Government should be like lemonade.

A well-balanced blend of three ingredients: lemon juice, sugar, and water. Dependable, affordable, not too sweet, and not too sour. Portlanders are sick and tired of business as usual in City Hall. It is making a lot of bad lemonade. We are frustrated, dissatisfied, and struggling.

I am running for City Council to change all that — to bring the right mix of good government ingredients back to City Hall: accountability, transparency, and responsiveness. Satisfaction with our city government is at a historic low and that confidence in the local process has waned, but we can turn it around.

We must ensure the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), approved by 65% of voters in 2018, is allocated to reducing carbon emissions, creating economic opportunity, and making our city more resilient. We will save lives by improving the Vision Zero program so that it actually works and reduces traffic violence. And it's time to make sure the wildly popular community police oversight board, approved by 82% of Portland voters in 2020, is up and running with full access to police body-worn camera footage.

Our campaign was the first in District 2 to be certified for Portland's Small Donor Elections program, and that's not by accident. As an activist, proud mom of a teenager, and dedicated progressive, I know that building trust is how we strengthen our democracy and build change.

That means not only starting early and communicating often, but also showing you that I know what it's like to be a Portlander today. I see Portlanders in pain throughout our city — the encampments riddled with addiction, the heart breaking stories of families who can't afford to live in our city, and the crushing weight of the climate crisis. I'm not here to convince you to blindly follow me or to lift myself up, I'm here as a Portlander who, just like you, wants to change our city and our experience living in it.

In a year when the presidency is at stake and Oregonians may decide who controls Congress, a small, crowded, and overlooked city council race may not seem all that important. But this is the election that will impact the daily lives of Portlanders more than any other race this year.

As your city councilor, I will work hard to make sure that our community is heard, that our concerns are the concerns of the council, and that you can hold us accountable. In the full light of day, we will be able to deliver real change for our city.

Thank you so much for taking the time to be a part of this movement.

Gratefully,

Marnie Glickman
www.marnieglickman.org/