Hey Portland,

It’s been a minute since I’ve sent out a monthly newsletter but rest assured that my office and I are working hard on behalf of East Portland! I’m really excited for the year ahead because my office is now 100% built by immigrants and the descendants of immigrants. District 1 is home to the most immigrant communities, and it matters that my office has lived experiences that reflect the Portlanders we serve – especially as our immigrant neighbors are under attack by a fascist administration.

As the responses have been coming in from my District 1 Budget Survey, it’s been heartwarming to see how much East Portland shares that pride in our diversity. When I asked, “what do you like most about your neighborhood?” our community has overwhelmingly said the people. East Portlanders love that our neighbors come from different cultures and backgrounds, that we look after each other.

We know we’re facing a lot of challenges. In my survey, East Portlanders have voiced their concerns about the lack of sidewalks and green spaces, public safety, homelessness, and more. But I’m confident in our ability to create a better, more livable Portland, together.

Candace at Work

Why I voted to postpone our Slow the Inflow Resolution

On February 18, I voted to indefinitely postpone consideration of the Slow the Inflow resolution. To be honest: I’m very disappointed that we weren’t able to allocate these dollars after months of waiting and multiple council meetings. But I want to explain why we needed to take this step back to move forward.

We are in a very different landscape than when we first started working on the Slow the Inflow resolution. We started with the idea that there was close to $21 million in unbudgeted Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) funds. Now we’ve learned that there’s more than $100 million unbudgeted PHB funds in multiple pots. There are different restrictions and intended uses to consider for each of these pots. We now also have more clarity around the significant funding shortfall we have to address in the next budget.

The Slow the Inflow resolution only allocates one piece of these unbudgeted PHB funds. We need to reorganize and come to the table with a clear vision for the entirety of $106 million – because there’s a lot of interests eyeing those same dollars.

My priorities remain the same, whether we’re talking $21 million or $106 million. We need to keep people housed, help people move into housing, and build housing that is actually affordable and accessible to East Portlanders – not more luxury towers downtown. We need to invest our dollars while considering needs along the whole housing continuum, instead of making last-minute amendments and closed-door agreements to shift money around.

We need a process that is actually transparent and engaged with the community.

Council is holding a work session on the unbudgeted PHB funds on March 5, and councilors will be briefed in the coming weeks with the most updated information about these dollars. We also will be holding future oversight hearings about the unaccounted funds, after the resolution I led with Councilors Green and Morillo passed. I will continue to keep the community informed about the different engagement opportunities via my newsletter and social media accounts.

To all the Portlanders who testified, called, emailed, and rallied in support of Slow the Inflow through multiple committee and council meetings: thank you. Your voices have made a difference in this conversation, and I hope you continue to push councilors to do right by their constituents who are facing the real, serious consequences of housing instability.

Take my District 1 Budget Survey!

It’s been only a week since I’ve opened my District 1 Budget Survey, and more than 120 East Portlanders have already weighed in! If you missed my last newsletter, you have until March 13^th to tell me your priorities for our next budget. The survey should take around 15 minutes to fill out and if you provide your contact information, you will be entered into a drawing for a $100 grocery gift card.

Candace Call to Action: Join us for virtual budget survey parties! The next one is on Thursday, March 12, 12:00pm - 12:30pm! We'll explain more about what we're hoping to learn from the budget survey and discuss the current FY 26-27 budget outlook for the City. RSVP here!

Already taken the survey? Tell your friends and loved ones to fill one out!

Refreshed Policy Website

If you’re ever curious about what I’m working on in City Hall, I have a newly refreshed policy website where you can see exactly what policies I’m looking to advance and where they are in the process. The Active Policy Pipeline is where you’ll find legislative initiatives broken out into categories – by clicking on the dropdown menu, you’ll see the policy’s status, a brief summary, and options for engagement. You can also see a full list of all my policies that passed in 2025.

You can also learn more about some of the programs my office is cooking up. Stay tuned and keep on subscribing to this newsletter for future updates!

