Progress Portland

Former Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt joins us to talk about his work as General Council at Urban League of Portland and his new podcast, The Schmidt Show PDX.

We talk to two insiders providing homeless services downtown to get deeper into what Portland needs to do better. Liz Starke is Development Director of Rose Haven, a day shelter and community center serving women, children and gender non-conforming folks experiencing the trauma of abuse, loss of home and other disruptive life challenges. Justine Ziegler is Development Director at Outside In, helping homeless youth and other marginalized people move towards improved health and self-sufficiency. 

“If I had to choose one thing to pressure people to put resources in, it’s the folks that have the most severe physical and mental disabilities. Because that bogs down our agency. When someone’s having a mental health crisis, how many of our staff members does it take to get that person back down to baseline and keep everybody safe when we could have been working with 5 people inside that were ready to work towards other goals. I think that’s the challenge, because the police don’t have the capacity to deal with it, the jails are full, the hospitals are full. So there’s no where to send these people, and those are the folks that the neighbors are the most upset about.” - Liz Starke, Development Director of Rose Haven

No interview this time, just a check-in on what's happening with the City Council, including the potential ban of algorithmic price fixing of rents and the proposal from Councilors Avalos and Green for creating social housing. Also we attempt to keep our focus on how national politics impact us locally but end up going off on tangents and rants (unavoidable these days). 

There's a movement afoot to bring universal health care to all Oregonians, and it is looking more likely every day. Our guest is Valdez Bravo, President of Health Care For All Oregon. Valdez tells us the ins and outs of the plan, and explains that it is far more expensive to maintain the system we have and exclude people than to actually provide for everyone. 

We're back, sorry for the long silence! This week we're talking with Mark Douglass, a highly experienced addiction therapist, about what works and what doesn't in Portland and Oregon when we talk about drugs. Mark talks about what was wrong with Measure 110, how to create better policy, and crafting individual treatment for people that isn't one-size-fits-all.

Blair Stenvick, Communications Manager at Basic Rights Oregon, joins us to talk about LGBTQ2SIA+ rights in the Trump era. With friends around us feeling fearful (understandably), we wanted to talk about what sort of advocacy and action can be relied on to keep our queer friends safe. 

Samantha Silverman joins Kip and Tim as a guest host (thanks Sam for adding your insight!). 

On December 19th, Kip and I attended the official swearing in of the new Portland City Council, Mayor, and Auditor. We were able to join the press pool and grab interviews with a handful of the new candidates, including Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo, and Mitch Green. The Councilors will begin leading the city on January 2nd, and up to this point have been in intense training sessions. 

Kip and Tim discuss the results of the Portland City Council and County Commission elections, for the most part avoiding the national boondoggle. Topics include the makeup of the new City Council, the incredible people who won and lost, and some misfires by the press that stuck in our craw. 

Kip and Tim check in with Lisa Freeman via Zoom as the election comes down to the wire. Lisa shares her wisdom gained from the campaign trail and some insights into the mind of voters. 

Listen in, and vote Lisa Freeman in District 4!

We were thrilled to get an interview with Liv Osthus, aka Viva Las Vegas, the non-politician candidate for Portland Mayor. Liv talks how the land we live on is sacred and we need to be good stewards of it while we make sure there is housing and services for everyone regardless of age, income, or situation. She discusses listening intently to voters, learning about interactions with people in crisis, the dangers of the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub (CEI), and putting the arts, small businesses, and neighborhoods front and center instead of big business interests. And so much more.