 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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Pearl District Neighborhood Association: 5:30-7pm Thursday, April 9th at Pacific Northwest College of Art’s Hammer Room, 511 NW Broadway.
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Sellwood: Joint Town Hall with Councilor Eric Zimmerman and special guest City Administrator Raymond Lee, 6-8pm Tuesday, April 14th at Sellwood Community House, 1436 SE Spokane Street.
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Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League (SMILE): 7:30-9pm Wednesday, May 6th at SMILE Station, 8210 SE 13th Avenue.
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Ashcreek-Crestwood Neighborhood Association: 7-8:30pm Monday, May 11th on Zoom.
 Last weekend I was downtown taking part in the nonviolent, people-powered movement to send a loud and clear message: No Kings!
With 60+ demonstrations in Oregon — and 1,000+ across the United States — this was expected to be the biggest protest in U.S. history.
 Starting this month, I will chair the Public Works Committee, addressing matters related to our public infrastructure bureaus. According to 2023 estimates, these bureaus have assets valued at $74 billion+. We must maintain them while keeping our eye on the future.
I recently toured several construction sites to speak with staff about the key work they’re doing to keep our City running. Clockwise from top left:
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Broadway Corridor: The Portland Bureau of Transportation is preparing to bring new life to vacant lots by constructing streets, sidewalks, and bike lanes through the former U.S. Postal Service site. Prosper Portland’s Broadway Corridor development will unite the Pearl District with downtown, offering an opportunity for 2,400+ new households.
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Darcelle XV Plaza: Portland Parks & Recreation is building a public space downtown to honor the world’s oldest drag performer, who passed away in 2023. The design includes a flexible plaza for all types of events and activities, a dog off-leash area, and sail shades.
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Carolina Trunk: The Bureau of Environmental Services is replacing a section of 90-year-old concrete sewer pipe that runs deep underground near Southwest Slavin Road under Interstate 5 to Macadam Avenue. Engineers face challenges due to the steep terrain and the old landfill that is covering a former stream bed.
 Now that spring break is over and kids are back in class, drivers need to slow down in school zones! That was the message this week at a traffic safety event near West Hills Montessori School — an area that has increasing traffic volume and few residential sidewalks.
Within just a 90-minute window, officers stopped 31 vehicles, citing 20 and warning 22. Violations included speeding, distracted and careless driving, violation of sound equipment limits, uninsured/failure to carry proof, failure to stop for a pedestrian, failure to maintain a safe distance, failure to obey a traffic control device, failure to register a vehicle, failure to display plates, and failure to drive within the lane.
Special thanks to Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School, Portland Police Bureau; and the Hayhurst, Maplewood, and Multnomah Neighborhood Associations for helping to keep our streets safe!
 This week I met with the Northwest District Association to provide updates from my office and to hear their concerns. We discussed Slabtown Park, Northrup Shelter, a proposed Portland Streetcar extension, pavement improvements coming to 23rd Avenue, and the city’s overall economic health.
 This week I attended the grand opening of the Vista Pavilion at Oregon Health & Science University.
Under the leadership of OHSU President Shereef Elnahal and Knight Cancer Institute CEO Brian Druker (bottom left), this innovative facility will add 128 patient beds and provide advanced treatment and support for patients receiving intensive cancer care, radiology, and diagnostic services. Some of the inspirational art adorning the walls was contributed by former patients.
One of the most meaningful moments was meeting Alan Lynn (bottom right), a retired Albany police officer who was treated for leukemia in 2021. He went on to serve as a patient advocate who contributed to the design of Vista Pavilion. Hearing his story was a powerful reminder of the lifesaving impact of compassionate, cutting-edge care.
 I recently met with District 4 representatives from Together Lab, an interfaith alliance of 125+ clergy working together for immigrant justice.
Over the past six months, they have been accompanying immigrants and asylum seekers to their hearings and ICE check-ins alongside the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition and legal observers. They also engage with schools and neighbors to protect children and families, and they organize vigils to expose unconstitutional actions of the federal government.
At a time when so many vulnerable communities are hurting, it is reassuring to know that these faith leaders are showing up every day.
 The iconic Thompson Elk Fountain is returning to its original location on Southwest Main Street for the first time since 2020 — let’s celebrate!
The City of Portland, Portland Parks Foundation, and Regional Arts & Culture Council invite you to a family-friendly afternoon with community booths, giveaways, food trucks, and a DJ from 1 to 4pm Sunday, April 12th at Chapman and Lownsdale Squares. The program starts at 1:30.
Built in 1900, the fountain was named after David P. Thompson, who was mayor from 1879 to 1882 and a founder of Oregon Humane Society. In summer 2020, fires in the base damaged pieces of the stonework. While the bronze elk was not damaged, it was discovered that the statue was not properly secured to the stone base and was at risk of falling. After a multiyear makeover, the elk is more sustainable, seismically resilient, and elegant than ever before.
 Portland Sunday Parkways returns this summer for the 19th consecutive year! The program promotes healthy, active living through a series of free, family-friendly events that open the city’s largest public space — our streets — for walking, biking, rolling, and playing.
The 2026 season kicks off and wraps up in District 4:
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Southwest Portland (May 17): The event will feature a 2-mile multimodal route, plus a 2.6-mile self-guided walking route highlighting SW Trails work in the neighborhood. Activation areas include Gabriel Park, Village Park, Multnomah Village, Multnomah Arts Center, and Spring Garden Park.
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Downtown Portland (September 13): The 2.3-mile one-way event route will include Darcelle XV Plaza to celebrate the soon-to-be-completed public space honoring the world’s oldest drag performer, who passed away in 2023.
Also save the date for July 19th, when Biketown will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a massive group bike ride ahead of the Pride Parade.
