City Club of Portland

Democrats rode a blue wave to a supermajority in the Legislature and Governor Brown has ambitious policy goals, including finding $2 billion for education. How much of the Democrats' agenda will make it to the Governor's desk this summer? Will Republicans look for opportunities to compromise or are they forming their own "resistance" in the hopes that a red wave will carry them in 2020?

Join us as we discuss the politics and policy goals of 2019 with Oregon House and Senate leaders from both parties.

Carl Wilson (R) grew up in Josephine County. Out of high school, he served in the U.S. Navy. For several decades, his family has owned and operated local radio stations KAJO and KLDR. As a local business owner, he’s led an active role in support of community events in Grants Pass.

Wilson served as State Representative from 1998-2003, and returned to Salem again in 2014. Following the 2018 midterm elections he was voted to lead the House Republican Caucus in Salem.

Wilson’s legislative efforts have focused on creating new jobs and economic development opportunities in Josephine County, improving the education system, and advocating for balanced budgets and reduced spending.

Jennifer Williamson (D) is the Majority Leader of the Oregon House of Representatives – a position she has held since 2015. During her time in the Oregon House, she has led the effort o require background checks on all gun purchases, fought to secure the largest education budget in Oregon’s history and fund all-day kindergarten statewide for the first time ever, helped expand access to contraception, and supported a statewide paid sick leave law.

Jennifer got her start in politics on the campus of the University of Oregon, where her own struggle with college affordability led her to become an advocate for every student. After working for then Sen. Mark Hatfield, Williamson attended law school and went into private practice. She then worked in education policy at Portland State University and as chief of staff for Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction, Susan Castillo. 

Jennifer, a fourth-generation Oregonian, has served in the Oregon House of Representatives since 2012.

Ginny Burdick is currently serving as the Majority Leader of the Oregon Senate, after serving five years as Senate President Pro Tempore. She represents Oregon Senate District 18, which includes portions of West Portland and Tigard.

First elected to the Senate in 1996, Burdick has served as chair of the Judiciary Committee, the Finance and Revenue Committee, and co-chair of the Marijuana Legalization Committee. She currently chairs the Senate Committee on Rules and Executive Appointments. Senator Burdick is one of the Legislature's leading advocates for gun safety legislation. 

Sen. Burdick was raised in Portland. She attended Chapman and Bridlemile elementary schools and is a graduate of Wilson High School. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Puget Sound and her masters in journalism from the University of Oregon. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, competitive scrabble, and attending her book groups.

Dick Hughes has been covering the Oregon political scene since the 1970s, starting with Tom McCall. Hughes estimates he has written more than 15,000 news stories, editorials, columns, briefs, magazine essays and newsletter items… and nearly 16,000 social media posts. After more than 20 years as editorial page editor at the Statesman Journal in Salem, Hughes now is a freelance journalist operating as Hughesisms LLC. His weekly Oregon politics column—Capital Chatter—is posted every Friday on OregonCapitalInsider.com.
 

Immigration, #metoo, the economy, protests, wildfires, the election—what were the issues that you followed this year and what needs another look now that it's almost 2019? Let's reflect on the events that shaped 2018 and think about what might be ahead in the coming year.

Rukaiyah Adams is the Chief Investment Officer at Meyer Memorial Trust. She is responsible for leading all investment activities to ensure the long-term financial strength of the organization. Before joining Meyer, she ran the $6.5 Billion capital markets fund at The Standard. Ms. Adams is also the Chair of the Oregon Investment Council, the board that manages approximately $90 Billion for the State of Oregon and PERS.

Ms. Adams holds a BA with academic distinction from Carleton College and a JD from Stanford Law where she was on the Law and Policy Review and the Co-President of the Law Student Association. Ms. Adams also has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Portland is Ms. Adams' hometown. She learned to read at King school. She learned to communicate at Harriet Tubman Middle School. She learned to embrace her shine playing in the Walnut Park neighborhood in Northeast Portland.

Patrick Criteser currently serves the dairy families of Tillamook County as the president and CEO of the Tillamook County Creamery Association (“Tillamook”). Tillamook is a more than century-old farmer-owned cooperative with a leading premium dairy brand and a commitment to providing real food that tastes great.

