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 for those experiencing homelessness. Working families need government to address the imbalance of income to the cost of living in central Oregon. I will fight for policy that addresses these issues.

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. 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 putting forward a measure that would make the new commissioner positions districted. 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. 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. They want to consolidate and keep it for themselves and people like them. 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. 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.