Rebecca’s Full Candidate Responses

Please explain why you are interested in the appointment and what life experiences you would bring as an interim City Council member.

I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, living in Oregon for the last 23 years. I have dedicated my life to community and public service, building deep relationships and comprehensive awareness of issues. During the pandemic, many women left the workforce and roles in the community. I am ready to step into a new chapter of leadership and would be honored to serve on Milwaukie City Council.

I believe my qualifications for public office are a combination of lived experience, education and professional expertise. More so than ever, public officials must be true to their values and prioritize integrity in decision making. I take that responsibility seriously and view my actions and positionality through social justice and equity lenses. I have traditional qualifications to serve in this capacity but moreover, my style of leadership is grounded in shared values to make meaningful change.

Milwaukie faces rapid, monumental change: an influx of new housing, discussions about the future of our parks, bold actions around equity and climate, all while maintaining core services for residents. I am a multi-sector thinker with expertise in these areas of decision making and a record of value-based leadership at a community and regional level. 

How would you, as a City Council member, support the city’s commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice?

The last two years have marked an intense turning point in terms of equity and justice in our country. But this is not the first time disparities and inequities have been called out in our systems and structures of governance. For communities of color and other marginalized voices, this social justice awareness by white-dominant cultures has been a long time coming.

The Council has a responsibility to strengthen trust and belonging, provide authentically welcoming spaces, invest in culturally unique outreach, and adapt the status quo of meeting structures and existing forms of engagement. Authentic community involvement means giving up your power and positionality to listen to all voices and to act when injustices are identified.

Previous listening sessions indicate residents have hesitance engaging with police and local government, this is mirrored across the country and reflects a deeper mistrust of systems of government. Improving this relationship is not just a matter of providing child care, translation, interpretation (while that’s a good start) but examining our existing involvement opportunities and representation across the City and how they can be more reflective of all our communities. When decisions are made, they must be seen through an equity lens and we must ask ourselves who is being impacted, how, and why. 

Please describe what you believe are the major concerns of city residents and businesses. How do you think these concerns should be met by the city?

In the last community survey, residents prioritized homelessness, crime/safety, road/infrastructure repair, and affordable housing. While we saw an increase in satisfaction around the cost of housing overall, disaggregated responses for BIPOC and low-income communities confirm that the housing crisis has reached critical levels. The pandemic only served to exacerbate struggles of residents and businesses. 

Concerns about homelessness can be met with bold housing goals but we also need appropriate levels of shelter and supportive services from Clackamas County. Milwaukie Police response rate and quality of community policing is extraordinary but without additional staffing to deploy special teams or supplement patrols with addictions and behavioral support we are faced with punitive vs preventative measures. Our infrastructure systems are well maintained but without an increased road fund, we can’t keep pace with deteriorating roadways in light of population increases. Modifications to our infrastructure to reduce paved areas may be a suitable solution if combined with the neighborhood hubs conversation. Housing affordability and availability will continue to be a pain point as the market dictates rent and home values. Creating more housing stock will inevitably cause filtration through our existing housing infrastructure but without controls for affordability we risk losing long time residents.

What are your thoughts on the city’s work to address climate change and what ideas do you have to improve that work?

Milwaukie has taken bold action to address climate change and this momentum must be maintained. The following areas are suggestions for additional strategies:

Energy:

• Expand solar microgrids and storage on City buildings.Incentivize residential solar microgrids and 100% local, renewable energy.

Waste Management:

• Incentivize alternative waste programs for hard to recycle items.

• Recruit businesses focused on reuse of recycled/found items.

Transportation:

• Access federal infrastructure funds for key EV charging zones.

• Pilot covered bike path with solar energy grid.Explore electric trolley system to mitigate the divide of Hwy 224 and recreate City’s historic system.

• Reducing vehicle miles traveled and increasing short trip capacity in neighborhoods.

Environment:

• Increase drought tolerant plants and trees native to our bio-region.

• Work with neighborhoods to develop food forests.

• Require new commercial construction to include eco-roof coverage, embed this strategy in URA planning to encourage sustainably minded industries.