Criteser is an experienced executive with a track record of leading growth and positive transformation at companies large and small. Before joining TCCA as president and CEO in 2012, he spent eight years as president and CEO at Coffee Bean International and one year as co-CEO of Farmer Brothers. Prior to his role at Coffee Bean International, Criteser held management and strategic development roles at some of the world’s most respected brands, including Nike, The Walt Disney Company, and Procter & Gamble. He also spent time as a principal at SmartForest Ventures, a Portland-based venture capital fund, where he led the firm’s investments in several successful technology companies.

Criteser was raised in Oregon and serves on the boards of The Oregon Food Bank, The Oregon Community Foundation, and The Oregon Business Council.  He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. 

Andrew DeVigal is the co-director of the Masters in Multimedia Journalism program at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication here in Portland. He's also the associate director of the Agora Journalism Center, UO's gathering place for innovation in communication and civic engagement. Before coming to Oregon six years ago, he was the multimedia director at The New York Times, where he helped guide the newspaper’s print-driven format into the multimedia era and integrated new approaches to interactive storytelling into The Times’ long tradition of journalistic excellence to help shape the industry with techniques still in use today. With Laura Lo Forti, DeVigal co-founded A Fourth Act, an interdisciplinary collective of storytellers, facilitators, researchers, designers, and technologists using stories and technology to empower audiences in becoming agents of change in their communities.

Mat dos Santos is the legal director of the ACLU of Oregon. He currently oversees the legal program which includes a docket of about 30 pieces of impact litigation and about 3,000 requests for legal assistance per year. He also oversees the ACLU of Oregon’s amicus program, which routinely files briefs in state and federal court on important issues of civil rights and civil liberties. Mat regularly appears in state and national media to comment on legal issues involving significant constitutional concerns and has published numerous articles and contributed to text books on a wide variety of legal issues.

Prior to joining the ACLU as the legal director, he was a litigator at the San Francisco-based firm Morrison & Foerster, where he worked as pro bono counsel with numerous organizations including the ACLU, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Immigration Equality and the Transgender Law Center and represented a wide variety of clients in varying areas of civil rights litigation. His cases included successfully securing hormone treatment for transgender inmates in state custody; assisting with 9th Circuit appeals of refugees seeking asylum based on HIV status, gender identity, and sexual orientation; the representation of a Guantanamo Bay detainee held without charges; and, he contributed to amicus briefs in the same-sex marriage cases in state and federal court.

Mat also worked as in-house counsel at Jazz Pharmaceuticals where he managed litigation and provided advice on a variety of issues including global privacy, compliance, and data security. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Mat worked as a biologist for Foster Wheeler where he negotiated with federal and state environmental agencies and oversaw on-the-ground regulatory compliance on a number of significant power and telecommunications projects.

Kerry Tymchuk serves as the executive director of the Oregon Historical Society. Founded in 1898, OHS is the designated steward of Oregon's history. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the Oregon Historical Society houses the Oregon History Museum, a world-class research library, and it hosts a wide array of educational programs. Kerry has been named by the Portland Business Journal as “The Most Admired Non-Profit Executive in Portland,” and in 2018 received the “Statesman of the Year Award” from Oregon Business Industry.  

Originally from Reedsport, Oregon, Kerry is a 1981 graduate of Willamette University and a 1984 graduate of Willamette University College of Law. Prior to assuming the helm at OHS in April 2011, Kerry earned a reputation as one of Oregon's most respected public servants. His career included service as a Marion County Deputy District Attorney, Director of Speechwriting to U.S. Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole, Director of Speechwriting and Legal Counsel to U.S. Senator Bob Dole, and Oregon Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Gordon Smith. 

A four-time champion on the popular television game show "Jeopardy," Kerry is active in the community, serving on the boards of AAA-Oregon, Willamette University, the Oregon State Fair Council, the Oregon Community Board of Wells Fargo, and the Oregon Community Board of Regence/Blue Cross. Kerry and his wife, Becky, reside in Beaverton, and are the parents of two children.

Tom Hughes's second and final term as Metro President will end in January. After 8 years leading Metro, what has he learned about our region? What are his personal highlights from his time working for Metro and what would he have done differently knowing then what he knows now? Join us as we ask these and other questions at Friday Forum!