A Better 82^nd Ave

The future of 82^nd Ave just got brighter! If you haven’t been closely following local transportation news, the future design of 82^nd Ave hinged on whether the street will have seven miles of continuous Business Access and Transit (BAT) Lanes (More BAT) or three miles of BAT lanes at each end of the road (some BAT). On February 13^th TriMet made a final recommendation to include BAT lanes along almost the entirety of the 82^nd  Ave project.

As PBOT told BikePortland in this helpful breakdown of the different types of lanes, “BAT lanes are designed to prioritize transit while still allowing people driving or people biking to use them to turn and access side streets.” That means drivers can’t use BAT lanes as a general through lane (which speeds up buses), but they can change into a BAT lane if they need to access a parking lot or a side street.

I understand that some local businesses and residents want to push back on the More BAT option because they’re concerned it might change how people use 82^nd. But that’s also the point.

The current way people are using 82^nd Ave means our East Portland neighbors are dying: 82^nd Ave is part of Portland’s High Crash Network and the 3^rd most dangerous street for pedestrians and the 5^th most dangerous street for drivers from 2017 to 2021. Two of the intersections on 82^nd, at SE Powell Boulevard and NE Glisan Street, have the top ten most crashes.

The current way people are using 82^nd Ave means higher levels of climate-warming gas and air pollution, increased risk of health complications like asthma and cancer, and more noise for neighbors living along the street.

The current way people are using 82^nd Ave is by taking the bus: Line 72 has the highest ridership of any route, and it’s also the route with the most delays out of all the bus lines TriMet runs. There are 10,000 daily trips on Line 72, representing thousands of Portlanders who lose time or are late because the bus gets stuck in traffic.

This is about building 82^nd Ave for the future we want to see. I want an Avenue of Roses with cleaner air, quieter neighborhoods, fast transit, thriving walkable businesses and homes — a street where no one has to die just trying to cross the road. I continue to support including full BAT lanes because it’s the best option on the table that moves us forward to a more livable East Portland.

It's the same reason why one of my top policy priorities for 2026 is renewing the push for a connected network of fast, frequent buses via the Rose Lane project.

Candace in Community

Remembering the Victims and Survivors of Immigration Enforcement

It’s hard to believe that just last month, two of our East Portland neighbors were shot by Border Patrol agents. Just last month, two Minnesota neighbors were murdered by federal agents while exercising their constitutional right to film law enforcement officers. The violence we’re witnessing is shocking, unacceptable, and embedded within our immigration system.

I joined two vigils to remember the victims and survivors of immigration enforcement – including one organized in East Portland. Despite the short notice, our community turned out on a cold winter night. Our local leaders showed up, too - Congresswoman Dexter, Senator Pham, Council President Dunphy, Rep. Wise, and Commissioner Brim-Edwards were all there at the vigil.

The East Portlander who organized the event remarked, through tears, that she “did not expect so many people — and so many with influence — to show up when it was essentially just me looking for other people.”

That’s exactly who East Portlanders are; we show up for each other. When ICE is terrorizing our neighborhoods, it’s our community who’s stepping up to organize grocery runs, school drop-offs, and mutual aid networks.

I continue to hold Luis and Yorlenys in my thoughts as they face a smear campaign as part of this fascist administration’s broader campaign to demonize immigrants. And I will continue to work on policies to protect our immigrant, refugee, and asylee neighbors – including rent assistance and direct material aid to families facing financial hardship.

Candace Call to Action: Learn how you can help support Immigrant & Community-Serving organizations at my new webpage.

Exciting Changes in Historic Parkrose

When I’ve spoken with Parkrose neighbors, they tell me that they’ve felt ignored or neglected by City Hall. It’s a story we’ve heard all too often in our part of town. But here’s the thing: East Portland doesn’t wait for someone else to step in and save the day.

After sitting at the table with the community, having numerous conversations with Historic Parkrose, walking the neighborhood, meeting with business owners (such as Don, the owner of Grocery Outlet), involving other council offices and City bureaus, consolidating everyone’s voices, writing letters of support, and much more – we have efforts happening in Parkrose that we can be excited about.

