The Budget, the Buildings, and the Land We Already Own
The Portland Education Association sent every council candidate the same eight questions about the council's role in our schools. Here's exactly where I stand, as a former K–12 substitute teacher and third-grade teacher myself, someone with teachers in my own family, and a candidate whose housing plan puts essential workers, teachers included, on land the city and school district already own.
What do you see as the primary role for city council members when it comes to our local public schools?
Council doesn't set curriculum, that's the School Board's job. What Council controls is the budget, capital investment, and city land and buildings that touch schools directly. I'd use all three honestly: real budget scrutiny instead of a rubber stamp, real investment in school buildings and grounds, and using city and school-district land for things like housing for the teachers who can't afford to live here.
This is the essential-worker housing plank in Housing That Works: city and school-district land, already owned, used for the people who can't otherwise afford to stay.
Read the full Housing brief →What are your top three priorities that have motivated you to run for office?
Housing, safety, and connection. A teacher who can't afford to live in Portland can't be a consistent part of a school community, and I know that firsthand, I have teachers in my own family, and I taught K through 12 as a stipend sub and a year in third grade myself in the Bay Area. My housing plan builds homes for teachers and other essential workers on land the city and school district already own, at rents that actually stay in reach. Kids walking or biking to school deserve streets built to their standard, a connected, low-stress network, not an afterthought. Full platform at atiim.org/platform-research.
The same essential-worker housing plank as Q1, applied to the whole campaign: housing, safety, and connection are one platform, not three separate promises.
Read the full Housing brief →Why can school employees trust you to objectively navigate your role on the council?
Because it's the work I already do. I'm a mental health clinician, trained to hold conflict and competing needs for a living. I've also stood in the classroom myself, as a stipend sub and a third-grade teacher, and I have teachers in my own family. Educators know the difference between someone performing empathy and someone who's actually done the work.
What is your perspective on the relationship between the council and the schools?
Fair question, and the description is accurate. A council that only ratifies the School Board isn't doing its job, and a council that tries to run schools from City Hall isn't either. The role is in between: hard budget questions before the vote, not after, and treating the School Board as a partner, not a formality.
What life experience do you have that you believe will set you up for success in this role?
My career runs directly through young people. I taught K through 12 as a stipend sub, and third grade, in the Bay Area. I've worked as a case manager, crisis worker, and now clinical liaison to Maine's Family Court Program, and co-founded the country's first Young Adult Court in San Francisco. I also have teachers in my family, so I know firsthand what they're up against: low wages, out-of-pocket costs, and rent they can't afford on a teacher's salary.
What makes you uniquely qualified for this role, what sets you apart?
I won't compare myself to the other candidates, that's not the campaign I'm running. What I bring: I'm a clinician, an artist, and a community organizer, three lenses that don't usually sit in one person. That means I think in systems, not silos, the same way housing, safety, and schools aren't separate issues to me. They're one city.
Why are you running for this position?
I have a daughter growing up in this city, and I've stood in a classroom and watched good teachers do everything right and still not afford to stay. I want Portland to be a place she can grow up in and come back to, the same way I want it to be a place a teacher can build a life in. I've spent my career in rooms where systems either show up for people or fail them quietly. I think City Hall can be one that shows up, and the people who show up for our kids deserve a council that shows up for them.
Is there anything else you want us to know?
I'd welcome sitting down with educators directly, not just answering a form, a listening session, a building visit, knocking doors alongside a teacher. That's how I built the rest of this platform, and education deserves the same.
Every answer above traces back to the same plank: essential-worker housing on land the city and school district already own, the piece of Housing That Works built specifically for the teachers, nurses, and staff who keep Portland running but can't afford to live in it. Nothing here was invented for this questionnaire. It's the platform I've already published, applied to what educators actually asked.