Latest / The Schmidt Show PDX / Substance Over Vibes

Transcript

Substance Over Vibes · The Schmidt Show PDX

0:16
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to The Schmidt Show PDX.
0:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host,
0:19
SPEAKER_01: Mike Schmidt,
0:20
SPEAKER_01: former district attorney turned podcaster,
0:22
SPEAKER_01: and so excited to have you with us today.
0:25
SPEAKER_01: I think it's going to be an amazing show.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: Today,
0:27
SPEAKER_01: we are asking the question,
0:29
what do you do when your city finds over $100 million sitting
0:33
in the housing bureau
0:34
SPEAKER_01: and suddenly has to decide what they're going to do?
0:37
SPEAKER_01: That's not a hypothetical.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: That's Portland right now.
0:40
And today I get to sit down with city councilor Mitch Green and
0:43
talk about what he
0:44
SPEAKER_01: thinks is the single most important thing we can do with that money,
0:47
specifically for people who are vulnerable and who are unhoused
0:51
and who need a
0:51
SPEAKER_01: place to land.
0:53
Then I crossed the river because there's a race happening in
0:55
Washington County that
0:56
SPEAKER_01: I think every progressive in this region should be paying attention to.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai is running for county chair.
1:03
SPEAKER_01: I've endorsed her and today you're going to hear exactly why.
1:06
SPEAKER_01: This is Schmidt Show PDX.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: Let's get into it.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back.
1:17
I am so excited today to have my good friend in the studio with
1:21
me,
1:22
Nafisa Fai.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: And Nafisa Fai is a current Washington County Commissioner.
1:27
She represents District 1,
1:29
which includes Aloha,
1:30
Beaverton,
1:30
and Cooper Mountain and more.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: Born in Somalia,
1:33
she came to Oregon as a refugee and has called this state her
1:36
home for nearly 30
1:37
SPEAKER_01: years.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: In 2020,
1:38
SPEAKER_01: she made history as the first immigrant and refugee,
1:41
SPEAKER_01: the first black person,
1:42
SPEAKER_01: and the first Muslim ever elected to the Washington County Commission.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: Before serving in office,
1:47
SPEAKER_01: she built a career in public health,
1:49
SPEAKER_01: including nearly a decade at the American Red Cross,
1:53
SPEAKER_01: and founded the Pan-African Festival right here in Oregon,
1:55
SPEAKER_01: which I've been to and is really awesome.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: She's now running for Washington County Chair.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: Commissioner Fai, welcome so much to the show.
2:01
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
2:02
SPEAKER_03: Thanks, Mike, for having me.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: Fisa, welcome.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to talk to you and you are running for County Chair.
2:10
SPEAKER_01: I've endorsed you.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: Congratulations.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: It was a rigorous process.
2:13
I abetted many candidates and knew immediately I was going to
2:16
endorse you as soon
2:17
SPEAKER_01: as you announced.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: I was very excited to see you running for County Chair.
2:20
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Mike, for your endorsement and for your support and guidance.
2:25
SPEAKER_03: I'm really excited to step into this role and
2:28
SPEAKER_03: You won't be disappointed.
2:29
I'm going to run a really good campaign and we're going to win
2:32
and I'll be a great chair for us.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: I know you will.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: I know you will.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Well, tell me a little bit.
2:38
I want to get into your background and I want people to learn a
2:41
little bit more about you.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: But before we do that, you're currently a county commissioner.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: Why run for chair?
2:49
SPEAKER_03: Good question.
2:50
I always start off,
2:52
you know,
2:52
my family,
2:53
when they ask me,
2:54
I always say,
2:55
if not me,
2:56
then who?
2:57
SPEAKER_03: And I really couldn't answer that question.
2:59
SPEAKER_03: We're in a challenging times.
3:01
And I really think that this time demands courageous courage
3:07
and courageous leaders
3:08
SPEAKER_03: and value-driven leadership.
3:11
And I'm running for Washington County chair because our county
3:14
plays a critical
3:15
SPEAKER_03: role as the economic engine of Oregon.
3:17
SPEAKER_03: And
3:18
I really do believe that the decisions that we make today will
3:23
determine what the
3:24
SPEAKER_03: future of our county and our region is in the years ahead.
3:28
SPEAKER_03: And I want our county to be a safe place.
3:32
SPEAKER_03: As you are a former DA,
3:34
SPEAKER_03: you know safety and I want our county to be a place that,
3:38
SPEAKER_03: you know,
3:39
SPEAKER_03: where everyone has the freedom and the opportunity to thrive.
3:42
SPEAKER_03: I want a county and a region that is very prosperous.
3:45
SPEAKER_03: So I'm running and I'm really excited.
3:50
Well,
3:50
I'm glad you said courageous because that truly is exactly why,
3:54
one of many reasons.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: We've known each other for a while now,
3:57
but it's your courage that really made me know that you were
4:01
the person I wanted to
4:02
SPEAKER_01: endorse in this race.
4:04
But before that,
4:05
before we get to any of that,
4:07
tell us a little bit about who you are.
4:08
SPEAKER_01: Introduce yourself.
4:09
SPEAKER_01: What's your background?
4:10
SPEAKER_01: How are you qualified?
4:12
SPEAKER_01: You know,
4:12
some people might have thought you just fell out of the sky
4:14
into politics,
4:15
SPEAKER_01: but you've you've lived it.
4:17
SPEAKER_01: You've done incredible things in your life.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: You have a career in public health and you've done amazing things.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: So tell people a little bit more about who you are.
4:27
SPEAKER_03: You know,
4:27
I always say that my perspective for county government comes
4:32
from all possible
4:33
SPEAKER_03: sides,
4:34
SPEAKER_03: but I do bring a well-rounded perspective to local government.
4:38
SPEAKER_03: Yes, I am from Somalia and I've been in Oregon for almost 30 years now.
4:43
SPEAKER_03: This is home.
4:44
SPEAKER_03: This is where, this is it for me.
4:46
This,
4:46
you know,
4:46
this is where I call home and Oregon is where I hope to retire
4:50
and grow old.
4:53
SPEAKER_01: It's funny, not to interrupt you, but I have also crossed the threshold.
4:57
I moved here in 2005 and I've now lived here longer than where
5:00
I've lived anywhere else.
5:02
SPEAKER_03: Same here.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, same for you, right?
5:04
SPEAKER_01: Same here, yeah.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: You've been in Oregon.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: You've been in Oregonian longer than you've been in anything else.
5:08
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
5:09
SPEAKER_03: You're 100% correct.
5:10
SPEAKER_03: You know, I was born in Somalia.
5:12
SPEAKER_03: War broke out when I was the little girl.
5:14
SPEAKER_03: And then we lived in Kenya for about five years as refugees,
5:19
SPEAKER_03: you know,
5:19
SPEAKER_03: and we lived at different camps.
5:21
SPEAKER_03: And it's even interesting more.
5:23
SPEAKER_03: It's a whole new podcast on how we got to those refugee camps,
5:27
SPEAKER_03: but which also gives me the idea that,
5:30
SPEAKER_03: you
5:32
SPEAKER_03: There's no human being that's illegal.
5:36
SPEAKER_03: I firmly believe that.
5:37
SPEAKER_03: But after living in refugee camps, we came here in Oregon.
5:41
And I am a graduate of Franklin High School here in Portland,
5:46
actually Southeast.
5:47
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, this is where I lived most of my life.
5:50
SPEAKER_03: I've lived in Oregon more than anywhere else.
5:53
SPEAKER_03: But...
5:54
SPEAKER_01: It's funny.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: I heard a Republican representative,
5:59
SPEAKER_01: you know,
5:59
SPEAKER_01: depending on your perspective,
6:01
SPEAKER_01: famous or infamous,
6:03
SPEAKER_01: Representative Kevin Mannix.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: And I heard he gave a floor speech in this session that said,
6:10
SPEAKER_01: you know,
6:10
SPEAKER_01: being here in this country without,
6:12
SPEAKER_01: you know,
6:13
SPEAKER_01: the legal.
6:14
SPEAKER_01: He said that's a paperwork issue.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: That's not a criminal.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: That's not a crime.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: That's a paperwork issue.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: And I thought that was so like, yeah, OK.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's paperwork, right?
6:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, people are human beings.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, maybe the paperwork isn't always right.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: And then you work on getting it right.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: But like humans are humans.
6:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I agree.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: And I love that you have that perspective.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: And I was pleasantly,
6:36
SPEAKER_01: I guess,
6:36
SPEAKER_01: not surprised,
6:37
SPEAKER_01: but it was nice to hear that from a Republican representative.
6:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I really appreciate him saying that.
6:43
SPEAKER_03: I do agree.
6:43
SPEAKER_03: It's just a paperwork.
6:44
SPEAKER_03: And sometimes,
6:46
SPEAKER_03: you know,
6:46
the paperwork is complicated and the bureaucracy that involved
6:50
and when you're
6:51
SPEAKER_03: especially running for safety,
6:54
SPEAKER_03: who has time for that?
6:56
SPEAKER_03: You know, so I think I think that representative is on to something and.
7:01
SPEAKER_03: You know, I drive a lot in Salem.
7:04
SPEAKER_03: This is just fun fact about Kevin Mannix.
7:07
SPEAKER_03: He's pretty famous.
7:08
I see big signs,
7:10
you know,
7:10
and I drive by his building and he's been in politics a long
7:13
time.
7:13
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
7:14
I haven't been tracking his policy,
7:16
but I'm very that's a very welcome remark to hear from him.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: I just thought it was just human.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: You know,
7:22
SPEAKER_01: it was just recognizing that,
7:23
SPEAKER_01: you know,
7:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
7:24
you I can't imagine I don't have your life experience coming
7:28
from a war torn
7:29
SPEAKER_01: country,
7:30
fleeing to another country for your family's life's safety and
7:34
then immigrating to
7:35
SPEAKER_01: the United States,
7:36
SPEAKER_01: a country where.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: You know, English is not your first language.
7:39
SPEAKER_01: The culture is completely different.
7:41
How things work,
7:43
you know,
7:43
how governments work,
7:44
how bureaucracies work,
7:45
just navigating that.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
7:46
SPEAKER_01: just for somebody who's born here,
7:49
SPEAKER_01: like going to the DMV is,
7:50
SPEAKER_01: you know,
7:51
SPEAKER_01: not the most intuitive thing.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Right.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: And I like this is my language.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: This is my culture.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: This is where I was born.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: So all of the things that people have to navigate for their life safety,
8:01
SPEAKER_01: for their families to get to a place that has historically.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: advertised to the world that we are a home for immigrants,
8:11
SPEAKER_01: that we are a melting pot,
8:13
SPEAKER_01: that we embrace those cultures.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
8:16
SPEAKER_01: it was really nice to hear again from the Republican,
8:19
SPEAKER_01: an important person in the Republican Party to just say,
8:22
SPEAKER_01: yeah,
8:23
SPEAKER_01: human beings.
8:24
SPEAKER_03: He must be the, you know, nowadays, not all Republicans are the same.
8:29
SPEAKER_03: That's right.
8:30
And I think he must be the good Republicans that we used to
8:34
like and get along and
8:36
SPEAKER_03: break bread together.
8:38
SPEAKER_03: You know, even if you're on the other side of it.
8:41
SPEAKER_03: Right now, I think it's changing.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: It is.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: It's unfortunate.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: I spent some time in the legislature.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: I worked there in 2013 and I worked with some amazing Republicans.
