increase in earnings, with 81% of bachelor’s recipients staying and working in Oregon one year after graduation.
I’m excited to find opportunities to partner with President Cudd and PSU to continue investing in our future workforce and downtown revitalization.
 Last week my staff joined Mayor Wilson and Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney for a tour of Portland’s first outdoor day center, located at Northwest Glisan Street and Sixth Avenue. Day centers are intended to complement the City’s overnight emergency shelter system.
Staffed by Urban Alchemy – people who have experienced incarceration, homelessness, or addiction – the NW Glisan Oasis Day Center offers amenities like showers, laundry, covered areas, snacks, charging stations, and WiFi during daytime hours. It can accommodate about 200 people.
As with the recently opened overnight shelters, Mayor Wilson is enforcing a 1,000-foot engagement area around the site to prioritize the removal of unsanctioned campsites, waste removal, and graffiti abatement. I continue to meet with him to make sure he is listening and responding to neighborhood concerns.
 Last month KBOO-FM invited me and Councilor Mitch Green on the “Locus Focus” radio program to discuss the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub, which represents a potential disaster of enormous scale to District 4 communities like Linnton and Northwest Portland. This year I passed a budget note to create a staff position with the aim of strengthening coordination, risk mitigation, and response efforts among various agencies regulating the CEI Hub.
In addition, this week my staff joined legislative leaders and experienced advocates for a firsthand tour of the CEI Hub for a broader understanding of the local and statewide risks. By working together, we can help avert severe environmental, economic, and public health consequences across the entire state of Oregon.
 As Portland’s representative on the League of Oregon Cities board, I was proud to help the league host its 100th conference last week in the City of Roses. With more than 450 attendees, a total of 140 cities were represented, from towns as small as 174 (Detroit) to metropolitan areas as large as 2.5 million (Portland).
It was a wonderful gathering, particularly in the same week that 15 mayors across Oregon stood in solidarity with Mayor Wilson to denounce federal militarization in Portland (Beaverton, Cornelius, Fairview, Forest Grove, Gladstone, Gresham, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Sherwood, Tualatin, West Linn, Wilsonville, Wood Village, and Bend).
I had the privilege of welcoming League President and North Bend Mayor Jessica Engelke and board members for a tour of Portland City Hall, where we learned about the building’s history, including a time capsule that will be opened in 2098!
 My Chief of Staff, Megan Beyer, recently joined over 100 Portland civic, business, and elected leaders on a best practices trip to Minneapolis, a city that has grappled with issues familiar to what we are facing in Portland. The trip was an opportunity to learn and bring back examples for activating our riverfront and parks and investing in arts, culture, and sports to help revitalize our downtown core.
The group met with local elected leaders and private sector representatives to learn how different layers of government and private partners can align around shared goals for regional prosperity. I am excited to use these insights to bring forward new and creative ideas for strengthening our city.
 Did you know Portland is a cartoon capital?
Last week I got a sneak preview of the Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts, which opens next month in the Pearl District!
Mike Rosen’s team has been working since 2021 to bring this labor of love to life. Portland’s status as a cartoon capital has grown steadily since the early 2000s; we may have the highest population of professional cartoonists per capita of any major city!
Comics are a gateway to literacy for many struggling readers. Mike says the museum already served children from underrepresented communities with summer literacy workshops and will soon offer grant-funded classes to teach the art of reading, writing, and drawing comics.
The first exhibition, “Foundations of Pacific Northwest Cartooning,” reaches back more than 50 years to celebrate the innovative artists and writers who shaped today’s comics scene making graphic novels, webcomics, and zines — including many BIPOC and LGBTQ+ creators.
The museum’s soft opening is November 5th, followed by a grand opening December 3rd, at 322 NW Eighth Avenue. Stay tuned for a limited-edition Kirby Krackle IPA partnership with Gigantic Brewing!
 The arts are an important part of our Portland economy and livability. So, last week I visited two Pearl District art galleries that are celebrating significant anniversaries!
🎨 Froelick Gallery is exhibiting a 30th anniversary group show through November 1st at 714 NW Davis Street. The gallery, which opened downtown in 1995 and relocated to the North Park Blocks in 2007, represents 21 artists who live in the Pacific Northwest, throughout the United States, and in Tokyo. Owner Charles Froelick spoke last week to City Council’s Arts and Economy Committee about the challenges he faces as a commercial property owner. I appreciate his perseverance and commitment to Portland.
