Rene has fought to keep our public spaces clear and accessible for all, earning the support of Portland’s disabled community. He has fought to stop enabling the humanitarian crisis on our streets by ending the distribution of tents and drug kits. Rene supported temporary alternative shelter sites and safe rest villages when it wasn’t popular; they are working and remain a cornerstone of his plan for homelessness. As Mayor, Rene will continue fighting to help people off the streets and into shelters and services.

• Homelessness should be a temporary and rare experience in Portland. Together we can and should work to build a system that catches those who fall through the cracks and offers help and services to those in need.

• The overall health of our city has suffered in recent years. The Covid pandemic and fentanyl crisis created serious challenges for our community, setting back efforts to end homelessness. The community impacts of unsanctioned camping and open drug use must be addressed in a meaningful way that is fair to all Portlanders. Rene believes that unless we course-correct, we risk our broader goals in the long term. If we don’t recover as a city, we can’t make progress on ending homelessness.

• This means working to keep public spaces clear and accessible for all by helping people off our streets and into shelter and services. It also means supporting temporary shelter sites and wraparound services, as well as establishing new and broader pathways to housing and treatment services that work.
• We also should take steps to prevent further migratory homelessness from coming to Portland. Simply put, we must enforce clear rules related to camping and drug use. While never abandoning compassion, we must end the culture of enablement in the region as we work to house every Portlander.

For too long, housing development has stalled while costs keep going up, saddling all Portlanders with some of the highest living costs in the country. As Mayor, Rene will work with builders to invest in our community in ways that meet affordable housing goals while also adding to overall housing supply. We need to do both urgently, so our families can afford to live here, and our neighbors can be housed. 

Click to read more about Rene’s housing production policy.

• To effectively address the housing emergency, we need to increase overall housing supply in Portland. This means stimulating federally subsidized and market rate housing to bring down the cost of rent and make it easier for first time homebuyers to enter the market. Not nearly enough has been done in this regard. 

• As Mayor, Rene will work to create an environment that attracts outside capital and investment by simplifying the permitting process, streamlining design review and reducing system development charges and infrastructure costs. 

• Projects must pencil for builders in order for Portland’s housing production to keep pace with other cities. As Mayor, Rene will also work to drive density, broaden homeownership incentives and prioritize development in areas of our city that have historically seen a lack of investment.

Rene will work to attract investment and fix Portland’s national reputation. We need to think big again! Economic recovery and public safety go hand in hand. Portland should be a place where families, seniors, entrepreneurs and creators want to come live, grow and thrive. Rene wants to set up all Portlanders for success by leading a real economic recovery. 

• Prosper Portland needs to be reoriented toward large projects that deliver both family-wage jobs and housing across income levels. For too long Prosper has been a social engineering organization – as Mayor, Rene will reorient Prosper toward projects with multiplying financial impact on the region.   

• Rene will work to create a clean energy industry that leverages the talent, infrastructure, and existing opportunities in our region. By focusing on scientific research and technological innovation, we can put Portland back on the map as a leader on climate and sustainability with a truly global impact. 

• We must also create an environment that helps small businesses thrive, driving local consumption and shared economic prosperity at the neighborhood level. The city should be a help—not a hindrance—in realizing the dreams of entrepreneurs and creators that come here to live and build a life.

Our city should be a welcoming, inclusive city for all. This means supporting our LGBTQ+ community, families, seniors, and entrepreneurs who call Portland home. It means supporting the arts to bring people together and strengthen our social fabric. Last but not least, it means focusing on livability, safe, clean parks and streets, thriving small businesses, great schools that give our kids a brighter future, and quality of life for all. That’s how we live our values in Portland. 

• The work of thinking big and restoring our national reputation must be focused on our values, on what makes us special and unique as a city. Rene will focus on making us a safer, more livable, inclusive and economically thriving city for creators, working families, small businesses, and everyone looking to live, work, play and build a life here. People everywhere should see Portland as a welcoming place full of opportunity where anyone can come and live a life of their choosing to the very fullest. 

• As Mayor, Rene will work to prioritize investments in arts and culture, entrepreneurship, education resources and civic engagement at the neighborhood level. Our food culture and restaurants are second to none, and our music scene is bouncing back with the promise of new investment and renewed vigor. Rene will work at every step of the way to ensure local creatives have the critical support they need. 

• Most importantly, Rene believes we need to focus on what brings us together instead of what drives us apart. When we create the space and the vision to decide together what our future will be, when we provide the resources and support for people to connect and build in lasting ways, great things will happen. He will work tirelessly to see our parks, plazas and streets bursting with not just opportunity, but with joy.

Rene has been a champion for public safety on the City Council, leading the fight for the additional ambulances the city needed and reducing 911 response times. He is working to create an environment where law enforcement is visible, effective, and accountable. As Mayor, Rene will prioritize gun violence as the urgent emergency it is, and work to make Portland the safest city in America by giving first responders the tools they need to protect the vulnerable. 

Rene’s plan to make Portland the safest city in America: 

• Commit to 1,000 Sworn Police Officers and a Precinct in Each District. This will require continued improvements in both retention and academy pipeline.  

• Return Neighborhood and Business Watch Programs. These are essential to empowering Portlanders at the neighborhood level and partnering with law enforcement. 

• Stabilize Public Safety Budgets. For too long, public safety budgets have been penny-wise and pound foolish. Rene led the charge to stabilize Portland Fire’s budget to lessen dependency on overtime; he will continue that work with respect to Portland Police and work with government partners to stabilize funding for the criminal justice system.   

• Center Victims and Those Who Follow the Rules. So much of recent Oregon dialogue has been focused on the perpetuators. Rene will center victims of crime in policy for the city of Portland.