Commissioner Rubio visits CAN

Commissioner Carmen Rubio, from the the Portland City Council, joined our January General Meeting. During a fifteen minute presentation of her many projects she mentioned that PS3 officers, or Public Safety Support Specialists [https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/78174], a part of the Portland police force, will be deployed soon. They are unarmed and work with Portland Street Response to address many of the issues that neighbors have expressed concerns about. Stay tuned!

After her presentation, and in answer to a CAN members question, Commissioner Rubio stated she was in favor of Portland City Charter Reform in the upcoming year. This Reform would replace the current archaic system where City Commissioners control individual City Bureaus with the appointment of Individual Managers, assigned to run specific Bureau’s, as is done in most other cities in the USA. One of the positives here I can see immediately is that consistency over time will be formed, that Managers will survive beyond term limits and maintain a consistency of purpose. There is a whole lot more information about Charter Reform that will be presented over the next few months and year, but for all the wonky policy people out there, more information about the Charter Reform 2022 movement can be found here. [https://www.sightline.org/2021/09/01/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-portland-charter-review-but-were-afraid-to-ask/]

Overall, the Commissioner seemed approachable, thoughtful, and committed to moving forward as we endeavor to make our city more livable and more inclusive. Her approach to Climate Change protocols and CO2/GHG (Greenhouse Gas Releases) emissions seems to me to show a need for more immediate address, including a set of robust action-oriented regulations and penalties. I have little doubt that the pressure on her from business interests and pollution lobbyists are quite intense.

There are many challenges facing our City these days. We are all aware of them. As our year progresses new challenges will most likely appear as well. CAN will continue to try to provide opportunities for you to meet with City representatives, and will continue to advocate for you and the community to the City on many issues.

Commissioner Rubio lives right next door to us, in the Roseway neighborhood, and is a lifelong resident of Portland. The Commissioner is the first Latina to serve on the Portland City Council. To contact Commissioner Carmen Rubio, email her at comm.rubio or phone her office at 503-823-3008
Commissioner Rubio’s City Council page is at [https://www.portland.gov/rubio]