Emergency Preparedness:

• Identify heat islands with local neighborhoods and implement place-making improvements that increase tree canopy and reflect heat.

• Invest in solar microgrids/storage as part of neighborhood hubs project to provide power for residents with personal life-saving devices in the event of a major outage.

Policy:

• Explore opportunities to support indigenous landback movements.

• Audit use of fossil fuels to identify additional areas of divestment beyond investment funds.

Tell us about your community involvement (i.e., volunteering, civic affiliations, and activities).

My community involvement began over 30 years ago when I organized a campaign to protect a grove of trees from development in my hometown. I was told it was impossible but I gathered signatures, pulled zoning code and blueprints from City Hall, and organized students around the climate benefits of trees. Those trees are still standing today.

Over the years, I have volunteered in school classrooms, led youth organizations, built a community center for youth in Clackamas County, and coached ice hockey. As I became more involved in my local neighborhood, I served on the Lents Urban Renewal Advisory Committee and held a variety of positions in my neighborhood association. I organized youth around education opportunities in outer SE Portland, started an early childhood program for low income families, and was on the board for community development organizations.

Most recently, I have served as the chair for the Lewelling NDA, as a PTO member and Girl Scout leader, and volunteer with the youth roller derby program. I love community building and often host fun events at our Three Stinky Goats farm, we regularly overdo halloween celebrations and an annual display for the Winter Light Festival. We have hosted PorchFest concerts and events for kids and families.

Please provide any additional information or comments which you believe will assist City Council members in considering your applications.

While I represent some areas of lived experience (identifying as a woman, child of an incarcerated parent, first generation college graduate, parent of non-binary youth, growing up in poverty, married to greencard holder) I also benefit from how I present - white, middle class, educated, employed, with access to/familiarity of systems. I have worked for public systems for 20+ years, have a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning, and have skills and experience that can be of service in Milwaukie. I can’t represent everyone in Milwaukie without listening to the experience of community voices and I am committed to doing that. 

My leadership has evolved over three decades as I have served my community, developed programs/services, managed teams/budgets, built coalitions and explored innovative strategies with diverse partnerships. Running for public office in Milwaukie is a new chapter of leadership for me and it will have challenges. My style is relational and grounded in community voice and multidisciplinary practice. I don’t think anyone can ever truly be an expert, we are constantly evolving and our environments are changing. The most effective leaders keep learning and changing with the world around them. At this stage in my life, that also means using my “traditional” qualifications to create change within a system that was built to benefit and preserve oppressions.  

What do you think are the three most important concerns facing Milwaukie? 

I believe the three most important concerns facing our community are:

• Engagement through a lens for Equity

• Development with Climate Action at the forefront

• Maintaining the Internal Capacity to meet our Growing Needs

I have thoughts about each of those areas which I’ll try to briefly summarize:

Equity and engagement of our residents should be strategies we think about in two ways - individual ways we can increase safety, trust, and belonging; and systemic ways we can address historic disinvestment in underrepresented populations. These are not mutually exclusive and in fact should be addressed with the assumption that they intersect in many ways.

It’s been so encouraging to see the work of Jon Hennington, and the equity committee as they address the layers of these issues and think about how the city can change policy and practice to interrupt inequities. This work is resonating through the city departments and programs, being reflected in the way we think about the services we provide and how we choose to engage community in different ways.

As we think about these strategies and how they are implemented in our neighborhood system, in our boards and committees, how they show up as diverse staff and leadership. I hope we are able to continue to lead boldly around this goal. If I have the opportunity to serve Milwaukie on council, I pledge to recognize the privilege I have in these spaces and the responsibility that comes with it.  The responsibility to listen, understand and amplify the messages of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Milwaukie, and to advocate in spaces where those messages are silenced.

The second area I mentioned is development and our goals around climate action. There is a great deal of growth coming to our city, hundreds of new housing units, an increase of vehicle traffic on our local roads, and undoubtedly future emergencies like wildfires and ice storms. In order to keep pace with this development, we will have strain on our infrastructure: water and sewer capacity, deterioration of street surfaces, the need for community spaces to gather and recreate. 

