Latest / The Schmidt Show PDX / Season 2 Finale: The Rebuttal

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Season 2 Finale: The Rebuttal · The Schmidt Show PDX

0:10
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to the Schmidt Show PDX.
0:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm Mike Schmidt,
0:13
SPEAKER_02: former district attorney of Multnomah County,
0:14
SPEAKER_02: part-time podcaster,
0:15
SPEAKER_02: t-ball coach,
0:16
SPEAKER_02: beekeeper,
0:17
SPEAKER_02: but we'll get into that.
0:18
SPEAKER_02: First,
0:19
a few points of personal privilege before we get into what I
0:22
promise you is a
0:23
SPEAKER_02: genuinely great episode.
0:25
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
0:26
SPEAKER_02: That's it.
0:27
SPEAKER_02: That's the point.
0:28
SPEAKER_02: Thank you to every single one of you who has followed this show,
0:31
SPEAKER_02: who has subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:34
SPEAKER_02: who has shared an episode with a friend or posted about it.
0:37
SPEAKER_02: It means more than you know.
0:39
And a special thank you to those of you who have found your way
0:41
over to ourSubstack
0:42
SPEAKER_02: page and hit subscribe.
0:44
If you haven't done that yet and you're listening right now,
0:46
here's why you should.
0:47
SPEAKER_02: When you subscribe on
0:48
I want to give a special shout out to our latest paid
0:51
subscriber at the goat level,
0:52
W.C.
0:52
Scott.
1:17
SPEAKER_02: You know who you are.
1:18
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: Truly, we appreciate it.
1:21
SPEAKER_02: Here's where we stand after two seasons.
1:24
We crossed 100 subscribers on Substack after only five months on
1:27
the platform.
1:28
We had our first episode cross over 1,000 downloads,
1:31
and it's still climbing.
1:33
SPEAKER_02: A year in,
1:34
SPEAKER_02: two seasons,
1:35
SPEAKER_02: 26 episodes,
1:36
SPEAKER_02: this has been really fun,
1:38
SPEAKER_02: really meaningful,
1:38
SPEAKER_02: and I am grateful for every one of you who has come along for the ride.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is our Season 2 finale.
1:46
My co-creator and I are going to take a few weeks off,
1:48
regroup,
1:49
and come back for Season 3.
1:51
SPEAKER_02: And I want to be honest with you about what that means.
1:53
SPEAKER_02: We are finally, finally getting the video set up right.
1:57
SPEAKER_02: We've been talking about it, but now we're doing it.
2:00
SPEAKER_02: Season 3 is going to look as good as it sounds.
2:02
We've already lined up guests and topics that I think you're
2:05
going to love.
2:06
I can't say more yet,
2:07
but stay subscribed because the announcements are coming.
2:10
SPEAKER_02: And if you're new to the pod, welcome.
2:11
SPEAKER_02: I have a feeling this episode is going to bring in some fresh ears.
2:15
SPEAKER_02: We're glad you found us.
2:16
SPEAKER_02: Start here, but then go back and binge.
2:18
SPEAKER_02: There's a lot to catch up on.
2:20
SPEAKER_02: One more thing before we get
2:25
SPEAKER_02: Now, to today's guests.
2:54
The most downloaded episode in Schmidt Show history was also
2:57
our longest.
2:59
John Isaacs from the Portland Metro Chamber sat across from me
3:02
and made a case.
3:03
SPEAKER_02: His case in short, the DSA is not good for Portland.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: That if DSA leaders continue to gain power,
3:09
SPEAKER_02: the political overreach will trigger a Republican backlash.
3:13
The same way the Democrats clawed their way back from
3:15
Republican dominance two decades ago.
3:18
SPEAKER_02: That the DSA isn't being fully transparent about its true goals,
3:21
SPEAKER_02: dismantling the Democratic Party and ending capitalism as we know it.
3:26
And that ultimately their electoral success will undermine the
3:29
very programs they
3:30
claim to care about as businesses flee and the tax base erodes
3:34
and the funding for
3:34
SPEAKER_02: great social programs disappears.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: And to be fair, there's at least some evidence behind some of that.
3:40
Voters across Oregon have continued to reject new tax increases
3:43
and a research
3:44
paper out of Reed College suggests that at least some wealthy
3:47
residents did leave
3:48
Multnomah County when their tax burden rose with the preschool
3:51
for all measure.
3:52
That's my synopsis,
3:53
but go back and listen for yourself if you haven't already.
3:55
SPEAKER_02: It's worth your time.
3:57
SPEAKER_02: Today, the DSA strikes back.
4:00
I have in studio with me someone who has been called by
4:03
admirers and critics alike,
4:04
SPEAKER_02: the AOC of the left coast,
4:07
a city councilor who represents District 3 who joined the
4:09
Democratic Socialists of
4:10
SPEAKER_02: America after taking office on purpose.
4:15
SPEAKER_02: She passed Portland's first ban on rent-setting algorithms,
4:18
SPEAKER_02: expanded Portland Street response as a co-equal first responder,
4:22
SPEAKER_02: secured over $7 million in parks maintenance funding,
4:24
SPEAKER_02: co-authored the city's data and privacy ordinance,
4:27
SPEAKER_02: and she's here to tell us,
4:28
SPEAKER_02: with receipts,
4:29
SPEAKER_02: what John Isaacs and the Metro Chamber get wrong.
4:32
This is the rebuttal you've been waiting for,
4:34
and I am so glad she said yes.
4:35
SPEAKER_02: When we come back, Angelita Murillo.
5:11
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the show, Angelina Murillo.
5:12
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for being here.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for having me.
5:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
5:15
SPEAKER_02: Well, I was super excited to talk to you.
5:17
This episode is the rebuttal to the Metro Chamber and why DSA
5:22
is going to destroy Portland.
5:24
SPEAKER_02: And so who better to talk to than you,
5:27
SPEAKER_02: a person who is proud of your politics,
5:29
SPEAKER_02: your positions,
5:31
SPEAKER_02: a person who does align themselves with the DSA.
5:35
SPEAKER_02: So thank you so much for coming on.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, no problem.
5:38
I think it's a good opportunity for us all to talk together and
5:42
discuss ideas and
5:44
the way people frame different politics that threaten large
5:47
corporations that are
5:48
SPEAKER_00: trying to take advantage of our communities.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: Well, isn't that what it should be about, right?
5:52
SPEAKER_02: Politics.
5:52
SPEAKER_02: It's like, okay, put your ideas forward.
5:54
SPEAKER_02: If you can convince more people that your ideas are good, then you win.
5:58
SPEAKER_02: And if you can't, then you lose, right?
6:00
SPEAKER_02: That's what it's supposed to be.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: I thought they loved the free market, the marketplace of ideas, baby.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: Well,
6:07
SPEAKER_02: before we get into all of that,
6:09
SPEAKER_02: I've known you now for,
6:10
SPEAKER_02: oh boy,
6:11
SPEAKER_02: I don't know,
6:11
SPEAKER_02: probably like three or four years at this point.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: In my second campaign for DA,
6:19
SPEAKER_02: I was like,
6:20
SPEAKER_02: Angelina,
6:20
SPEAKER_02: please show me how to do this thing called TikTok.
6:24
You were so gracious with me and kind and didn't call me old or
6:29
a boomer or anything else.
6:32
SPEAKER_02: But I really want to start with a little bit about who you are And so,
6:36
SPEAKER_02: you know,
6:36
I know a little bit Just from getting to know you and seeing
6:39
some of your social
6:40
media But I know that you actually were born in Paraguay And
6:45
you immigrated to the
6:46
SPEAKER_02: United States When you were how old?
6:48
SPEAKER_00: I was four It was just me,
6:51
SPEAKER_00: my mom,
6:51
my sister And then we actually lived in Arizona for a few years
6:54
Because I had some
6:55
SPEAKER_00: family there And then one day when I was in seventh grade My mom got
7:00
Realized she was sick of the weather and she googled what's the
7:03
rainiest state and
7:04
SPEAKER_00: we literally moved here a month later.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: That's so logical.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: That actually makes a ton of sense.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: She was like, I can't handle the dry heat anymore.
7:13
SPEAKER_02: We're coming.
7:14
SPEAKER_02: So you came here as a seventh grader.
7:16
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
7:17
SPEAKER_02: Been here ever since.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: And I know you went to school here, PSU.
7:21
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: You've worked here in City Hall previously to your run for City Hall.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
7:30
SPEAKER_02: What has it been like for you coming here as a 7th grader?
7:33
SPEAKER_02: You've gotten to see, like all of us, Portland has evolved, changed.
7:37
SPEAKER_02: Some people would say for the better or the worse.
7:40
SPEAKER_02: Things have been hard.
7:41
SPEAKER_02: Things have been good.
7:41
SPEAKER_02: You've been here through all of that.
7:43
SPEAKER_02: How has it been for you growing up in Portland and being here now?
7:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: I mean, when I first came here, I was in 7th grade.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm 29 now, so do the math.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: But, you know...
7:55
When we came here as a family of three with one income earner
7:59
taking care of two
8:00
SPEAKER_00: daughters,
8:01
SPEAKER_00: my mom was able to afford a two bedroom apartment for $1,200 a month.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: And she does not have a college degree.
8:09
She spent the vast majority of her time cleaning wealthy
8:12
people's houses in the
8:13
SPEAKER_00: West Hills and doing caretaking work.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: And she
8:17
SPEAKER_00: That is just not really possible for anybody in Portland anymore.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: It's extremely difficult to live here, let alone if you have children.
8:25
So I think what I see as the biggest barrier or change over
8:29
time is the lack of
8:30
affordability for working families and for single mothers and
8:33
single parents.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: And when I was here in seventh grade,
8:38
SPEAKER_00: you know,
8:39
me and my friends would we would go and play and walk around
8:41
downtown by ourselves
8:42
and we would go to the food cart pod that was now taken over by
8:45
the Ritz Carlton.
8:46
And we did all sorts of stuff on our own,
8:48
just hanging out and going to school and learning.
8:51
And I just genuinely my mom could not move back to Portland and
8:57
live here anymore.
8:59
SPEAKER_00: She can't afford that on her own.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: We talk about the increase of homelessness that we're seeing.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: We talk about the condition of our streets and everything.
9:12
And I don't know what people expect when a $200 emergency can
9:18
put you into homelessness.
9:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:21
SPEAKER_02: And you went to Lincoln High School?
9:23
SPEAKER_00: I went to Lincoln High School and then PSU.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:25
SPEAKER_02: And then PSU.
9:26
SPEAKER_02: I moved to Portland in 2005.
9:28
SPEAKER_02: And the first place that I landed...
9:32
SPEAKER_02: Leaving New Orleans, actually, right, as Hurricane Katrina was striking.
9:36
SPEAKER_02: I wasn't a refugee from Hurricane Katrina.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: I was just lucky that I moved here a couple weeks before that happened.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know that.
9:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah,
9:43
SPEAKER_02: that was an interesting time,
9:44
a hard time for me to see friends and family and students
9:47
because I was a teacher
9:48
SPEAKER_02: down there go through that.
9:50
But when I moved here,
9:52
the first apartment I landed in was on the corner of 37th and
9:55
Hawthorne.
9:57
SPEAKER_02: Me and a buddy, it was a two bedroom kitchen, one bathroom.
10:01
SPEAKER_02: It was small.
10:01
SPEAKER_02: It was very small.
10:02
SPEAKER_02: We were in a building right across from the Baghdad Theater.
10:05
SPEAKER_02: We split the rent down the middle, which was $650 a month.
10:09
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
10:11
Beach we lived at 37th and Hawthorne and and it was functional
10:16
it was I mean it's
10:16
totally a fine place uh to to be you know nothing fancy and and
10:20
maybe not good
10:21
enough for like a full family of people but for two you know
10:26
people my age single
10:27
guys um it was perfect 325 that's so crazy that wasn't that
10:31
long ago yeah that's
10:33
SPEAKER_00: not that long ago that's what's scary about it
10:36
It's interesting when you tell the story of Portland and people
10:41
will say things
10:41
SPEAKER_02: like homelessness and they'll say,
10:43
SPEAKER_02: you know,
10:43
SPEAKER_02: drugs and mental health and all these things.