8:50
Jackie Winters,
8:51
Senator Jackie Winters,
8:52
incredible woman,
8:53
incredible leader.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: Representative Andy Olson, Representative Wayne Krieger.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, these were.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: people who, you know, had a Republican point of view.
9:04
But at the end of the day,
9:04
the point was to make things better for everybody.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: And I do feel like somewhere along the way, we've lost that.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: And it trickles down from the national right to the local.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: What are you hearing as you talk to residents in Washington County?
9:18
SPEAKER_01: Because I've been pleasantly,
9:20
SPEAKER_01: I don't know,
9:21
SPEAKER_01: surprised,
9:21
but I have seen a lot of people in Washington County standing
9:24
up for their
9:25
SPEAKER_01: immigrant neighbors,
9:26
SPEAKER_01: caring deeply about these issues,
9:28
SPEAKER_01: being abhorred by the tactics that they're seeing employed by ICE.
9:33
What are you hearing as you talk to your constituents and the
9:37
people you want to
9:38
SPEAKER_01: represent as county chair?
9:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's been a really challenging times in Washington County.
9:44
SPEAKER_03: We've been heavily impacted by ICE and a lot of,
9:48
I think the media did a good job of covering in terms of
9:51
quantifying the number of
9:52
SPEAKER_03: people who are coming in contact with ICE.
9:55
SPEAKER_03: A lot of those numbers came from Washington County and it's been hard.
10:02
SPEAKER_03: We've heard neighbors who are not coming out of their houses.
10:06
SPEAKER_03: They're just
10:07
put themselves on house arrest because the fear of what it
10:11
means to go outside.
10:13
SPEAKER_03: People are not going to the grocery stores and getting food.
10:16
SPEAKER_03: So we've heard a lot of people who are going hungry.
10:19
SPEAKER_03: We've heard a lot from teachers and social workers,
10:22
SPEAKER_03: kids that are not going to schools because of fear of ice.
10:26
SPEAKER_03: And we've heard people who came in contact and disappeared and...
10:32
SPEAKER_03: You know,
10:32
Victor Cruz is a victory story for us in Washington County as
10:36
an immigrant person
10:37
SPEAKER_03: who's been,
10:37
SPEAKER_03: you know,
10:39
SPEAKER_03: detained illegally with no due process.
10:43
SPEAKER_03: And he came out and took ICE to court and prevailed.
10:47
SPEAKER_03: But then you have the other side of that coin,
10:49
SPEAKER_03: which is,
10:50
SPEAKER_03: you know,
10:51
SPEAKER_03: Polino,
10:51
SPEAKER_03: who has been detained by ICE and put in detention centers and then,
10:58
SPEAKER_03: you know,
10:59
SPEAKER_03: deported eventually.
11:01
And then he died in Mexico and his family are still living in
11:06
residence of Washington County.
11:09
SPEAKER_03: So it's been really disturbing.
11:11
SPEAKER_03: We've had a mini war declared on us by our own government.
11:16
SPEAKER_03: And
11:17
SPEAKER_03: A lot of the neighbors really felt like,
11:20
SPEAKER_03: you know,
11:20
SPEAKER_03: here you have government declaring war on you.
11:24
SPEAKER_03: Where's local government?
11:26
SPEAKER_03: And how can local government stand up for you and say,
11:30
SPEAKER_03: I hear you and I see you and I'm going to do anything?
11:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
11:34
As disappointing as it is,
11:36
that leadership has not been fulfilled for many residents.
11:40
And I've heard a lot of community members who see a sympathetic
11:44
ear in me and my
11:47
SPEAKER_03: position to reach out.
11:49
SPEAKER_03: And it's been overwhelming, to be honest with you.
11:52
SPEAKER_03: to hear from so many people,
11:54
SPEAKER_03: you know,
11:55
SPEAKER_03: all sides saying you have to do something,
11:58
SPEAKER_03: you have to do something.
11:59
SPEAKER_03: And I try to do my best, encourage my colleagues to do the right thing.
12:05
But at the end of the day,
12:06
you know,
12:07
you can't make people to do the right thing.
12:09
SPEAKER_03: All you can do is appeal to their goodness and try to help them.
12:13
Grab their hand and put their hand on their heart and say,
12:16
something is beating in there.
12:18
SPEAKER_03: Please hear the people, hear the community.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: So it's been a mixed feeling.
12:23
SPEAKER_03: You know,
12:24
SPEAKER_03: we try to be for the community,
12:26
SPEAKER_03: but ICE has been very destructive and critical in high numbers.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: Well,
12:31
SPEAKER_01: that's one of the reasons,
12:32
SPEAKER_01: and I told this story at your campaign kickoff party,
12:35
SPEAKER_01: but as you know,
12:37
it's one of the reasons that I felt so strongly and was so
12:39
excited to see that
12:40
SPEAKER_01: you're running for chair because you and I had had conversations,
12:44
SPEAKER_01: oh,
12:44
SPEAKER_01: months,
12:44
SPEAKER_01: months,
12:45
SPEAKER_01: way before any of this.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: rooming for chair.
12:47
And you just wanted Washington County to definitively put out a
12:51
resolution that
12:51
SPEAKER_01: said to the residents,
12:53
SPEAKER_01: really,
12:53
SPEAKER_01: you want to speak to the people you represent,
12:56
SPEAKER_01: that we are not going to collaborate with ICE.
12:59
SPEAKER_01: We are going to follow state law.
13:00
And unfortunately,
13:02
that was for some reason controversial among your colleagues.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: And I didn't really understand at the time why,
13:10
SPEAKER_01: why repeating state law was uncomfortable for them.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: But I've seen it in other governments around the state,
13:17
SPEAKER_01: too,
13:17
SPEAKER_01: where there was this kind of mentality of,
13:21
SPEAKER_01: you know,
13:21
we don't want to do anything that might provoke the federal
13:24
administration.
13:24
SPEAKER_01: Like if we just bury our heads in the sand, maybe they won't bother us.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they'll leave us alone.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: It's clear,
13:32
SPEAKER_01: obviously,
13:32
SPEAKER_01: your resolution didn't even get a second on the commission,
13:36
SPEAKER_01: so it didn't even get a chance to be debated and voted on,
13:40
which is in and of itself disappointing because that meant not
13:43
one of your
13:43
SPEAKER_01: colleagues,
13:44
SPEAKER_01: any of them,
13:45
SPEAKER_01: would give it a second so that the conversation could be had.
13:49
SPEAKER_01: But we also see that since then,
13:52
SPEAKER_01: your community has been targeted,
13:54
that this idea of keeping our heads down and not saying
13:57
anything did not work.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: Did not.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the reasons I'm excited to endorse you,
14:02
SPEAKER_01: because I think this moment does demand a time for courageous leadership.
14:07
And I believe that what you represent is the values that I am
14:10
seeing from folks in
14:11
SPEAKER_01: Washington County,
14:13
SPEAKER_01: that they do care about their neighbors,
14:15
that they are outraged by the treatment of folks at the hands
14:18
of immigration and
14:19
SPEAKER_01: ICE.
14:20
This is an issue that is dominating the conversation right now
14:24
because it is the
14:25
SPEAKER_01: most probably scary and important issue to a lot of people.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: But running a county government is not easy on the best of days,
14:34
SPEAKER_01: on days when you're not fighting about these things.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: What ideas do you have for the county?
14:42
SPEAKER_01: You're chair, you get elected, that happens.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: What is your vision for Washington County?
14:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah,
14:49
SPEAKER_03: you know,
14:49
SPEAKER_03: there's a lot happening,
14:51
SPEAKER_03: but I always say,
14:52
SPEAKER_03: you know,
14:52
SPEAKER_03: my focus as county chair is pretty straightforward.
14:57
You know,
14:57
I want a strong infrastructure that supports the economic
15:01
growth for our county.
15:03
SPEAKER_03: I want housing production that supports the workforce.
15:09
in terms of workforce recruitment and retention,
15:12
because people want to live where they work.
15:16
SPEAKER_03: And if we have housing that's available at all prices,
15:22
SPEAKER_03: I think a lot of the workforce will stay where they work.
15:25
And a lot of businesses will see it as attractive to move into
15:29
that county.
15:30
SPEAKER_03: And I want strong public safety.
15:32
SPEAKER_03: Everybody benefits.
15:34
SPEAKER_03: When you have the safest county, you're going to have a
15:38
SPEAKER_03: you know, a thriving county.
15:40
SPEAKER_03: And of course you're going to have a,
15:42
SPEAKER_03: from a public health background,
15:43
SPEAKER_03: you're going to have a healthy people then in that community.
15:46
SPEAKER_03: And then,
15:47
SPEAKER_03: you know,
15:47
one of the things I'm really excited about is this idea of
15:51
re-imagining what
15:52
collaboration and coalition building looks like and how we do
15:56
deep public and
15:58
private partnerships to really make sure that the economy and
16:02
the community and the
16:04
SPEAKER_03: region is thriving to
16:07
SPEAKER_03: Those are what I'm really excited about.
16:10
How we get there is with people and the idea of how do we do
16:15
coalition building?
16:17
The,
16:17
the rinse and repeat strategies and tactics of the past may not
16:21
work.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: Even good ideas then.
16:25
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
16:25
SPEAKER_01: Don't mean they're going to work today.
16:26
No,
16:27
you know,
16:27
I feel like we're solving past solutions are the current
16:32
problems right now.
16:33
SPEAKER_03: Right.
16:33
SPEAKER_03: So I think, uh, so how do we, um,
16:37
SPEAKER_03: How do we reimagine what solutions look like?
16:39
SPEAKER_03: And how do we bring people who are closest to that problem?
16:42
SPEAKER_03: Because they're the closest to that solution.
16:44
SPEAKER_03: So it's a lot of exciting stuff happening.
16:47
SPEAKER_03: But I think the future looks great.
16:51
SPEAKER_03: And I'm very excited.
16:52
As turbulent,
16:53
as chaotic as it is,
16:55
as harmful as it is right now,
16:56
we will prevail.
16:58
SPEAKER_03: And the idea of doom and gloom is not upon us.
17:02
One of the things that I so appreciate that you brought up and
17:06
I think is so what I
17:07
SPEAKER_01: look for in a leader is somebody who is a coalition builder,
17:12
SPEAKER_01: somebody who is a collaborator.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: No one leader can take these challenges on.
17:20
SPEAKER_01: I've seen leaders try.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: I've seen people who are isolated try to do it all themselves.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
17:29
But I one of the things that I know about you is you have a
17:33
broad base of support
17:35
SPEAKER_01: all the way up to the federal.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: Our senators, I know that you have great relationships.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk a little bit about you just being in Washington, D.C.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: You have a network.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: You have a network in the state.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: You have a network nationally.
17:50
SPEAKER_01: That's what it takes to get things done,
17:52
SPEAKER_01: because at the end of the day,
17:53
SPEAKER_01: you're the chair of Washington County.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: You have levers that you can pull when you're in that position,
18:00
SPEAKER_01: but you're going to need to call the governor.
18:03
SPEAKER_01: and say, hey, governor, I need your help on this.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna need to call the county chair in Multnomah County.
18:08
You're gonna need to call the legislators,
18:11
the senators,
18:12
the federal government.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: To make Washington County live up to its potential,
18:18
SPEAKER_01: you're gonna need that network that I know you have.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: Maybe mention a little bit before I ask you about Washington,
18:25
SPEAKER_01: D.C.,
18:25
SPEAKER_01: because I want to hear about that.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: You know,
18:27
who are some of your endorsers that you are proud of that
18:30
demonstrate that on day
18:32
SPEAKER_01: one,
18:33
SPEAKER_01: when if you become and when you become county chair,
18:36
you're going to have the ability to pick up the phone and get
18:38
things done for the
18:39
SPEAKER_01: residents?