Tom Hughes is President of the Metro Council, the elected leadership of the Metro regional government. He was elected in November of 2010, and re-elected in May 2014, on a platform that emphasized jobs and economic development. Among his achievements as Metro Council President, he has led efforts to strengthen regional job growth and gain voters’ support of two maintenance levies for parks and natural areas. He also led the way in updating Metro’s approach to managing the urban growth boundary; championed the agency’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; realized the construction of the Oregon Convention Center headquarters hotel; and made progress on reconnecting the public to Willamette Falls. Prior to his time at Metro, he served eight years as mayor of Hillsboro, where he led the effort to attract and retain major high-tech and renewable energy employers and secured state and federal funding for significant transportation investments. He lives in Hillsboro with his wife, Gayle, and has two grown daughters.

Emerald Bogue has worked in local politics for more than a decade—including policy roles at the City of Portland and Multnomah County as well as managing multiple campaigns. Prior to this, she was a labor organizer. In her current role at the Port of Portland, Emerald is responsible for regional government affairs. 

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In Portland, two-thirds of Black students are failing according to state testing standards. A report by EcoNorthwest and commissioned by KairosPDX and Chalkboard Project shows that this gap has been persistent over the last decade. In a city that is becoming increasingly diverse and prides itself on equity and sustainability, these trends are troubling. The good news is innovation and community-based solutions promise new opportunities for Black children. If these strategies are effective, they can be used across Oregon to support the success of all children.

Join us as we share innovative solutions and discuss how we can build communities where all children thrive. To kick off the conversation, Ron Herndon, the director of the Portland-based Albina Head Start, will share some of the history of the Black community in Portland and the struggle to gain access to quality education.  

Lisa Collins is an education professional with experience in three large school districts. As the director of teaching and learning with the Parkrose School District, she helps teachers and administrators be their best for students and their community. She has taught elementary, middle, and high school students in special and general education over her 25-year career and brings an equity lens to her work and life.

Kali Ladd is a social entrepreneur who is a passionate advocate for equity and education transformation. After spending four years as education director for former mayor Sam Adams, Kali pursued establishing and co-founding KairosPDX, a nonprofit dedicated to closing opportunity and achievement gaps for historically marginalized children. In May 2012, she won election to the Portland Community College Board of Directors and currently chairs the board. In 2016, she was appointed by Governor Brown to the Early Learning Council of Oregon, where she also currently serves.

Joe McFerrin II is the president/CEO of Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center and Rosemary Anderson High School (POIC + RAHS). He currently sits on boards for the Portland Public Schools' High Schools Action Team, AdvancED State Accreditation Commission, the YMCA Board of Managers, the Portland Community College-Cascade Campus Bond Advisory Committee, and Grief Watch. He also serves on the Black Male Achievement Portland Steering Committee, Judge Nan Waller’s Juvenile Justice Task Force, Multnomah County’s Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (LPSCC) and Youth and Gang Violence Coordinating Council, and is vice president of the Executive Directors’ Association of the OIC of America.

Joyce Harris is the manager of community outreach at Education Northwest. Her career has been defined by her professional (and personal) work in making connections and meeting the needs of communities and educators. Before coming to Education Northwest, she served as an administrator at the Black Educational Center, a school she co-founded. Her teaching experiences include serving as a science teacher through OMSI and as an instructor in a Portland Public Schools program for racially and culturally diverse talented and gifted students.

Ron Herndon served as President and Board Chair of the National Head Start Association (NHSA) from 1991 to 2013. As Chair he provided leadership and support to Head Start programs across the nation including advocating for over 900,000 low-income children and families.

Through his vision NHSA partnered with Texas Tech University to develop the National Head Start Training Academy for Head Start staff. Ron persuaded Phil Knight, founder and Chairman of Nike, to fund STARTLINE, a national computer training program for Head Start children and parents. Through this partnership Nike also sponsored NikeGo a physical activity program for Preschool children and Nike STARTingBlock a management program for Head Start leaders.

Ron has been the Director of Albina Head Start in Portland, Oregon since 1975. He is a former teacher, counselor, college instructor, and VISTA volunteer.

