Jo Ann Hardesty is the first Black woman ever elected to Portland City Council, and one of two Commissioners to ever live in deep Southeast Portland. She has been an advocate for civil rights for her entire life. We need her in office because her perspective matters and the work of building racial justice is not complete.

Jo Ann has tackled Portland's thorniest issues - the crisis on our streets and the deadly history of armed police responding to mental health calls.

Parents called attention to Mr. Gonzalez’s admission that he sacrificed LGBTQ+, Black and Indigenous, and other kids to advance his political agenda by backing 17 school board candidates with deep ties to right-wing organizations. In response to an OPB question about supporting candidates who were anti-gay, anti-choice, and anti-history, he stated he would “do it again in a heartbeat”.

Mr. Gonzalez has been fined multiple times for illegal contributions to his campaign. While receiving matching public funds as a small donor candidate, he has accepted a “cushy office deal” per the Oregonian and has failed to be transparent about his campaign finances.

Our opponent’s campaign is overrun with far-right Republican operatives whose clients include: Oregon Right to Life PAC, Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Charter Schools Now PAC, Mitt Romney for President, and the American Conservative Union.

As a Navy veteran, She knows what it means to protect and serve. She will not rest until every Portlander feels confident that officers on the street demonstrate that same commitment. She took on a leadership role in order to reform our public safety system, address harms, and restore trust.

Jo Ann is not going to sit down or shut up. She is a champion for our values. We trust her to fight wealthy special interests because she has done just that...and won. If you want to poke city hall in the eye, re-elect Jo Ann.

During the Primary, Mr. Gonzalez protested loudly when another candidate in the race, Vadim Mozyrsky, quietly embraced support from a SuperPAC that spent over $300,000 to boost his flagging campaign. Now, Rene Gonzalez is quietly embracing a new six-figure SuperPAC to “get him over the finish line” backed by Vadim Mozyrsky.

Jo Ann is the person to lead at the city because of her proven track record of tackling Portland's toughest problems and winning.

She brought Portland Street Response to life when our emergency response system had not changed in over 150 years.

She protected our privacy by creating the strongest ban on facial recognition technology in the country.

She championed the new citizen led Police Oversight Board with overwhelming support from Portlanders.

She saved small businesses during the pandemic by passing the Healthy Business Permit program.

Jo Ann has led Portland's most transformative changes. She has dedicated her life to listening and fighting to make the world a better place.

Jo Ann Hardesty is the one person running for Portland City Council we can trust to speak truth to power, who will champion the values of justice and compassion. She understands what it means to be working class, to have lived with just enough to get by. She will not let wealthy special interests take over our city. She is outspoken, she shakes up the status quo, and we need this more than ever.

Commissioner Hardesty has talented city hall team that has had only one staff turnover in more than three years. With her management experience at the city, the Mayor knows he can throw anything at her. That is why Mayor Wheeler assigned her the Office of Community & Civic Life at a point when it was in deep crisis. Since receiving the bureau, JoAnn has met with neighborhood associations in every part of the city. She works with them, not at them.

From day one, Commissioner Hardesty fulfilled her campaign promise to hire an experienced finance director to ensure her office finances are impeccably managed. Her financial analyst brings 14 years of experience, and Commissioner Hardesty’s office was the only one with a financial analyst when she came into City Hall.

While we should do everything to move people living outside into safe, humane, and sanitary shelters, government mandated sweeps have proven to be ineffective and costly to taxpayers. Sweeps do not solve houselessness, they simply push people from neighborhood to neighborhood.

Commissioner Hardesty has proposed to her colleagues that the City should create a land trust for short term shelter solutions, and build housing at 60% median family income to address the affordable housing crisis in our city.

Mass encampments for our houseless neighbors, guarded by milotary personnel, are misguided and dangerous. Improving the health and safety of our most vulnerable Portlanders needs to include houseless community members at the policy-making table. At the start of the pandemic, Commissioner Hardesty worked with houseless advocates like Right2Survive to develop autonomous shelter models. Together they developed the Queer Affinity Village for LGBTQ+ houseless people and the C3PO camps, adding the first 100 additional shelter beds.

Jo Ann has worked with 12 Police Chiefs and 6 Mayors on restoring community trust. More than any other person on the Council, she knows in detail where the problems exist. We can trust her to reform the Police Bureau so that it serves everyone in the City of Portland.

Commissioner Hardesty is focused on making “the city that works” into “the city that works for everyone.” We’re only going to achieve that when we work together and hold ourselves and our public institutions accountable.

When Commissioner Hardesty joined City Council in 2019, she was adamant that we have diverse voices on the commission, and fully supported funding their work. Commissioner Hardesty served on the last charter commission, which struggled with limited resources and support.

Commissioner Hardesty is proud to have helped recruit and appoint an incredibly talented group of Portlanders and will support what they recommend. Her job as a sitting commissioner is not to influence them before they have issued their formal recommendations. She is committed to upholding their independent process.

For decades Portland has spent too long looking to the past for answers, instead of embracing community-driven approaches. There is innovative work happening around the country and the City is following Commissioner Hardesty’s lead.

For example, Commissioner Hardesty worked with Dr. Jonathan Jay, an expert on the intersections of public safety, data science, and community health who has been recognized for successful efforts to reduce firearms violence through environmental design. Studies show the limitations of over-relying on police to urgently address gun violence.

Jo Ann is transparent and direct with her feedback. She asks tough questions and gives praise when earned. She would be one of the biggest assets when our Police Bureau demonstrates they are moving in the right direction with authentic policy and cultural changes.