18:40
SPEAKER_03: Quite a bit of an extensive endorsement.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: I know you do.
18:44
SPEAKER_03: And there are so many to be released soon too.
18:47
SPEAKER_03: I have a lot.
18:49
I am the type of leader that aims not to be the smartest person
18:54
in the room,
18:55
but to make sure the whole room is smart and that everybody
18:58
feels comfortable and
18:59
SPEAKER_03: that there's no bad ideas and that we're
19:03
SPEAKER_03: just problem solving.
19:04
SPEAKER_03: So I have a lot of good support.
19:07
SPEAKER_03: I have Congresswoman Maxine Dexter supporting me.
19:10
SPEAKER_03: I have Governor Kitzhopper, former Governor Kitzhopper supporting me.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: One of the best speakers I've seen in my career.
19:20
I first saw him speak when I was in law school and I saw him
19:24
speak at your campaign kickoff.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: He still got it.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: He's still an incredible speaker.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
19:30
SPEAKER_03: And I also have,
19:31
SPEAKER_03: you know,
19:32
SPEAKER_03: former Senator Mark Haas and I have school board members,
19:36
SPEAKER_03: former elected school board members and past,
19:40
SPEAKER_03: I should say.
19:41
SPEAKER_03: And now, you know, new ones come in.
19:44
So I have every everyone,
19:46
the past,
19:47
the present and the future all really surrounding myself.
19:52
SPEAKER_03: And and that's the type of leader I am.
19:55
SPEAKER_03: I want to bring everyone to the table.
19:58
SPEAKER_03: And I want to make sure everybody feels heard.
20:01
And I want to make sure that we are centering the people that
20:06
are impacted by these
20:07
SPEAKER_03: policies that we make.
20:09
SPEAKER_03: And good leaders really bring people together.
20:13
And aim to be collaborative and from a facilitative leadership
20:18
style,
20:19
right?
20:19
SPEAKER_03: Like to really facilitate the conversation.
20:22
SPEAKER_03: And that's the type of chair I'm looking to be,
20:25
SPEAKER_03: one that is very collaborative,
20:26
SPEAKER_03: one that really facilitates the discussion process.
20:29
SPEAKER_03: to make sure that everybody's contributing, not just my ideas.
20:33
I'm not against replicating the gains of transactionalism
20:37
because we're in politics.
20:38
SPEAKER_03: There are ways to replicate that and to move it forward.
20:43
SPEAKER_03: But there's also a way to say, you know, who's this being harmed?
20:48
SPEAKER_03: If this policy were to go into effect, who's most harmed?
20:52
SPEAKER_01: Life, you don't get decisions that come to you that are like,
20:57
This decision is going to be completely good or you could
20:59
choose option B,
21:00
SPEAKER_01: which is completely bad.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: That's not a real thing.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: People like to talk in terms of these binaries.
21:05
But in real life,
21:06
the decisions,
21:07
the choices you have to make are they have pluses and minuses.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: And you have to weigh in balance.
21:13
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you got to balance and say, OK, this has too many.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: And like what you said,
21:18
which I so appreciate is is thinking about the actual person in
21:23
Washington County
21:24
SPEAKER_01: and how it's going to impact them.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: Like at the center of this, who's going to be harmed by this policy?
21:30
SPEAKER_01: Who's going to benefit by this policy?
21:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: And then you do your best as a leader to balance.
21:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: Tell us about Washington, D.C.
21:38
SPEAKER_03: I was there for NACO conference, actually.
21:41
SPEAKER_03: I'm the vice chair of the transportation committee of NACO.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: And NACO is the national association of?
21:47
SPEAKER_03: County officials.
21:48
I got elected in 2020 and I started in 2021 and we were all
21:53
Zoom,
21:54
all my colleagues.
21:55
SPEAKER_03: I took every opportunity.
21:57
SPEAKER_03: I got involved in our own association of Oregon counties.
22:01
SPEAKER_03: And then I got involved in the national one.
22:04
SPEAKER_03: and learned which one I really wanted to,
22:07
SPEAKER_03: where I can put my fingers,
22:09
SPEAKER_03: which committee,
22:09
SPEAKER_03: which issues.
22:10
The transportation appealed to me on that side,
22:13
and obviously the health side appealed to me.
22:15
SPEAKER_03: And I'm a vice chair,
22:17
SPEAKER_03: co-chair actually,
22:18
SPEAKER_03: on the Health and Human Services Steering Committee for the Oregon side.
22:22
SPEAKER_03: And then I'm the vice chair on the transportation side.
22:26
It gives me that opportunity to check and say,
22:29
I want to suggest this idea to my colleagues.
22:32
SPEAKER_03: how do you guys solve this problem in your area?
22:35
SPEAKER_03: You know, they could be in Missouri, they could be somewhere else.
22:39
SPEAKER_03: Good ideas happen everywhere.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: Everywhere.
22:41
SPEAKER_03: So that way,
22:41
SPEAKER_03: when I bring this idea to my colleagues,
22:44
SPEAKER_03: they're not,
22:45
SPEAKER_03: you know,
22:45
SPEAKER_03: it's not a crazy ideas that I can say,
22:47
SPEAKER_03: I'm not the only one crazy.
22:49
SPEAKER_03: People in Missouri are doing this.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: And it's working.
22:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
22:52
SPEAKER_03: You know, so that's how I, um,
22:57
SPEAKER_03: All my good ideas.
22:58
SPEAKER_03: I get my good ideas.
23:00
SPEAKER_01: I started my career as a middle school teacher,
23:03
SPEAKER_01: and I think teachers are the biggest thieves going.
23:07
SPEAKER_01: They steal everything.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: They steal lesson plans.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: They steal good ideas.
23:12
SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm going to admit it because the statute of limitations run.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I stole chalk from the classroom over.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: Right.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
23:18
SPEAKER_01: we do whatever we can for the kids,
23:19
SPEAKER_01: but the best leaders are not afraid to steal good ideas.
23:23
SPEAKER_03: There's no reason to reinvent the wheel.
23:25
SPEAKER_03: Somebody's doing it out there.
23:26
SPEAKER_03: You can just make it better.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: So,
23:29
SPEAKER_01: Nafisa,
23:29
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to,
23:30
SPEAKER_01: I want to address a little bit of an elephant in the room,
23:33
SPEAKER_01: so to speak.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: As I mentioned at the outset of this episode, I endorsed you.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: Very excited to endorse you.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: You got some flack for that, though.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: You got some pushback from some other electeds in your community.
23:45
SPEAKER_01: Do you want to elaborate on that at all?
23:48
SPEAKER_01: Or, I mean, what has the reception been?
23:50
SPEAKER_01: I know it became kind of a thing.
23:52
SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you, Mike.
23:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, I appreciate your endorsements and I really am grateful.
24:00
SPEAKER_03: Running for a new seat.
24:02
SPEAKER_03: You know, you need all the...
24:04
validators that you can get big tent but yeah you know a mayor
24:09
that i really highly
24:10
admire and respect did reach out and decided to get involved in
24:14
the race to endorse
24:16
my opponent because of that but it's okay because i endorsed
24:19
you yeah and i still
24:21
respect them and you know appreciate them it's not gonna this
24:24
is just the two
24:24
SPEAKER_03: months and i don't believe in you know
24:29
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
24:29
SPEAKER_03: People say don't burn bridges, but I feel like we're all swimming.
24:34
SPEAKER_03: I don't even know what bridge we're on.
24:35
SPEAKER_03: We're trying to swim.
24:37
SPEAKER_03: And some people are in towers.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: When you reached out to me and you shared that,
24:42
SPEAKER_01: of course,
24:42
SPEAKER_01: you know,
24:43
SPEAKER_01: I want to be helpful to your campaign because I'm endorsing you.
24:46
SPEAKER_01: I want you to win.
24:48
But also the message was about,
24:51
oh,
24:51
you know,
24:51
Mike Schmidt's scary mindset.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: That's, you know, if you're affiliated with him, then that's scary.
24:56
And what it illustrated to me was that there's a scary
25:01
narrative out there about
25:02
SPEAKER_01: what I stood for and by affiliation,
25:05
SPEAKER_01: what you might stand for.
25:07
So I just wanted to run through a few of my proudest
25:10
accomplishments as district
25:11
SPEAKER_01: attorney and see if that if you relate to those things,
25:15
SPEAKER_01: because maybe that's the scary mindset that this mayor was talking about.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: So this is going to be rapid fire.
25:22
One of the things I was most proud of is our auto theft task
25:26
force and how we
25:27
dramatically drove down the rates of car theft in Multnomah
25:30
County to historic
25:31
SPEAKER_01: lows.
25:32
SPEAKER_03: Congratulations.
25:33
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
25:34
SPEAKER_01: Is that I mean, is that something are you against car theft?
25:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I have a car.
25:40
SPEAKER_03: I'll be the first to call our DA.
25:43
SPEAKER_03: We're a pretty safe county.
25:46
SPEAKER_01: We're both on the same page against car theft.
25:49
One of the things I was most proud of was our driving the
25:52
catalytic converter theft
25:54
SPEAKER_01: rates down in Multnomah County to almost non-existent.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: We changed the law.
25:59
I worked with Senator Chris Gorsuch to make it more difficult
26:03
to sell catalytic
26:04
SPEAKER_01: converters on the black market or into the gray market.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: Are you against catalytic converter theft?
26:09
SPEAKER_03: Yes, absolutely.
26:11
SPEAKER_03: Oh my God.
26:12
SPEAKER_03: That was a thing in, in, in Oregon.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:16
SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, I, I, I used to worry for my car.
26:20
SPEAKER_03: I'll be honest with you.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: I did too.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: I did too.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: That's why,
26:23
SPEAKER_01: you know,
26:23
SPEAKER_01: and I heard from so many residents that did,
26:25
SPEAKER_01: and we worked hard on that issue and,
26:26
SPEAKER_01: and we saw the dramatic.
26:28
SPEAKER_03: Can I say something?
26:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:29
SPEAKER_03: Especially when I'm not in Washington County.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: Well,
26:33
SPEAKER_01: luckily for you in Multnomah County,
26:35
SPEAKER_03: when I would come this side of the town,
26:37
SPEAKER_03: I'm like,
26:38
SPEAKER_01: oh,
26:38
SPEAKER_01: right off a table after we got that legislation passed.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: All right.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Next one.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: I partnered with OHSU,
26:44
the health and science university to study gun violence in our
26:48
community and to
26:49
SPEAKER_01: come up with recommendations to drive down gun violence,
26:51
SPEAKER_01: therefore bringing health policy and safety policy together.
26:55
SPEAKER_01: Is that a value that you share?
26:57
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we need to do everything in our power to prevent gun violence.
27:02
There's,
27:03
you know,
27:03
people out in Washington County think,
27:04
oh,
27:04
my God,
27:05
Mike Schmidt.
27:05
SPEAKER_01: So scary.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the things he did.
27:08
And I want to try to set the record straight that the things
27:12
that I worked on are
27:13
the same values that you share and are the values of public
27:17
safety and not the fake
27:19
boogeyman caricature that maybe even some mayors who ought to
27:23
know better believe.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: So addiction.
27:26
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk about addiction.
27:27
SPEAKER_01: Do you think addiction is a health issue?