In this biennium’s budget, we see staffing increases for parking management, parks development, and houseless services. These are important investments but highlight emerging needs in the community as we adjust to change around us. While we have strong goals around climate change and must stay the course even as we adapt to the implications of that change, our efforts to mitigate climate change in Milwaukie must deeply intersect with the acute social and cultural inequities that also arise for residents. 

In the coming years, we have implementation of state legislation, comp plan implementation, downtown design, transportation systems planning, discussions of neighborhood hubs, all integrated with climate resilient and equitable community goals. Milwaukie is facing rapid change and in order to stay true to our 2040 Community Vision, we have to lean into the hard work needed to stay on track. 

This leads to the third area I mentioned, the need for internal capacity to meet our growing needs. The pandemic highlighted a huge shift in our workforce, many people changing careers or leaving the workforce entirely. One of the reasons I chose to apply for this vacancy is because we stand to lose representation of women on council and I see far too many voices of women stepping away from the workforce and their roles in community. 

In local government, we’re not only dealing with the great resignation but a coming wave of retirements.  Vast amounts of historical knowledge and skills will leave our local sectors in the coming years. We’re already seeing how hard it is to recruit for positions and to remain competitive in the job market. Milwaukie is an amazing place to live and work but we have to continue to recruit and maintain skilled staff to keep on pace with the goals and plans we have in place for the city.

How important is our SAFE program to the city? 

The SAFE program is critical to the growth we’re facing in Milwaukie. Global city rankings for quality of life include things like compact design, good transit, and walkable neighborhoods. No auto-oriented city is in the top 50. Going car free is not a reality for many families but we can encourage a reduction of vehicle miles traveled which would not only impact our emissions but our overall health and well-being.  That requires an increase of walkable and bike-friendly infrastructure across the city. It means a key need for hubs of commercial and social spaces of activity in neighborhoods outside of downtown Milwaukie. And it means engaging all our communities, including youth residents in the process of shaping our future together.

The SAFE program has completed McBrod Ave, Lake Road, and Linwood Ave. That change is sometimes hard for residents to adjust to. But having safe places for families and children to walk or bike to school, get to the grocery store, or visit friends is crucial to a healthy community.  I have a 12 yr old who attended Ardenwald Elem and now attends Rowe Middle School. They cross 42nd Ave several times a day and my heart is always in my throat. They were part of a group of youth in our Lewelling neighborhood who participated in our traffic safety survey and recently took some planning and engineering staff on a walk to highlight how scary it can be to cross a major road when you’re a young person. 

I’m excited for future SAFE programs and mention the benefits every time a neighbor talks to me about their utility bill. I’m also excited that with these projects we encourage the next generation of residents who choose to walk, bike, or scoot to their destinations.  I know that these projects are expensive and it’s sometimes hard to think about patching infrastructure elsewhere in the city when you see inequities in your own neighborhood. That’s why I’m also excited about the potential for the SAFE Spots projects and our ability to work with neighborhoods to prioritize smaller projects that don’t fall in the traditional priority rankings. 

I live near the work that’s being done on 42nd and 43rd Aves. I know that those improvements will make it easier for neighbors to walk or bike to get groceries or get to school. I’m especially excited for the Monroe Street Greenway and other projects that make it easier for residents to bike around town.  It can be daunting, especially as a family, to bike alongside cars. We have such a huge divide in Milwaukie with Hwy 224 and I look forward to the update of the bike master plan as part of our TSP and the continuation of the SAFE programs. 

The City Council’s work is guided by our 2040 Community Vision, which states that “In 2040,  Milwaukie is a flourishing city that is entirely equitable, delightfully livable, and completely sustainable.” Our two current City Council goals, Climate Action and Equity, Inclusion, and  Justice seek to fulfill this vision around equity and sustainability. What work do you feel is most important for the city to accomplish in those two goals to fulfill this vision? 