10:45
SPEAKER_02: A through line is affordability.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:52
One of the first places that I probably actually came across
10:55
you was on your TikTok
10:57
SPEAKER_02: account or Instagram account at PNW Policy Angel.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: Mm hmm.
11:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well...
11:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, I am my mother's daughter.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: I worked lots of jobs all the time to get through.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: It started in high school, end of high school through college.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: And I was doing work at a school uniform company in a call center.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: I worked at Salt and Straw.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: And then I was a
11:47
an RA at PSU to get free housing mostly and then I ended up
11:53
working in Commissioner
11:54
Hardesty's office when she first got elected I did constituent
11:57
services and tribal
11:59
liaison policies there and when I did constituent services I
12:03
realized that people
12:04
don't know how to access their government they don't know which
12:07
bureau is in charge
12:07
of which issue they don't even know who to be mad at and
12:10
they're often mad at the
12:11
SPEAKER_02: wrong person I feel that personally yeah
12:14
They're often mad at the wrong person because we don't explain
12:17
to people a lot
12:18
SPEAKER_00: about local government.
12:19
I mean,
12:20
most of the civics classes you have are about federal
12:22
government or state government.
12:24
There's very little information about how you access your local
12:26
government.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: And growing up in a family where I had an immigrant single mother,
12:32
SPEAKER_00: she didn't know how to sign up to testify at city council.
12:35
This building,
12:36
this place,
12:37
these people were not people that I believed were
12:40
SPEAKER_00: Mike Schmidtshowpdx
12:58
SPEAKER_02: And it always strikes me when my first answer is like,
13:02
SPEAKER_02: well,
13:03
SPEAKER_02: go reach out to your elected official,
13:04
SPEAKER_02: like tell them about what's going on.
13:05
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, but how would I even do that?
13:07
SPEAKER_02: Like, how would I start?
13:09
SPEAKER_02: Like, why would they ever talk to me?
13:11
SPEAKER_02: Why would they meet with me?
13:12
SPEAKER_02: Like, how would I even arrange?
13:13
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, it's really not as inaccessible as you think it is.
13:17
SPEAKER_02: But it feels that way to people on the outside.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's for a few reasons.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: I think for one thing,
13:25
People don't necessarily know what all the different layers of
13:28
government do.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: They don't know what the difference is between county, city, metro.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: And then they don't know who their elected officials are,
13:35
which is part of why I think it's really important for me to
13:38
continue making videos
13:39
SPEAKER_00: even as an elected,
13:40
SPEAKER_00: even if that can get you in more hot water later on,
13:43
SPEAKER_00: because it makes you people know exactly where you stand.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: You can keep them up to date on what's going on.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: And it is a way of making yourself accessible.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: And I think obviously you have to still meet in community.
13:55
When I first started making my TikTok for the PNW Policy Angel
13:59
account,
14:00
I never...
14:01
SPEAKER_00: Made that intending to go into government.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I never thought I would be an elected official.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: I kind of thought it was a gross job.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: And I still do.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: In some ways it is.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I thought that I was just really excited and passionate.
14:13
And my friends were like,
14:13
please stop talking to us about local government at dinner.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Please find an outlet for this.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, fine, I'll make these videos.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: I bet I'll get like 200 views.
14:22
And then it started really taking off because I think there was
14:26
a gap for that type of thing.
14:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, you must.
14:30
I think that you are a person who is recognizable if somebody
14:33
saw you on the streets.
14:35
I know whenever I would go out to lunch or something with
14:39
Joanne Hardesty,
14:40
SPEAKER_02: like people would,
14:41
SPEAKER_02: you know,
14:41
SPEAKER_02: and I'm the sitting DA.
14:43
SPEAKER_02: She's obviously, you know, a counselor.
14:45
SPEAKER_02: And they'd be like, oh, my God, Joanne Hardesty.
14:47
And they'd look at me and they'd be like,
14:48
could you hold my phone and take this picture?
14:51
SPEAKER_02: Very kindly, Joanne would always be like, this is Mike Schmidt.
14:54
SPEAKER_02: He is your DA.
14:54
And they'd be like,
14:55
oh,
14:55
my God,
14:56
you look like every other white guy in Portland.
14:59
SPEAKER_02: But you're recognizable.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure people say hi to you when you're out and about.
15:04
SPEAKER_02: And that's probably true for a long time,
15:06
SPEAKER_02: since even before you becoming elected,
15:08
I'm sure you've had people reach out to you and express how
15:12
they feel about your
15:15
SPEAKER_02: educational pieces on Policy Angel.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: It did happen before I got elected.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: I will say, you know, it's always hard to tell...
15:27
SPEAKER_00: People are much braver online than they are in person to be cruel.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: So I have really the most lovely,
15:33
wonderful interactions with people in person and some of the
15:36
most terrible
15:37
SPEAKER_00: interactions with people online.
15:39
And I always think sometimes that it's because people are
15:42
scared to meet me because
15:43
SPEAKER_00: if they meet me,
15:43
they'll actually like me and enjoy like getting answers to
15:47
their questions rather
15:49
SPEAKER_00: than arguing with the figment version of me.
15:52
SPEAKER_02: Yes, that definitely resonates with me.
15:56
I felt like one of the things that I thought the People for
15:59
Portland campaign with
16:00
SPEAKER_02: putting my face on billboards and things,
16:02
the part that I thought was so successful about that is they
16:05
were able to reduce me
16:07
SPEAKER_02: to.
16:07
SPEAKER_02: Show PDX Show PDX
16:36
He's not some Soros puppet designed to unleash crime upon the
16:40
city of Portland,
16:41
right?
16:42
SPEAKER_02: And I imagine similarly for you,
16:45
SPEAKER_02: that is going to be,
16:47
SPEAKER_02: especially as your campaign season ramps up,
16:49
SPEAKER_02: that's going to be a way that people attack you.
16:51
They're going to try to turn you into this cartoon that they
16:54
can just deposit all
16:56
SPEAKER_02: the social ills into and not have people understand really who you are,
17:01
SPEAKER_02: what you stand for,
17:02
SPEAKER_02: and your beliefs.
17:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think
17:25
SPEAKER_00: on a public platform.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: And I do it in person too, but I can reach a mass audience.
17:30
And I think that's a real threat to these organizations that
17:33
are accustomed to
17:34
SPEAKER_00: having,
17:35
SPEAKER_00: you know,
17:35
major newspapers where the Oregonian has the Portland Metro
17:38
Chamber on their
17:39
editorial board and they can put out hit pieces and flattering
17:43
pieces about
17:43
SPEAKER_00: whomever they choose to do that for.
17:45
So to get to share your own narrative and your own story and to
17:51
do it well,
17:52
I think is...
17:53
SPEAKER_00: Schmidt Show PDX
18:11
SPEAKER_02: And like,
18:11
SPEAKER_02: oh,
18:12
SPEAKER_02: you know,
18:12
SPEAKER_02: and and I know that you do this for love of the community and for,
18:16
SPEAKER_02: you know,
18:17
SPEAKER_02: the people that you want to see have better lives.
18:20
SPEAKER_02: But it is not always fun.
18:23
So what's the hardest part of your job that maybe people don't
18:26
necessarily see?
18:27
SPEAKER_00: I think maybe it's just because we just got out of the budget.
18:30
But I think the hardest part is how cynical some of the
18:34
operators in these spaces are.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: And it's not that I'm not aware of that,
18:40
SPEAKER_00: but it's different because you have to work with them or around them.
18:45
And there are opportunities where actually everyone can win and
18:51
we don't have to
18:52
SPEAKER_00: step on one another,
18:53
but they cannot allow that to happen because if it comes off as
18:56
a win for the
18:57
SPEAKER_00: progressives,
18:57
SPEAKER_00: then that hurts their political standing or
19:01
SPEAKER_00: It's also just petty interpersonal grievance politics.
19:05
And if someone who I am opposed to brings a fantastic policy
19:11
that I think is gonna
19:11
SPEAKER_00: benefit the community,
19:12
I have no problem voting for that because that's just the right
19:15
thing to do to
19:15
SPEAKER_00: advance that forward.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: Some people do not take on that perspective.
19:19
And I think that's really heartbreaking at a time when we're
19:21
seeing people suffer
19:22
so much that that kind of corrodes your spirit to be around and
19:26
to watch so much.
19:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:29
One of the things that I was proud of accomplishing during my
19:32
tenure was putting
19:33
together a task force that focused on auto theft and partnering
19:37
with Portland
19:37
SPEAKER_02: Police,
19:38
SPEAKER_02: partnering with Rene Gonzalez to get the funding for that.
19:41
And we were able to put it together and we saw significant
19:45
decreases in thefts of autos.
19:47
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, that's what I'm for.
19:49
Like,
19:49
I don't,
19:49
if it's Rene Gonzalez,
19:51
if it's the Portland Police,
19:52
it doesn't matter.
19:53
SPEAKER_02: My goal is public safety.
19:55
And if we can do something that is actually going to decrease
19:58
auto thefts,
19:59
SPEAKER_02: I'm for that, right?
20:00
SPEAKER_02: But I appreciate that your approach is similar.
20:03
SPEAKER_02: If it's going to benefit the community, count me in.
20:06
SPEAKER_02: But you do have to convince me it's going to benefit the community.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:10
People do not like when you don't take their word for things
20:12
and ask for data.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: They view it as an attack.
20:16
And I'm like,
20:16
no,
20:17
I just want information before I sign on to your policy.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:20
SPEAKER_02: Well,
20:20
I love any person who is actually looking at data and research
20:25
because I felt like
20:26
SPEAKER_02: so much of the narrative is built on vibes and not on those things.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: And I think you're exactly right that, hey, show me that it works.
20:36
SPEAKER_02: Show me someplace else.
20:38
SPEAKER_02: So as you know,
20:39
SPEAKER_02: when I invited you on here a few episodes back,
20:42
I sat down with John Isaacs and he wanted to convey to the
20:45
listeners that the DSA
20:48
SPEAKER_02: is bad for Portland.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: And he had a whole litany of reasons.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: So maybe let's start there
21:19
SPEAKER_02: What is socialism?
21:22
SPEAKER_02: And maybe not like the textbook answer,
21:23
but as it relates to the city of Portland and how you are
21:26
practicing your politics.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
21:29
SPEAKER_00: I think,
21:29
SPEAKER_00: well,
21:30
it's really funny because the Metro Chamber and a lot of these
21:32
organizations are
21:33
SPEAKER_00: putting out what I can only describe as McCarthyist,
21:37
SPEAKER_00: Red Scare propaganda about democratic socialism.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: And I think that we are living in a time where people are so thoroughly
21:46
SPEAKER_00: disenfranchised,
21:47
they are struggling economically more than we've ever seen in
21:50
this country,
21:51
SPEAKER_00: maybe since the Depression,
21:52
SPEAKER_00: and I think,
21:53
SPEAKER_00: frankly,
21:53
SPEAKER_00: even worse now.
21:55
And so democratic socialism is the opposition to that it's
21:58
saying we are going to
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Show PDX Show PDX
22:27
SPEAKER_00: Mike Schmidtshowp
22:52
SPEAKER_00: There are less homeless people on the streets.
22:54
There is less domestic violence happening because people aren't
22:56
living in those
22:56
SPEAKER_00: situations because they're forced to.
22:58
There is less theft happening in your local businesses or car
23:01
break ins because
23:02
SPEAKER_00: people aren't in desperate positions.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: When people have access to mental health care and addiction services,
23:09
SPEAKER_00: they're not going to be engaging in society the same way.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: So to me.