27:30
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: Should people have access to treatment?
27:33
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
27:34
SPEAKER_01: Should poor people get their treatment through jail?
27:38
SPEAKER_03: If they're in jail.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: They should get treatment in jail.
27:41
SPEAKER_01: I'll clarify the thinking.
27:44
SPEAKER_01: It's been my experience that wealthy people,
27:46
SPEAKER_01: when they have an addicted family member,
27:48
SPEAKER_01: they send them to a health clinic somewhere,
27:50
SPEAKER_01: Betty Ford in California.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: But it's been my experience that folks that don't have resources,
27:54
the only place that they can get treatment is through the
27:57
criminal justice system.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: Do you feel like we should build a health system that serves everybody?
28:02
SPEAKER_03: We should, yeah.
28:03
SPEAKER_03: Healthcare for all.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: All right.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: Again, values that you and I share.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: Protecting free speech.
28:09
Should people have the ability to go out and exercise their
28:13
rights to free speech
28:14
SPEAKER_01: to criticize anybody,
28:15
SPEAKER_01: the government or any of the leaders?
28:17
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
28:18
I just proposed an amendment to some rule of law resolution
28:22
that we were having a
28:24
SPEAKER_03: conversation in Washington County Board of Commissioners last week,
28:27
SPEAKER_03: actually,
28:28
SPEAKER_03: to protect protesters for speech.
28:30
SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: How about undoing wrongful convictions?
28:33
SPEAKER_01: If the government gets something wrong, should they try to fix it?
28:37
SPEAKER_01: Is that a value that you and I share?
28:39
Well,
28:40
then I'm not sure what all the hubbub is about,
28:42
about the scary Mike Schmidt endorsement.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: Because it sounds like we're value aligned,
28:45
but I actually think that those values also align with your
28:48
constituents in
28:48
SPEAKER_01: Washington County.
28:50
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
28:50
SPEAKER_03: I would, yeah.
28:52
SPEAKER_03: Everything we talked about, I think people, I call it part of politics.
28:58
SPEAKER_03: You know, politicking is interesting.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's my point is that people try to use fear.
29:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
29:07
They try to scare people with scare tactics and they will say
29:11
things like,
29:12
SPEAKER_01: look at Portland,
29:13
SPEAKER_01: right?
29:14
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Nafisa, she's endorsed by somebody from Portland.
29:17
Well,
29:17
that means she's going to turn Washington County into Portland,
29:19
right?
29:20
And it's like,
29:21
actually look at the leaders and the policies that are standing
29:24
with you.
29:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:25
And I think that they resonate with Washington County residents
29:28
just as much as
29:29
SPEAKER_01: they do with Multnomah County residents.
29:31
SPEAKER_03: We all want...
29:32
SPEAKER_03: to be healthy and to live in healthy communities.
29:35
SPEAKER_03: I think we're all the same, and boarders don't know upward mobility.
29:42
SPEAKER_03: Boarders don't know.
29:44
SPEAKER_03: I think we all want the same,
29:46
SPEAKER_03: and once we really see ourselves as a region,
29:50
SPEAKER_03: you know,
29:52
SPEAKER_03: we can figure out how to separate the politicking part of it.
29:58
SPEAKER_01: Nafisa, I'm very excited for you, for your campaign.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: I think that running for office in and of itself is a public service.
30:06
SPEAKER_01: You give people in your county the ability to have a conversation.
30:10
And I think that's what makes democracy so great is that that
30:14
our communities every
30:15
SPEAKER_01: on a regular basis get to have these conversations about.
30:19
SPEAKER_01: What are the policies?
30:20
SPEAKER_01: What are the leaders and what are the direction that we want to go in?
30:23
SPEAKER_01: And so anybody who's running for office,
30:25
SPEAKER_01: I think,
30:25
SPEAKER_01: affords people the opportunity to have those important conversations.
30:30
And so long as I think the campaigns are focused on policies
30:34
and not tearing people
30:35
SPEAKER_01: down and your campaign is not about tearing anybody down.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: It's about your vision for the county.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: And that's another one of the things I appreciate about you so much.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: Tell people who maybe have listened to this, how do they find you?
30:48
SPEAKER_01: If they've heard your words today,
30:50
SPEAKER_01: they've learned more about you,
30:51
SPEAKER_01: and you are now somebody that they want to learn more about or support,
30:55
SPEAKER_01: how do they make those connections?
30:56
SPEAKER_01: And what can they do to help?
30:58
SPEAKER_03: They can donate.
31:00
SPEAKER_03: There's multiple ways to help me get elected.
31:03
SPEAKER_03: We only got, what, 12 weeks, actually, 12 weeks left.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're getting close.
31:08
SPEAKER_03: We got 12 weeks left until the primary, which is May 19th.
31:13
SPEAKER_03: There are multiple ways to contact me there.
31:15
SPEAKER_03: You can find me on Facebook, Nafisa 5 for Washington County Chair.
31:19
SPEAKER_03: I'm also on Instagram.
31:21
SPEAKER_03: I'm also on Twitter, but I'm a little bit protesting Twitter.
31:25
SPEAKER_03: So I try to not post as much, but I'm also on Twitter.
31:29
SPEAKER_03: And then I'm also LinkedIn as myself.
31:33
SPEAKER_03: Nafisafai, but I also post a lot of information there.
31:37
SPEAKER_03: And then I have a website, nafisafaiforwashingtoncounty.com.
31:43
SPEAKER_03: People can also look me up my official site.
31:47
SPEAKER_03: So I just want to let people know that you can reach out to me.
31:50
SPEAKER_03: I'm on the Washington County side of the website.
31:53
SPEAKER_03: Our agendas are always published.
31:56
SPEAKER_03: We meet every Tuesday and first Thursday of every month, we have a
32:03
SPEAKER_03: roundtable discussions as well.
32:05
SPEAKER_03: So there's multiple ways to reach out.
32:07
SPEAKER_03: I'm very accessible and transparent and
32:11
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
32:11
SPEAKER_03: Look me up.
32:12
SPEAKER_03: Washington County.
32:13
SPEAKER_03: Great.
32:14
SPEAKER_03: Love.
32:15
SPEAKER_03: We changed it.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: People can knock doors.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: They can attend events.
32:18
SPEAKER_01: They can hear from you directly.
32:21
And if they are so moved and have the ability,
32:24
you know,
32:24
maybe write you a check.
32:25
SPEAKER_03: I know that money,
32:28
SPEAKER_01: unfortunately,
32:29
SPEAKER_01: you know,
32:29
SPEAKER_01: it's,
32:30
SPEAKER_01: it's always challenging,
32:30
SPEAKER_01: but that's how you speak to voters is with dollars.
32:33
SPEAKER_03: This is a big county and
32:36
SPEAKER_03: The countywide election and money matters in that.
32:41
If it's a city,
32:42
probably you can get away with it by doing different
32:45
strategies.
32:46
SPEAKER_03: But I think here is the Karl Rove way.
32:50
We will put all of the links in the show notes so the people
32:53
can find you.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: We wish you the best.
32:55
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
32:57
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
32:57
SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me.
32:58
SPEAKER_01: And we'll be rooting for you.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: All right.
33:01
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm so excited for today's guest, Mitch Green.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: Mitch Green's a Portland City Council representing District 4,
33:21
SPEAKER_01: covering West Portland,
33:22
SPEAKER_01: Reed,
33:22
SPEAKER_01: Woodstock,
33:23
SPEAKER_01: and the Selwood-Moreland neighborhoods.
33:25
SPEAKER_01: Elected in November 2024 as part of the youngest,
33:28
SPEAKER_01: most progressive city council in Portland's history,
33:30
SPEAKER_01: and
33:31
the new form of government,
33:32
where now we have 12 counselors instead of five.
33:35
SPEAKER_01: He's an Army veteran and economist.
33:37
He has taught at Portland State University and Portland
33:39
Community College.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: Before joining the council,
33:42
he spent years as a senior risk analyst at the Bonneville Power
33:45
Administration.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: His priorities include social housing,
33:48
SPEAKER_01: working families,
33:49
SPEAKER_01: and breaking with business as usual at City Hall.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: Counselor Green, welcome so much to The Schmidt Show.
33:54
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me on.
33:56
SPEAKER_01: Well, it is my pleasure.
33:57
SPEAKER_01: I've been very excited to talk to you.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad that we can make this work.
34:01
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk to you about
34:05
Something that has been in the news a lot over the past now few
34:09
months,
34:09
really.
34:10
SPEAKER_01: And it is all about housing.
34:13
And what I want to have you start off by helping us understand,
34:18
helping me understand.
34:20
I saw an article or it got uncovered that the city of Portland
34:24
had 20 million
34:25
SPEAKER_01: dollars that they didn't know that they had to allocate towards housing.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: And then there were a lot of conversations.
34:30
SPEAKER_01: How should we spend the $20 million?
34:31
SPEAKER_01: And then another one came out and said, well, actually, it's $40 million.
34:34
SPEAKER_01: And there's like, oh, my gosh, well, more conversations.
34:37
SPEAKER_01: How are we going to do this?
34:38
SPEAKER_01: And then another one came out and said,
34:40
SPEAKER_01: well,
34:40
SPEAKER_01: actually,
34:40
maybe there's over $100 million of money that we didn't know
34:43
that we had to spend
34:45
SPEAKER_01: on this.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: help me deconstruct a, you know, how does that happen?
34:49
Uh,
34:50
but B I know from the conversations I've been in,
34:53
it's not a blank check.
34:54
It's not,
34:55
Hey,
34:55
here's a hundred million dollars,
34:56
throw it to whatever you want.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: So, so help me unpack.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: How did this come about to the extent that,
35:01
SPEAKER_01: that,
35:01
SPEAKER_01: you know,
35:02
SPEAKER_01: what are,
35:03
SPEAKER_01: what tell us about this money?
35:05
SPEAKER_01: Like, what can you do with it?
35:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great set of questions.
35:08
SPEAKER_01: Let's dive into it.
35:10
I think we can start by framing it by saying that when we
35:13
changed our form of
35:14
SPEAKER_01: government,
35:15
we moved away from these silo bureaus towards this kind of
35:19
consolidated enterprise
35:21
SPEAKER_01: and a city council that is no longer performing an executive function.
35:24
function over a set of bureaus,
35:26
but rather is in kind of a legislation slash oversight mode.
35:31
And so I think this money kind of emerged from counsel doing
35:35
various degrees of
35:36
SPEAKER_01: oversight,
35:37
SPEAKER_01: you know,
35:38
SPEAKER_01: earliest,
35:39
SPEAKER_01: the earliest sort of instance where we've
35:41
may have found that the money existed as one of my colleagues
35:44
had had a question
35:45
SPEAKER_01: about the rental services office and what were the monies for.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: And so the previous housing director did her due diligence and realized,
35:52
SPEAKER_01: hey,
35:52
we've got actually a sizable chunk of money that's unbudgeted
35:57
in the last budget.
35:58
And council was not notified of that discovery or conversation
36:02
for many months.
36:02
And that's its own ball of wax,
36:05
which I've introduced an oversight resolution to try to cure.
36:08
But the bigger point there is that we have this legacy set of
36:14
systems that,
36:15
SPEAKER_01: whether they're practices or accounting systems,
36:17
that have led to this situation where counsel doesn't have a
36:21
lot of visibility into
36:23
SPEAKER_01: the nature of these funds.
36:23
SPEAKER_01: So that's sort of the context there.
36:26
I think we're on a track to fix it,
36:28
and we're going to kind of get into that.
