Rational in Portland

Keith Wilson is running for mayor of Portland, Oregon. He is the President and CEO of TITAN Freight Systems. He started a homelessness nonprofit called Shelter Portland. https://www.keithwilsonformayor.com https://www.instagram.com/keithwilsonformayor?igsh=MTIzaWttaHI5NmJ5OA== https://youtu.be/iAr8Y5rdG2g?si=ftMqJEChbip1jSIn https://www.shelterportland.org/timeline https://katu.com/amp/news/local/...

Erica Gustavson is a hair stylist who owns a small business in Portland. She gave testimony at Portland City Council regarding her concerns about charter commissioners who designed the system of government running for city council and the potential for conflicts of interest. She is involved in leadership with Future Portland, a centrist grassroots organization that provides opportunities for civic...

Fill out your ballots with Amanda in the May 2024 primary election episode. We also go over picks for key Washington and Clackamas County races at the top. The audio of the actual episode is terrible and it’s all my fault. Andy Chandler from NW Fresh helped recover it (o the extent it is listen-able, that is all Andy’s talent). But in our opinions, these are the only things that matter in this ele...

Prof. Michael Weingrad, Ph. D., started the Judaic Studies Department at Portland State University, where he still teaches. In this episode, we discuss the Israel-Hamas war, what it's like to be a conservative at a university in Portland, and more. https://www.pdx.edu/judaic-studies/michael-weingrad https://www.pdx.edu/judaic-studies/2024-levy-event https://www.pdx.edu/judaic-studies/perelandra-sc...

Vikki Payne from Future Portland gives us a rundown of FP's endorsements for the May Multnomah County election. Future Portland is a nonpartisan, grassroots community organization that provides civic education and endorses local candidates. Future Portland looks for local candidates who they believe have sensible, pragmatic solutions to Portland's challenges. https://futureportland.org https://www...

Jessie Burke is the owner of the Society Hotel in the Old Town Neighborhood and chair of the Old Town Community Association in Portland, Oregon. She is the mother of three young children. Jessie has a Master’s of Public Administration with a focus on Strategic Planning and Community Development from Portland State University. Jessie grew up very poor. Her father was paralyzed when she was 6. She l...

https://www.votevadim.com https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/02/clackamas-county-reduced-homelessness-by-65-since-homeless-services-tax-passed.html?outputType=amp https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/07/26/emails-show-that-even-as-multnomah-county-massively-underspent-homeless-services-dollars-it-fought-metros-corrective-action-plan/ https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/12/02/multnomah-county-auditor-...

Pete Grabiel is a Portland lawyer and a Democratic candidate for the Oregon State House of Representatives in District 33. https://www.petegrabiel.com http://www.pitzerlaw.net/attorneys.html https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/02/01/they-left-portland-is-losing-some-of-its-biggest-fans/ https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2022/10/17/oregon-ranks-worst-in-nation-for-prevalence-of-mental-illness/ https://...

Derek Clevenger is a political consultant who was the mayor of Aumsville and attempted a run for the Oregon State Legislature as an Independent. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/01/oregon-supreme-court-gop-walkout-00139079 https://www.opb.org/article/2022/02/28/three-oregon-lawmakers-wont-run-reelection-citing-low-pay-growing-job-demands/?outputType=amp https://www.opb.org/article/2022/05/17/...

https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2024/01/31/fired-state-trooper-files-lawsuit-accusing-oregon-state-police-of-covering-up-widespread-misconduct/ https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2024/02/20/state-records-suggest-multnomah-county-deputies-let-hoover-gang-members-beat-up-jailhouse-rivals/ https://nw-rrc.org https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/gun-violence/portland-shootings-homicides-report-anal...

https://www.bobforportland.com https://x.com/bob4portland?s=21 https://www.wweek.com/news/2022/10/05/we-tried-to-imagine-how-voting-would-work-under-portlands-proposed-charter-reforms/ https://www.wweek.com/news/2022/08/03/a-polling-result-never-seen-by-the-citys-charter-commission-show-portlanders-overwhelmingly-favored-placing-three-reforms-on-the-ballot-separately/ https://www.portland.gov/tran...

Eli Arnold is a former wartime military helicopter pilot and is now a member of Portland Police Bureau's Central Bike Squad. Eli is running for Portland City Council in District 4. https://www.eliforportland.com https://www.instagram.com/eliforportland?igsh=djRxcGYydHdjNDZu https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/01/portlands-101-homicides-in-2022-set-new-record-at-some-point-we-have-to-be-tired-of-...