In January, Dan Saltzman will leave the Portland City Council, a job he's held for two decades. At Friday Forum, we'll ask him to reflect on his time in office. What has he learned over the last twenty years that he thinks a new commissioner ought to know? What were the biggest challenges during his tenure? What would he have done differently if he had the chance to go back in time? And does the commission form of government work?

Join us for an insightful look into how Portland's government is run and the future of Oregon's largest city. 

Dan Saltzman is about to complete his fifth and final term as a Portland City Commissioner. In his nearly 25 years of public service to Multnomah County and the City of Portland he has been the Commissioner in Charge of over 15 city bureaus and offices. He currently oversees Portland Fire & Rescue, Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, Bureau of Emergency Communications, Fire & Police Disability and Retirement Fund, Portland Children's Levy and the Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services.

Dan was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Beaverton High School, received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University, and an M.S. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He spent many years in the private sector as the principal in an environmental engineering firm. He also served as a staff assistant to Congressman (now Senator) Ron Wyden.

Dan served as Multnomah County Commissioner from 1993-1998 and has also served on the Board of Directors for Portland Community College. Dan's focus continues to be the well-being of our children and families, protecting Portland's natural and economic environment to achieve a more sustainable future, as well as enhancing public safety and opportunity for all Portlanders.

Emerald Bogue has worked in local politics for more than a decade—including policy roles at the City of Portland and Multnomah County as well as managing multiple campaigns. Prior to this, she was a labor organizer. In her current role at the Port of Portland, Emerald is responsible for regional government affairs. 

What were the big surprises in Oregon and across the country? What do these results mean for the Oregon Legislature in 2019? And what can we expect in 2020?

Join us as we look back at the political races and ballot measures that will shape the coming year in Oregon and beyond.

Ana del Rocío is the state director of Color PAC Action, a nonprofit that uplifts leaders of color to enter public office and govern effectively. Ana is a first-generation Chicana/Peruana, and has experience in the public sector at both the state and local levels. In 2017, she was elected to the David Douglas School Board in an unprecedented election that saw people of color on the ballot for the first time, in a majority-people of color school district. In addition to her work advancing reflective democracy throughout Oregon, Ana sits on the board of Family Forward Action/The Mother PAC—where she brings a racial justice approach to organizing mothers and caregivers for better workplace policies, including paid family leave and affordable childcare. Ana lives in outer southeast Portland and spends her free time with her two young children, Túpac Amaru and Inti Guamaní.

Jillian Schoene has spent the last 20 years working in Oregon politics, at all levels of government, for both elected officials and candidates running for office. She was recruited to take over Emerge Oregon in the summer of 2014.

Before coming to Emerge, she worked with a number of candidates, including Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Governor Kate Brown, and Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury. She also has worked for two members of Congress and two governors—Governor Ted Kulongoski during his second term in office and as Governor John Kitzhaber’s spokesperson during his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

In addition to her work for Emerge, Jillian is a fierce advocate for women’s reproductive health, including that all have access to contraceptive care and safe, legal abortion services. She is board vice chair for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon.

Rebecca Tweed is campaign advisor to Oregon gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler, executive director of Grow Oregon, the founder of Tweed Strategies, and an Of Counsel consultant to Gallatin Public Affairs and G2 Public Strategies in the Pacific Northwest. For more than a decade, she has been a top political strategist in Oregon and has worked on over 40 political campaigns and multiple advocacy issues ranging from local government and state candidate campaigns, to county and statewide ballot measures across Oregon.

Leonard Bergstein is the founder and president of Northwest Strategies and a founding board member of the Oregon Sports Authority. He got his start in Oregon public affairs when he moved from New York in 1972 to work for Multnomah County Legal Aid, running the Legislative Action Center to inform and organize clients on landlord-tenant and consumer protection issues. Focusing next on electoral politics, Len ran Betty Roberts' historic race for Governor in 1973/74 and then went on to serve as the campaign manager, legislative assistant, and political affairs advisor to Governor Bob Straub. In 1978, Len was administrative assistant to Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt and in 1979 was a special assistant on the Washington D.C. staff of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Neil Goldschmidt. 

In 1981, Len returned to Oregon to start what has become one of Oregon's leading public affairs consulting firms—Northwest Strategies.

