Building strong community is the key to enduring repeated attacks on the working class. We must create systems and policy that support the people who have built their lives here. To do this, we must prioritize affordable housing, support unions and worker’s rights, and ensure there is adequate permanent housing with wraparound services for those experiencing homelessness. Behavior and mental health services must be well funded and available to people who need them. While greedy developers are pushing forward with luxury resorts, we need leaders who will fight for the working families of our county.

The current administration is rolling back long-standing environmental protections. We are on the verge of unrecoverable damage. Therefore, it is critical that we insulate our county from these damaging attacks as much as possible. Greedy developers are trying to turn our rural spaces into playgrounds for the wealthy. The way we zone and use land matters now more than ever. We must stop extending the urban growth boundary into areas at high risk for wildfires. We must put an end to spot zoning and other practices that compromise our rural and natural areas. I am tied to this land. My ancestors inhabited it for time immemorial. We have knowledge of the land amassed over thousands of years and know how to protect it. And I am ready to fight for policy that ensures that it is here for the next seven generations and beyond.

The current commission is planning on creating districts that are gerrymandered. There is no good way to create districts that provide representation and voice to all voters. Districting in Deschutes County will result in voter suppression. They want to consolidate power and keep it for themselves and people like them. DeBone and Adair signed a letter designed to subvert our status as a sanctuary state. Combine this with the fact that Commissioners Debone and Adair both voted to ignore a court’s order to respect the treaty rights of The Warm Springs Tribes in regard to the Thornburgh development and it becomes very clear that they are not interested in a democracy that gives power to the people. I am ready to defend the right of every person in this county to have their voice be heard and counted.

Current Commissioners Adair and Debone pushed forward with the development of Thornburgh Resort, intentionally disregarding The Warm Springs Tribes’ treaty rights. The commission has long shown that it doesn’t value the input and wisdom of the tribes that inhabited this land long before it was Deschutes County. The tribes have valuable knowledge of how to keep and protect this land. We need to partner with them, not be adversaries. As a tribal member, I am both informed around and passionate about tribal sovereignty and I will fight to ensure that the commission engages tribes with all pertinent issues.

In Deschutes County, residents and businesses generated about 300,000 tons of solid waste in 2020. Less than 100,000 was diverted through recycling and composting. Knot Landfill is expected to reach capacity by 2029. This garbage creates methane, a greenhouse gas 25X more potent than Co2. We need to reduce waste and divert organics in order to address climate change here locally.

But climate change isn’t just about our garbage, it’s about how we move around the county, the type of energy we use, and the buildings we create. We need to create policies that drive energy-efficient building, support wildlife-friendly renewable energy, and push forward clean transportation. And this needs to be done in a way that benefits working families, not saddles them with the costs.