Milwaukie’s 2040 vision is a bold one. But of any city I have lived in my entire life, I think ours has the greatest likelihood of meeting it. These are not just words, these are very intentional phrases:

• Entirely equitable

• Delightfully livable

• Completely sustainable

I have worked in local governments for 22 years and for very dedicated jurisdictions committed to some of these same phrases. But I have never seen city staff so committed to their core and reflecting these values in the work they do for every single resident as I have seen here in Milwaukie.  I moved here 20 years ago as a renter and after a few years had to move again because I couldn’t afford a house at the time. I am so glad we were able to move back into the community several years ago because Milwaukie stole my heart the moment I stepped into that little rental apartment at Linwood and Railroad. I see a sense of community at neighborhood events, downtown at the farmers’ market, when I watch the steady flow of visitors at Made in Milwaukie - every single one of whom Chris and Rob know personally.

All this being said, it takes a lot to build community. It takes even more to do it equitably. And it’s a job that is never done because you’re constantly maintaining and growing it as that community changes. It takes work on the part of the city and it also takes knowing when the city needs to get out of the way and let our communities lead.

I have some ideas within these goals and more importantly, I have a commitment to listen to the voices of residents in our communities and see the work of the city through their experiences. I believe that is a critical commitment I can make regardless of the outcome of this application process.

Okay, Climate Action!

Some of the areas I’m particularly interested in exploring are: solar microgrids and storage systems that will reduce our reliance on carbon based electricity and increase our resilience in the event of natural disasters. I also believe we should continue to find ways to incentivise residential adoption of 100% renewable and local power.

I think we should consider municipal adoption of alternative waste programs for hard to recycle items.  We have an example of this with Exceed Enterprises and Milwaukie is home to industrial spaces that could encourage the location of these industry partners and localize our waste and reuse. On the theme of reuse, I would like to see an economic development strategy for the recruitment of businesses that focus on the reuse of recycled or found items. 

As a fairweather and family focused biker, I would like to see some placemaking built into our bike infrastructure. I dream of a bike path covered with a solar energy grid and the idea of an electric trolley system that can help us mitigate the divide of Hwy 224 while recreating some of the City’s history of a vibrant trolley system.  These suggestions would reduce vehicle miles traveled and increase short trip capacity in neighborhoods.  I’ve already mentioned how I’m a fan of the SAFE program but it takes funding for all these projects. I’m grateful for Milwaukie’s excellent bond rating and as we consider going out for a bond to fund SSMP, SAFE, and general transportation services we can rely on a good interest rate. Still without tax reform or additional revenue streams that’s just borrowed money.

The second Council goal is equity, inclusion and justice. This takes hyper-local strategies, city-wide policies, and system change to address historic disinvestment. It’s hard work and some of the most challenging ahead of us.

In terms of community engagement, we have to acknowledge that our systems for engagement are not set up to include everyone.  That is why we see largely homogeneous NDAs, boards and committees, and that’s not unique to Milwaukie but I believe we have the opportunity to change it. We have to think about why people show up and why they don’t show up. Things like translated materials, culturally relevant outreach methods, interpretation at events, child care, food at meetings and events, accessible and welcoming spaces - these are all good starts. But at a deeper level, we have to talk about why communities have a distrust of government and what we can do to create more ownership of spaces for engagement.

Beyond engagement at events and meetings, addressing issues like implicit bias, privilege and power, historical inequities, and systemic oppression are key areas to be aware of. I spoke before about capacity and staff retention. When our systems are at a crisis level of response, it’s hard to authentically and meaningfully make change and yet it’s at those times that white-dominant benefiting systems will default to practices that are less equitable. I would say when we are operating at capacity, it’s even more important to make a commitment to dedicated conversations of equity and inclusion.  I’m glad to see that leadership in Milwaukie.

Some ideas I have at a policy and systemic level include: investing in support for community gatherings that are welcoming to various ages, abilities, race and ethnicities, gender identities and others. These don’t have to be city led events - and arguably they shouldn’t be - but there should be a central pool of funds and capacity to support events and spaces like this.  We should also be looking at opportunities to engage residents in continuing discussions of how communities access our services, where they feel comfortable connecting with the city and where they don’t. We should consider areas where we can use the privilege of our system to repair the hurt and damage caused over generations. To that end, I encourage exploring opportunities to support indigenous landback movements. 

What do you hope to learn while serving in this position? How do you see yourself  contributing to the work of this Council? 

