 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. Please save these dates:
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Downtown Neighborhood Association: 5:45-7:45pm Tuesday, February 24th at Central Library, 801 SW 10th Avenue.
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Reed Neighborhood Association: 6:30-8pm Wednesday, March 11th at Reedwood Friends Church, 2901 SE Steele Street.
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Collins View Neighborhood Association: 7-8:30pm Wednesday, April 1st on Zoom.
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Pearl District Neighborhood Association: 5:30-7pm Thursday, April 9th at Pacific Northwest College of Art’s Hammer Room, 511 NW Broadway.
 I’m excited to appear with my fellow District 4 Councilors at a special City Club of Portland forum February 17th at University Place Hotel & Conference Center. We did a similar event last year, and it was a great opportunity to share updates on our work and to engage with constituents.
The evening will begin with a panel discussion moderated by Willamette Week reporter Sophie Peel, incorporating community questions submitted at registration. We will then stick around for informal conversations.
The event is free to the public, but please register in advance to get a seat at PDXCityClub.org/events. Invite your friends, colleagues, and family to come as well! I look forward to seeing you there.
 Portland has a transportation crisis. There are potholes everywhere, our streets are deteriorating, our bridges are aging, and we can’t afford the safety improvements our community needs. The cost of construction has gone up, and funding hasn’t increased to pay for it.
Thanks to my resolution, City Council is considering how to solve this problem — and we need your feedback. Please come to the District 4 Local Transportation Funding Open House from 6:30-8:30pm Thursday, February 19th at Rieke Elementary School Gym, 1405 SW Vermont Street.
You can learn more about a variety of options to raise funds and the kinds of things the City would focus on and express your opinion. The longer we wait to repair our streets, the more expensive and expansive the problems get.
 “I know how you feel.”
That’s the approach Bybee Lakes Hope Center uses with homeless people seeking skills on a path to recovery and transition to a new life.
Last week I toured this amazing center with Founder and CEO Alan Evans and COO Josh Blomquist. Today 300 people and 47 children are receiving trauma-informed wraparound services including vocational training. They stay in dorms and receive three meals a day. Bybee Lakes even has a daycare center, an ADA-accessible playground, a 3+ acre garden, and a commercial kitchen that serves 5,000 meals a day. I found the facility to be peaceful, clean, safe, and full of respect for everyone.
Bybee Lakes (once intended for the never-opened Wapato Jail) is part of Helping Hands Re-entry Outreach Centers, our state’s largest homeless re-entry program, which houses 600 people in five counties. Alan and Josh were themselves homeless for many years and come to this work with a deep knowledge of what people need to recover and thrive.
Thank you to Jordan Schnitzer, Hoffman Construction, and the many donors who support Bybee Lakes.
 Last week I congratulated eight new Portland Police Bureau officers who were sworn in by Chief Day. This ceremony comes at the end of a rigorous 104-day hiring process, which only 5% of applicants make it through. Next up they receive 18 months of academy and field training.
I am so grateful to every one of these officers for their willingness to join the bureau and strengthen our public safety system!
 Last week I spoke with Halprin Landscape Conservancy about my Council priorities, neighborhood activation, small-business support, and other updates impacting District 4. We also had a robust discussion of the vital importance of the City-owned Keller Auditorium to the city and the neighborhood as well as next steps in its future.
The conservancy was formed to preserve and revitalize Lovejoy Fountain, Pettygrove Park, Keller Fountain, and the Source Fountain — internationally recognized parks that emerged in the 1960s, fusing public space and sculpture into a new kind of urban space.
 Last month I joined Mayor Wilson, Auditor Rede, and Council President Dunphy to meet with Portland’s legislative delegation ahead of the short session that convened February 2nd.
As chair of Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I reminded legislators that we are partners in maintaining and operating a statewide, integrated transportation system. I asked that Salem leaders maintain our longstanding division of gas tax revenue among the state, counties, and cities. Filling potholes and repairing sidewalks and traffic signals is dependent on protecting this longstanding partnership.
 As co-chair of the Metro zoo train committee, this week I spoke at a work session to advocate for the next step (geotechnical funding) in restoring the 3-mile loop connecting Oregon Zoo to Washington Park Rose Garden, Portland Japanese Garden, and other attractions after 12 long years.
Meanwhile, Friends of Washington Park and Zoo Railway have been cleaning up the tracks from the invasive weeds over the past few weeks. To get involved please visit fwpzr.org!
 NW Examiner reports on progress in the Pearl District: This map shows businesses that have opened in the neighborhood just in the past year!
“There’s a lot of people who really care, and we have the ability to do things because we have a focused area with a lot of committed people,” says Al Solheim, sometimes called the Father of the Pearl for his role in developing it. “I think it’s coming back.”
 Last week City Council presented the 2025 Steve Lowenstein Trust Award to Alena “Leni” Tupper (front row, center), the founder and director of CLEAR Clinic (Community Legal & Educational Access & Referral Clinic), a nonprofit collective of legal workers.
