This summer, three Portland city councilors—including District 4’s Mitch Green—caused a stir when they spent about $47,000 in taxpayer funds traveling to Vienna, Austria, to study one of the world’s most ambitious social housing systems.

The trip was connected to a concept that may already have traction at City Hall. In April, the council voted unanimously to study whether Portland should adopt a social housing model.

What exactly is social housing? In simplified terms: publicly owned or subsidized housing with rents tied to tenants’ incomes, typically capped at 30%.

A report on its viability in Portland is expected this spring. Spirited debate is almost guaranteed to ensue: whether to pursue the idea, how to fund it, and what role the city should play alongside the private sector.

In this episode, Green—an economist, a self-identified socialist, and a chief co-sponsor of the resolution—explains what social housing is, what he learned in Vienna, and why the discussion is just getting started.

Stump Talk is hosted by Maja Harris and produced and edited by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson ran on a pledge to end unsheltered homelessness by 2026.

Despite Multnomah County’s rising count of people living outside, he says he’s on track to deliver on that promise.

In episode 17 of the Stump Talk podcast, Mayor Wilson returns to the studio to discuss his race against time to bring unsheltered Portlanders inside by year’s end.

This episode also features commentary from Oregonian homelessness reporter Lillian Mongeau Hughes.

Looking for stats about homelessness? Check out these dashboards:

* Multnomah County Homeless Services Department Data Dashboard

* City of Portland Impact Reduction Program

* Oregon Health Authority Domicile Unknown Deaths

Stump Talk is brought to you by Rose City Reform, a journalism and research initiative to track Portland’s reform process. It is produced and edited by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.

City Hall reporters Shane Kavanaugh (The Oregonian), Sophie Peel (Willamette Week), and Alex Zielinski (OPB) join the podcast to take us inside the debates, alliances, and surprise twists that shaped the process.

You can catch the final budget adoption vote here on June 18.

Catch our guests' reporting here:.

Willamette Week

* Budget Season Reveals Two Clear Voting Blocs on City Council

* Council Passes Amendment That Unknowingly Puts Proposed Budget $734,000 in the Red

* Green and Novick Find a Way to Keep Metro Chamber From Opposing Future Parks Levy, for Now

* Councilors Brought Mayor Concerns About Text Thread and Two Photos Shared by Prosper Portland Staff

* Director of Prosper Portland Will Step Down at Mayor Wilson’s Request

* Portland City Council Hits the Links to Find Spare Change

* Prosper Portland Dodges a Big Cut for Now, but Council Takes Aim at Lack of Agency Oversight

* Portland City Council Diverts $1.9 Million in New Police Funding to Parks

The Oregonian:

* Portland City Council, with lots of talk but few major tweaks, nears final passage of mayor’s budget

* ‘Who the hell are they serving?’: Portland agency’s staff skewered councilors as budget hung in the balance, group chat shows

* Prosper Portland leader to resign amid fractious budget fight

* Portland City Council diverts new police dollars to parks during marathon budget meeting

OPB:

* Portland City Council scrambles to balance budget in marathon meeting

* On a dragon boat team, Portland’s new city councilors learn how to paddle in the same direction

* Portland councilors vote to use new police funding to maintain parks

Stump Talk is brought to you by Rose City Reform, a journalism and research initiative dedicated to tracking Portland's historic reform process. It is produced and edited by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.

“Budgets are a negotiation, right?”

In this episode, Rose City Reform chats with Elana Pirtle-Guiney and Eric Zimmerman about what to expect as the mayor’s budget hits the council floor on Wednesday.

With big personalities and competing priorities on the line, sparks are likely to fly before councilors land on a final plan.

Want to follow along as district reps make their case for what they believe in? The agenda page for Wednesday’s meeting includes a livestream and a sign-up link for public testimony. And while addressing the council can induce some stage fright, Pirtle-Guiney says Portlanders should shrug off those worries.

“We are twelve Portlanders just like you,” she says. “Please do not be scared to come tell us what you think. The more we understand what you think, the better job we can do creating policy for the city.”

