District 2 candidates took the stage yesterday at a live-streamed candidate forum hosted by KATU and Willamette University. This was the second in a series of four forums, one for each district, organized as part of KATU’s election coverage.
The show featured eight of the 22 candidates running in the district: Marnie Glickman, Mariah Hudson, Sameer Kanal, Tiffani Penson, Dan Ryan, Jonathan Tasini, Nat West, and Nabil Zaghloul. KATU extended invitations to candidates who had qualified for Portland’s public financing program and ranked among those with the highest number of small contributions. Fundraising progress among these candidates ranged from frontrunner Dan Ryan, who has raised over $135,000, to Nabil Zaghloul, with approximately $40,000. Notably, several candidates within that range were absent, including recovery advocate Mike Marshall, labor organizer Elana Pirtle-Guiney, small business owners Debbie Kitchin and James Armstrong, and sales executive Bob Simril.
Public Safety as a Major Focus
Citing their top priority as city councilors, most candidates emphasized public safety. Jonathan Tasini, a lifelong union organizer, focused on improving wages for working people, while Nabil Zaghloul, a social services director for Multnomah County, highlighted the need for economic growth and infrastructure. Nat West, former owner and operator of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, who also drove a TriMet bus, said his top concern is safe streets.
When asked if they supported increasing Portland’s police force beyond the current budget allocation, the candidates were evenly split. Mariah Hudson, Dan Ryan, Tiffani Penson, and Nabil Zaghloul supported adding more sworn officers. “Support times for urgent calls can be 21 minutes. That’s too long,” said Hudson, an OHSU communications specialist.
Tiffani Penson, a people and culture manager with the City of Portland, noted that the police force hasn’t kept up with Portland’s growing population. “We are not equipped to handle the population and respond to them in a timely and safe way,” she said. “We also need to make sure that our police officers are well-trained, accountable, and accessible,” she added.
Ryan Takes Credit for Stopping Defunding of Police
City Commissioner Dan Ryan echoed Penson’s stance. “About four years ago I was a deciding vote to stop the defunding of the police, and since then, we’ve done our best to level it up to what we should be at for a city of our size,” said Ryan, noting a “culture change” among recent recruits. “I’m seeing a different type of person showing up to be a police officer, with degrees in sociology and such, and I’m optimistic about where it’s going,” he added.
Other candidates, including Sameer Kanal, Jonathan Tasini, Nat West, and Marnie Glickman, argued that the city should focus first on filling existing vacancies and explore alternative public safety investments, such as expanding Portland Street Response, the city’s unarmed response team for mental health emergencies. “I believe in community policing—we need to spend more time having officers get to know people in the neighborhood,” said Glickman, a political strategist, who also expressed support for expanding Portland Street Response.
Nat West, who ran Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider for twelve years, said that as a business owner, many of his interactions with police involved non-emergency situations, like broken windows. “I don’t need an expensive armed officer to show up. I need a public safety support specialist to give me a case number so I can file an insurance claim,” he said.
Solutions to Housing Shortage: Permitting Reform and Renters’ Bill of Rights
Housing affordability was another key issue addressed during the forum.
“I’ve been a renter my whole adult life, and there is a massive affordability crisis,” said Sameer Kanal, a project manager with the City of Portland, who called for a Renters’ Bill of Rights to help renters stay in their homes. Jonathan Tasini seconded Kanal’s position and called housing a “universal right,” expressing support for social housing, a city-owned housing model. “The vast majority of homelessness is caused by economic issues, by people not being able to afford rent in this city,” Tasini said, adding that if he’s elected, he’ll push the state legislature to raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour.
Dan Ryan and Nat West emphasized the need to streamline Portland’s beleaguered permitting system. West shared a story of spending three years in “permitting hell” as a small business owner due to a dispute between the Portland Water Bureau and the Bureau of Environmental Services. “When elected, I’ll spend a lot of time ensuring that our permitting bureau runs as smoothly as possible,” he said. Nabil Zaghloul called for tax rebates and incentives to spur housing production. “We need to work with business leaders across multiple jurisdictions—city, county, metro—to address this together,” he stated.
North Portland Neighborhoods Should Look More Like SlabTown, Glickman Says
Marnie Glickman pointed out the need for increased density and access to mass transit east of the river. “We need our Eastside and North Portland neighborhoods to look more like Slabtown, the Pearl District, and the Alphabet District in Northwest,” she said, also signaling support for raising the minimum wage.
Mariah Hudson stressed that Portland must become more affordable for single parents like herself, and expressed optimism about projects such as the redevelopment of Lloyd Center and Albina Vision Trust’s efforts. “We’ll need strong leaders who can push through permitting reform and work on infill strategies,” she said.
Tackling the Addiction Crisis
On the subject of Portland’s addiction crisis, City Commissioner Dan Ryan, whose late brother struggled with heroin addiction, stressed the importance of rehabilitation. “I’ve been really honest about this: some people aren’t houseable in that condition—they need withdrawal with medical support,” Ryan said. “Sometimes elected officials have to be brave enough to stand up to the ‘Housing First’ coalition and tell them we need to rethink this. That’s what I’ve done my entire time in office,” he said, referencing the “Housing First” model, which promotes low- or zero-barrier housing.
Nabil Zaghloul stressed the need to enforce the city’s camping ban and urged investment in supportive services and harm reduction measures like overdose prevention centers and access to the drug naxolone, which can prevent overdosing deaths. “These are human beings,” Zaghloul said. “We need to invest in rehabilitation and treatment plans because these proven methods work,” he concluded.
Forums for Districts 3 and 4 Coming Up
Read our breakdown of the KATU District 1 forum here. Forums for Districts 3 and 4 will air on Monday, September 30, and Thursday, October 3, respectively.