23:15
Democratic Socialism is actually a profoundly optimistic
23:19
politic that requires that
23:21
SPEAKER_00: we truly love our neighbors.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: That's what it's about.
23:24
One of my favorite analogies for your point when I'm talking to
23:27
people about
23:28
SPEAKER_02: policies that benefit everybody but are designed for specific people or
23:35
SPEAKER_02: interventions is curb cutouts on sidewalks.
23:38
SPEAKER_02: Originally,
23:39
SPEAKER_02: We did curb cutouts and that way it makes it more accessible.
23:54
SPEAKER_02: As a parent who pushed babies in strollers,
23:57
SPEAKER_02: I was like,
23:58
SPEAKER_02: wow,
23:58
SPEAKER_02: curb cutouts are really great,
24:01
SPEAKER_02: right?
24:02
SPEAKER_02: You know,
24:02
SPEAKER_02: as anybody,
24:04
as a worker who's unloading a truck and needs to get some boxes
24:08
to a business and
24:09
SPEAKER_02: are using a dolly,
24:11
SPEAKER_02: right?
24:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure they really appreciate curb cutouts.
24:13
SPEAKER_02: Like when we do policies to make things accessible for one group,
24:18
SPEAKER_02: actually it benefits everybody.
24:20
SPEAKER_02: I think that's kind of your point on that.
24:22
I used to have to push my mom's extremely heavy grocery cart up
24:26
the big hill to our
24:26
SPEAKER_00: apartment,
24:27
SPEAKER_00: so I too appreciate a curve cut out.
24:31
SPEAKER_02: Well,
24:32
SPEAKER_02: before we get into some more specifics,
24:34
and I'll ask you about some of the things that John brought up
24:36
in the interview,
24:39
SPEAKER_02: this was a big week in politics in Oregon.
24:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was.
24:45
And one of the things that I think John was,
24:49
I suppose,
24:49
warning folks about was
24:52
SPEAKER_02: Mike Schmidtshowp
25:13
SPEAKER_02: Mike Schmidt schmidtshowp
25:36
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
25:36
I think that's an absurd assertion if you look at the Overton
25:39
window and how much
25:40
SPEAKER_00: it has shifted in politics over time.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: I look at videos of Reagan talking about immigration,
25:47
SPEAKER_00: and he sounds like a run-of-the-mill Democrat today.
25:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: That is how far right the parties have shifted.
25:55
The Republicans are essentially an extremist white supremacist
25:59
insurgent force.
26:01
And then you have the Democrats that are so pro-corporation,
26:05
willing to cut the
26:08
Services that benefit working class people willing to fight
26:10
against preschool for
26:11
all willing to fight against very basic services for the
26:15
community that they are
26:17
SPEAKER_00: what the Republican Party was decades ago.
26:21
And so for them to act like the Democratic Socialists are
26:24
extreme for fighting for
26:25
SPEAKER_00: a family agenda,
26:26
SPEAKER_00: for saying you deserve affordable housing,
26:28
SPEAKER_00: for saying that corporations shouldn't be able to price fix your rent.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: I thought we all liked the free market.
26:35
But when it comes time to hold corporations accountable,
26:38
suddenly we're unable to do that.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think these are extreme positions at all.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: I think this is the basic dignity that the community deserves,
26:46
SPEAKER_00: and we're going to fight for that.
26:48
SPEAKER_02: You used something that I've talked about.
26:51
SPEAKER_02: In fact,
26:51
I remember I was at a baseball game and I was talking about
26:55
politics with friends
26:56
SPEAKER_02: because like you,
26:57
SPEAKER_02: I'm also insufferable sometimes among social groups.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, let me tell you more about politics.
27:03
And I use the phrase Overton window and the group of people
27:06
sitting in front of me
27:08
SPEAKER_02: at some point turned around and just smiled.
27:09
SPEAKER_02: And they're like,
27:10
I love that you're discussing the Overton window at a Seattle
27:13
Mariners baseball
27:13
SPEAKER_02: game.
27:15
But for those who maybe aren't familiar with the concept,
27:19
could you describe that?
27:20
SPEAKER_02: What does that mean?
27:23
The Overton window is essentially when you are able to shift
27:27
the wide narrative on
27:30
SPEAKER_00: your perspective so much that it starts pulling everything to one side.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: So...
27:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've always thought of it as...
27:58
If you define in your mind the politics of what is possible,
28:04
that is within the Overton window.
28:06
SPEAKER_02: If you're like,
28:07
SPEAKER_02: you know what,
28:07
I think that we could increase healthcare benefits for people
28:12
modestly in this
28:12
SPEAKER_02: country.
28:13
SPEAKER_02: All right, that's within the Overton window.
28:14
SPEAKER_02: Healthcare for all, universal healthcare.
28:16
SPEAKER_02: Well, that's a little bit crazy, right?
28:19
SPEAKER_02: So that's outside of the Overton window.
28:21
And to your point,
28:21
the more that we shift what's possible towards the right
28:27
The more the window shifts and the more the left leaning ideas
28:31
and progressive
28:32
SPEAKER_02: things become less possible.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: Right.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: Like I think we saw that at the national level when we're talking about a
28:38
SPEAKER_00: presidential election,
28:39
SPEAKER_00: the Democrats veered away from talking about affordability.
28:43
Trump was able to convince people that he was the affordability
28:46
working class
28:47
SPEAKER_00: candidate,
28:47
SPEAKER_00: which is absolutely bonkers.
28:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:49
And the Democrats gave him room to do that because they were
28:52
too busy caping for
28:53
large corporations that are poisoning our communities with no
28:56
accountability.
28:57
And because they thought that like talking about trans rights
29:00
and other things are
29:01
SPEAKER_00: going to tank them,
29:03
they were so unwilling to hold the line for vulnerable people
29:07
that then they stood
29:08
SPEAKER_00: for nothing.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: And no one likes that.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: I've even had some Republicans be like,
29:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: Honestly.
29:27
SPEAKER_02: Well,
29:27
SPEAKER_02: that was,
29:27
SPEAKER_02: I mean,
29:28
I guess the magic of Trump for all the terribleness that he has
29:33
brought is that he
29:35
SPEAKER_02: identified issues that resonated with people.
29:38
SPEAKER_02: And that is how you win in politics.
29:39
SPEAKER_02: Now,
29:39
SPEAKER_02: his cure,
29:41
his prescription for how to fix those issues is absolutely
29:44
bonkers and not actually
29:46
SPEAKER_02: aligned with politics.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: Well, he lied.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he lied.
29:49
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to bring down prices.
29:50
SPEAKER_02: He's raised prices.
29:52
SPEAKER_02: I'm not going to do foreign wars.
29:53
SPEAKER_02: We're in a foreign war.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he just absolutely lied to people.
29:56
And I think more and more people looking at his polling numbers
29:59
are figuring that out.
30:00
SPEAKER_02: But he did identify the correct issues.
30:02
And I think those are the issues that Democrats have largely
30:05
abandoned on the national stage.
30:07
Well,
30:07
and I think that's why in the Oregon races,
30:10
we saw Tammy and Myrna win their elections.
30:14
SPEAKER_02: Well,
30:14
SPEAKER_02: hold on,
30:15
SPEAKER_02: because I read an Oregonian headline and it said,
30:18
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to quote this,
30:20
SPEAKER_02: the Labor backed the wrong candidates and they lost.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
30:24
SPEAKER_02: I'm paraphrasing.
30:25
SPEAKER_02: Oopsies.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: Guess they should have waited for the vote count.
30:28
SPEAKER_02: That's weird.
30:29
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the Oregonian covers elections.
30:30
SPEAKER_02: They know how votes can change things.
30:33
SPEAKER_02: No, I guess not.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: They I don't think they do.
30:37
SPEAKER_02: But sorry, I jumped in.
30:38
SPEAKER_02: I interrupted you.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: No, I had a lot of thoughts and feelings about that as well.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: But,
30:44
SPEAKER_00: you know,
30:45
the reason Myrna and Tammy won was because they were talking
30:48
about those working
30:49
SPEAKER_00: class issues about affordability.
30:51
And then when Janine Solman was saying that suddenly she was
30:56
the data center
30:57
SPEAKER_00: fighter,
30:58
SPEAKER_00: everyone knew she was full of shit.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: Am I allowed to cuss on this?
31:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, this is this is.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm just checking.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: You're good.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: The FCC rules.
31:07
But everyone knew that Janine Solman was full of shit because
31:10
we saw all of the
31:11
SPEAKER_00: things that she pushed during the legislative session.
31:14
She was the biggest pusher and helper of data centers and then
31:19
last minute tried to flip.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, Myrna had been fighting them the whole time.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: And it's just absurd.
31:25
SPEAKER_00: I think that there is...
31:28
These people think that democratic socialism is a scary word to
31:31
everybody,
31:32
but it's not.
31:33
It's only in very insular circles because for regular working
31:36
class people that
31:36
SPEAKER_00: need these services,
31:38
SPEAKER_00: they don't care about the word.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: They don't care about the titles.
31:42
They just want to know that they're going to get what they need
31:44
out of their elected officials.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: And right now, that is the democratic socialists.
31:49
So thank you for that because it tees up one of the things that
31:52
I really wanted to ask you.
31:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:55
SPEAKER_02: One reading of those races could be like,
31:57
SPEAKER_02: oh my gosh,
31:58
SPEAKER_02: the democratic socialist ascendancy,
32:00
SPEAKER_02: look,
32:00
SPEAKER_02: they're winning,
32:00
SPEAKER_02: they're taking out these moderate democrats.
32:03
Another could be that very specific issues arose in those
32:08
campaigns around data centers and a
32:10
It happened to be that the democratic socialist candidate was
32:13
on the right side of
32:14
SPEAKER_02: those issues for voters.
32:15
SPEAKER_02: Doesn't necessarily portend a future trajectory for a movement.
32:19
SPEAKER_02: And so I guess my question for you is,
32:22
SPEAKER_02: do you feel like democratic socialism is a movement or is this a moment?
32:27
SPEAKER_02: We are.
32:28
SPEAKER_02: Mike Schmidtshow
32:50
I mean,
32:51
I think it's both because it is a reaction to what's happening
32:54
nationally.
32:55
But the reason it's succeeding is because the community is
32:59
seeing who is actually
33:01
SPEAKER_00: putting up a fight against fascism.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: And that's not the corporate centrist Democrats anymore.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: They are actually capitulating to fascism.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: And yes,
33:14
SPEAKER_00: the data center question,
33:15
SPEAKER_00: I think,
33:15
SPEAKER_00: was really critical in the Hillsborough races and in those districts.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: But at the crux of it,
33:21
what the discussion is actually about is do we have a
33:24
legislative candidate who is
33:26
willing to hold a corporation accountable when that corporation
33:29
is doing something
33:29
that harms the community in order to profit off of the
33:32
community that they are
33:34
SPEAKER_00: leeching off of?
33:36
SPEAKER_00: And
33:37
We had Democrats in those seats who were not willing to do that
33:42
until they realized
33:43
SPEAKER_00: their error politically.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: We're going to run on that.
33:45
But then if you're willing to flip flop like that,
33:48
who knows if you're going to keep your word.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: Right.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: So it is both a moment and a movement.
33:53
But I think it's becoming a movement because they can see who's
33:57
actually standing up for them.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: One of the things that I asked John when he was here,
34:03
and he was talking about the DSA is maybe harmful politically
34:09
for our city,
34:11
SPEAKER_02: is I said,
34:11
SPEAKER_02: well,
34:12
SPEAKER_02: look at Mayor Mondami over in New York City.
34:15
SPEAKER_02: He's doing some incredible things over there,
34:18
SPEAKER_02: just balanced their budget with a $12 billion deficit.
34:23
SPEAKER_02: No offense, you had less of a deficit than he did.
34:25
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
34:25
SPEAKER_02: No, no.
34:26
SPEAKER_00: The man's doing...