36:30
SPEAKER_01: Well, just so I can –
36:34
What I hear you saying,
36:35
and it makes sense to me,
36:36
we changed forms of government.
36:38
And we went from each counselor is the head of bureaus
36:42
themselves individually.
36:43
And I remember the mayor would assign different counselors,
36:46
different bureaus.
36:46
And so they became kind of the mini boss of that bureau to now
36:50
this legislative
36:51
SPEAKER_01: form of government.
36:53
And what I think I hear you saying or alluding to is when
36:59
counselors were kind of
37:00
SPEAKER_01: the head of these bureaus,
37:02
maybe they might know about some of this money or maybe they
37:05
don't know about some
37:06
SPEAKER_01: of this money.
37:07
But nobody else is looking into it necessarily because they're
37:10
running their own bureaus.
37:11
SPEAKER_02: Right.
37:11
But now that the government's transitioned and you have 12
37:15
individuals who are kind
37:16
SPEAKER_01: of more this legislative role,
37:18
they're asking questions and they're all trying to understand
37:21
the various aspects
37:22
SPEAKER_01: of the city.
37:23
And this change in process has actually kind of brought some
37:26
things to light that
37:27
SPEAKER_01: maybe we're hiding before.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
37:29
SPEAKER_01: And it's a little messy at times.
37:32
If I'm a member of the public,
37:33
I'm probably not feeling very good about any of this.
37:37
But it does represent this kind of growth moment for our city
37:40
government to say,
37:41
SPEAKER_01: you do have counselors looking into this,
37:44
SPEAKER_01: asking questions and saying,
37:46
how can I be fully apprised as we go into the next budget
37:48
setting process?
37:49
SPEAKER_01: So-
37:50
Each of those,
37:50
there's a bunch of different fund categories that add up to
37:54
$106 million.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: There are varying degrees of restriction on that.
37:57
SPEAKER_01: And so our task now is to talk about how best to use these monies.
38:01
SPEAKER_01: Great.
38:02
SPEAKER_01: Great.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean, in some ways, and I think you're right.
38:05
SPEAKER_01: I think especially the way that it has been framed in the media,
38:09
SPEAKER_01: people are,
38:10
SPEAKER_01: their immediate reaction is kind of outrage or disbelief.
38:13
SPEAKER_01: How can this happen?
38:14
SPEAKER_01: Right.
38:15
SPEAKER_01: And that is very understandable.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: The other way to look at it,
38:19
SPEAKER_01: though,
38:19
is we changed our form of government and where new things are
38:23
coming to light that
38:24
SPEAKER_01: maybe would have continued to fester under the old.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: So in some ways, it's a positive.
38:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
38:30
And I think that's important to point out because I also hear
38:33
and I'm sure you have,
38:34
too.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: And this is true when anything changes.
38:36
Whenever there are big system changes,
38:38
people always are the new system sucks.
38:40
SPEAKER_01: The new system's terrible.
38:41
SPEAKER_01: Right.
38:42
SPEAKER_01: I hate it.
38:42
SPEAKER_01: You know, used to be.
38:43
SPEAKER_01: And it's like,
38:44
SPEAKER_01: well,
38:44
SPEAKER_01: hey,
38:44
here's evidence that just a system change has led to a good
38:49
result in the way of we
38:52
SPEAKER_01: are now more on top of some of these things.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: And we have this crucial moment where we want to say,
38:59
SPEAKER_01: okay,
39:01
the public is engaged on this and is learning information that
39:04
council's learning
39:05
SPEAKER_01: at the same time.
39:06
SPEAKER_01: They're outraged.
39:07
SPEAKER_01: They have deep questions.
39:08
SPEAKER_01: And so why?
39:09
The number one task I think for city councilors is to make sure
39:13
we're restoring
39:13
SPEAKER_01: public trust in the system.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: And you do that by being really honest and clear-eyed about how to,
39:20
SPEAKER_01: one,
39:20
how to fix the accounting issues and the kind of communication
39:23
between the
39:24
SPEAKER_01: administration and the council issues,
39:25
SPEAKER_01: but then also spending the money in a way that's very sensible,
39:28
very kind of programmatic and kind of gets us on a path where
39:32
we get away from this
39:33
SPEAKER_01: like,
39:33
SPEAKER_01: oops,
39:34
SPEAKER_01: we found some money.
39:35
SPEAKER_01: Now let's scramble to spend it.
39:36
SPEAKER_01: Like let's be deliberate about this.
39:39
SPEAKER_01: So that's a perfect segue into how can we spend the money?
39:42
And you've already alluded to this is not just a pot of $106
39:46
million in the general
39:47
SPEAKER_01: fund for us to do whatever we want.
39:49
So maybe as best you can kind of give us some of the boundaries
39:53
or barriers that
39:54
you have to work within with thinking about how you allocate
39:57
this $106 million.
39:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
39:59
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
39:59
if you can imagine in your mind as you're listening to this
40:02
podcast of a flow chart
40:04
SPEAKER_01: and the kind of first question is,
40:06
SPEAKER_01: is this money restricted or is it unrestricted?
40:08
SPEAKER_01: Then the answer will be,
40:10
SPEAKER_01: yes,
40:10
SPEAKER_01: it is restricted,
40:11
but then there are degrees of restriction and the color of
40:15
money question comes
40:16
SPEAKER_01: into play.
40:17
SPEAKER_01: So the first tranche of money that we found,
40:21
SPEAKER_01: the $21 million associated with the rental services office,
40:25
is very much restricted by legislative intent to be spent on
40:30
things like tenant
40:31
SPEAKER_01: services,
40:32
SPEAKER_01: even landlord education services,
40:34
SPEAKER_01: eviction protection,
40:37
SPEAKER_01: eviction defense,
40:38
SPEAKER_01: those sorts of things.
40:39
Because the fee was put into place to sort of recognize that as
40:43
part of our growth
40:44
SPEAKER_01: as a city,
40:46
SPEAKER_01: rents had increased a lot and
40:48
SPEAKER_01: Tenants were kind of losing ground.
40:50
SPEAKER_01: And so we wanted to create some tools to level the playing field.
40:53
And so that first $21 million really needs to be about spending
40:57
it on keeping
40:58
SPEAKER_01: tenants housed,
40:59
SPEAKER_01: housing the unhoused,
41:01
SPEAKER_01: and standing up meaningful,
41:04
SPEAKER_01: toothy eviction defense systems.
41:06
SPEAKER_01: So that's the first piece.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
41:08
SPEAKER_01: All right.
41:08
So I'm visioning in my head that that one's orange and I see it
41:12
water falling down
41:13
SPEAKER_01: to the orange bucket of rental fees,
41:16
SPEAKER_01: landlord,
41:16
SPEAKER_01: tenant stuff.
41:16
SPEAKER_01: OK, now there's another color.
41:18
Yeah,
41:18
there's another about 20 million dollars or so that has accrued
41:22
from fees on development.
41:25
SPEAKER_01: I think it's called the CET.
41:27
I forget the acronym,
41:27
but it's it's an exemption on a tax to encourage housing
41:31
development.
41:32
SPEAKER_01: That money can be spent in kind of a wide array of uses.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: It still needs to be related to housing,
41:39
but it can be for gap financing for affordable housing projects
41:43
that they might
41:44
SPEAKER_01: miss a couple million dollars in their capital stack.
41:48
SPEAKER_01: That's the only thing standing in their way to getting...
41:50
SPEAKER_01: getting going on production.
41:52
It can be used for things like buying down the cost structure
41:55
of existing buildings.
41:56
It can be used to go out and purchase market properties that
42:01
may be on sale for a
42:02
SPEAKER_01: discount and then bring them into a sort of affordable housing portfolio,
42:06
SPEAKER_01: if you will.
42:08
SPEAKER_01: It can also be used to subsidize new construction.
42:10
It can be used to make developers who are participating in the
42:15
Occlusionary Housing
42:16
SPEAKER_01: Program whole.
42:17
SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of a
42:19
SPEAKER_01: a less restricted.
42:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
42:20
SPEAKER_01: Seems a little more flexible.
42:21
SPEAKER_01: It's a little more flexible.
42:22
SPEAKER_01: And I think there's,
42:23
there's opportunities that maybe if we needed to return money
42:26
to the general fund,
42:27
SPEAKER_01: you know,
42:27
SPEAKER_01: council can adopt an ordinance that clarifies and expands use.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: But the point being is it's still very much about housing,
42:34
SPEAKER_01: but it can be about building new stuff,
42:37
SPEAKER_01: preserving what we have,
42:38
SPEAKER_01: preserving,
42:39
SPEAKER_01: purchasing.
42:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
42:40
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
42:40
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
42:41
SPEAKER_01: So now I've got,
42:42
I've got orange and I've got purple in my color of money
42:45
waterfall that I'm
42:46
SPEAKER_01: envisioning.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: What's next?
42:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
42:48
so that leaves about $60-ish million that I would say a large
42:52
chunk of it is very
42:53
SPEAKER_01: restricted.
42:55
And a big meaningful part of that is the array of funds that
42:59
accrued through the
43:00
development of these tax increment financing districts with
43:03
Prosper Portland and
43:04
SPEAKER_01: our previous Portland Development Commission.
43:06
SPEAKER_01: And so those are really supposed to be used for – those have two very –
43:11
SPEAKER_01: Hard restrictions.
43:11
One is to sort of say the geographic boundaries in which those
43:16
resources accrued
43:17
SPEAKER_01: over the life of that TIF district.
43:19
TIF is tax increment finance for those listening and trying to
43:22
keep sense of the jargon here.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: They need to be spent within that geographic boundary.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: And they also need to be spent on what we call sticks and bricks.
43:30
SPEAKER_01: So it's like capital formation.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: They can't be used for rental assistance.
43:34
SPEAKER_01: They can't be used to kind of, you know.
43:36
SPEAKER_01: Personnel.
43:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
43:38
SPEAKER_01: No operations and maintenance.
43:39
And so there's that kind of 60-ish million dollars,
43:44
which is divided between,
43:46
you know.
43:47
Some very restricted uses and Prosper Portland kind of
43:49
development stuff.
43:49
Are there some TIFs that have a bigger chunk of that 60 million
43:53
than others?
43:53
So it's not like spread out evenly on average across the
43:57
different districts.
43:58
SPEAKER_01: Some of them could have accumulated more.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
44:01
I think the Gateway TIF probably has a sizable chunk because
44:06
there was not a lot of
44:07
SPEAKER_01: development that happened there.
44:09
SPEAKER_01: Just as a sort of foreshadowing,
44:11
I would really hope that when we talk about things like social
44:14
housing and building
44:15
SPEAKER_01: alternative forms of cost-based rent models,
44:18
SPEAKER_01: we should do that in Gateway.
44:19
We should do that in East Portland maybe as a priority because
44:22
you want to target
44:23
places that are infrastructure rich and there's great transit
44:26
connections and it's
44:27
SPEAKER_01: a part of the city that has been neglected.
44:30
But the point being,
44:31
though,
44:31
is not every TIF district has the same quantum of funds.
44:36
SPEAKER_01: And so it's like, in some sense, unevenly distributed.
44:39
SPEAKER_01: And then there are grants.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: There are monies that came from state and federal grants.
44:44
SPEAKER_01: And every time you receive a grant, it's going to be restricted for use.
44:48
SPEAKER_01: So I want to enter a new term into the chat, so to speak, supplant.
44:53
SPEAKER_01: Oftentimes, when government...