One of the developments is our new partnership with Cultivate Initiative, a local grassroots organization, to bring true community safety where it’s needed in Parkrose. Their workers are picking up trash, cleaning and beautifying public places, and doing outreach with our unhoused neighbors. Cultivate Initiatives has been working on the ground since November, and my office has been hearing positive feedback from Parkrose neighbors. 

Another exciting initiative underway is the planned Parkrose Enhanced Services District (ESD)! Through funding collected by property owners in the district area, ESDs provide extra services to the neighborhood such as trash cleanup, graffiti removal, community safety and business development. The proposed Parkrose ESD is being led by Historic Parkrose.

Candace Call to Action: Join me and Historic Parkrose for a town hall to learn more about the proposed Parkrose ESD! Local Parkrose business owners are strongly encouraged to offer their feedback and community members are welcome to attend. RSVP here.

Candace in City Hall

Changing our Committee Structure

In a couple months, this section of the newsletter will look different! That’s because on February 19^th, Council voted to reorganize and condense our committees from eight to five. The new committees are Public Works, Housing and Permitting, City Life, Community and Public Safety and Committee of the Whole.

Policy Committees will meet regularly on alternating Tuesdays for up to three hours. The Committee of the Whole will begin meeting the week of March 30. Policy committees will meet starting the week of April 6. 

All councilors serve on the Committee of the Whole. I will continue chairing the Housing Committee and will also serve on City Life (which handles Economic Development, Workforce, Labor, Music, Art, Climate).

I’m grateful to Council President Dunphy for all his work creating this new committee structure. It’s a balanced, thoughtful approach that will make council more efficient and effective.

Homelessness and Housing Committee

In the Homelessness and Housing Committee, one of the policies we advanced was Affordable Housing Opportunities Project (AHOP) amendments to the Comprehensive Plan Map and the Official Zoning Map. AHOP is about land use and regulatory reform that is intended to make it easier to build income-restricted affordable housing in Portland over the long term. It does not, on its own, produce units. And it does not address the immediate housing instability that thousands of Portlanders are facing right now.

That doesn’t mean that AHOP isn’t a meaningful policy – it is. But zoning is just one lever and one tool within a much larger housing system that we need to resource and bring into alignment.

Another H&H moment I want to highlight is the update from the Homelessness Response System. A recently released report about the adult shelter system found that even as the shelter system was expanded, available affordable housing didn't grow at the same rate. Whether shelter residents moved into permanent housing largely depended on whether there were investments in housing placement supports, suggesting there is a way to better balance our system.

Our next Homelessness and Housing meeting is on February 24 at 12:00pm. We have time for community feedback (sign up here!) and will be hearing a progress report on the Social Housing Study.

Climate, Resilience, and Land Use Committee

In the Climate, Resilience, and Land Use Committee, one of the main policies we’ve been discussing is an amendment to the Portland Clean Energy Fund’s (PCEF) Climate Investment Plan (CIP). As part of a routine update to the CIP, the nine volunteer members on the PCEF Committee recommended that $15 million be shifted from EV infrastructure to heat pumps and weatherization for affordable housing developments, because of current barriers (including federal) to deploying EV systems at scale.

Many of my colleagues have pushed back on the grounds that since transportation is the greatest source of carbon emissions (roughly 35% to 40% of total emissions), we shouldn’t be moving PCEF funding away from decarbonizing transportation.

But what often gets lost in this conversation is that buildings — residential and commercial — are the second-largest source, accounting for roughly another 30% to 35% of emissions, driven largely by electricity use and fossil fuels for heating and cooling. Housing is climate policy!

PCEF currently dedicates 16% to transportation and 15% to housing energy efficiency upgrades. That doesn’t look like a major imbalance in our priorities.

I’m very frustrated that my colleagues chose to strip the $15 million adjustment out of the PCEF CIP amendment package that the committee advanced. Pulling out this piece doesn’t resolve the disagreement. It simply delays a decision and delays investment in housing, at a moment when we know housing projects are shovel-ready and construction costs are rising.