Len has long been involved with efforts to make Oregon a premier destination for amateur athletic contests, world-class spectator events, and major sports franchises. Twenty-five years ago, he helped start the Oregon Sports Authority, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for Oregonians by using Oregon's matchless physical assets and sports culture to attract more than 200 key sports events, totaling more than $300 million in economic impact to our region.

Len is a graduate of Wesleyan University (Middletown, Connecticut) and NYU Law School. While attending NYU Law School, Len enjoyed teaching at a public middle school and a private residential treatment center near New York City. In our state, Len is a long-time member of City Club and has supplemented his professional schedule with service on numerous boards, commissions, and community service organizations. Len is also the Political Analyst for KGW TV.

 

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The pollsters and prognosticators believe there's a good chance Democrats will win a majority in the U.S House of Representatives this year. But if they did, what would they DO with it?

On November 2, we will pose that question to our own U.S. House representatives—Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer. What will their top priorities be? Will they try to repeal the Trump tax cuts? Require that all Federal uniforms be made of hemp? Cut military spending and use the money to fight climate disruption? Who will be Speaker of the House? And how will they work with—or more likely against—the Trump administration.
 
We are saving extra time for audience questions into this session, so you will have a better-than-usual chance to quiz Suzanne and Earl yourself! Join us for a fascinating conversation into potential shifts in Washington in 2019 and beyond.

Suzanne Bonamici represents the First Congressional District of Oregon in the United States House of Representatives, which includes Washington, Yamhill, Clatsop, and Columbia counties and part of Multnomah County.

Strengthening public education is one of Suzanne's top priorities and one of the reasons she got involved in public service. Suzanne spent hundreds of hours volunteering in public schools before serving in the Oregon State Legislature, where she passed legislation to reduce duplicative testing. In Congress, she is the Vice Ranking Member and a leader of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Suzanne is dedicated to setting national policies that give students and educators support and opportunities they need to lead them to success in school and in life. She played a lead role in the passage of the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaces No Child Left Behind, reduces testing, puts more focus on well-rounded education, and gives more decision-making back to states and local districts.

Suzanne worked her way through college in Eugene, first at Lane Community College and then at the University of Oregon, where she earned her bachelor's degree and law degree. She is focused on making college more affordable and closing the skills gap so students enter the workforce with in-demand skills. Suzanne is the founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional STEAM Caucus, which aims to encourage innovation and creative thinking by integrating arts and design with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education.

Suzanne also serves as a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and she is the top Democratic member on the Subcommittee on the Environment. From this position, she is working to address the causes and consequences of global climate change, and to make sure that policy decisions are based on science. As a representative of coastal Oregon and co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, she is working to draw attention to issues that affect coastal communities, including ocean acidification, tsunami and earthquakes, extreme weather events, and marine debris.

In Congress, Suzanne focuses on federal policies that help working families get ahead and on building an economy that gives everyone the opportunity to succeed. She is a strong advocate for helping workers save for retirement and be financially secure. Suzanne also supports paid family leave, raising the federal minimum wage, and making sure workers have a voice on the job.  Suzanne is vigilant about making sure that women have access to a full range of family planning services.

During college and law school, Suzanne worked at Lane County Legal Aid. After law school, Suzanne was an attorney for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., where she was in the Credit Practices Division of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. In Congress, Suzanne has brought her commitment to consumer protection and access to justice to her work.

Earl Blumenauer represents the Third Congressional District of Oregon in the United States House of Representatives.

While still a student at Lewis and Clark College, he spearheaded the effort to lower the voting age both in Oregon and at the national level. He was elected to the Oregon Legislature in 1972, where he served three terms and Chaired the House Education and Revenue Committee in 1977-78. In 1978, he was elected to the Multnomah County Commission, where he served for eight years before being elected to the Portland City Council in 1986. There, his 10-year tenure as the Commissioner of Public Works demonstrated his leadership in transportation, planning, environmental programs, and public participation, all of which have helped Portland earn an international reputation as one of America’s most livable cities.

Elected to the US House of Representatives in 1996, Mr. Blumenauer has created a unique role as Congress’ chief spokesperson for Livable Communities: places where people are safe, healthy, and economically secure. From 1996 to 2007, he served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he was a strong advocate for federal policies that address transportation alternatives, provide housing choices, support sustainable economies, and improve the environment. He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 2001 to 2007, and vice-chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming from 2007 to 2010. He is currently a member of the Ways and Means Committee and the subcommittees on Health, Oversight, and Tax Policy.