44:56
has money in some areas that they might've had to otherwise
45:01
allocate general fund
45:02
SPEAKER_01: dollars to accomplish goals.
45:04
SPEAKER_01: Now this other money comes in,
45:05
SPEAKER_01: they can remove the general fund dollars that they were going to spend.
45:08
SPEAKER_01: And that's called supplanting.
45:10
You supplant those general fund dollars with a different
45:12
source,
45:13
which frees up general fund.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
45:15
SPEAKER_01: Is that in this conversation at all?
45:17
SPEAKER_01: Are we thinking about,
45:18
SPEAKER_01: wow,
45:18
SPEAKER_01: now that we have this money,
45:20
that actually does free up some resources to go focus on some
45:23
other things?
45:25
SPEAKER_01: Are we talking about that at all in this conversation?
45:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
45:27
I mean,
45:28
I think it's the devil's in the details there and you got to go
45:31
line by line on that.
45:35
SPEAKER_01: But it very much is.
45:36
SPEAKER_01: I think the best example I can give listeners is last fall,
45:40
I joined Councilor Murillo in an amendment to the fall budget
45:45
adjustment process
45:45
SPEAKER_01: called the
45:46
SPEAKER_01: TAO, the Technical Accounting Ordinance.
45:49
SPEAKER_01: And that amendment was called Morello 1.
45:51
And what we were trying to do in that amendment was reduce some
45:54
general fund
45:55
SPEAKER_01: allocations to the impact reduction program.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: So that's the sweeps and free up money to be spent on
46:02
SPEAKER_01: eviction protection, tenant services, and that sort of thing.
46:05
SPEAKER_01: To me, that's much more consistent with my values.
46:08
And I think it's better to invest upstream in systems than to
46:12
sort of always react
46:13
SPEAKER_01: to a failure of a system.
46:15
Had we known that there was large pots of money sitting around
46:20
to be used for that
46:21
SPEAKER_01: very specific purpose,
46:22
SPEAKER_01: then that conversation probably would have looked a lot differently.
46:25
SPEAKER_01: But we didn't know that.
46:27
SPEAKER_01: And so as we go forward into this process, I think
46:32
We need to have a conversation and we will have a conversation
46:34
in the budget
46:35
SPEAKER_01: because outside the scope of this conversation,
46:37
we're looking at $170 million general fund deficit going into
46:41
the next budget.
46:41
SPEAKER_01: Right, exactly.
46:43
SPEAKER_01: The cost centers for that deficit are going to be the shelter program.
46:47
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be public safety.
46:49
SPEAKER_01: Those are very controversial buckets of money to touch.
46:52
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to have to have an engaged conversation around that.
46:55
But in the context of making sure that we are meeting the
46:58
moment for upstream
46:59
SPEAKER_01: solutions on housing,
47:01
SPEAKER_01: we know that we've got,
47:02
SPEAKER_01: I'd say,
47:03
SPEAKER_01: at least $40 million available to allocate to the need in this moment.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: Well, great.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: That gets us to the next part of this conversation, which is,
47:10
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we've identified we have money.
47:13
We've now thank you for your explanation on what the money can
47:16
be spent for.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: What should this money be allocated to you?
47:21
SPEAKER_01: What is Mitch Green's?
47:22
SPEAKER_01: What is your thoughts on this?
47:24
SPEAKER_01: And I know I have seen,
47:26
SPEAKER_01: because I'm following this issue,
47:27
various proposals brought forward from different commissioners
47:31
and counselors.
47:31
SPEAKER_01: So they're thinking about this and people have different plans.
47:35
SPEAKER_01: Ultimately, you all are going to have to coalesce around one plan.
47:38
SPEAKER_01: What is...
47:39
SPEAKER_01: what do you think we ought to do with this money?
47:43
SPEAKER_01: And I'll,
47:44
SPEAKER_01: and I will frame it with,
47:45
SPEAKER_01: I think everybody's goal,
47:47
no matter what your perspective and how the money should be
47:49
spent is how do we kit
47:52
SPEAKER_01: the most people into housing or keep them housed or,
47:55
SPEAKER_01: you
47:57
the folks being homeless on the streets and either preventing
48:00
that or getting them housed.
48:01
SPEAKER_01: So I think everyone has the same goal,
48:02
SPEAKER_01: but everyone's going to have different ideas on how to get there.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: We now know how we can spend the money.
48:06
SPEAKER_01: What are your ideas and what should we do?
48:08
SPEAKER_01: What's the most effective way to spend this money?
48:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great question.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: So I always start this type of
48:15
question for myself by testing whether or not the money is
48:19
one-time or if it's an
48:21
SPEAKER_01: earned enduring resource.
48:22
SPEAKER_01: And what we're looking at with this found resource is one-time money.
48:26
SPEAKER_01: One-time.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: And so when you spend one-time money,
48:29
you need to think about whether or not the expenditure is going
48:33
to yield a
48:35
SPEAKER_01: long-term benefit.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: And there's,
48:37
SPEAKER_01: of course,
48:38
cases where you really do need to spend it on a thing in the
48:41
moment to ameliorate
48:42
SPEAKER_01: or prevent
48:43
SPEAKER_01: ongoing harm.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: And I think rent assistance is part of this conversation, no question.
48:48
SPEAKER_01: But I think that we would miss a huge moment here,
48:51
a huge opportunity if we did not spend a significant sum on
48:55
what I'm calling rent
48:56
SPEAKER_01: buy downs.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: So I just want to,
48:58
SPEAKER_01: because this is such an important point,
49:00
SPEAKER_01: and in government,
49:01
SPEAKER_01: you learn this,
49:02
SPEAKER_01: that the difference between one-time money and ongoing,
49:05
SPEAKER_01: what we'd say,
49:06
SPEAKER_01: ongoing general fund typically,
49:07
SPEAKER_01: or ongoing resources is absolutely crucial.
49:10
SPEAKER_01: And so
49:11
SPEAKER_01: You gave us two examples.
49:12
SPEAKER_01: Rent assistance, that would be a short-term use of the money.
49:17
SPEAKER_01: You can pay someone's rent this month.
49:20
SPEAKER_01: Once that one-time money's gone, you've expended it.
49:23
SPEAKER_01: You don't have more rent assistance to keep that.
49:26
On the other side,
49:27
rent buy downs,
49:29
you are investing in the debt of the building.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: You're bringing that debt down.
49:34
SPEAKER_01: So now the owner of the building can charge less per unit.
49:39
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
49:40
SPEAKER_01: And that, once you buy that down, you've bought it down.
49:44
SPEAKER_01: In perpetuity,
49:45
the rents of those units can be charged at a lower rate for the
49:49
owner of that
49:49
SPEAKER_01: building to be able to make
49:51
the resources necessary to maintain the building,
49:52
which is what they have to do.
49:53
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
49:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:54
So that's a perfect example of a short-term versus a long-term
49:58
way to use this money.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: And I think that there's a blend.
50:01
SPEAKER_01: If you go back to the rental services office fund,
50:03
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
50:04
the legislative intent for that fee was really to help people
50:08
stay housed.
50:09
So I think that there's a very strong case to be made that we
50:12
should spend a
50:14
meaningful amount of that money on rent assistance because
50:16
you're going to help
50:17
SPEAKER_01: folks who might be in private housing.
50:19
You're going to help folks who maybe are not already in
50:23
regulated affordable
50:24
SPEAKER_01: housing units that would benefit from the rent buy-down.
50:26
SPEAKER_01: So there's a blended model here, but...
50:29
SPEAKER_01: But for me,
50:30
if we can seize on this opportunity with the array of the 40 or
50:35
maybe even a little
50:35
bit more million dollars of money to go out to our providers
50:40
and address this
50:40
question head on when we see the headline of 1,800 units of
50:44
affordable housing
50:44
SPEAKER_01: sitting vacant,
50:46
SPEAKER_01: if I'm a member of the public and I see that headline,
50:48
SPEAKER_01: I...
50:50
SPEAKER_01: a little bit of my soul dies.
50:51
Thank you for bringing that in because that is a headline that
50:54
people see.
50:55
They see that we have,
50:56
like you say,
50:57
1,800 units,
50:57
2,000 units that are vacant across the city.
51:02
SPEAKER_01: And people are looking at each other like,
51:04
SPEAKER_01: Empty units, people sleeping on the streets.
51:07
SPEAKER_01: Make it make sense.
51:08
SPEAKER_01: Make it make sense.
51:09
But it does make sense when you realize that those units,
51:13
I mean,
51:14
they cost money to rent.
51:15
SPEAKER_02: They do.
51:15
SPEAKER_01: Right.
51:16
And and so your idea is if those units cost less money,
51:22
more people could get into that.
51:24
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
51:24
And so it's sort of if you look at the 60 percent of area
51:28
median income regulated units,
51:29
you
51:31
we built a lot of those during our last kind of big,
51:34
um,
51:35
building spree for affordable housing.
51:37
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of them are studios.
51:39
SPEAKER_01: A lot of them are, you know, at that, at that tranche.
51:41
SPEAKER_01: And so the, the rents, it's hard to interrupt you.
51:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
51:45
SPEAKER_01: Uh, just because I know this, uh, a, a studio, a, a one bedroom, uh,
51:51
SPEAKER_01: unit set at 60% AMI is around 1,300, 1,350 of rent per month.
51:57
SPEAKER_01: So just so that listeners can think about this,
51:59
that's how much you would have to pay to be in a subsidized
52:03
affordable unit.
52:04
SPEAKER_01: Right.
52:05
SPEAKER_01: And that's about market.
52:06
SPEAKER_01: And that's about market.
52:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
52:07
SPEAKER_01: And that's why those are empty.
52:09
SPEAKER_01: It's that close to market dynamic,
52:12
as well as the fact that it's onerous and burdensome to try to
52:16
go through that
52:17
SPEAKER_01: application process when you can just go to the market.
52:19
SPEAKER_01: Exactly right.
52:20
SPEAKER_01: And then also these providers have had some serious capital challenges.
52:25
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
52:26
SPEAKER_01: If their units are vacant,
52:28
SPEAKER_01: the building's not cash flowing,
52:29
SPEAKER_01: it's harder to maintain the roof and whatever else you need.
52:33
Yeah,
52:34
and they had to take on a lot of debt during the kind of
52:36
pandemic years.
52:36
And so,
52:39
you know,
52:40
the story's not as simple as,
52:42
oh,
52:43
all these evil providers.
52:45
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
52:45
SPEAKER_01: they're doing the Lord's work here,
52:47
SPEAKER_01: but they need an intervention that is economically efficient.
52:52
SPEAKER_01: And that's what rent buy-downs do.
52:53
SPEAKER_01: I think the...
52:55
SPEAKER_01: The key,
52:55
SPEAKER_01: though,
52:56
is to make sure that if we're going to exchange public money
52:59
for private money,
53:00
SPEAKER_01: if we're going to sort of clean their balance sheet,
53:02
SPEAKER_01: as it were,
53:03
SPEAKER_01: a little bit,
53:04
SPEAKER_01: we need to have some strings attached.
53:06
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
53:07
And so we say,
53:08
look,
53:08
let's have an expectation that this does result in lower rents.
53:12
And that's what the Portland Housing Bureau is already kind of
53:14
doing on a pilot program.
53:16
SPEAKER_01: And so let's scale that.
53:17
SPEAKER_01: What I love about this,
53:18
SPEAKER_01: Mitch,
53:19
SPEAKER_01: is so we're talking about,
53:21
SPEAKER_01: OK,
53:21
SPEAKER_01: we got $40 million more or less,
53:24
SPEAKER_01: give or take,
53:24
SPEAKER_01: that we might be able to put a significant chunk towards these buy downs.