34:27
SPEAKER_00: Incredible things.
34:28
SPEAKER_02: And he did that the way he said he was going to do that, right?
34:32
SPEAKER_02: I mean, this is not hiding the ball politics.
34:34
SPEAKER_02: He told people what he was going to do.
34:35
SPEAKER_02: He did tax the rich.
34:37
The pied-à-terre tax taxed second homes that were worth over $5
34:40
million as one of
34:43
SPEAKER_02: the ways that he was able to close that loophole.
34:46
And when I brought that up to John,
34:48
at least that he was having a lot of success.
34:50
And I think also the thing he's done really well is focusing on
34:52
issues that really
34:54
SPEAKER_02: impact everyday New York City
34:57
SPEAKER_02: He's talking about food deserts.
34:59
SPEAKER_02: He's talking about potholes.
35:00
He's talking about fixing things that haven't been fixed in
35:02
community basketball hoops.
35:04
SPEAKER_02: Childcare.
35:05
SPEAKER_02: Childcare.
35:05
SPEAKER_02: Right.
35:06
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's he's in the response from John was, well, that's not DSA.
35:11
SPEAKER_02: He's a good politician.
35:12
SPEAKER_02: That's different.
35:14
SPEAKER_02: I mean, what is your take on that?
35:16
SPEAKER_02: Clearly, Mondami is a talented politician.
35:18
SPEAKER_02: There's no disputing that.
35:20
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
35:20
SPEAKER_02: But are those two things separable from one another?
35:23
SPEAKER_02: I mean,
35:23
would he be just as successful if he was a Republican fixing
35:27
potholes as he is as a
35:28
SPEAKER_02: Democratic Socialist?
35:30
SPEAKER_02: I mean,
35:31
SPEAKER_02: what's your reaction when you hear it kind of dismissed as not DSA,
35:34
SPEAKER_02: but just an individual?
35:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's very silly because that is the DSA platform.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I absolutely think Mom Donnie is like a generational talent.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: And the way that he engages with people and his optimism and generosity.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: And frankly, he's an incredibly charming figure.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: Everybody likes him.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: Even Trump liked him.
35:55
SPEAKER_00: He was gushing about him afterwards.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, he's got a crush on Mom Donnie, cute.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, it takes a combination of things.
36:04
But I think that that is the democratic socialist platform is
36:08
to work on all of those things.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: What that really is is sewer socialism.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: It's focusing on the things that impact people every day.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: It's focusing on good governance.
36:16
It's saying we're not just going to hand out millions of
36:19
dollars to organizations
36:20
SPEAKER_00: and people we're friends with.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: We're going to actually verify that it's we're going to fix the potholes.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: We're going to make sure people have child care.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: That's sewer socialism.
36:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
36:28
SPEAKER_02: I mean,
36:28
one of the things that I appreciate so much about him and what
36:34
he's been doing is
36:35
you can tell that he's not being led by the most rich and
36:40
powerful people in his
36:41
SPEAKER_02: community.
36:42
SPEAKER_02: Like, clearly not.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: His policies are focused on everyday working New York City residents.
36:48
I remember when I was DA getting called into the Arlington Club
36:51
by Jordan Schnitzer
36:52
SPEAKER_02: and a small cadre of
36:55
SPEAKER_02: Sycophants, I'll say.
36:57
And how entitled they felt to my time and to their perspective
37:01
being listened to.
37:03
SPEAKER_02: And right around the same time,
37:05
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you remember this,
37:06
SPEAKER_02: but there was some social media going around about Trump was saying how
37:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
37:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate that.
37:56
And it's so funny how things never change because the same
37:59
story that you had about
38:00
Jordan Schnitzer and his friends feeling very entitled to your
38:03
time is a very
38:04
SPEAKER_00: similar conversation I actually had with John Isaacs.
38:06
If you could call it a conversation,
38:08
one of us was yelling and it wasn't me.
38:10
But the Metro Chamber was incensed that I was going to pass the
38:14
algorithmic price
38:15
SPEAKER_00: fixing ban,
38:16
which would prevent corporate landlords from pooling people's
38:19
data to price fix the
38:21
SPEAKER_00: rent and increase it together.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: And
38:25
SPEAKER_00: John Isaacs came to my office after hours.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: I was there with my policy advisor, who's also a young woman.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: And the minute he walked into the room,
38:32
SPEAKER_00: face beet red,
38:34
hands trembling with anger and was just yelling and yelling
38:38
about the policy.
38:39
And I had to finally shout him down to get him to have a
38:43
conversation with me so I
38:44
SPEAKER_00: could answer his question immediately.
38:46
And I can only describe it as a full-blown adult mantram And I
38:51
say that because he
38:53
SPEAKER_00: kind of scared me and my staffer,
38:55
SPEAKER_00: two young women in this space After hours,
38:58
other people aren't as much in the building And there was one
39:01
other person that he
39:02
SPEAKER_00: brought with him who was obviously okay with him being her mercenary,
39:06
SPEAKER_00: I guess And I finally told him,
39:09
SPEAKER_00: John,
39:10
SPEAKER_00: I think the reason you're upset is because for the first time ever
39:15
SPEAKER_00: Mike Schmidtshowp
39:36
Yeah And that was I think a revelation to him and since then
39:40
they've sent a
39:41
different lobbyist who is much more polite and kind and that's
39:44
good because I think
39:45
SPEAKER_00: it's bad for their brand
39:47
SPEAKER_02: To me, one of the things that I felt like was that access point.
39:54
It was clear after that conversation for me at the Arlington
39:56
Club and I think clear
39:58
SPEAKER_02: to them that they didn't have...
39:59
SPEAKER_02: I would listen to them.
40:01
SPEAKER_02: Like we said earlier,
40:03
SPEAKER_02: if you have a good idea that benefits the community,
40:05
I'm all ears and I'm happy to implement it if I can be
40:08
convinced that it is.
40:09
SPEAKER_02: But you don't have a right to control my policies.
40:12
SPEAKER_02: At the end of my meeting with Jordan Schnitzer, the...
40:16
I guess demand was that I hire three people off of a list of
40:20
names he gave me to
40:20
audit my office and report back to him on whether or not I was
40:24
doing the things
40:25
SPEAKER_02: that I said I was doing.
40:27
SPEAKER_02: I said, thank you for the soup.
40:29
SPEAKER_02: And we ended that.
40:31
SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's wild.
40:34
SPEAKER_02: It is an entitlement.
40:36
SPEAKER_02: Ultimately,
40:37
I think it is about access and who has traditionally been able
40:42
to control and
40:43
SPEAKER_02: access politicians.
40:45
I think the DSA is listening to new people and bringing in and
40:52
putting other people
40:53
SPEAKER_02: at the center of their political calculations.
40:55
SPEAKER_02: That does change the power structure of how
40:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: And what I always explain to people too,
41:04
SPEAKER_00: because now they're acting like DSA is this powerful lobbying entity.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: And in some ways they are because they have built a political movement.
41:14
SPEAKER_00: But I also remind people when
41:16
SPEAKER_00: Soros isn't writing them checks?
41:17
SPEAKER_00: No, God, I wish.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: I would love my check to come any day now.
41:19
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, it's not...
41:38
Just because your community members are well organized doesn't
41:40
mean it's nefarious.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: It means that,
41:42
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
41:43
SPEAKER_00: your neighbors have a political agenda that they want to see achieved,
41:46
SPEAKER_00: and that agenda includes things that benefit working class people.
41:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, and John at his roots is an organizer.
41:53
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he started as an organizer in the Democratic Party.
41:56
SPEAKER_02: He organized people.
41:57
SPEAKER_02: And so,
41:57
SPEAKER_02: you know,
41:58
SPEAKER_02: I think in some ways when we had the conversation,
42:00
SPEAKER_02: he was like,
42:00
SPEAKER_02: yeah,
42:01
SPEAKER_02: game recognize game.
42:02
SPEAKER_02: They are out organizing.
42:03
SPEAKER_02: They are doing the things that do win play.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: Mike Schmidt schmidtshowpdx
42:34
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to play you a clip from the John Isaacs interview,
42:37
SPEAKER_02: just like I did for him when he was in studio.
42:40
SPEAKER_02: I played him a clip of your social media.
42:42
So I'm going to play you a clip,
42:44
allow you to listen to one of his main points.
42:48
SPEAKER_02: And I genuinely I'm interested in your perspective on it.
42:53
SPEAKER_02: And then we'll we'll pick it up from there.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: If just by our structure.
42:58
50% of the city's revenues and about 50% of the county's
43:01
revenues come from
43:02
SPEAKER_01: business income taxes,
43:03
SPEAKER_01: okay?
43:04
SPEAKER_01: The rest are property taxes,
43:05
SPEAKER_01: which is primarily a business tax combined with residential homeowners.
43:10
Logic just says that if half of our government is funded by
43:13
business taxes,
43:15
we should want to make this the greatest place in the country
43:18
to do business.
43:19
SPEAKER_01: because then all of the progressive social ideals we have,
43:22
the things that we believe government can be a force for good
43:26
and equality in this
43:28
SPEAKER_01: country,
43:28
SPEAKER_01: we can do when we make it a great place to have business.
43:31
But if we vilify businesses the way I heard in Council
43:35
Murillo's video you just
43:36
SPEAKER_01: showed me,
43:37
SPEAKER_01: we're living at that result right now.
43:40
SPEAKER_01: Business has,
43:40
SPEAKER_01: by and large,
43:42
SPEAKER_01: moved,
43:42
SPEAKER_01: transitioned to Clark County where they're experiencing economic boom.
43:47
SPEAKER_01: We're cutting our government.
43:49
SPEAKER_01: We're cutting important services.
43:54
At the core of his argument is that business is an important
43:57
constituency that
43:58
brings in revenue to our community and that anything that would
44:03
threaten that
44:04
revenue is actually antithetical to what we're trying to
44:08
accomplish with social
44:10
SPEAKER_02: policies that require resources.
44:12
SPEAKER_02: Right.
44:13
SPEAKER_02: So what's your thought on that?
44:15
SPEAKER_02: What's your response to that critique of yourself specifically,
44:20
SPEAKER_02: because you were name checked,
44:21
SPEAKER_02: but also in general,
44:23
SPEAKER_02: the DSA policies?
44:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
44:25
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
44:26
SPEAKER_00: I think he is representing the perspectives of large corporations,
44:30
SPEAKER_00: which is his job,
44:31
SPEAKER_00: and I don't begrudge him for that.
44:33
SPEAKER_00: He's their mercenary, and that's fine.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: But what he's saying is just not accurate.
44:36
SPEAKER_00: The tax flight issue is just not real.
44:39
SPEAKER_00: We saw this at the Multnomah County presentation.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: There was an article about it last year in 2024.
44:45
Counselor Green's office also studied the tax flight myth
44:47
directly and found that
44:49
households earning over $200K in Multnomah County grew 28.7%
44:52
from 2021 to 2023.
44:53
SPEAKER_00: And preschool for all filers grew 16.5% while most people...
45:01
SPEAKER_00: who do leave move to counties with similar tax burdens.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: So the opponent's exodus claim is a statistical sleight of hand.
45:09
SPEAKER_00: Nationally, it's the same.
45:10
45 million tax records over 13 years show millionaires migrate
45:14
to lower rates,
45:16
SPEAKER_00: 2.4% than anybody else.
45:19
SPEAKER_00: And the live test case in New York City after Momdani's win...
45:23
Saw the they'll flee predictions fizzle out as JP Morgan opened
45:27
up new headquarters
45:28
SPEAKER_00: in and the luxury market surged.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: Right.
45:31
So there's a lot of claims that are made about how we are going
45:36
to scare off these
45:37
SPEAKER_00: major corporations.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: But Portland is also a major market that they can't ignore.
45:42
SPEAKER_00: And I am certainly not anti small businesses.
45:46
I think those people are some of the most incredible creatives
45:50
that create the
45:50
SPEAKER_00: culture of our city.
