Lisa Freeman For Portland Newsletter

Author

Lisa Freeman
May 28, 2024

Hello Friends, I hope you had a lovely weekend…

I spent the weekend marveling. Portland. Is. Just. So. Gorgeous…I am finding it hard to focus at times. The flowers! The bees! The kids, the critters. Late spring / early summer in Portland is one of those life-decision-affirming periods for me wherein I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the decisions that led me to live here, raise a family here, grow roots and blooms and community in this beautiful, complicated, city. Just a little, I feel like I already won.

Ok, I may have won big in the “adopt a city and never leave” category, but this other contest — the one where I compete alongside many wonderful people for a chance to serve Portland in this time of transition — that one is yet undecided, and there are still some rather large hills to climb. And yet, every single day I wake up more committed and more confident that this is THE challenge I spent my life preparing for: the one in which I am elected to the new 12 member City Council as one of three people representing the 4th district. Woohoo!

Can’t wait for these Yard Signs!

Update #1 - Big News

To that end, I wanted to let my growing list of friends and supporters know that I have opted to resign from my current position at the City to focus exclusively on my campaign. The reasons are many, but here are the top three:

  1. I go where I am best able to help.

  2. My work in my current role is complete.

  3. I believe this election cycle is critical to the future of Portland.

Throughout my career, I’ve tried to capitalize on windows of opportunity to serve where I am best able to use my skills and expertise to help. For the past two and a half years, I’ve had the honor to help build the City of Portland’s Community Safety Division, design and lead community-based approaches that have reduced gun violence in our city, and support improvements to our first responder system to focus on sending the right responder to calls that don’t require a gun or badge, firetruck, or ambulance. I’m proud of the work I’ve done to build collaboration across Portland’s public safety bureaus as we transition to our new Public Safety Service Area (PSSA) in the new form of government. With the launch of the PSSA on July 1, I feel that my work with the Community Safety Division is complete, and it’s time to move on to focus on the next critical moment for Portland: transitioning to our new form of government. If you voted for Charter Reform in 2022, you know that it’s on the ballot again in 2024 - this time we’re voting for the leaders that will make or break the implementation of the reforms residents asked for when we voted for Charter Reform. This election cycle is critical to the future of Portland.

Update #2 - Events

We have more events on the books! You are invited! I am adding more all the time — check my website for the latest.

Update #3 - The Ask

We are approaching the 100 mark for small donors, but we still need 150 more individual Portland residents to donate to qualify for the first tier of the program. MANY of you have already donated. THANK YOU. SERIOUSLY. But I still need you! The goal is to qualify for matching funds by the end of June! Help me get over the line by:

1) Asking someone you know to donate $5-$20. Portland voters have said time and again they want big $$ out of their local races. Well, this is how we do it. You can’t buy much for $5 these days, but it will get me that much closer to our goal. At the $20 level it’s matched 9 to 1, resulting in a $200 donation!!! If everyone who has already donated gets 1 more Portland resident to donate, we’ll be at 250 in no time!

2) Replying to this email with 5 contacts you think would like to hear from me personally, and I’ll call/text/email them myself and make the ask.

3) Forwarding this email to anyone you think might be interested in my campaign.

❝

All we have is us. We are the magic!

For those of you still reading, God bless you! I know it’s already been a wild year for elections, and your inboxes and IRL boxes are chock-full of asks and pleadings. And this is not the last time you’ll hear from me. But know that I am looking forward to a summer of listening to folks, collaborating with community, and discussing the issues that matter with the people who matter - everyday Portlanders who just want to see their families, friends, and neighbors alike living their best lives in this great City. To achieve this, our government needs to function properly, and passing Charter Reform was just the first step in this process. The success of implementation hangs in the balance — we need a new Council committed to the process, who believes in the principles of democracy, and who will put what’s best for the City ahead of any individual or corporate interest. I am uniquely qualified to do this work (read more about that here). Please join me in moving our beautiful city forward together.