PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland is a little over a month away from a major political reset. A whole new form of government will debut in January, with an expanded 12-member council, a city administrator and redefined role for the city's mayor. The first person to take on the updated top job is Mayor-elect Keith Wilson, who was a guest on this week's episode of Straight Talk.
Wilson's victory in the Nov. 5 election marks the first time since Mayor Bud Clark in 1984 that Portland voters have chosen a mayoral candidate with only a business background and no political experience. But Wilson cast his outsider status as an asset during the campaign, saying it would allow him to bring a fresh perspective.
Wilson grew up in North Portland and attended Oregon State, then got his master's degree in business administration from the University of Portland. He's the CEO of Portland-based Titan Freight Systems, which he touts as the state's only trucking company so far to have completely ditched fossil fuels.
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Ending unsheltered homelessness
A central component of Wilson's campaign was an ambitious pledge to end unsheltered homelessness in one year, drawing on his experience founding a nonprofit shelter in Portland and looking to other cities for policy inspiration.
"Our city, our focus has been trying to end homelessness," he said. "But in all the cities I viewed that have had success, you have to end unsheltered homelessness first."
Wilson's brother struggled with homelessness 20 years ago and his sister struggled with addiction, so he said that does make the issue a personal one for him. But, he added, "I'd say it's personal for a lot of families in Portland too... and not a lot of families have that means that I did, or the time."
One of his goals is to get to a point where an emergency shelter bed is available for every person who needs one, so that no-camping codes can be fully enforced. That enforcement will need to be accompanied by a threat of arrest or jail to be effective, Wilson said, but he said the idea that some people don't want shelter is an "urban legend."
He also confirmed that he spoke with commissioners Dan Ryan, Mingus Mapps and Rene Gonzalez after the election and urged them to back off from a plan to sever the city's involvement — and funding contribution — for Multnomah County's Joint Office of Homeless Services.
"We don't have time for grand restructures or starting from scratch," he said. "We have to treat the crisis like a crisis, which means on day one, let's act, let's not be lawyering up with the county."
The current agreement is "80% spot on," he added, pointing to the county's promises of 1,000 shelter beds and 150 treatment beds, but said it needs to aim for a complete end to unsheltered camping. He criticized the county's approach of handing out tents and tarps, but said he hopes "the point will be moot" if he can end unsheltered homelessness.
Path to zero emissions
Carbon emission reduction is another big goal for Wilson, who has previously said he wants Portland to be the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the country. Portland's Clean Energy Fund puts the city in a good position to make that switch, and he called for more opportunities for homes and multifamily residences to convert to zero-emission electric systems.
"We have to help our low-income families with heat pumps and other energy-efficient focuses," he said. "Building up our new housing codes to make sure that we are the top of the line as far as green technology and green jobs."
The city is also aiming to remove fossil fuels from its transportation fleets by 2030, switching to alternatives like batteries, renewable diesel and hydrogen. Wilson said he supports that goal, and pointed to his own experience transitioning Titan Freight Systems to zero-emission as a proof of concept.
"So I want everybody to know that these are not idle hopes or promises," he said. "This is real, and we can do this with the right leadership at the right time."
He also expressed strong support for the idea of a high speed rail line to link Portland, Seattle and Vancouver B.C., pointing to new opportunities for federal matching funds. The Washington legislature passed a bill to tap into that resource two years ago to line up funding for studying and planning, and Wilson said he hopes Oregon will follow suit next year.
"High speed rail is transformative. It's not just additive. You just don't go in a train from Portland to Seattle," he said. "It's exponential, when you can add Salem and Independence and Silverton and these small timber towns that have been disinvested, 30 minutes away from Portland and being able to work in the central city, the high wage jobs, and then take that capital back to those smaller cities and start building up affordable housing and great schools and great communities."
New government structure
Asked about how he went from longshot candidate to election winner, Wilson said it came down to his campaign's message and "a dogged approach to have a conversation with Portland," but that the change in the city's form of government and the accompanying switch to ranked-choice voting also helped because it led to a longer campaign season.
"We were focused on message and platforms and then we were forced to say, why would that work versus another one, as opposed to just taking shots at one another," he said. "So I thought it was a resounding success, but I also obviously, having won, my perspective would be different. But I do think that having that long ramp-up helped me out in a very complex message that I wanted to provide to the city."
One of Wilson's jobs as mayor under the new system will be to hire a city administrator. Interim City Administrator Michael Jordan has already said he's not interested in taking the job on a permanent basis, but he's willing to stick around for a while — and Wilson indicated he'd likely take Jordan up on that offer.
"Michael Jordan is one of those rocks that we have in the city," he said. "He's done a great job... I'm having active discussions with Michael Jordan on what his near-term looks like. How long can I utilize his experience while we're focusing on addressing the (homelessness) crisis?"
Wilson said he's already deep in discussions with Jordan and current Mayor Ted Wheeler about the city's budget for the next fiscal year, which will likely require cuts because the city is facing an inflation-driven budget crunch. He said he's also got two-hour meetings scheduled with each of the 12 members of the new city council.
"I want to factor them in now, so we can supercharge their ideas even before we start," he said.