45:52
And holding a corporation like Amazon accountable also allows
45:56
small businesses to
45:57
SPEAKER_00: thrive because they're not going to have a monopoly on the market.
46:01
But the Metro Chamber purports that they are the ones who care
46:05
about the free
46:06
SPEAKER_00: market and they're capitalists,
46:07
yet all of the things that they have lobbied for at the city of
46:10
Portland actually
46:11
SPEAKER_00: stop the free market.
46:13
SPEAKER_00: They fought against the algorithmic price-fixing ban.
46:16
SPEAKER_00: They want to allow price-fixing for some reason.
46:19
They wanted to stop Councillor Green's ordinance to allow small
46:23
food carts to thrive.
46:26
And their reasoning for that was we can't have them thrive
46:30
because it might hurt
46:31
the brick and mortar businesses that are already existing that
46:35
we're already
46:35
SPEAKER_00: friends with.
46:36
SPEAKER_00: That's not free market.
46:37
SPEAKER_00: That's benefiting your buddies over new entrepreneurs.
46:41
And I think about this all the time because I worked at Salt
46:43
and Straw and Salt and
46:45
SPEAKER_00: Straw,
46:45
SPEAKER_00: they actually got their start as a tiny little food cart cart.
46:48
SPEAKER_02: I remember I visited the cart.
46:50
And so when you're doing things to limit the growth of small
46:53
businesses and then
46:54
SPEAKER_00: claiming that you are pro-business and that somehow I am anti-business,
46:58
I think that's very silly because they're actually stopping the
47:02
innovation that
47:03
SPEAKER_00: they claim is supported by capitalism.
47:06
SPEAKER_02: So is the line then for you small business?
47:09
SPEAKER_02: Like you are here to support small business,
47:12
SPEAKER_02: but you're a lot less concerned about big businesses,
47:14
SPEAKER_02: big corporations.
47:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
47:16
I understand that large corporations play an important role in
47:20
our tax infrastructure.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: Mike Schmidtshowp
47:48
SPEAKER_00: So that's what I'm fighting against.
47:49
SPEAKER_00: I love small businesses.
47:52
And I expect that large corporations are going to be held
47:54
accountable and that
47:55
SPEAKER_00: they're going to pay their fair share.
47:57
SPEAKER_00: And in a society where people are not treated equally or fairly,
48:02
that being asked to be held accountable at the same level as
48:05
everybody else is seen
48:06
SPEAKER_00: as an attack,
48:07
SPEAKER_00: but it's not.
48:08
SPEAKER_02: Well,
48:08
you'll love the last episode that I did on Schmidt Show with
48:11
Ryan Haas because he
48:12
was the person who broke the Troutdale Amazon story and we got
48:17
to have a great
48:18
SPEAKER_02: conversation about that and really appreciate Ryan's work.
48:22
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to ask you a question that dogged me as DA and it is,
48:28
SPEAKER_02: I'll call it the perception problem.
48:32
People would often come to me and say,
48:34
you know,
48:34
Mike,
48:34
I like your policies.
48:36
SPEAKER_02: I like what you're doing.
48:36
SPEAKER_02: I know you're a good person.
48:37
SPEAKER_02: I know you stand for the right things.
48:39
SPEAKER_02: But gosh,
48:40
SPEAKER_02: there's a perception that you are allowing in this community that you're
48:44
SPEAKER_02: pro-criminal,
48:45
SPEAKER_02: pro-crime.
48:46
SPEAKER_02: You know, pro whatever, right?
48:48
SPEAKER_02: That you don't care about things.
48:50
SPEAKER_02: And that was always so frustrating for me because I'm like,
48:52
SPEAKER_02: I literally what drives me is public safety.
48:55
SPEAKER_02: Like that is my job.
48:56
SPEAKER_02: That's what I'm trying to accomplish.
48:58
SPEAKER_02: I have the data.
48:59
SPEAKER_02: I have the receipts.
49:00
SPEAKER_02: I know the intervention.
49:01
And so where I want to put this question to you is the DSA
49:03
narrative is that
49:21
SPEAKER_02: Mike Schmidtshowpdx
49:43
When you look at some of the metrics that the Metro Chamber
49:46
cites about where
49:48
SPEAKER_02: Portland ranks on cities to invest in,
49:51
SPEAKER_02: they have us ranking at the very bottom of those lists.
49:56
SPEAKER_02: How do we deal with the perception issue?
49:59
SPEAKER_02: It's an unfair question and it felt unfair to me because I'm like,
50:02
SPEAKER_02: I'm literally not the person creating this perception.
50:05
SPEAKER_02: But it is still a reality.
50:06
SPEAKER_02: Perception is reality.
50:07
And how do you deal with the perception issue of Portland not
50:12
being a good place to do business?
50:16
I do think that's why it's so important for progressives and
50:20
leftists to have our
50:21
own media infrastructure because the absence of that allows a
50:26
vacuum that gives all
50:28
of these other people the opportunity to write their narratives
50:31
about you.
50:31
SPEAKER_00: And
50:34
SPEAKER_00: That's, we're not on an equal playing field.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: Right.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: But also things are really shifting because the people,
50:39
SPEAKER_00: the way people get information now is actually not,
50:42
people don't really trust newspapers and stuff anymore for
50:44
better or worse.
50:45
I think some newspapers are sort of corrupted with their
50:48
structures and it's not
50:49
SPEAKER_00: like our news is actually as impartial as we want it to be.
50:52
But people want to hear more directly from primary sources and
50:56
that's what I'm trying to do.
50:58
Portland is a great place to run a business and we have just a
51:03
beautiful and joyful
51:04
SPEAKER_00: culture here.
51:05
SPEAKER_00: But if we don't invest in the things that allow people to become artists,
51:10
SPEAKER_00: for example,
51:10
SPEAKER_00: if you don't have affordable housing,
51:12
SPEAKER_00: you're not going to be an artist.
51:13
SPEAKER_00: If you want to start your small business,
51:15
SPEAKER_00: but you can't afford childcare,
51:17
SPEAKER_00: you're not going to start that small business.
51:19
So we have to actually do all of those things to me when we
51:23
talk about let's get
51:23
SPEAKER_00: back to basics,
51:25
talking about affordability and making sure we pass social
51:28
housing to create
51:29
SPEAKER_00: affordable housing units.
51:30
SPEAKER_00: That's back to basics.
51:32
SPEAKER_00: People can't even buy their groceries right now.
51:34
And you can't dream or expand or build your small business if
51:37
you can't get those things done.
51:38
SPEAKER_00: No one has a
51:39
SPEAKER_00: $300 bedroom apartment.
51:41
SPEAKER_02: No, that's not a thing anymore.
51:43
SPEAKER_02: That's mythology.
51:45
SPEAKER_02: So I guess to put it, I hear what you're saying.
51:49
The things that the DSA are fighting for are preconditions of a
51:53
community that can
51:54
SPEAKER_02: support small businesses growth.
51:56
SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
51:56
SPEAKER_02: Mike Schmidtshowpdx
52:20
SPEAKER_02: A more direct pro-business policy or agenda,
52:25
SPEAKER_02: something that you would propose that is directly like,
52:28
SPEAKER_02: and this is the thing that,
52:30
SPEAKER_02: yes,
52:30
SPEAKER_02: affordability,
52:31
SPEAKER_02: yes,
52:32
SPEAKER_02: those things,
52:32
SPEAKER_02: those are preconditions,
52:33
but here's one thing that I'd like to see the city do that is
52:36
really going to help
52:37
SPEAKER_02: our small businesses thrive.
52:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it was actually the Roseway Neighborhood Association.
52:44
They had this really beautiful idea that they've been putting
52:46
together for a
52:48
SPEAKER_00: business corridor in the district.
52:50
And I think having their vision is sort of like a Hawthorne or
52:54
a division.
52:55
I think that we're going to have to shift how we support small
53:00
businesses now that
53:01
SPEAKER_00: the city is changing.
53:02
SPEAKER_00: And especially with the districts,
53:04
people are really excited about seeing things thrive in their
53:06
districts rather than
53:07
SPEAKER_00: having it all concentrated downtown.
53:10
And so I think there are real opportunities for some of those
53:14
transformational
53:14
SPEAKER_00: corridors for small businesses to be built in our districts.
53:17
And that's going to take,
53:18
obviously,
53:19
the political will and ability to identify some funding.
53:23
SPEAKER_00: And if all of our funding is going towards,
53:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
53:26
SPEAKER_00: the Moda Center,
53:26
SPEAKER_00: then that means we're not going to be investing in other things.
53:28
SPEAKER_00: That's the reality of it.
53:29
SPEAKER_00: So we have some hard choices ahead,
53:32
but the community itself has come up with these visions for how
53:35
to address small
53:36
SPEAKER_00: businesses.
53:36
SPEAKER_00: And I think that we should be taking their lead.
53:40
SPEAKER_02: One of the things,
53:41
SPEAKER_02: the pandemic was hard for lots of reasons,
53:44
SPEAKER_02: but also people evolve and change and innovate.
53:48
I think some of the things that I loved out of that were
53:52
restaurants being able to
53:53
SPEAKER_02: serve people out there.
53:54
SPEAKER_02: Outdoors, right?
53:55
And I think that created an amazing sense of community and
53:59
walkable streets.
54:00
I know I've seen you on social media promoting that little
54:03
strip of street on
54:05
SPEAKER_02: Hawthorne and 37th.
54:06
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
54:07
SPEAKER_02: You know, now a walkable community.
54:09
SPEAKER_02: Close to Cars is made to be walked.
54:12
SPEAKER_02: And there's a ton of little businesses around there.
54:14
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of people go there to walk around.
54:17
So those,
54:18
I think,
54:18
are great innovations that have supported small businesses.
54:23
SPEAKER_02: Are there other things like that?
54:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's...
54:26
SPEAKER_02: You know, and I'll throw one more thing into the mix.
54:29
SPEAKER_02: As DA,
54:30
SPEAKER_02: you know,
54:30
it was really heartbreaking for me to see our small businesses
54:34
be burglarized,
54:35
SPEAKER_02: right?
54:36
To have the doors smashed,
54:37
to have the windows broken,
54:39
those kinds of things.
54:40
SPEAKER_02: And how,
54:42
SPEAKER_02: you know,
54:42
SPEAKER_02: I talked to small business owners that had that happen repeatedly,
54:46
SPEAKER_02: they couldn't afford insurance or the costs of fixing those things.
54:51
SPEAKER_02: So I kind of, I'm throwing all of those things into the mix of, you
54:58
Yeah,
55:00
I don't think that there's any one individual fix for all of
55:05
these problems,
55:05
right?
55:06
Like,
55:07
I do think that physical infrastructure changes are going to
55:09
make a big difference.
55:10
Like I think about 82nd Avenue,
55:12
having bus rapid transit and wider sidewalks and everything.
55:16
SPEAKER_00: To me, that means that corridor is going to
55:19
And so much of our anti-homeless infrastructure actually stops
55:21
people from shopping.
55:22
SPEAKER_00: Like at Pioneer Square, back when I was in seven,
55:34
SPEAKER_00: Mike Schmidt
56:03
So I do think that there's something about the physical access
56:06
to spaces making
56:07
SPEAKER_00: them pedestrian accessible and everything like that.
56:11
And I,
56:12
I do think our small businesses are struggling with break ins
56:16
and things like that.
56:17
SPEAKER_00: I mean, even homeowners or people
56:18
SPEAKER_00: Mike Schmidt schmidtshowpdx
56:44
SPEAKER_02: I can tell you as my former job as district attorney,
56:48
and I had this conversation with elected officials at the city
56:51
and including our
56:52
SPEAKER_02: now mayor,
56:54
SPEAKER_02: I think the PS3 program is fantastic.
56:57
SPEAKER_02: I think that
56:59
80-90% of the crimes that are reported in the city do not need
57:03
an immediate armed
57:04
SPEAKER_02: response,
57:05
SPEAKER_02: but they do need a response.
