Who's running for Portland City Council: District 1
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The Portland City Council will expand from four commissioners to 12 starting next year and will effectively act as the legislative branch in the city's new form of government.
Why it matters: In the past, city council members have run citywide and have overseen specific bureaus. Now, commissioners — three chosen from each of the four quadrants — will be tied to specific areas with the goal of representing communities with shared political interests.
Catch up quick: Voters will select three candidates to represent their district via the city's first ranked-choice election this fall.
Zoom in: District 1 encompasses parts of northeast Portland (including the airport) and all of the easternmost part of the city, from 82nd Avenue to the city boundaries.
- Only seven of 16 candidates qualified for public matching funds from the small-donor elections program.
Here's a brief look at who's running:
Steph Routh is a longtime organizer, an adjunct professor of urban planning at Portland State University and former executive director of Oregon Walks, a nonprofit aiming to improve neighborhood walkability.
- She previously served on the Portland Planning Commission and said one of her priorities would be to fully fund Portland Street Response and make it available to all neighborhoods around the clock.
Timur Ender is an attorney and previously worked for the Portland Bureau of Transportation with a focus on bike infrastructure.
- He told Willamette Week that his top priorities are housing, homelessness and community safety.
Candace Avalos is the executive director of environmental advocacy group Verde and previously served on the city's police oversight committee and charter review board.
- Her first move if elected would be to call for an audit of Portland's police and fire agencies on response times.
Jamie Dunphy is a director at the American Cancer Society and serves on the board of trade association MusicPortland. He's previously worked on public policy for U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and former Portland Commissioner Nick Fish.
- One of his proposals is to expand Portland Street Response.
Loretta Smith is the chair of the Oregon Democratic Party's Black Caucus, as well as a former Multnomah County Commissioner who advocated for affordable health care and programs for small businesses.
- She previously worked for Sen. Ron Wyden when he represented Oregon's 3rd Congressional District. She says her priorities include homelessness and gun violence.
Terrence Hayes owns a graffiti removal company and is a community adviser for a city-funded program aimed at reducing gun violence.
- Hayes was previously incarcerated for 13 years for attempted murder — which he says helps distinguish him as a candidate — and is the cousin of Quanice Hayes, who was shot and killed by Portland police in 2017.
Noah Ernst is an in-house attorney and superintendent at Radio Cab and previously said he's eager to run because east Portland has historically "been left out of important conversations."
- If elected, he plans to push for transparent accounting to ensure taxpayer money is spent appropriately.
Go deeper: For more information on all of the candidates running in Portland City Council's District 1 race, check out Portland Mercury, Rose City Reform and The Oregonian.