willamette River

The Willamette River is the beating heart of our city. It flows 187 miles north through a 12-mile Portland stretch to its confluence with the Columbia River. A thriving waterfront and green union jobs are part of my 30-year vision for this city but the Willamette offers us even more than that: swimming & water recreation, home to salmon & other endangered wildlife, clean water, and native Oregonian plants.

I am committed to protecting our precious river for generations to come.

1. The City of Portland is potentially a responsible party to the massive Superfund site stretching from the Fremont Bridge to the southern tip of Sauvie Island. We need to be leaders in making sure the cleanup is done by the deadline. I have already met several times with members of the Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group and representatives from the DEQ and EPA and would like to continue this work from City Council.

   
   

2. The CEI Hub, located on a six-mile stretch of the river in NW Portland, poses a big threat to people, public health, wildlife, forests, air, and water. I've met with Portlanders in Northwest and North Portland who are urgently working on ways to make the CEI Hub safe. I am eager to be a constructive partner with everyone involved including state legislators and our congressional delegation.

   
   

3. Ross Island, now owned by Ross Island Sand and Gravel Company, should be transferred into the hands of a public or nonprofit entity that can take care for, restore, and protect the land. It should be a thriving place for human recreation, native plants & wildlife.

   
   

4. We must swiftly phase-out of fossil fuels. I will lead with the truth when fossil fuel corporations, like Zenith Energy, lie to us about the dangers of oil trains and storing fuel on seismically unstable land on the Willamette River. These represent unacceptable risks that must be mitigated and these corporations must be forced to plan for related emergencies. I will take no oil money and make no backroom deals - and I will speak out about those who do. I will work with people living near the river and within the blast zone of Zenith's oil trains to protect their safety and health.

   
   

5. I will support clean & green investment, working with public and/or private partners who want to make sure the river is safe for all humans and wildlife. We can build off the momentum of major city projects like the OMSI development, which will include First Nation-led access points on the river next to new housing and the Albina Vision Trust project, which features plans for Black-led river access areas around the east side of the Broadway Bridge.
   

6. I will advocate for the Frog Ferry, a public passenger ferry initiative to activate the Columbia and Willamette Rivers as an alternate transit option to build community resilience. The first phase would connect St. Johns to RiverPlace. Fully scaled, there could be up to nine stops from Vancouver, Washington to Oregon City.
   

I encourage you to walk down to the river soon, explore, and enjoy your time outdoors. This land is so special and deserves only the fiercest protection.