Leni and her team have helped thousands of Oregonians who would otherwise be unable to afford legal services. Their three primary programs are court record relief, housing justice, and immigrant rights.
An immigration attorney and former Portland Community College Paralegal Program Director, Leni recognizes the inherent inequities and barriers of the legal system. Her intention for CLEAR Clinic was to build an organization that combines access to legal services with achievement of social and racial justice goals. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!
Thank you to Lowenstein Trust Board President Joe Hertzberg and Board Member Margie Harris for bringing this to City Council.
 Did you know that OHSU is not only Portland’s largest employer and Oregon’s sole academic medical center, but also home to the city’s only certified medical fitness center?
The designation means that March Wellness & Fitness Center adheres to best practice industry standards for licensed staff, active oversight, and science-based programs. It’s yet another way that OHSU is looking out for improving our community health!
 Last week I got a sneak preview of the 11th annual Portland Winter Light Festival, which returns today! Downtown Portland Clean & Safe Chair Eric Farley (left) and Vice President & Executive Director Mark Wells share my excitement about activating our public spaces to welcome people of all ages to our central city.
Over these next two weekends, the festival will feature 200+ immersive light-based art installations and live events at 100+ locations across Portland. Anchor sites are Pioneer Courthouse Square, World Trade Center Plaza, and the Electric Blocks. Additional major installation sites include Glow Bar, Portland State University, Director Park, Waterfront Park, and Ankeny Alley.
 Portland’s first-ever Winter Staycation starts today, coinciding with the Portland Winter Light Festival!
Over the next two weekends, Portlanders are encouraged to treat themselves to a mini-escape to rediscover everything that makes winter in downtown vibrant: theatrical productions, concerts, dining, local retail, and hotel packages with local perks and cozy lounge extras!
Explore and connect with the heart of our city: a newly renovated Portland Art Museum, Lunar New Year celebrations, the iconic musical “Pippin,” and much more.
 The Portland Rose Festival announced upcoming changes to ensure it remains sustainable. The changes will also drive activity into our downtown core:
🌹 The festival has combined its two signature events into the Grand Floral Starlight Parade on the evening of Saturday, June 6. This will bring together the most popular elements of both experiences for a more efficient production. The Starlight Run will take place just before the parade.
🌹 The Junior Parade (the nation’s longest-running children’s parade) will move to Saturday, May 30, creating greater opportunity for students, families, and schools to participate.
🌹 As part of the U.S. 250th birthday celebration, the festival will add a second fireworks show to waterfront programming!
Save the dates now! Keep your eye on RoseFestival.org for additional details in the coming months.
 February is Black History Month, a great time to check out Portland Art Museum’s new Black Art and Experiences Galleries! The museum has lined up a series of programs to celebrate Black history, creativity, and cultural leadership:
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Meet the Curator (1-2pm February 6): The museum’s Curatorial Coordinator Jaleesa Johnston and Professor Kiara Hill offer behind-the-scenes insights into the exhibitions, themes, archival materials, and curatorial practices connected to the new galleries.
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A Conversation with Visual Artist Nick Cave (2-3:30pm February 22): Rukaiyah Adams, Chief Executive Officer of the 1803 Fund, moderates a conversation with the acclaimed artist, whose piece “Conductions: Black Imaginings II” is on view through May 3rd. The all-ages afternoon will also feature a lecture, music, and hands-on artmaking.
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Black Orpheus (2-4pm February 28): Whitsell Auditorium screens this 1959 classic, which won both the Best Foreign Film Oscar and the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or. The movie brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the 20th century madness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro; it became an international cultural event that kicked off the bossa nova craze in the United States.
 ► I spoke with NW Examiner for my first interview since being elected as Council Vice President. When asked what District 4 needs most, my answer was clear: “More police officers. We are so short. We have the same number of officers that we had in 1994 or ’96, and we’ve grown by 175,000 people since then. That’s part of the reason that we have such a slow response time on 9-1-1. And that’s why we have so much overtime…. We need to be able to enforce the laws that we have on the books, and that would really help District 4 because of all the open-air drug use. It’s still a real problem for us.”
► February is Black History Month, and The Oregonian reports on a free downtown program to ensure community stories remain accessible for generations to come. The Portland City Auditor’s Archives & Records Management Division will help attendees build personal archiving skills. “Portland in Black: Documenting Our Lives in the City of Roses” continues every fourth Saturday through the end of November at the Black Memory and Preservation Lab.
► Downtown foot traffic keeps climbing! It was up for 11 of the 12 months of 2025, according to a new study from Downtown Portland Clean & Safe. In fact, KATU-TV says last summer was the busiest for visitors downtown since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Saturday foot traffic has rebounded to nearly 90% of pre-pandemic levels, with several Saturdays surpassing 2019 activity. The bad news: Worker traffic remains the slowest-recovering segment. But we know what is making an impact: cleaning and safety initiatives (like the Clean Start pilot project I sponsored) and cultural activations (like the Winter Staycation mentioned earlier).
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