Congressman Blumenauer’s academic training includes undergraduate and law degrees from Lewis and Clark College in Portland.

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In November, Oregonians face Measure 106, which would prohibit using state funds to pay for abortion. The City Club of Portland believes this measure introduces gross inequalities in our health care system because it would prevent many women of color, low-income women, and women employed by government from getting the reproductive care they need. City Club published its first report advocating against a similar proposal in 1978, and another in 2014. Our stand today remains the same.
 
Join us for a frank discussion about this assault on reproductive rights in Oregon. Our guest speakers represent diverse perspectives, but all come to the same conclusion: defeat Measure 106.
 
We’ll hear from an organizer who has worked on reproductive rights for many years, a county commissioner who is also a physician, and a Texan with many years experience in reproductive rights policy-making who can share what happens when women lose the right to make health care decisions.
 
Get your tickets now for this critical discussion.

Sharon Meieran, MD, is Multnomah County Commissioner for District 1 and practices emergency medicine in the Portland area. She received her JD from Hastings College of Law and MD from the University of California San Francisco. She served as Medical Director for the Oregon Foundation for Reproductive Health, working on reproductive justice issues, including the One Key Question pregnancy intention screening initiative. She is a recipient of the Oregon Medical Association’s Doctor-Citizen of the Year award.

Jeffrey Hons is President and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Texas. He was born and raised in San Antonio and has worked in family planning for more than 25 years. He received a Bachelor of Arts in sociology in 1988 and an MBA in 2004 from University of Texas San Antonio. He comes from a large family and is a proud uncle to six nieces and nephews.

Kalpana Krishnamurthy is National Field and Policy Director of Forward Together, Portland. Kalpana previously directed the racial justice and gender justice programs at Western States Center. She has been a youth organizer and reproductive rights organizer and has worked in philanthropy at both the Third Wave Foundation and the Ms. Foundation for Women. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity. 

Measure 26-201 would impose a 1% gross receipts tax  on certain large retailers to fund renewable energy and energy conservation projects, job training for economically disadvantaged and traditionally under-employed workers, and local agriculture. It's a pretty big deal, and this is your chance to hear from both sides. Is this tax progressive or regressive? Is it fair to large companies? Is this the best way to fight climate disruption and help low-income people? Even if it's not, is it worth doing anyway? And what does "local agriculture" really mean?  

Join us as supporters and opponents of Measure 26-201 (Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Initiative) debate the pros and cons of the measure.

Tony DeFalco is Executive Director at Verde, a Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit working to build environmental wealth in low-income communities. His expertise in community economic development, environmental protection, and sustainability spans 20 years of working locally and nationally in environmental advocacy, coalition building, and policy advocacy. Current efforts include redevelopment of a 25-acre landfill into Cully Park; leading Living Cully, a collaborative anti-displacement effort designed to reinterpret sustainability as an anti-poverty strategy; and operation of commercial landscaping and general contractor social enterprises.

He is a founding board member of the Center for Diversity and the Environment and serves as a trustee of Earthjustice. He also serves on the Port of Portland’s Citizen Advisory Committee and the Portland Development Commission’s Neighborhood Economic Development Council.

Tony holds a master’s degree in Natural Resources Planning from Humboldt State University and a bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. Tony is an avid birdwatcher and leads Feathers of Color, a birding group for people of color. He lives in Portland with his partner Molly.

Jenny Lee leads the advocacy program at the Coalition of Communities of Color, a cross-cultural alliance of culturally specific organizations taking collective action for racial justice. Originally from Beaverton, Jenny has been dedicated to racial, social, and economic justice throughout her career. Prior to her role at CCC, she was the Housing Policy Director at Neighborhood Partnerships, where she helped convene the Oregon Housing Alliance. She spent four years away from Oregon as the Public Policy Director for Hawai‘i Appleseed, where she engaged in coalition building, legislative advocacy, litigation, and policy research on a range of economic justice issues, including housing, homelessness, public assistance, anti-hunger programs, and immigrant rights. Her previous background includes work in disability rights, domestic violence, and mediation, as well as a year serving as an AmeriCorps member at a SUN School in Southeast Portland. 