53:29
SPEAKER_01: Let's say and I don't know.
53:30
SPEAKER_01: I don't know the math.
53:32
SPEAKER_01: Let's say we could get those 2000 or 1800 units down from 60 percent AMI,
53:36
SPEAKER_01: that thirteen hundred dollars a month rent.
53:39
SPEAKER_01: to 40% AMI.
53:40
SPEAKER_01: So now we're down just under a thousand per unit,
53:44
SPEAKER_01: uh,
53:44
SPEAKER_01: for people to get into huge difference in terms of affordability.
53:48
SPEAKER_01: That would almost, um, I, in my mind, I think create 1800 units of
53:56
SPEAKER_01: It's exactly right.
53:59
And it's the way you want to think about it is if you've got a
54:02
bunch of units that
54:03
are lying idle and fallow because they cannot be efficiently or
54:07
economically rented
54:08
SPEAKER_01: out,
54:09
then doing an intervention like that is the same as creating
54:12
that many units.
54:13
SPEAKER_01: From scratch.
54:14
SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm comparing in my head, right?
54:16
SPEAKER_01: What do you think?
54:17
SPEAKER_01: And I'm asking you to completely ballpark, right?
54:20
But just if I came to you as a developer and I said,
54:23
hey,
54:23
Mitch,
54:24
I got an idea.
54:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to build 1800 units of housing.
54:26
SPEAKER_01: How much money would I ask you for to build?
54:28
How much would it cost us to build from scratch 1800 units of
54:32
housing and get them online and
54:35
SPEAKER_01: months.
54:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're looking at about anywhere between 600 and $800,000 per unit.
54:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
54:39
So I mean,
54:39
I can't I can't do that math in my head,
54:43
but a lot more than $40 million.
54:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
54:47
SPEAKER_01: So that's why I'm so attracted to this idea.
54:50
SPEAKER_01: Because not and then of course, right?
54:52
If I approached you tomorrow,
54:53
and you said,
54:54
Hey,
54:54
Mike,
54:54
yeah,
54:54
I'll give you the money to do that.
54:56
Well,
54:56
okay,
54:56
so two to three years,
54:58
four years,
54:58
maybe down the road,
55:00
I've opened those units.
55:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about units that we could essentially open.
55:05
SPEAKER_01: Flip the switch right now.
55:06
SPEAKER_01: Flip the switch right now.
55:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
55:07
SPEAKER_01: Overnight.
55:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
55:08
SPEAKER_01: That seems so incredibly efficient to me.
55:10
SPEAKER_01: It is.
55:11
SPEAKER_01: And it's like it accomplishes a range of really desirable benefits.
55:15
One,
55:15
you've provided a direct and immediate benefit to renters who
55:19
are waiting.
55:20
SPEAKER_01: But two, and so you're stopping, you're slowing the inflow.
55:24
SPEAKER_01: of homelessness.
55:25
SPEAKER_01: And,
55:26
SPEAKER_01: but two,
55:26
SPEAKER_01: you're also,
55:27
you're showing voters that you're using their dollars with the
55:30
most care and
55:31
SPEAKER_01: efficiency possible,
55:32
SPEAKER_01: which is,
55:33
SPEAKER_01: I think so important in this city right now.
55:35
I mean,
55:35
I'm,
55:36
I'm as progressive as they get,
55:37
you know,
55:37
I'm a,
55:38
I'm,
55:38
I'm an open socialist.
55:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm a left winger through and through.
55:41
SPEAKER_01: But I know a lot of my friends and I,
55:43
SPEAKER_01: you know,
55:43
SPEAKER_01: at times I wonder if,
55:45
SPEAKER_01: if I believe that our public sector can execute with,
55:48
SPEAKER_01: with care and,
55:49
SPEAKER_01: and efficiency with our dollars.
55:50
And that's a really bad place to be in when you've got a city
55:53
like Portland,
55:54
SPEAKER_01: who always re-ups for the taxes,
55:57
and then they start to question whether they're going to do
55:59
that the next time.
55:59
SPEAKER_01: So it's extremely crucial to say,
56:02
SPEAKER_01: let me demonstrate,
56:04
SPEAKER_01: put it into practice,
56:05
SPEAKER_01: that for $60,000 a unit,
56:07
we can lower the rents over the life of that building by $200
56:11
to $300 a month.
56:13
SPEAKER_01: And that's a one-time, one-shot cost for a durable benefit.
56:17
SPEAKER_02: For a very durable benefit.
56:18
SPEAKER_01: There's no way – there's no better way to do that.
56:20
It does miss though the people who are currently housed and are
56:24
at risk of eviction.
56:25
It does miss people who maybe are not – they're in the market
56:30
sector as it were.
56:31
SPEAKER_01: So we have to do some of that too.
56:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
56:33
SPEAKER_01: What I don't hear you saying is this is the only thing to – Correct.
56:35
You're saying – what I think you're saying is like this is a
56:38
good thing that we
56:39
SPEAKER_01: should really invest in because it will have long-term benefits.
56:43
SPEAKER_01: And there are other things we should do, too, because immediately.
56:45
SPEAKER_01: Right.
56:46
SPEAKER_01: I think about the rent assistance,
56:48
SPEAKER_01: the benefits of immediately,
56:50
SPEAKER_01: you know,
56:51
SPEAKER_01: today I can help you stay in that apartment.
56:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
56:54
SPEAKER_01: Now,
56:54
SPEAKER_01: maybe over the short term rent assistance that I can give you,
56:57
maybe now you will relocate to an apartment that is more
57:00
affordable for you.
57:02
Or maybe you're able to stabilize and get back on your feet
57:04
because a lot of folks,
57:06
SPEAKER_01: you can lose a job,
57:07
SPEAKER_01: you can have a medical issue,
57:08
SPEAKER_01: you can get in a car accident.
57:10
Only a number of things that can knock people off their feet
57:12
for a short period of time.
57:14
SPEAKER_01: So some people are going to stabilize with some rent assistance.
57:17
And some people might need to reevaluate where they can
57:21
actually afford to live.
57:22
SPEAKER_01: So there is a place for the short term.
57:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
57:25
but we're going to create more capacity to do that rent
57:28
assistance because you're
57:28
always going to need that if we can do this other work where we
57:32
invest with
57:32
one-time dollars to lower the cost structure of our affordable
57:36
housing units that
57:37
SPEAKER_01: already exist,
57:38
SPEAKER_01: but then also do things like,
57:40
SPEAKER_01: oh,
57:40
SPEAKER_01: there's a developer who owns this private –
57:43
SPEAKER_01: sector market-based development,
57:45
and they're losing money on this relative to what they thought
57:47
they were going to
57:48
SPEAKER_01: get.
57:48
SPEAKER_01: They're ready to sell at a huge discount.
57:51
We've been buying over the last year when the prior housing
57:54
director was here,
57:55
SPEAKER_01: she was executing deals at $100,000 to $200,000 a door.
58:00
SPEAKER_01: turning something that was market.
58:02
SPEAKER_01: You said $600,000 to $800,000 to build.
58:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
58:05
SPEAKER_00: So,
58:06
so if we go out and we spend these resources and seize the
58:09
moment we're in to kind
58:11
SPEAKER_01: of expand the scope of,
58:12
SPEAKER_01: I guess,
58:13
SPEAKER_01: if you want to think about it as social housing,
58:15
SPEAKER_01: like proto social housing,
58:16
SPEAKER_01: then we're,
58:17
SPEAKER_01: we're placing the city in,
58:19
And the county in a situation where we're now the price maker
58:22
and not the price
58:22
SPEAKER_01: taker,
58:23
SPEAKER_01: because when we're the price taker in the rental market,
58:25
then we're always going to lose a little ground on the dollars
58:29
for our rent
58:29
SPEAKER_01: assistance as far as they'll go.
58:32
SPEAKER_01: So you need to have cost control if you're going to be able to.
58:35
SPEAKER_01: Make the best bang for your buck.
58:37
And so blending that and thinking about those two streams is
58:40
both important,
58:41
but like realizing that the one time money really needs to hit
58:44
the moment we're in.
58:45
SPEAKER_01: We do have discounts out there.
58:47
SPEAKER_01: Let's let's jump on that.
58:49
SPEAKER_01: It's a generational opportunity.
58:50
SPEAKER_01: Great.
58:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, I now have a sense.
58:53
SPEAKER_01: We know where the money comes from.
58:55
SPEAKER_01: We know the restrictions on spending it.
58:58
You've given us some really good things to think about on how
59:00
the money should be allocated.
59:02
SPEAKER_01: So where is the process?
59:05
SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little bit about what's happening at City Council.
59:08
SPEAKER_01: And I know that we're taping this on a certain day.
59:12
SPEAKER_01: It's going to take a week or so for this episode to come out.
59:14
SPEAKER_01: So things will have moved a little bit.
59:15
SPEAKER_01: But what's happening at City Council as this is being debated?
59:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
59:19
SPEAKER_01: so this is a really timely conversation because in the last month or two,
59:24
we've had a couple big conversations at city council about how
59:28
to spend an
59:29
SPEAKER_01: ever-shifting quantity of money.
59:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, correct.
59:34
It seemed like the legislative process was going down this road
59:37
of cobbling
59:38
together increasingly kind of ad hoc appropriations to
59:44
particular entities,
59:44
SPEAKER_01: which are all doing great work and which all need the money,
59:47
SPEAKER_01: no question.
59:48
But we kind of got away from what I think is good government
59:51
budgeting process,
59:52
SPEAKER_01: which is to say,
59:52
SPEAKER_01: let's pump the brakes a tad and think about budgeting to program areas.
59:57
SPEAKER_01: We have an opportunity to do that now.
59:58
SPEAKER_01: So next week, we're going to have a work session.
1:00:01
where we're just basically hitting the reset switch on this
1:00:04
conversation in light
1:00:05
SPEAKER_01: of the full disclosure of all this money.
1:00:08
And each counselor is going to sort of offer what they think
1:00:12
the money should be used for.
1:00:13
And this is an opportunity for us to now have this conversation
1:00:16
in the open.
1:00:16
It's difficult with our public meeting laws to really craft
1:00:20
policy in a sensible
1:00:24
SPEAKER_01: way before you just get out there.
1:00:26
Reacting to people's council actions with amendments and
1:00:30
amendments to amendments
1:00:31
SPEAKER_01: is kind of haphazard.
1:00:32
SPEAKER_01: And so we get to go into this work session now,
1:00:35
SPEAKER_01: lay our cards on the table,
1:00:36
SPEAKER_01: make the case for what we think the best use of it is.
1:00:39
And then that will be followed up with either supplemental
1:00:42
budget ordinances that
1:00:43
SPEAKER_01: just appropriate it or it
1:00:46
SPEAKER_01: or it gets rolled into the next budget.
1:00:47
SPEAKER_01: But either way,
1:00:49
SPEAKER_01: if you're listening along and you're kind of a council watcher,
1:00:53
SPEAKER_01: prime yourself for this conversation over the next six to eight weeks.
1:00:57
SPEAKER_01: Great.
1:00:58
SPEAKER_01: And so folks that are hearing this,
1:01:00
SPEAKER_01: and I think we have people who do pay attention to these things,
1:01:05
SPEAKER_01: should they reach out to their counselors and let their voice be heard?
1:01:08
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
1:01:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:01:09
SPEAKER_01: You can email any of your city counselors.
