Portland City Council District 4 Candidates Forum
Olivia Clark
Olivia Clark has experience working at local, state, and regional governments with an outstanding record of success. She served three Salem Mayors, formed a regional nonprofit that continues to build affordable housing, was Governor John Kitzhaber’s liaison to Oregon cities and counties in his first two terms, and brought together the financing for Oregon’s light rail system as well as the iconic Tillicum bridge. She was Chairman of the Board for the Oregon Providence Health System, and served on the SOLV board and many other organizations. She has a Master’s Degree from the University of Oregon. More information can be found at OliviaforPortland.com
Also, members can get more information on my website: OliviaforPortland.com
Ben Hufford
For more information about Ben please visit , ben4portland.com, including a brief resume on the About Ben page. Also visit the website for my architecture practice, designdepartmentpdx.com.
Bob Weinstein
My website is: https://www.bobforportland.com/
Much of my bio information is on the “About Bob” page.Michael Trimble
Michael Trimble has had very unique life experiences. All of this based on the fact that Michael was born without arms in Russia as a result of the negative environmental impact from the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in 1986. He endured violence, oppression, homophobic abuse and neglect at the hands of his extremist American adopted family, so he utilized the State’s social services to help him find liberation and support. His resilience was emboldened as a child because he rejected extremist views including forced homosexual conversion therapy.
Michael is a take-action type of person. In the Fall of 2021, he was the first person to file for candidacy in the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial race. The impetus for his leap of faith was that he was deeply disappointed in civic leadership. He even felt betrayed by political leadership during the unfolding of the global pandemic. Michael stepped up, spoke out and built a grassroots movement going on-air to television, radio spotlights, interviews with community-based organizations, and debated on stage with Oregon’s finest democratic candidates for governorship. Fantastically, Michael finished 4th place out of 19 democratic primary candidates! Now, he needs your vote to secure a seat in Metro Portland’s new government charter, as District 4 City County Commissioner.
Now, Portland - District 4 - is Michael’s DEFINITE forever home. He lives most happily in the famed Goose Hollow neighborhood where he shares a quaint studio rental (that is ADA compliant!) with his 20 year old soon to be 21 years old cat and 3 year old cat, Tiger and Tuxedo. A purrrrrfect trio!
He is able to hop on his adaptive bicycle from his central apartment building and easily get around Portland Metro. You may have seen him biking on the Springwater Corridor Trail. It’s his favorite route, which is in District 4, incidentally. Michael is experienced, engaged, and ready to go to implement rent control city wide; make biking safer all while expanding cycling infrastructure; lower property taxes for small businesses while making homeownership for first time buyers much more economical; and implement mandated rehabilitation for the drug addicts camping out in tents on our streets to make Portland not just safe but walk friendly again.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100072005930263&mibextid=9R9pXO
https://www.instagram.com/michael4pdx?igsh=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Soren Underdahl
My primary goal is to ensure our reformed city government builds a better Portland for all Portlanders by surpassing our past success, not just returning to it. As a project manager by trade, with experience in Health Care, Social Care, Education, Community Organizing, and Technology, I will ensure we get things done, and create a new precedent for progress under the new charter. I will treat the ongoing crises with the urgency they require, and commit to collaborating, but also holding accountable the other stakeholders in our region to achieving measurable outcomes. I am 31, and am optimistic that we have an opportunity to forge a future in this city where we will be proud to raise our children.
Eli Arnold
Eli Arnold is a father of four, a former military officer, and a current police officer in downtown Portland. His first hand experience dealing with homelessness, crime, and the city's failure to respond drove him to run for city council. Eli believes that our recovery as a city depends on reinstating order, ending street homelessness, and becoming a better partner to business.
Lisa Freeman
Lisa has 15 years of public service, 10 of those years supporting government transitions in some of the world’s toughest spots like Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, and Bosnia. She also has the local experience Portland needs, having worked in public safety for the City since 2022 on gun violence prevention and modernizing our first responder system to make sure the right responder gets to calls that don’t need a gun, fire truck, or ambulance. She believes in the charter reforms voters passed and wants to help make sure the transition to our new form of government is successful. She loves living in SW Portland with her family and has the values and expertise to take District 4 forward.
Website link here: www.lisaforportland.com
Sarah Silkie, PE PhD
Silkie For Portland
503-867-6362
Andrea Vltavin
I’m Andra Vltavín, a queer, nonbinary candidate running for office as a climate activist. I moved to Portland ten years ago because I thought it was a more environmentally friendly city than most, but I have honestly been disappointed. I have stood alongside activists from 350 PDX and Extinction Rebellion, asking the City for eco-friendly upgrades to infrastructure only for the Council to prioritize cars and fossil fuel companies. I am part of the Neighborhood Emergency Team and would like to see the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management budget expanded so we can prepare for the upcoming Cascadia earthquake. Additionally, I want to make sure that the City is doing everything in its power to collaborate with the local indigenous tribes. I aim to prove that we can take money out of politics this year, so I am not asking for donations and am running on less than $1,000. I want to show that ranked-choice voting and our voter’s pamphlet speak for themselves. To learn more about me, you can visit my website, AndraforPDX.com.
Andra Vltavín
(pronounced volt-a-veen)
Pronouns: they/them/theirs