Stump Talk is hosted by Maja Viklands Harris and produced and edited by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions. It is brought to you by Rose City Reform, a nonprofit research initiative dedicated to tracking Portland's historic reform process.

Fair warning—this is our nerdiest episode yet.

On the other hand, if you’re curious about how Portland’s new voting system is shifting political dynamics, this episode is for you.

Moon Duchin is a mathematician who leads the Data and Democracy Lab at Cornell University. George Cheung is the founding director of More Equitable Democracy, a Seattle-based group focused on racial justice through electoral reform.

Neither of them lives in Portland—yet both can discuss the 2024 city election in more detail than most locals. The reason? Portland is now the only major U.S. city using proportional representation—making it a rare case study for those examining how the system works in practice.

For more context, read Rose City Reform’s story about Portland in the National Civic Review

📚 Read or Listen

Podcasts, thinkers, and books mentioned in this episode:

* More Perfect — Podcast on the U.S. Supreme Court and constitutional issues

* The Future of Our Former Democracy — Podcast by More Equitable Democracy

* The Concept of Representation — Book by Hannah Pitkin

* Lani Guinier — Writings on voting rights, electoral systems, and civil rights

* Spencer Overton — Scholarship on democracy, race, and emerging technologies

* Guy-Uriel Charles — Legal scholar on voting rights and democracy reform

* Elizabeth Anderson — Political theorist focused on democratic equality

* Claudine Gay — Research on race and political representation

Stump Talk is edited and produced by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions. It is brought to you by Rose City Reform, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research initiative to track Portland's historic reform process.

OPB reporter Alex Zielinski and the Oregonian's Lillian Mongeau Hughes join the podcast to discuss city leaders' efforts to tackle homelessness amid a brutal budget cycle.

If you care to weigh in on the city budget after listening to this episode, you can do so here.

Stump Talk is hosted by Maja Viklands Harris. It is brought to you by Rose City Reform, a research and journalism initiative dedicated to tracking Portland's historic reform process. The show is edited and produced by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.

Why did Sameer Kanal oppose one of Mayor Wilson’s top leadership choices? And what does he mean when he says he wants Portlanders to co-create policy with the council?

These are just some of the topics discussed when Councilor Kanal and his chief of staff, Lisa Freeman, join the Stump Talk podcast.

Stump Talk is brought to you by Rose City Reform, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research initiative dedicated to tracking Portland's historic reform process. The podcast is edited and produced by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.

We’re back with a bonus episode that takes you inside City Hall, where a brand-new government is finding its footing.

Joining us are The Oregonian’s Shane Kavanaugh and Willamette Week’s Sophie Peel, who discuss the “first day of school” vibes at City Hall, Mayor Wilson’s seemingly unflappable optimism, and a council that must balance big promises with one of the toughest budget cycles in decades.

Stump Talk is hosted by Maja Harris of Rose City Reform. The show is edited and produced by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.

On January 2, Portland’s newly elected city council gathered for a highly anticipated vote: selecting the council president.

Many had expected that leader to be Candace Avalos, a former charter commissioner and a key architect of Portland’s new system. Yet, after nine rounds of voting, Avalos narrowly lost to Elana Pirtle-Guiney.

In Episode 10 of Stump Talk, Avalos and her District 1 colleague Jamie Dunphy, who supported her for the role, reflect on the vote and what was at stake.

Stump Talk is hosted by Maja Viklands Harris. The show is edited and produced by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.

Much has been said about how Portland’s new electoral system encouraged friendlier, more collaborative campaigning.

Few candidates, however, worked as closely together as Tiffany Koyama Lane and Angelita Morillo. Were they Portland’s first example of a successful candidate slate?

Tune in to Episode 9 of Stump Talk and decide for yourself.

Councilor-Elect Tiffany Koyama Lane is a public school teacher and an organizer for the Portland Association of Teachers. Angelita Morillo is an anti-hunger advocate who runs a popular political TikTok channel. They have both been elected to serve Portland's third council district.

In this episode, they discuss their progressive platforms, their campaign strategy, and their fundraising—which broke records for Portland's public campaign financing program.

Stump Talk is edited and produced by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.