57:06
SPEAKER_02: They do need investigation.
57:08
SPEAKER_02: They do need follow-up.
57:09
SPEAKER_02: They do need for that to be acted on so that we can intervene and prevent
57:16
SPEAKER_02: People who are committing crimes from committing more crimes.
57:18
And that can be accomplished with the PS3s actually showing up
57:22
doing reports.
57:24
SPEAKER_02: When I would talk to business owners,
57:27
some of the biggest frustration that I would hear is that the
57:30
police officers would
57:30
SPEAKER_02: Never follow up with them.
57:31
If they did take a report,
57:33
they wouldn't come back for the video evidence.
57:35
SPEAKER_02: They wouldn't come back for the other evidence that was there.
57:37
SPEAKER_02: And those cases would never be sent to my office.
57:40
SPEAKER_02: And then the billboard would tell you that I didn't prosecute.
57:42
SPEAKER_02: Well, that's accurate because I can't prosecute cases that don't exist.
57:47
But the PS3 program,
57:49
I thought was such a great innovation to address that.
57:53
And I was sad to see that in the mayor's proposed budget that
57:57
that hit the chopping block.
57:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I completely agree with your analysis on the PS3s.
58:02
SPEAKER_00: I think they were really critical.
58:04
SPEAKER_00: And it was a very tough budget cycle.
58:07
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately,
58:08
some of the folks that brought amendments to preserve some of
58:11
those positions,
58:12
SPEAKER_00: they wanted to take it directly out of the Police Accountability Board.
58:14
SPEAKER_00: And that was a hard no for many of us.
58:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
58:18
SPEAKER_02: I mean,
58:19
and it's nothing as straightforward and simple because you're
58:21
dealing with unions
58:22
SPEAKER_02: and other challenging aspects.
58:24
SPEAKER_02: You can't just do necessarily untethered what you want to do.
58:27
SPEAKER_02: But I do think that,
58:30
SPEAKER_02: you know,
58:30
SPEAKER_02: things like Portland Street Response,
58:31
SPEAKER_02: which I know you're a champion of.
58:33
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
58:33
There are all kinds of things that we can do to work on public
58:37
safety in this
58:38
SPEAKER_02: community that will help businesses thrive,
58:40
SPEAKER_02: that help communities thrive,
58:43
that don't necessarily require the more traditional law
58:47
enforcement response.
58:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
58:49
and one of the amendments that I brought during the budget
58:51
cycle was Morillo 1,
58:53
and it took funding from our own private security as city
58:57
counselors because I
58:58
SPEAKER_00: think that if we're going to be asking the community to
59:02
SPEAKER_00: Amy Quirk
59:22
SPEAKER_00: that impact small businesses.
59:24
And when I worked as a snap policy person before becoming a
59:28
city counselor,
59:29
something that we learned is that for every dollar of snap that
59:33
someone gets,
59:34
that's $1.50 back into the economy because people can't shop
59:37
and can't do other
59:38
SPEAKER_00: things if they can't afford to eat.
59:40
SPEAKER_00: So to me, it always comes back to that.
59:43
SPEAKER_00: Basically,
59:43
the inverse of trickle down economics is my politics because
59:47
I've seen it work in
59:48
SPEAKER_00: action.
59:48
SPEAKER_00: Like that's what the statistics support.
59:51
I want to turn to you a little bit at this moment in national
59:55
politics as the only
59:57
SPEAKER_02: immigrant on our city council,
1:00:00
as we've covered moving from Paraguay at age four and
1:00:04
eventually ending up in
1:00:05
SPEAKER_02: Portland in seventh grade.
1:00:08
SPEAKER_02: How have you been feeling in this moment of,
1:00:11
SPEAKER_02: you know,
1:00:12
SPEAKER_02: the federal ice crackdown and everything else that's going?
1:00:19
SPEAKER_00: Not well.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
1:00:21
SPEAKER_00: I think, like most things, immigrants tend to... How do I say this?
1:00:32
I think we tend to react very well to most challenges because
1:00:35
that's just part of
1:00:36
SPEAKER_00: how we have to exist.
1:00:38
SPEAKER_00: Like, I will survive under any conditions, you know?
1:00:42
And my mother survived under any conditions and she grew up
1:00:45
partially in the
1:00:45
SPEAKER_00: dictatorship in Paraguay.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_00: So...
1:00:48
SPEAKER_00: It's a very different mentality that you have.
1:00:51
The first few months of when things started really peaking and
1:00:56
they were attacking
1:00:57
immigrants quite a lot and there was a threat of the National
1:00:59
Guard coming in,
1:01:00
SPEAKER_00: I will say I almost entirely stopped eating and sleeping.
1:01:04
And I was just focused on what are we going to do to prevent
1:01:07
them from coming in
1:01:08
SPEAKER_00: and invading our city.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_00: And I carry my passport with me now,
1:01:12
SPEAKER_00: even though I'm a naturalized citizen,
1:01:14
SPEAKER_00: just because I understand that they're
1:01:17
They were targeting different elected officials who are
1:01:19
immigrants who are standing
1:01:20
SPEAKER_00: up to the Trump administration,
1:01:22
SPEAKER_00: and I don't think that's melodramatic.
1:01:24
SPEAKER_00: I think that's just a necessary precaution.
1:01:27
But I remember we had a constituent come and testify on the
1:01:30
immigration issues,
1:01:31
SPEAKER_00: and they raised their hand as they were testifying,
1:01:35
SPEAKER_00: saying,
1:01:35
SPEAKER_00: I carry my passport around with me now.
1:01:37
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand if you do too.
1:01:40
SPEAKER_00: And I was the only counselor up there that did.
1:01:41
SPEAKER_00: And
1:01:44
I think that our congressional leadership is not equipped to
1:01:48
handle what's
1:01:48
SPEAKER_00: happening right now,
1:01:49
SPEAKER_00: and they also don't necessarily have the votes up there.
1:01:52
SPEAKER_00: So the fight has really come to the local level.
1:01:54
SPEAKER_00: We're the front line,
1:01:56
and we need people who are going to be willing to hold the line
1:02:00
and try in every
1:02:00
SPEAKER_00: way that they can,
1:02:01
SPEAKER_00: and I'm prepared to do that.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_02: Well,
1:02:05
I appreciate that you've been outspoken on this because I do
1:02:08
think that it comes
1:02:09
SPEAKER_02: with personal danger in this moment.
1:02:12
I've talked to so many of my friends and community members who
1:02:16
are immigrants or
1:02:17
related to immigrants and hear the stories about not being able
1:02:22
or feeling
1:02:23
SPEAKER_02: comfortable to go to the grocery store,
1:02:25
SPEAKER_02: to drop their kids at school,
1:02:26
SPEAKER_02: to pick their kids up,
1:02:28
SPEAKER_02: to live,
1:02:29
SPEAKER_02: to go to the job site.
1:02:33
SPEAKER_02: It's so, I don't face that, right?
1:02:38
I'm,
1:02:38
as we've already established,
1:02:39
I'm a very generic looking white guy in Portland.
1:02:42
SPEAKER_02: I have the beard and everything.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_02: And so I can't fully, you know, identify with what that's like.
1:02:48
SPEAKER_02: But I certainly,
1:02:49
SPEAKER_02: you know,
1:02:49
SPEAKER_02: hear from people in my community and it's,
1:02:53
SPEAKER_02: you know,
1:02:53
SPEAKER_02: I appreciate,
1:02:54
SPEAKER_02: I think you speaking up gives people hope and strength.
1:02:58
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, and not without personal costs.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_02: So thank you for that.
1:03:02
SPEAKER_00: That's very sweet.
1:03:03
SPEAKER_00: That means a lot.
1:03:06
It's funny because I have this very like I have a strangely
1:03:10
patriotic sense about
1:03:12
me in some ways about how stubborn I feel about us fighting
1:03:19
fascism in this
1:03:19
SPEAKER_00: country.
1:03:20
SPEAKER_00: Because I came from a country that had fascism.
1:03:23
Our dictator was actually installed by the United States
1:03:26
government because they
1:03:26
SPEAKER_00: didn't want socialists to win.
1:03:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
1:03:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:03:29
SPEAKER_00: So we're coming full circle now, really making my ancestors proud.
1:03:34
SPEAKER_00: And...
1:03:35
SPEAKER_00: Mike Schmidtshowp
1:04:01
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, absolutely the fuck not.
1:04:04
I'm going to die here and I'm going to die making it better if
1:04:07
I have to because my
1:04:08
SPEAKER_00: mom did not do all that to try to get us here for us to run away.
1:04:12
SPEAKER_00: I just don't believe in that.
1:04:14
SPEAKER_00: And I do love the people of this country and my neighbors.
1:04:19
SPEAKER_00: And so that's the only thing you can do.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I appreciate that.
1:04:24
SPEAKER_02: And I do think that,
1:04:26
SPEAKER_02: you know,
1:04:26
SPEAKER_02: that is one of the things we've talked a lot about,
1:04:29
SPEAKER_02: you know,
1:04:29
SPEAKER_02: politics and the Metro Chamber and DSA and all that.
1:04:33
I do think that the vast majority of Portlanders stand with our
1:04:36
immigrant community.
1:04:37
SPEAKER_02: And that feels good to me.
1:04:40
SPEAKER_02: And so obviously, you know,
1:04:43
SPEAKER_02: People can be critical on other different issues,
1:04:46
but as I had the conversation with Marta Wembes about the
1:04:51
Campesinos Boulevard,
1:04:53
SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to see that progress.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_02: Me too.
1:04:56
SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of people,
1:04:58
SPEAKER_02: no matter where they align on some other political issues,
1:05:01
SPEAKER_02: stand with the community.
1:05:03
I completely agree and I was so happy to hear during the budget
1:05:06
cycle that Prosper
1:05:08
Portland had supported Councilor Avalos' amendment to move some
1:05:11
funding to protect
1:05:13
SPEAKER_00: immigrants from their own pot of money.
1:05:16
Because they were seeing so many small business owners who are
1:05:19
immigrants get targeted.
1:05:21
SPEAKER_00: And to me, that was such a beautiful sentiment.
1:05:23
SPEAKER_00: I really appreciated that.
1:05:24
SPEAKER_00: And it was very heartening.
1:05:27
SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, that amendment failed.
1:05:28
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it should have.
1:05:29
I think if Prosper Portland is saying yes to this,
1:05:31
it should have gone through.
1:05:33
But I guess I want to publicly say thank you,
1:05:36
Prosper Portland,
1:05:37
for taking that action.
1:05:40
SPEAKER_02: Okay, enough feel-good stuff.
1:05:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're done.
1:05:42
SPEAKER_00: We're done with that.
1:05:43
SPEAKER_00: Back to the grilling.
1:05:44
SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
1:05:47
SPEAKER_02: You know,
1:05:47
so I want to just another critique that came out of my
1:05:52
interview and that I've
1:05:53
heard honestly echoed with other community members who maybe
1:05:56
don't follow politics
1:05:57
SPEAKER_02: as closely is the frustration at the sometimes pettiness on city council,
1:06:04
SPEAKER_02: frustration of this perception that things are dysfunctional.
1:06:10
SPEAKER_02: And not working and can't get things done.
1:06:12
SPEAKER_02: And,
1:06:14
SPEAKER_02: you know,
1:06:14
SPEAKER_02: frequently it's pointed out or pointed to is the,
1:06:18
SPEAKER_02: well,
1:06:18
SPEAKER_02: look at the peacock block,
1:06:20
SPEAKER_02: the six votes that reliably stick together and they're the optimist.
1:06:25
Which I always find is a funny critique because clearly if
1:06:28
there's six on one side,
1:06:29
SPEAKER_01: there's six on the other side that are sticking together.
1:06:31
So it's funny to me that one is labeled as a block and one is
1:06:35
just a loose
1:06:36
SPEAKER_02: affiliation of free agents.