📷 Blue Sky Center of the Photographic Arts presents “1975-1985: The First 10 Years” through November 1st at 122 NW Eighth Avenue. Fifty years ago, five photographers pooled their unemployment checks to rent an old laundromat on Northwest Lovejoy Street and convert it into a darkroom. They hung their photos in the window and people started to stop and come in for a look. Five decades later, Blue Sky now operates out of a state-of-the-art 3,700-square-foot facility in the historic DeSoto Building. Thank you to gallery manager M Prull for giving me a tour!
 Not one but two moviehouses — both in District 4 — celebrated their centennials last month. That’s a remarkable milestone and a testament to Portlanders’ passion for independent cinema!
I was proud to present congratulatory letters from Mayor Wilson to Tom Ranieri, owner of Cinema 21 in Northwest Portland, and Patrick Schranck, manager of Moreland Theater in the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood.
🎦 Since opening its doors as The State Theater in 1925, Cinema 21 has hosted appearances by acclaimed and cult filmmakers including Sean Baker, Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, Wim Wenders, Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, and Russ Meyer. It recently opened the “Cinema 21 Store” online to raise funds to support critical upgrades to preserve the theater’s legacy for future generations.
🎦 Moreland Theater is one of Portland’s few historic single-screen theaters and one of the few still independently owned and operated since 1973. Since opening its doors as a venue for vaudeville acts and silent films in 1925, the theater has embraced technological marvels from “talkies” to modern films to the latest advances in digital projection. It recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to upgrade its marquee, bathroom, stage, screen, and snack bar. (Fun fact: The theater can be seen in the 1990 Dennis Quaid film “Come See the Paradise”!)
Go see a movie in District 4!
 This month I visited Portland Art Museum for the 2025 Oregon History Maker Awards, which celebrated remarkable Oregonians whose work helped shape the place we love. This year’s recipients were Pat Reser (pictured here), Mike and Sue Hollern, Tony Hopson Sr., and Jordan Schnitzer.
For 125 years, Oregon Historical Society has preserved our state’s history and made it accessible to everyone in ways that advance knowledge and inspire curiosity. Admission to its museum at 1200 SW Park Avenue is free for all Multnomah County residents with proof of residency!
 What a great way to start the day!
This week I joined Oregon Walks and my District 4 colleagues for a 1.5-mile walk along the waterfront to meet constituents, enjoy this gorgeous fall weather, and get some steps in at the same time.
I met a group of volunteers from Urban Tour Group, which has been providing free downtown walking tours to students since 1970! They offer three different tours: one focused on Old Town and Portland’s early history; one that includes architectural landmarks like Big Pink and Pioneer Square; and one that takes kids to important institutions like City Hall and Portland’5 Centers for the Arts.
 A sobering new audit substantiates my ongoing battle cry to get the City to better manage its assets! We are now at an “infrastructure crisis” because of a maintenance backlog of up to $800 million at Portland Parks & Recreation, per Willamette Week. This is why I used surplus funds from my own office budget to support the development of a citywide asset management and finance plan.
As the Big Apple prepares to elect a new mayor next month, The New York Times decided to visit Portland to compare the landscape for socialist civic leaders. As one of the “moderate” voices on City Council, I told reporter Kellen Browning that Portlanders want us focused on public safety, not expansive new programs: “Why are you chasing the shiny objects when you really should be taking care of your fire stations, your parks, your streets?”
The Oregonian reports that a District 4 alumnus has grown up to become a Nobel Prize winner in medicine! Mary E. Brunkow, a graduate of St. Mary’s Academy who now lives in Seattle, is one of three researchers who were recognized for discoveries about how the immune system knows to attack germs and not our own bodies. The private girls Catholic school called it “a testament to the power of curiosity, perseverance, and the pursuit of knowledge that begins here at St. Mary’s Academy.”
As Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month comes to a close, I’d like to highlight two District 4 restaurants that deserve your support. Verde Cocina, which has locations in Hillsdale and the Pearl District, is recovering from the theft of more than $300,000 by a former employee, according to KOIN-TV. Over in downtown, The Oregonian interviewed Lucy De Leon about her new restaurant, Madrina Cocina Mexicana: “Madrina means godmother. I love to empower women [and] I feel like a madrina is always trying to help others and serve others.”
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