In Milwaukie, we face rapid, monumental change: an influx of new housing, discussions about the future of our parks, strong actions around equity and climate, all while maintaining core services for residents. I am excited about the opportunity to serve our community as we address these challenges. I also consider myself a life-long learner and I do my best work when I am able to hear from others about how they experience our systems of local government. I thrive in places where creative problem solving is needed and valued. The future of our city is bright and it’s also going to be a hard journey. I am committed to working with my colleagues on council and will bring a relational, respectful approach to our decision making. I hope to learn from the council and from city employees as well. Milwaukie will continue to be an example of how to get things done when you lead from your heart and with your values. I am so excited to have an opportunity to be a part of that work.

I am a multi-sector thinker with expertise in many areas of decision making and a record of value-based leadership at a community and regional level. My qualifications for public office are a combination of lived experience, education and professional expertise. I have spent the last three decades serving my community with the last 22 years as a public servant in local government here in the metro area. More so than ever, public officials must be true to their values and prioritize integrity in decision making. I take that responsibility seriously and view my actions and positionality through social justice and equity lenses. My style of leadership is grounded in shared values to make meaningful change.

The council was provided my resume, so I’ll summarize a few areas that I think may be helpful to the city in the coming years. I have a masters in Urban and Regional Planning with a concentration in community development. I have worked for Clackamas and Multnomah Counties for the last 22 years developing services, policies, and budgets for safety net supports across our communities. During that time I have had the pleasure of managing teams, federal grants, and comprehensive budgets. I have also done a great deal of community engagement with individuals and organizations, building coalitions and partnerships focused on community benefit.  I have experience in placemaking, urban renewal, transportation systems, economic development, houseless services, youth engagement, and systems of local government funding, taxation, and regional bonds.

Most importantly, I have a big heart and a lot of energy.  I know it’s not a small job being on council and I’m ready for that challenge. I hope to learn a great deal if I have the opportunity and I know every step of the way will make me a better contributor to our communities.

Knowing Milwaukie has a limited tax base and budget, are there specific areas where you  would reduce or increase funding?

Local governments struggle with sustainable revenue and without reform of measures like 5 and 50, we will not soon see a fix to our property tax system. We have to rely on increases of fees and local tax measures.  In the last several years we have seen a response to that limitation around affordable housing and supportive services through the Metro measures that now help local counties and cities meet the needs of the housing and homelessness crisis.

There are some things that I think would be helpful to increase funding for:

• Community events and gathering spaces that are in line with our equity goals.  

• Parks and recreation programming

• Houseless services integration with the County

With regard to community events, organizers are often faced with a circuit of presentations to NDAs and other community partners to secure funding for events that benefit communities least represented in the NDAs current structure. Regardless of the ask, the current allocation for NDA small grants is not sustainable as more and more amazing community events serve our neighborhoods.  NDA members give personally or hold fundraisers to support their annual events. This system should be re-evaluated in partnership with the Equity Committee and Council.

I mentioned Parks and Recreation programming - we are currently under the NCPRD and yet there is a stark need for parks development and recreation programming in the city. We will not always have the added benefit of recovery funding to support parks like Scott and Balfour. We have been working on the redevelopment of Milwaukie Bay Park for a long time and yet our communities are growing at a rapid pace.  I know Council recently voted to look into the relationship with NCPRD and I support that analysis and look forward to hearing about potential next steps.  The tax rate is low for our area and shouldn’t have to change to be able to offer an increase in services.

Lastly, as we need more acute needs in our communities the integration of service delivery with Clackamas County is key.  I appreciate Ann, Chief Strait and all the work that has been done to increase staffing for houseless coordination. This is an area that has an influx of funding Milwaukie residents are already paying for and as a city closest to the areas of highest need, we should be preparing additional resources and capacity to meet needs.  There are several areas in which we can advocate for greater regional partnership and I’m happy to add to those existing conversations.

We stand to see some amazing things with Urban Renewal in Milwaukie, which has its own tax increment financing.  That’s an area where we can intentionally leverage TIF revenue for the greatest good in Milwaukie without increasing taxes or fees for residents.  With our shared values and commitment to the 2040 vision, I think this will be another area for Milwaukie to be a shining example.