POLICE
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It is my belief that we DO NOT defund the police. By doing this, defunding the police, we WILL see a spike in crime (ie; business crime, residential crime, and person to person crime, just to name a few), just as we are seeing in the news today. Just check out Minnesota, who HAS defunded their police department. They are now seeing a spike in their crime rate.
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So, how do we change the public's perception of the police?
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I believe this CAN be achieved through community annual events like "Come Meet your Officers". Also through continuous diversity training, through continuous education
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Psychological: adjective - definition: of affecting or arising in the mind, related to the mental emotional state of a person.
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Sociological: adjective - definition: concerning the development, structure, and functioning of the human society.
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Both will help the welfare of the officer(s) and help our diverse community.
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JUSTICE
The definition from Oxford Languages:
A concern for everyone, a peace and genuine respect for all people. A fair and moral treatment of people regardless of race, sex, and gender.
Justice is or aligns with equality and has to be equal for all to have peace. Justice, just like Equality, IS void of all discrimination. It does not care about race or ethnicity, weight, height, size, health or job.
Justice is based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion (whether we like it or not) as well as the administration of the law. Our Constitution gives us inalienable and inborn rights as citizens to guarantee protection before the law.
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Justice is upholding the law as in the work of OUR Police, Judges, and the courts. It promotes peace, safety and balance when it is upheld for what is right, fair and appropriate.
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Justice must be served for balance as it is the glue that holds society together. It is one of the most important moral values within law and politics.
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There needs to be a rational order to Justice in order for there to be peace in a community, city, state and the nation; therefore, without justice, we will fail.
In other words, the lack if Justice creates imbalance and chaos in society. It impedes and puts everyone in harm's way. The absence of justice keeps LEO's from performing their duties while endangering innocent bystanders who deserves justice and protection.
"WE NEED JUSTICE!"
I will defend and fight for "Justice For All" as it is essential. I am concerned about our peace, our freedoms, our equality and our Justice.
Leaving you with this quote:
"Injustice anywhere IS a threat to justice everywhere!" -Martin Luther King Jr.
EQUALITY
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What does equality for all mean to me?
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I believe that there are four elements to life. They are as follows, in no specific order:
1) Food
2) Water
3) Air
4) Blood
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If one of these four elements is removed, one would surely die. Some faster than others.
These four elements don't see color of skin, they don't hear language barriers, they don't see that you are handicapped, they don't see a uniform or suit you put on for work, they don't see that you are gay, lesbian, transgender, bi, queer or straight. They ARE void of any stereotypes. They don't care if you are tall, short, thin, overweight, muscular or scrawny. They ARE completely void of discrimination! Therefore, these four elements make us EQUAL. Nothing should say otherwise.
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As I see it, we only have one real issue to make this reality, that is, 'humans!' Everyone has their own view or definition about Equality which makes it subjective to their own understanding. I like this model/view because it IS void of ANY discrimination and it is NOT about me!
HOMELESSNESS
I see this as a huge issue for Portland and our citizens and not easily resolved.
Homelessness is a very complex and involved problem due to the specific and diverse needs and situations of each individual person.
A hard line must be drawn for those who live on the street as their choice. In comparison, more flexibility will be given to those who have fallen on hard times, or have mental disorders and those with alcohol and drug related issues or a combination of these problems.
The easiest of these will be those who have chosen to abandon regular domestic living. We must be willing to help them turn their lives around with a specific time frames to be off the streets.
For economic homelessness, we will need to review and strengthen our Housing Assistance and employment job search programs. This will help transition people from street living to a household living environment.
The mentally ill, alcohol and drug dependent homeless are the most difficult people to help. These individuals are in need of case by case support for their basic personal needs. Along with given the resources available to help, such as treatment programs, counseling, social assistance and housing programs.
Homelessness is very unhealthy and unsafe for all of Portland citizens. It is imperative as a city to get all homeless people off the streets using assistance programs and place them into housing.
EDUCATION
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As my role is limited in education, I see, for society to grow, we need to recognize that every school must succeed in equality and excellence. In which, students from K-12 and Trade Schools are supported in the goal of being prepared for college and/or work force. From continuing education, college, moving to a career which prepared them for transitioning as an active contributing member of their community.
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I will advocate for programs that will enhance, educate, and support success for each individual student regardless of race, family income and/or location.
CITY MAINTENANCE
"A Two Fold Strategy!"
One that includes repairing our streets/roadways, which are way past due for maintenance.
Making sure street lines are defined/visible; especially, during night time driving when in adverse weather, where visibility is low. Also, that street signs are visible (ie: not blocked by bushes and/or trees) and replaced if worn or faded due to weather or if graffitied or vandalized.
I would like to see our roads cleaned of road debris before a possible accident happens or worse, cause a fatality.
I would also have the trash removed to improve visibility to our street lines and restore beauty to this city.
The second part is to seek out bureaucratic waste.
If elected, I will begin to look into programs that are in excess, not useful or just a waste of taxpayer funds. This process will take time as each program will need to be carefully reviewed on a case by case process; so, not to eliminate useful programs.
I would like to see the city's beauty restored due to the lack of care and maintenance!