1:01:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the emails are just counselor dot the last name of that counselor.
1:01:15
SPEAKER_01: Um,
1:01:15
SPEAKER_01: if you go to the city council's website,
1:01:17
SPEAKER_01: all the counselors have web pages there,
1:01:20
SPEAKER_01: just right on the council's landing page.
1:01:22
SPEAKER_01: And that has comfort contact information from them.
1:01:25
SPEAKER_01: You can go to three, one, one.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_01: Um,
1:01:27
SPEAKER_01: there's a whole area of three,
1:01:29
SPEAKER_01: one,
1:01:29
SPEAKER_01: one that says,
1:01:29
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:01:30
SPEAKER_01: reach out to the counselors and you can,
1:01:32
SPEAKER_01: you can lodge a comment in that way,
1:01:33
SPEAKER_01: but,
1:01:34
SPEAKER_01: um,
1:01:35
SPEAKER_01: tons of ways to engage,
1:01:37
SPEAKER_01: um,
1:01:37
SPEAKER_01: Work sessions,
1:01:38
I think the way we currently have them structured are not a
1:01:40
place to receive
1:01:41
SPEAKER_01: testimony.
1:01:42
One of the cool things about changing our committees again is
1:01:44
we've adopted this
1:01:45
SPEAKER_01: thing called the committee of all,
1:01:47
SPEAKER_01: which allows us to actually have testimony and then function.
1:01:50
SPEAKER_01: It's called the committee of all?
1:01:52
SPEAKER_01: The committee of the whole.
1:01:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:01:54
SPEAKER_01: So it's like it's every member of the council,
1:01:57
SPEAKER_01: but we're not convened as the city council meeting.
1:02:00
We're convened as a committee and it's the sort of you can take
1:02:03
up intermediary.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_01: Committee to rule them all.
1:02:05
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
1:02:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:02:09
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Mitch, for helping us understand these things.
1:02:12
SPEAKER_01: This is so important and we can't miss this opportunity.
1:02:16
SPEAKER_01: So I so appreciate.
1:02:18
SPEAKER_01: I also know that,
1:02:20
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:02:20
SPEAKER_01: the way our city council was set up to the districts are up again,
1:02:24
SPEAKER_01: almost immediately,
1:02:25
SPEAKER_01: it feels like for within two years to run again.
1:02:29
And two of them are on the four year term,
1:02:31
which long term makes sense that it's staggered.
1:02:33
But in the short term means that you essentially got a two year
1:02:36
term out the gate
1:02:37
SPEAKER_01: and now you're going to run again.
1:02:38
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_01: Well, tell us a little bit about that.
1:02:41
SPEAKER_01: Are you running again?
1:02:42
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I am running again.
1:02:43
SPEAKER_01: I'm running to sort of continue the work that we started last year.
1:02:48
I brought forward with Counselor Avalos a landmark resolution
1:02:53
that put the Portland
1:02:54
SPEAKER_01: Housing Bureau on a social housing track.
1:02:57
SPEAKER_01: And we expect to see a study that will provide,
1:03:02
SPEAKER_01: for lack of a better term,
1:03:03
SPEAKER_01: an implementation plan for social housing in August.
1:03:06
SPEAKER_01: And,
1:03:07
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:03:07
SPEAKER_01: no one wants another study,
1:03:08
but I think that if you're going to do something so
1:03:10
transformational as adopt a
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: social housing program in a city like Portland,
1:03:16
SPEAKER_01: you need to know how it fits with our existing institutions,
1:03:20
SPEAKER_01: how it fits with our funding models and where our already great,
1:03:24
SPEAKER_01: hardworking providers fit into that ecosystem.
1:03:26
SPEAKER_01: So that conversation is underway.
1:03:28
I want to run again and get a full four-year term so I can take
1:03:32
those good ideas
1:03:33
SPEAKER_01: and place them into action.
1:03:35
SPEAKER_01: and also continue to protect Portlanders from ICE,
1:03:38
SPEAKER_01: from federal overreach,
1:03:40
SPEAKER_01: and really champion working class values.
1:03:43
SPEAKER_01: So I'm hoping to have the support of the voters in District 4.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_01: If you like that there's a progressive who's not shy about that,
1:03:51
SPEAKER_01: I ask you for your first ranked vote again.
1:03:53
And if you're so inclined,
1:03:56
visit my website at mitchforportland.com and make a donation.
1:03:59
I'm participating in the small donor program and donations up
1:04:02
to $20 or match 10 to 1.
1:04:04
SPEAKER_01: Great.
1:04:04
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll make sure that I get on there and make that donation for you.
1:04:08
And everyone else hopefully listening to this conversation
1:04:10
gained some insight.
1:04:11
I think it's so important that people are educated to what's
1:04:15
going on,
1:04:16
right?
1:04:16
SPEAKER_01: Because what I see,
1:04:18
SPEAKER_01: especially once you get to elections in politics,
1:04:21
SPEAKER_01: is fear-based thinking,
1:04:25
people trying to manipulate the fact that people don't actually
1:04:28
understand how
1:04:28
SPEAKER_01: things work.
1:04:29
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_01: So I so appreciate you coming in here,
1:04:32
SPEAKER_01: giving us the opportunity to learn more,
1:04:34
SPEAKER_01: ask you some questions.
1:04:36
SPEAKER_01: So obviously people can go on your website, they can donate.
1:04:38
SPEAKER_01: The election itself will be in November.
1:04:41
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
1:04:42
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:04:42
SPEAKER_01: So we'll be going into November.
1:04:44
I imagine you'll be doing things like knocking some doors and
1:04:49
having some parties
1:04:50
and people can get some lawn signs and do all the things that
1:04:52
campaigns do.
1:04:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
1:04:54
we're going to kind of crank up the campaign infrastructure
1:04:56
probably after the
1:04:57
state primaries are over because folks are paying attention to
1:05:01
that right now.
1:05:02
SPEAKER_01: Last year, we knocked 15,000 doors inside of, I think, eight weeks.
1:05:07
SPEAKER_01: I think we can go bigger this time.
1:05:08
SPEAKER_01: And I hope you'll join me in that.
1:05:11
SPEAKER_01: You know, door knocking is actually a lot of fun.
1:05:13
SPEAKER_01: It's nice to see people.
1:05:15
SPEAKER_01: It is a little...
1:05:17
SPEAKER_01: It is a little like,
1:05:18
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:05:18
SPEAKER_01: people come to the door and they're like,
1:05:19
SPEAKER_01: what do you want sometimes?
1:05:21
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:05:21
SPEAKER_01: And but you have that you get to see people and ask questions.
1:05:25
And it's just it's so nice that that part of the Democratic
1:05:29
campaigning process is still here.
1:05:31
SPEAKER_01: Some things just work better and are necessary.
1:05:34
SPEAKER_01: So I'm so glad you're knocking the doors.
1:05:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:05:36
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, in my district, there's a lot of hills.
1:05:39
SPEAKER_01: So if you're looking to not skip leg day,
1:05:42
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:05:42
SPEAKER_01: like come on out and canvas and you'll get a great exercise.
1:05:45
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
1:05:45
SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much, Mr. Green.
1:05:47
I really appreciate you coming on the show and we'll look
1:05:49
forward to hearing more
1:05:50
SPEAKER_01: and watching city council.
1:05:51
And hopefully the combined process is going to lead to the best
1:05:55
result for Portland
1:05:57
SPEAKER_01: so that we can get as many people as we can into housing.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_01: Love it.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for having me.
1:06:10
SPEAKER_01: And that's a wrap on another episode of Schmidt Show PDX.
1:06:13
Today we had two conversations,
1:06:15
but really,
1:06:15
if you think about it,
1:06:16
it was kind of one.
1:06:18
SPEAKER_01: Two elected officials doing real work in the real community,
1:06:21
both navigating campaigns where people will try to paint them
1:06:23
as something they're
1:06:24
SPEAKER_01: not.
1:06:25
SPEAKER_01: Both choosing to let the work speak instead.
1:06:28
SPEAKER_01: With Portland City Councilor Mitch Green,
1:06:30
SPEAKER_01: we followed the money,
1:06:31
SPEAKER_01: the millions of dollars the Portland Housing Bureau keeps finding,
1:06:34
SPEAKER_01: and we asked the hard questions.
1:06:35
SPEAKER_01: Where is it going?
1:06:36
SPEAKER_01: Where should it be going?
1:06:38
And what does it actually take to get more people in this
1:06:41
community stably housed?
1:06:43
SPEAKER_01: Not spin, substance.
1:06:45
SPEAKER_01: And with Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai,
1:06:47
SPEAKER_01: who's running for Washington County Chair,
1:06:50
SPEAKER_01: we talked about what real leadership looks like,
1:06:52
SPEAKER_01: her background,
1:06:53
SPEAKER_01: her experience,
1:06:54
SPEAKER_01: her vision.
1:06:55
SPEAKER_01: And yes, we talked about what my endorsement actually means.
1:06:58
SPEAKER_01: Not the vibes people want to sell you,
1:07:00
SPEAKER_01: not the scare tactics,
1:07:02
SPEAKER_01: not the low information noise designed to tear down a good candidate.
1:07:06
SPEAKER_01: The real thing, substance over vibes every time.
1:07:10
SPEAKER_01: Huge thank you to our sponsor, Leif Olson and theliferecording.com.
1:07:14
SPEAKER_01: Find him at theliferecording.com.
1:07:17
SPEAKER_01: Good people doing good work.
1:07:18
SPEAKER_01: That's the standard around here.
1:07:20
SPEAKER_01: And I have to give a special shout out to a friend of the pod,
1:07:22
SPEAKER_01: Crystal Delahanty and PDX Saints Love.
1:07:25
SPEAKER_01: I attended their gala last night and left genuinely moved.
1:07:28
Hearing from the people whose lives were changed by that
1:07:31
program and who are now
1:07:32
SPEAKER_01: turning around and pouring that love back into the community.
1:07:36
SPEAKER_01: That's substance.
1:07:36
SPEAKER_01: That's what it looks like when the positivity breeds positivity.
1:07:40
SPEAKER_01: And if you know anything about this show,
1:07:41
SPEAKER_01: you know that's exactly what we're trying to build here.
1:07:44
SPEAKER_01: That's Schmidt Show PDX,
1:07:45
SPEAKER_01: not vibes,
1:07:45
SPEAKER_01: not noise,
1:07:46
SPEAKER_01: community,
1:07:47
SPEAKER_01: accountability,
1:07:48
SPEAKER_01: and the work that actually matters.
1:07:50
SPEAKER_01: Help us spread the word.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_01: Find us on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts.
1:07:53
SPEAKER_01: Like, follow, subscribe, leave a comment.
1:07:55
SPEAKER_01: It matters more than you know.
1:07:57
SPEAKER_01: Got a guest or a topic you want us to dig into?
1:07:59
SPEAKER_01: Reach out.
1:08:00
SPEAKER_01: This show is for you too.
1:08:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm Mike Schmidt.
1:08:02
SPEAKER_01: Stay grounded, stay engaged, and we will see you next time.
1:08:29
SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Leif Olson, and I run theliferecording.com.
1:08:36
I record audio-only life stories of parents and grandparents
1:08:41
and set them to original music.
1:08:44
It's a clean,
1:08:45
unbroken hour to preserve your parents' voices before they're
1:08:48
gone.
1:08:50
SPEAKER_00: Let's record your mom's laugh.
1:08:53
SPEAKER_00: Visit theliferecording.com today.