Betsy Johnson is a former Oregon Senator and Oregon gubernatorial candidate. Max Williams is the former Chair of the Oregon House Judiciary Committee and former head of the Oregon Department of Corrections. They are working to pass a bill in the legislature that would amend Ballot Measure 110, which decriminalized all drugs in Oregon. https://fixballotmeasure110.com https://fixballotmeasure110.com...

Josh Marquis is the former District Attorney of Clatsop County, Oregon. He has written for the LA Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, among other publications. https://www.coastda.com https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2809867 https://time.com/6318102/decriminalizing-drugs-overdose-study/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20503245231167407 h...

Ben West is a Portland native, although he now lives in Clackamas County. Ben is a nurse, a military officer, and a Clackamas County Commissioner. Ben and his husband, Paul, sued the State of Oregon and won the right to get married. Ben and Paul are raising an adopted son, who is black. Former Oregon lawyer Donel Courtney advocated for the Lents Neighborhood where he lived in Portland, pushing bac...

Sgt. Aaron Schmautz is the President of the Portland Police Association (PPA). The PPA is an independent labor organization representing Portland police officers and other employees of the Portland Police Bureau. Sgt. Schmautz discusses his recent trip to Portugal with other Oregon leaders to learn about Portugal's decriminalization of drugs and how it compares to the decriminalization of drugs in...

Derek Clevenger was the mayor of Aumsville, Oregon. He has an MBA with a focus in health care. Derek is retired from the military and has stayed engaged in civic education. He has worked to support open primaries in Oregon and done political consulting. Eric Post is an entrepreneur and consultant who served in the US Marine Corps as a combat engineer. https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2023/11/edi...

Vadim Mozyrsky is a federal administrative law judge who specializes in disability law. He is a former candidate for Portland City Council, and he helped initiate the lawsuit against the City of Portland on behalf of disabled individuals, arguing that blocking sidewalks violates the Americans With Disabilities Act. He served on the city's charter commission, but resigned from that commission and f...

Charles Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute . He studies and writes about policing and public safety in cities, including Portland. His work has appeared in the Atlantic and the Wall Street Journal , and he has discussed public safety policy before the House of Representatives and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. https://www.city-journal.org/article/this-is-your-city-on-fentanyl http...

Dr. Kevin Sabet is working with Oregon leaders to reform or repeal Measure 110, the Oregon ballot measure that decriminalized drugs throughout the state of Oregon. Kevin is a former three-time White House Office of National Drug Control Policy advisor, having been the only person appointed to that office by both a Republican (GW Bush) and Democrat (Obama and Clinton). With former House member Patr...

Jenny Young was a local TV news reporter for KOIN TV from 2019-2023. In 2020, Jenny was covering a BLM rally and tweeted that there was an "openly anti-Zionist" speaker praising BDS, a pro-Palestinian movement. Jenny says that she received hateful tweets in response, and that she was admonished and "written up" by KOIN. On October 9, 2023, Jenny tweeted: "I no longer work for KOIN. I’m thankful th...

Derek Clevenger was the mayor of Aumsville, Oregon. He became mayor after attending a city council meeting and asking questions that council refused to answer about a water and sewer fee that were not widely disclosed to citizens. As the chief petitioner, he leading the recall of half of the City Council of Aumsville and was later elected mayor, unseating the incumbent. He joined the Oregon Nation...

Donel Courtney was a Portland lawyer representing his Lents neighborhood against the city. Don graduated from Williams College and UCLA School of Law. He has since relocated to India, finding Portland to be uninhabitable. https://attpdx.com https://www.ontargettrainingpdx.com/personal-trainer-near-me https://www.lentsneighborhoodlivabilityassociation.org/safe-rest-village-letter https://bellasital...

Patrick Burnite was a homeless drug addict on the streets of Seattle. With the help of Andrea Suarez of We Heart Seattle, Patrick is housed and working as a resource navigator for Bybee Lakes Hope Center in Portland. Andrea Suarez is the founder and Executive Director of We Heart Seattle, which has transitioned nearly 200 people from the streets into shelters and housing. We Heart Seattle has also...

https://nancyrommelmann.substack.com https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/health/portland-oregon-drugs.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare https://www.opb.org/article/2022/09/11/portland-freedom-fund-terrence-hayes-bipoc-low-income-defendants-post-bail/?outputType=amp https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/a-murder-in-portland https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1542048419/r...