When PCEF can come in at roughly 20% of a capital stack, that is often the difference between a project stalling and a project breaking ground.  And these investments primarily benefit low-income renters, who face the highest energy burdens and the greatest climate risk. This is where climate action, equity, and housing stability intersect most clearly.

As we continue to have conversations about PCEF, I want to keep us grounded in the founding principles of this innovative environmental justice fund – these dollars are for frontline, marginalized communities like our neighbors in East Portland. That’s the vision that Portlanders supported, and the one I continue to champion.

Our next Climate, Resilience, and Land Use Committee meeting is on February 26 at 9:30am. We will be hearing appointments to the Community Involvement Committee and a Planning Commission and Sustainability and Climate Commission Briefing.

Finance Committee

In the Finance Committee, we advanced a proposal to reallocate $150,000 from the Legal Priorities Reserve Fund to support refugee and immigration legal services provided by SOAR Immigration Legal Services. Immigrants and refugees in Portland face serious legal threats, including deportation, detention, and loss of work authorization, but there is no guaranteed right to legal counsel in immigration court.

I’m strongly supportive of this one-time allocation but I also want us to think more about how we can offer ongoing, reliable funding. I recently hosted a workshop with immigrant and refugee protection organizations to hear directly about what people are facing right now and what support is most urgently needed. Providers shared that the uncertainty of short-term funding makes it incredibly hard to plan, retain staff, or respond when demand spikes suddenly.

In particular, demand at legal clinics has exploded. In one case, a clinic reported a 600% increase in workload, while staffing levels stayed the same. That means people who are legally eligible to stay are waiting months for help — not because their cases are weak, but because the system is overwhelmed.

I’m interested in continuing a longer-term conversation about how the City supports immigrant and refugee communities in a more sustainable way. That is something I’ll be advocating for as we move into the budget process. 

Our next Finance Committee meeting is on February 23 at 12:00pm. We will be looking at a business license tax exemption, paying for City employee representation in the context of federal overreach, and traffic safety grant reimbursements.

East Portland Stories and Happenings

• Prosper has a new training program for nonprofits, businesses, neighborhood associations, and business associations through a partnership with the Nonprofit Association of Oregon. You’ll learn grant writing best practices, how to fundraise, how to manage volunteers, and more.
  • Prosper’s Uniquely Portland Event Grant is also open for applications. Applicants can receive $500 to $7,500 to support community-driven events and placemaking activities that communicate vibrancy, joy, and uniquely Portland culture to broader audiences.
• Applications for the Bridge Project are now open for Multnomah County. The Project is an unconditional cash transfer program for pregnant moms, who, if selected, will receive consistent cash, no strings attached, for three years.
• The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and City of Gresham are holding a free East County Community Resiliency Fair on February 21, from 10 am - 2 pm at Centennial High School, 3505 Southeast 182nd Avenue, 97030. There will be many exhibitor tables and fun activities, including a kids’ helmet giveaway.
• On February 23 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm at Lent Elementary School, the Portland Bureau of Transportation is hosting an open house in D1 to have a conversation about the different options for local transportation funding. PBOT has faced eight years of budget cuts and a ballooning maintenance backlog. City staff has prepared different alternative funding proposals to help close these gaps after Council passed a resolution back in July 2025.
• On February 28, from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm, Urban Forestry is holding a Black Tree Stories event at Midland Library. Enjoy lively stories, songs, education, and Afro-botanical art for all! Kids with adults are welcome to this tree-literacy winter experience!
• On March 10, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, join D1 Councilors at the IRCO Sokhom Tauch Community Center for a free, moderated discussion hosted by City Club of Portland! RSVP here.

Constituent Day Meeting Request!

District 1 neighbors, use this form to request a 20-minute appointment with Councilor Avalos at the Midland Library! We just opened up dates for March 2026.

In solidarity,

Candace Avalos