Jenny holds a B.A summa cum laude in philosophy, French, and political science from the University of Oregon and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. 

Andrew Hoan became the president and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance on June 18, 2018.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Andrew was president and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.  Before his tenure at the Brooklyn Chamber, he served in the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President where he directed capital spending and economic development policy. Andrew moved to New York through participation in a national service year as an AmeriCorps VISTA, helping indigent New Yorkers seek free civil legal help, and went on to develop corporate programming for the largest provider of homeless services in New York City, Volunteers of America.

Andrew was an appointee to several agencies and authorities throughout his career, and volunteered on the boards of Dancewave, Bed Stuy Campaign Against Hunger and the Brooklyn Boulders Foundation. He holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Wisconsin and a masters in urban planning from New York University.

A Milwaukee, Wisconsin native, his wife, Karina, is a doctor at Portland Clinic and they live with their son, Theo, in Northwest Portland.

Eric Fruits, Ph.D. is President of Economics International Corp., a consulting firm specializing in economics, finance, and statistics. He is also an adjunct professor of business and economics at Portland State University and has served on the City Club’s Research Board. His economic analysis has been published in top-tier academic journals as well as The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Dr. Fruits has been invited to provide analysis to the Oregon legislature regarding the state’s tax and spending policies. His testimony regarding the economics of Oregon public employee pension reforms was heard by a special session of the Oregon Supreme Court.

Roberta Phillip-Robbins, J.D. is chair of the Oregon Council on Civil Rights and board chair of Metropolitan Public Defender. She has served as a public school science teacher, policy advisor in local government, and as executive director of a philanthropic foundation. She is Founder and CEO of Green Conscience Collective, an effort by the cannabis industry to redress the harm to communities caused by the historical criminalization of cannabis. Roberta lives in NE Portland with hubby and 6-year-old daughter.

The Oregon Constitution already requires a 3/5 vote of each state legislative chamber for lawmakers to raise revenue. Measure 104 would further define revenue to include the repeal of tax exemptions, credits, and deductions that result in increased revenue.

At Friday Forum, we'll debate the pros and cons of this ballot measure and how it will affect Oregon taxpayers and state government if it is passed.

Paul Cosgrove was born in Seattle, but raised in Klamath Falls and Clackamas County. He is an attorney licensed to practice in Oregon (since 1981) and Washington (since 1984), and has been affiliated with Lindsay Hart, LLP since 1987, where he now leads the Lindsay Hart State Government Affairs team. The team represents leading national and local trade associations and companies before the Oregon Legislature, agencies, and local governments. Paul attended Antioch College, Portland State University, and Western Washington University (Fairhaven College), where he got his BA with honors in 1974. He earned his law degree from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College in 1981.


Jenny Dresler is the Director of Grassroots and and a lobbyist for the Public Affairs Counsel (PAC).

She previously served as director of state public policy at the Oregon Farm Bureau. As director, Jenny oversaw state lobbying on key issues—tax, employment, environment, and regulatory—and was the organization’s grassroots coordinator. Prior to Farm Bureau, Jenny worked for the Oregon Senate Republican caucus office and focused on natural resources policy. She began her professional career as an aide to U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) in Washington D.C.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in biology and a Master’s degree in environmental science with a focus on general business.

Jon Bartholomew is the Government Relations Director for AARP Oregon. Prior to taking this position in 2014, he had been the Public Policy Director at the Alzheimer's Association Oregon Chapter, where he coordinated the creation of the State Plan for Alzheimer's Disease in Oregon. He has worked in public policy for 20 years, working on issues from after school program funding to media reform. Originally from Pennsylvania, he earned his Masters in Public Administration at the University of Washington.




Representative Rob Nosse (D) is the state representative for House District 42 in SE Portland, where he lives with his husband, Jim, and their two children. He has devoted his career to standing up for working people and helping to raise the bar for middle-class families. He is the Vice-Chair of the House Committee on Health Care and also serves on the Revenue and Rules committees. 

 

John Horvick is Vice President and Political Director at DHM Research, an independent and non-partisan public opinion and policy firm based in Portland. John regularly surveys Oregonians about their policy preferences and travels around the state to conduct focus groups with community members to understand their values and beliefs. He is a longtime City Club member and a past-president.