I became a City Councilor after 20 years of advocating for others in many settings, but City Council is different! If you would like to understand more of who I am and previous experiences please see the About Me sidebar. If you would like to know what I feel in my heart must be done for a better, more functional city, please read on.
Remembering Government is Here to Improve Our Residents' Lives:
Governing a City well for its residents cannot be done without knowing who your residents are. How many of the residents are traditional residents who bought there home when it was built and are now aging, who left war torn countries as immigrants, who is living here to give their children a better life and working hard to send money home to the Country they left behind. who is in fear everyday that tomorrow they may be on the streets, or already are? The humanity of each person in our community is how we serve our population, instead of seeing our City as a "population" to be served.
I have a keen interest in understanding our people, and I believe the successes of our government will be through understanding these people when we are deciding how to improve their lives. If I ask about the Chuukese population in our community, those in leadership should know about their plight, and the same should be true of those from Myanmar, Eritrea and right here in Oregon. Because our decisions cannot be made for everyone unless we understand them.It has been far too easy in Gresham's past to believe one size fits all and the dominant culture views will work for all. Our community has changed and we must start making new connections.
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