With Newfound Sway in City Hall, Portland’s Democratic Socialists Hope to Redefine the City’s Priorities
www.portlandmercury.com
How do you solve a problem like an unprecedented city budget deficit? Over the last few months of budget planning, Portland leaders suggested a host of ways to close the roughly $93 million gap, from closing community centers and cutting positions in the Urban Forestry department, to slashing parks maintenance funds. To members of the Portland Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), however, the solution is clear enough to sum up in three words: Tax the...

The arrival of four DSA members on Portland City Council lined up with the announcement of a truly dire city budget crisis. As leaders mulled major cuts, DSA saw an opportunity. Katbi said she wanted to use this year’s city budget conversation as a chance to advance the DSA’s goals in Portland, recognizing the group might not get all their policy wins this year.

“We’re using the budget crisis as a vehicle to advance class consciousness,” Katbi told the Mercury. “We have to start putting our vision out there, because there’s going to be nothing left for us.”

Proposed cuts to Portland Parks & Recreation proved to strike a particular nerve among many residents. Many Portlanders were especially outraged when several community centers were on the chopping block earlier in the budget season. (After substantial public backlash, city leaders have promised to keep the community centers open, but other parks services remain at significant risk.)

At the District 2 budget listening session in early April, Katbi was met with cheers after she called on the City Council to “tax the rich, fund our families and our futures” during public testimony.

“Do we want to have a nice city that families with children want to live in? Or do we just want to have a shell of a police state with shitty services and abandoned parks?” Katbi asked. “We need to present an alternative vision.”