Go to portland.gov/sunday-parkways/2026 for event updates, including volunteer and vendor opportunities. The Portland Bureau of Transportation is also gathering community feedback through April 22nd, and it’s soliciting stories and memories ahead of next year’s 20th anniversary celebration.
 Oregon’s oldest amusement park, Oaks Park, has launched its 121st season! It will be open weekends only in April, May, and September, with daily summer hours from June through Labor Day weekend. For the first time, season passes are available.
Last year Oaks restored its 1905 dance pavilion, removing the drop ceiling to expose the original timber ceiling. Some other trivia you might not know:
- It’s the oldest remaining trolley park on the West Coast and one of only 12 trolley parks remaining in the country.
- Noah’s Ark Carousel, built in 1912, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Oaks Park Scrambler, purchased in 1957, is the oldest of these rides still owned by its original purchaser.
- Oaks Park Roller Rink is the oldest in the country and the last roller rink in the world to feature a live pipe organist during select skating sessions.
 Were you able to see the cherry blossoms while they were peaking? It was wonderful to see so many people out and about, both locals and tourists, enjoying this annual display of color.
These 100 Akebono Cherry Trees were donated to the City of Portland by the Japanese Grain Traders Import Association to celebrate the dedication of the Japanese American Historical Plaza in 1990.
Community leader Henry Sakamoto, who died in November, had an influential hand in getting the plaza built and in the founding of the Japanese American Museum of Oregon, where you can learn more. He had worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 32 years and was the first president of the Oregon Nikkei Endowment.
 Only two Chinese restaurants remain in our 10‑block New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District, The Oregonian reports. Councilor Zimmerman and I recently took a delicious lunch break to show our support.
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Golden Horse Seafood Restaurant, at 238 NW Fourth Ave., offers a large Cantonese menu — the seafood dishes and Beijing pork are popular — alongside Americanized dishes like orange chicken and General Tso’s. “We know all the guests. It’s like our life surrounds this location,” said Sophy Li, who has only worked at the restaurant since immigrating to Portland in 1999 with her parents. “So we don’t want to close it down. I’m emotionally attached to it.”
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Republic Cafe, at 222 NW Fourth Ave., remains Portland’s oldest continually operating Chinese restaurant. It had one of the city’s swankiest cocktail lounges in its heyday — famous customers included Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Harry Belafonte, Ginger Rogers, Victor Borge, and Danny Kaye — and continues to draw an underground scene on Tuesday nights. “Chinatown’s always been affiliated with hipsters and punk rock, and it’s the same here in Portland,” said Mykal Ragonese, whose wife, Heather, has bartended at Republic for nine years. “This is, to me, one of the coolest places in Portland. It’s so special — it’s the bridge between the past, present, and future.”
 I recently shopped for a blazer at Wildfang, a nationally known brand that’s built a reputation for gender-free apparel and bold prints.
Their collection includes the first-ever clothing line designed by Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry as well as a special-edition series by Oscar-nominated actress and musician Juliette Lewis.
CEO Emma McIlroy is also one of the masterminds behind the world’s longest drag show, a record that was set in 2023 at Darcelle XV Showplace to raise $300,000 for The Trevor Project’s crisis services for queer youth. The 48-hour saga will be preserved in an upcoming documentary she’s producing called Dragathon: Meeting Hate with Joy.
 Reimagine the River, a recent conference, brought together civic, tribal, nonprofit, and business leaders, including Mayor Wilson, to discuss the potential for the Willamette River.
The conference highlighted projects from Oregon City to the Columbia River. Here are two located in District 4:
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Tom McCall Bowl: This waterfront park project, just south of the Hawthorne Bridge, will include an outdoor entertainment stage as well as swimming and kayaking access. Last year the City received a $750,000 planning grant from Metro; next up is a national design competition.
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Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus: The Port of Portland has plans to turn a former marine terminal in Northwest Portland into a campus dedicated to research, development, and construction of mass timber. The 39-acre site will have space for University of Oregon’s Acoustics Research & Energy Studies in Buildings Labs, along with manufacturing facilities and incubator space for small-scale companies focused on innovation in housing, mass timber, and climate initiatives.
 ► The New York Times published a guide to Portland that shows a lot of love for District 4 neighborhoods like the Pearl District and Slabtown (“former industrial enclaves … brimming with galleries, restaurants, and residential lofts”) and Sellwood (“known as the ‘Antique Capital of the Northwest,’ and has enough Victorians and Craftsmans to cement the title”). Our parks also get a shout-out: “ranging from the smallest park in the country, Mill Ends (with one tree and an area measured in inches), to the expansive Forest Park (over roughly 5,200 acres).” Pamela Baker-Miller, who opened the boutique Frances May 18 years ago, shared: “Portland is a really special place…. The people who are downtown every day and work down here … genuinely love it, and we feel safe, and we see the vibrancy and the change that’s happened.”
► Just ahead of the Portland Fire’s first regular season game on May 9, women’s sports is getting its own film festival! The inaugural International Women’s Sports Film Festival will be held May 1-3 at downtown’s Judy Kafoury Center for Youth Arts, according to Willamette Week. A preview event April 11 at Winningstad Theatre will screen The Moment, a documentary about University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley.
► Good news: After a February closure announcement, acclaimed Pearl District restaurant República has changed its mind! Portland Business Journal reports that co-owners Angel Medina and Olivia Bartruff are back with limited hours and a smaller menu focused on the fundamentals of Mexican cuisine: quesadillas, tacotes, guisados, and pozole. A James Beard Award semifinalist, República was named among the “25 Restaurants That Made Portland” by Portland Monthly and “The 25 Best Restaurants in Portland Right Now” by The New York Times.
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