1:06:37
SPEAKER_02: But to the broader point, you're in it every single day.
1:06:44
SPEAKER_02: Clearly, I think you witnessed some of the dysfunction up close.
1:06:48
SPEAKER_02: To a Portlander who's walking around on these streets and saying,
1:06:51
SPEAKER_02: man,
1:06:52
SPEAKER_02: I voted for this form of government.
1:06:54
SPEAKER_02: And now I don't feel like it's working.
1:06:58
SPEAKER_02: What do you say to them?
1:07:00
SPEAKER_00: I have a few things to say.
1:07:03
SPEAKER_00: For one thing, that dysfunction has always existed.
1:07:06
The difference is that now you are seeing governance happening
1:07:10
more transparently
1:07:11
SPEAKER_00: and more publicly,
1:07:12
which means that you as a voter are actually having more
1:07:15
information about not just
1:07:17
SPEAKER_00: the votes that your elected officials are taking,
1:07:19
SPEAKER_00: but their rationale.
1:07:20
SPEAKER_00: That gives you more power and access than you've ever had before.
1:07:24
SPEAKER_00: That's incredibly important.
1:07:26
SPEAKER_00: So yes, it's a little bit messier, but it's more...
1:07:30
SPEAKER_00: And I think in Portland and I think in a lot of white cultural spaces,
1:07:35
SPEAKER_00: honestly,
1:07:36
SPEAKER_00: there is an aversion to conflict.
1:07:39
It's very much we have our tense dinner in our family and none
1:07:44
of us says out loud
1:07:45
SPEAKER_00: what the problem is,
1:07:46
SPEAKER_00: but none of us ever resolves it either.
1:07:48
There is no true intimacy or resolution and conflict actually
1:07:52
breeds intimacy and resolution.
1:07:55
SPEAKER_00: So what you're seeing now is also
1:07:59
The tension that is created by a diversity of voices that were
1:08:02
never in the same
1:08:03
SPEAKER_00: room before because of charter change.
1:08:05
I can say for a fact that our council has a range of
1:08:09
representatives for almost
1:08:10
SPEAKER_00: anybody in the city.
1:08:11
Almost anybody in the city can point to city council and say
1:08:14
that they feel
1:08:14
SPEAKER_00: represented by at least one person there.
1:08:17
SPEAKER_00: And that never existed before.
1:08:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:08:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:08:20
SPEAKER_00: So that tension is healthy.
1:08:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:08:24
SPEAKER_00: The other thing is, yes, I have a name for the other six.
1:08:27
SPEAKER_00: I call them the Mod Squad because we have, they're frankly the moderates.
1:08:33
SPEAKER_00: And I think in Portland, Oregon...
1:08:36
SPEAKER_00: Many people,
1:08:36
SPEAKER_00: not all,
1:08:37
who say that they're moderates actually mean that they are
1:08:40
conservatives who
1:08:41
SPEAKER_00: support gay rights,
1:08:43
SPEAKER_00: right?
1:08:43
But not the rights of homeless queer youth,
1:08:46
but gay rights for rich people in general.
1:08:49
And that is a distinction that I think we don't want to talk
1:08:52
about because we
1:08:52
SPEAKER_00: pretend we're a very progressive city,
1:08:54
SPEAKER_00: but we're actually not.
1:08:55
SPEAKER_00: There's a deep power structure here that has always existed.
1:08:59
SPEAKER_00: So what I saw during the budget cycle,
1:09:03
SPEAKER_00: if we want to talk about who's petty and who's not,
1:09:05
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you one very clear example.
1:09:08
SPEAKER_00: Over the past few weeks,
1:09:09
there was a discussion about funding two Black-led development
1:09:13
projects in the
1:09:14
SPEAKER_00: Albina District,
1:09:16
SPEAKER_00: Williams & Russell and SEI.
1:09:18
SPEAKER_00: I think I know more about SEI than Williams & Russell.
1:09:21
SPEAKER_00: SEI does fantastic work for the community.
1:09:23
SPEAKER_00: They are very well-known and beloved.
1:09:25
SPEAKER_00: Williams & Russell,
1:09:26
SPEAKER_00: I believe,
1:09:26
are developers from San Francisco who are doing this
1:09:30
restorative justice project in
1:09:31
SPEAKER_00: the Albina neighborhood to build housing there.
1:09:35
Counselor Smith has a relationship with those organizations and
1:09:38
wanted to give money to them.
1:09:40
SPEAKER_00: And lots of organizations,
1:09:42
SPEAKER_00: I think,
1:09:42
have the habit of going to counselors that they have
1:09:44
relationships with and just
1:09:46
getting dollars without us looking into any of the financials
1:09:49
for these projects.
1:09:51
SPEAKER_00: But it was important to Councilor Smith to fund those.
1:09:53
So what she wanted to do was take money out of the social
1:09:55
housing fund to do that.
1:09:58
SPEAKER_00: And we said, hey, we really care about the social housing fund.
1:10:01
Let's find you a different pot of money so you can get these
1:10:03
organizations the
1:10:04
SPEAKER_00: funding they're asking for without hurting social housing.
1:10:08
SPEAKER_00: We found not one,
1:10:10
SPEAKER_00: the progressives found not one,
1:10:11
but two different pots of money for them to use to fund these
1:10:14
organizations without
1:10:15
SPEAKER_00: hurting the social housing fund.
1:10:17
SPEAKER_00: Counselor Kanaal even offered it up to Counselor Smith,
1:10:20
SPEAKER_00: called her numerous times beforehand,
1:10:22
SPEAKER_00: said,
1:10:23
SPEAKER_00: I will gift this to you if you want to bring the amendment.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_00: You can get all the credit.
1:10:28
SPEAKER_00: And they still said no,
1:10:30
voted that down so that they can vote on the ordinance next
1:10:34
week to take money from
1:10:35
SPEAKER_00: social housing,
1:10:36
SPEAKER_00: and they'll do it through a tie-breaking vote from the mayor.
1:10:40
SPEAKER_00: Everyone could have won in this situation.
1:10:42
SPEAKER_00: We could have preserved social housing,
1:10:44
which will absolutely benefit the most marginalized people in
1:10:47
our communities
1:10:48
SPEAKER_00: because it's rent-capped forever.
1:10:50
SPEAKER_00: And frankly,
1:10:52
most Black Portlanders on the median income statistically can't
1:10:55
afford even a
1:10:55
SPEAKER_00: one-bedroom apartment in Portland.
1:10:57
So I don't know how they're going to afford the $300,000 to
1:11:00
$500,000 homes that are
1:11:03
SPEAKER_00: being built by Williams and Russell.
1:11:05
SPEAKER_00: I've yet to see the statistics on how that will benefit them, but...
1:11:08
I'm sure Councilor Smith has seen something to make her care
1:11:12
about this as much as she does.
1:11:14
SPEAKER_00: But that's what I mean.
1:11:15
SPEAKER_00: Everyone could have won.
1:11:17
SPEAKER_00: And it was petty grievance politics that prevented it.
1:11:20
There was diplomacy behind the scenes that was trying to figure
1:11:23
out a path forward
1:11:24
SPEAKER_02: where everybody benefits.
1:11:28
SPEAKER_02: But the way you're articulating this,
1:11:29
SPEAKER_02: it feels like there's an agenda against the social housing.
1:11:33
I think that there is because I think at the point where you
1:11:36
have offered up
1:11:38
multiple alternatives that the lawyers in the room were telling
1:11:41
us were completely
1:11:42
adaptable and worked the exact same way and wouldn't have any
1:11:45
additional hurdles
1:11:46
SPEAKER_00: and you're saying no to that,
1:11:48
to me that means either you're engaging in grievance politics
1:11:51
because you're mad
1:11:51
that someone else is going to get a win or you are trying to
1:11:55
harm the social
1:11:55
SPEAKER_00: housing fund.
1:11:57
SPEAKER_00: But either way we've delayed getting these organizations their money
1:12:00
SPEAKER_00: Mike Schmidtsch
1:12:15
SPEAKER_00: Historically,
1:12:15
some of the biggest competitors to social housing moving
1:12:19
forward are actually
1:12:20
SPEAKER_00: affordable housing developers,
1:12:22
SPEAKER_00: right?
1:12:23
SPEAKER_00: Because that directly makes their models of obsolete.
1:12:26
So they require that the problem of affordability continue to
1:12:30
exist in order to
1:12:31
SPEAKER_00: continue profiting off of it.
1:12:32
SPEAKER_00: And social housing removes all of that.
1:12:35
SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
1:12:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:12:38
SPEAKER_02: So that is an example of an attempt at some diplomacy behind the scenes.
1:12:43
SPEAKER_02: It failed for some reasons.
1:12:48
SPEAKER_02: To the broader question of working together and doing things,
1:12:52
SPEAKER_02: how do you see...
1:12:54
SPEAKER_02: Are there ways to,
1:12:57
SPEAKER_02: I think,
1:12:58
SPEAKER_02: mitigate some of the dysfunction?
1:13:00
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe to your point earlier, this is transparency.
1:13:04
SPEAKER_02: This is what it looks like.
1:13:06
Or should it be a goal that we have less perceived dysfunction
1:13:10
on city council?
1:13:11
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it shouldn't be.
1:13:11
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
1:13:13
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I...
1:13:15
SPEAKER_00: I have been able to work together with people on other policies.
1:13:18
SPEAKER_00: I worked on Design Review with Eric Zimmerman.
1:13:20
SPEAKER_00: I was happy to do that.
1:13:22
He and I don't get along politically,
1:13:24
but we actually really like each other as people.
1:13:26
We laugh a lot in the break room and give each other a lot of
1:13:28
shit,
1:13:29
and it's a good time.
1:13:31
SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't mean that we're fighting for the same things,
1:13:34
SPEAKER_00: and I think we understand those lines when they come up.
1:13:38
SPEAKER_02: I appreciate that so much.
1:13:40
SPEAKER_02: I think that is the thing that maybe...
1:13:43
SPEAKER_02: Look, media always wants to paint a fight, right?
1:13:47
And I felt this way as DA is they always wanted to pit me
1:13:50
against the cops,
1:13:51
SPEAKER_02: Mike against the cops,
1:13:52
SPEAKER_02: always.
1:13:52
SPEAKER_02: That's the fight, right?
1:13:53
SPEAKER_02: And it's like, no, we work together.
1:13:54
SPEAKER_02: In fact, we work together more often than we don't work together.
1:13:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there are some policy issues we
1:13:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:13:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:14:20
SPEAKER_02: You know, and maybe and I and I don't think that's on you.
1:14:22
SPEAKER_02: I think that's like a narrative political thing.
1:14:25
SPEAKER_00: It's not even that it's not visible.
1:14:27
SPEAKER_00: It's also that it's actively pushed back against.
1:14:30
SPEAKER_00: Like if it's really funny,
1:14:31
SPEAKER_00: Eric and I always talk about this,
1:14:33
like sometimes we'll take a silly selfie together and I'll post
1:14:36
it on my counselor
1:14:37
SPEAKER_00: account.
1:14:37
SPEAKER_00: And actually, the left is usually like.
1:14:41
I don't understand your guys' relationship,
1:14:43
but I really respect that you're doing that.
1:14:45
And then he will get 20 calls from like the same groups of
1:14:49
people that we're talking about.
1:14:50
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, why are you even being nice to her?
1:14:52
SPEAKER_02: Why do you like her?
1:14:53
SPEAKER_00: She's terrible.
1:14:55
And so like we're also actively told by the same people who
1:14:58
tell us to be polite to
1:15:00
SPEAKER_00: not get along.
1:15:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:15:01
SPEAKER_00: Like we can't possibly like each other.
1:15:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:15:03
And I,
1:15:05
you know,
1:15:05
we're all going to be trapped in the same room for a very long
1:15:07
time.
1:15:08
SPEAKER_00: It's fun to joke around with one another.
1:15:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:15:10
Zimmerman stole my bagel the other day and took a bite of it in
1:15:13
front of everybody
1:15:13
and I was like okay I mean I did want my bagel but you know
1:15:18
I'll get him back I'll
1:15:18
steal some of his food next week and so yeah it's it's too
1:15:23
heavy to carry if you
1:15:24
don't also hold each other as people and also I've told them
1:15:27
flat out like I'm
1:15:28
gonna go hard against you for this thing like this is a top
1:15:30
priority for me so yeah
1:15:32
I guess that kind of brings me around almost full circle to
1:15:36
where I started wanting
1:15:37
SPEAKER_02: to have people hear from you as a human being.
1:15:42
SPEAKER_02: Zimmerman,
1:15:42
SPEAKER_02: also a human being,
1:15:44
I genuinely think most of the people who are elected are
1:15:47
elected for the right
1:15:48
SPEAKER_02: reasons.
1:15:49
SPEAKER_02: They believe in what they believe.
1:15:50
SPEAKER_02: There's a constituency of people that put them into office.
1:15:53
SPEAKER_02: They want the best things for the community.
1:15:55
SPEAKER_02: We can disagree about how we get there and everything else,
1:15:58
SPEAKER_02: but at the end of the day,
1:15:59
I don't think it serves anybody well to vilify or caricaturize
1:16:05
human beings.
1:16:05
You're much less cynical than me because I have heard them
1:16:08
outrightly say,
1:16:09
SPEAKER_00: I vote for things I don't believe in all the time.
1:16:11
SPEAKER_02: Naive maybe I am.
1:16:16
SPEAKER_00: They have directly said some things to me.
1:16:18
I've even had some people,
1:16:19
I had one counselor tell me on the algorithmic price fixing
1:16:22
ban.
1:16:23
SPEAKER_00: She was like,
1:16:24
SPEAKER_00: at this point,
1:16:25
I think you should get a degree in antitrust law because you
1:16:27
understand this so
1:16:28
SPEAKER_00: well.
1:16:28
SPEAKER_00: This is a very good policy.
1:16:30
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
1:16:43
SPEAKER_02: Well,
1:16:43
SPEAKER_02: speaking of politics,
1:16:44
you are in the enviable or unenviable position of running for
1:16:48
re-election right
1:16:49
SPEAKER_02: now.
1:16:50
SPEAKER_02: And as someone who has run for election twice, it's a lot.
1:16:53
It's a lot to have a full-time job and then a full-time job and
1:16:56
then also be a
1:16:57
person who every once in a while gets to have some semblance of
1:17:01
a social life,
1:17:01
SPEAKER_02: although I'm sure you're putting
1:17:02
I actually don't have a life,
1:17:04
so we're just working on those two things right now.
1:17:07
SPEAKER_02: I mean,
1:17:07
SPEAKER_02: honestly,
1:17:08
and shout out to my family and my wife for carrying the load
1:17:11
for me because you
1:17:12
SPEAKER_02: don't.
1:17:12
SPEAKER_02: You don't get that luxury, especially when you're campaigning.
1:17:15
SPEAKER_02: But tell us about that.
1:17:16
SPEAKER_02: Tell us about your campaign.
1:17:18
SPEAKER_02: How are things going?
1:17:19
SPEAKER_02: What should people know?
1:17:21
Yeah,
1:17:21
for people who don't know when charter reform happened,
1:17:24
they wanted to stagger the races.
1:17:25
SPEAKER_00: So not all the districts were up for reelection again at the same time.
1:17:29
SPEAKER_00: So districts three and four are up for reelection right now.
1:17:32
So in district three,
1:17:33
that's me,
1:17:34
Counselor Novick and Counselor Koyama Lane.
1:17:37
SPEAKER_00: And our elections are going to be in November.
1:17:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm running through the small donor elections program,
1:17:42
SPEAKER_00: which means the first $25 of your donation are matched 10 to 1.
1:17:47
SPEAKER_00: And it's a really special program because
1:17:51
SPEAKER_00: It means that you don't have corporate influence.
1:17:53
You actually can just make decisions on your own and be
1:17:56
supported by regular people.
1:17:57
So each tier that you meet gives you a different amount of
1:18:01
funding matching.
1:18:02
SPEAKER_00: And I was able to break a record last year.
1:18:05
SPEAKER_00: I plan to break more records this year.
1:18:07
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, campaigning is a lot harder when you're a city counselor.
1:18:10
SPEAKER_00: I will say that it was already very hard the last time around.
1:18:13
SPEAKER_00: I think I got a lot of gray hair during that time.
1:18:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, it doesn't go away.
1:18:18
SPEAKER_00: Trust me.
1:18:20
SPEAKER_02: So give us your hero statement on Angelita being reelected.
1:18:24
SPEAKER_02: You have a list of accomplishments I've seen on your social media.
1:18:28
Why don't you tick off a few of those for us and then also tell
1:18:31
us some of the
1:18:32
SPEAKER_02: things that by keeping you in office,
1:18:34
SPEAKER_02: we can look forward to in the future.
1:18:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
1:18:38
SPEAKER_00: I am really proud that most of the things that I ran on,
1:18:41
SPEAKER_00: even within this two year term,
1:18:42
SPEAKER_00: I have already accomplished,
1:18:43
SPEAKER_00: even though most people get a four year term.
1:18:46
SPEAKER_00: I said I would ban algorithmic price fixing.
1:18:48
SPEAKER_00: That was the first policy I was able to pass.
1:18:51
SPEAKER_00: I have
1:18:52
I've worked across the aisle with my colleagues to do things
1:18:54
like design review changes.
1:18:56
I passed the first of its kind fee on detention facilities like
1:19:01
the ICE facility
1:19:02
SPEAKER_00: and other cities are actually starting to try to model it.
1:19:07
SPEAKER_00: I have pushed for funding for Portland Street Response Chat,
1:19:10
SPEAKER_00: making sure our emergency response systems are going well.
1:19:14
I helped find funding for Vision Zero projects and pedestrian
1:19:17
and bike safety
1:19:18
SPEAKER_00: infrastructure last cycle.
1:19:20
SPEAKER_00: And I've also helped
1:19:23
SPEAKER_00: So what I'm really doing over the next few months,
1:19:32
SPEAKER_00: and God willing,
1:19:33
SPEAKER_00: if the people of Portland choose me again,
1:19:34
SPEAKER_00: is to really focus on the implementation of some of those things,
1:19:38
SPEAKER_00: making sure that we are implementing social housing the way it should be.
1:19:43
in neighborhoods where people from historically marginalized
1:19:46
communities are going
1:19:47
SPEAKER_00: to benefit from them,
1:19:48
making sure that the data privacy office policy I passed is
1:19:52
done correctly as well.
1:19:53
SPEAKER_00: So much of this is watchdogging implementation,
1:19:56
SPEAKER_00: protecting Portlanders' privacy,
1:19:58
especially as the federal government raids our information to
1:20:01
do surveillance on
1:20:02
SPEAKER_00: immigrants and activists.
1:20:04
SPEAKER_00: And I will continue to fight for these things.
1:20:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm very open about who I am and what I believe in.
1:20:08
SPEAKER_00: And if you ever have any questions, go straight to the source.
1:20:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to answer them.
1:20:12
Well,
1:20:12
Angelina Murillo,
1:20:13
thanks so much for coming in and talking with us.
1:20:15
SPEAKER_02: I will put your campaigns in the show notes so that people,
1:20:19
SPEAKER_02: if they're listening to this,
1:20:20
SPEAKER_02: can go on and click that and follow you there.
1:20:22
SPEAKER_02: Also, we'll put your social media on so that people can follow you.
1:20:26
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for coming on to talk to us today.
1:20:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you so much for having me on.
1:20:29
SPEAKER_00: This was a great discussion.
1:20:38
SPEAKER_02: All right.
1:20:39
SPEAKER_02: That is our show.
1:20:40
SPEAKER_02: Angelita, thank you.
1:20:41
SPEAKER_02: Genuinely.
1:20:42
I know you had options for how to spend your Saturday and you
1:20:44
chose to come in here
1:20:45
SPEAKER_02: and go 12 rounds with a former DA.
1:20:47
SPEAKER_02: I respect that.
1:20:48
SPEAKER_02: And I think our listeners got exactly what they came for.
1:20:51
SPEAKER_02: For everyone listening, Counselor Murillo is up for re-election.
1:20:54
If you heard something today that made you feel like Portland
1:20:56
needs more of her
1:20:57
SPEAKER_02: voice on the council,
1:20:59
SPEAKER_02: here's what you can do about it.
1:21:00
SPEAKER_02: Go to the show notes, find her campaign link, and make a donation.
1:21:04
SPEAKER_02: And here's the thing,
1:21:04
SPEAKER_02: in Portland's public campaign finance system,
1:21:06
SPEAKER_02: donations of $25 or less get matched.
1:21:09
SPEAKER_02: That's not nothing.
1:21:10
SPEAKER_02: That's how regular people compete with big money in local politics.
1:21:14
SPEAKER_02: Now a few thank yous before I let you go,
1:21:16
SPEAKER_02: because this is our season finale and I am not rushing past them.
1:21:19
SPEAKER_02: First, thank you to every guest who came on The Schmidt Show this season.
1:21:22
This show would literally be me alone speaking into a
1:21:25
microphone in a small room,
1:21:26
SPEAKER_02: endlessly blathering about my opinions on things.
1:21:29
SPEAKER_02: And maybe there's a small market for that, but it would be pretty small.
1:21:34
SPEAKER_02: It's the guests that make this show what it is.
1:21:36
The people who actually are doing the work in city hall and
1:21:39
courtrooms and
1:21:39
classrooms and community organizations who take the time to sit
1:21:42
down and talk
1:21:43
SPEAKER_02: honestly about what's happening in Portland.
1:21:45
SPEAKER_02: That is the mission of this show,
1:21:46
to tell real stories about real people who make this city worth
1:21:49
fighting for.
1:21:50
SPEAKER_02: Our guests are that mission.
1:21:52
SPEAKER_02: Thank you all.
1:21:53
SPEAKER_02: To my co-producer,
1:21:54
SPEAKER_02: the unsung hero,
1:21:55
SPEAKER_02: the person behind the scenes who makes me sound good,
1:21:58
who takes the time away from his own life to help build
1:22:00
something we're both proud
1:22:01
SPEAKER_02: of.
1:22:02
Nobody hears his name,
1:22:02
they just hear a show that sounds right,
1:22:04
and that's because of him.
1:22:05
SPEAKER_02: I don't take that for granted.
1:22:08
SPEAKER_02: Claire, I owe you one again.
1:22:31
SPEAKER_02: And if you have ideas,
1:22:33
SPEAKER_02: topics you want us to tackle,
1:22:34
SPEAKER_02: guests you think we should have on,
1:22:35
SPEAKER_02: questions you want asked,
1:22:36
SPEAKER_02: send them our way.
1:22:37
SPEAKER_02: Season 3 is being built right now and we are listening.
1:22:57
SPEAKER_02: All right.
1:22:58
SPEAKER_02: That is it for season two of Schmidt Show PDX.
1:23:01
SPEAKER_02: We hope you have a great summer.
1:23:02
SPEAKER_02: Take care of yourselves.
1:23:04
SPEAKER_02: Take care of each other.
1:23:05
SPEAKER_02: Support a local business.
1:23:06
SPEAKER_02: Engage with your city.
1:23:07
SPEAKER_02: Show up.
1:23:08
SPEAKER_02: We'll see you back here for season three.
1:23:10
SPEAKER_02: Another action packed fiesta of the people.
1:23:13
The stories and the conversations that make Portland a great
1:23:15
place to work and live and thrive.
1:23:17
SPEAKER_02: I'm Mike Schmidt.
1:23:18
SPEAKER_02: This is Schmidt Show PDX and we'll see you next season.