I arrived in this city in 2010. At the time, Portland seemed like the land of opportunity. It was clean, it felt safe, and there was optimism just about everywhere I turned. I often cite the story of my first apartment, a beautiful one bedroom in downtown Portland, overlooking the Lovejoy Fountain. I paid $850 a month for that apartment. At my door, there were food trucks. A block from there was a streetcar stop that would take me to any supermarket of my choice and just about anywhere within Downtown. On Saturdays I would walk over to the PSU farmers market – berries in spring, peaches in summer, pears and apples during the fall. I could talk for hours about the restaurants, cocktail bars, craft breweries, and the coffee shop scene, all concentrated within a one to two mile radius in downtown.
Coming from SoCal, Portland was a wonderland of public transportation and craft EVERYTHING. However, there was one thing this city really lacked: true diversity. You see, when I talk about old Portland, when I think of the places I frequented, the people that I admired, and the stories that gave me hope for the future of this great city, it was always journeys and origin stories that resembled my own. Trust me, there weren't very many, yet somehow I always did my best to support those people. They were our people: Chinese-American, Filipino-American, African-American, Mexican-American.... Not very many, but the ones that were out there I tried my best to show up for.
If you were here before 2019, your memory of Portland is much different than those who came here post-pandemic. Same if you were here before 2017, or 2014, and so on. And yet, no matter how much I romanticize this idea of “Old Portland”, the truth is, there really weren’t many spaces where I felt safe, seen, heard, or even understood. And, I’m not just talking about hospitality, I mean everywhere. From my everyday existence in this city, to my corporate job, or even my early days as a business owner. You see, the reason why I am still in Portland is because of my love for it, love that led me to create spaces that were exactly what I felt was missing. Some people call this community, others call it a place of belonging in this city. For me, the mission was clear: create a space that moves the culture forward.
I know some would say that creating “community” is far more important and easier to achieve, but the truth is, I wanted the community that I created to be defined by the culture that I wanted to see. Keep in mind, in 2017, there weren't many places you could point at that resembled the people and memories from my upbringing, at least not in a way that wasn’t either clichéd, homogenized, or white-adjacent. And I wanted none of those things. Fast forward to present-day Portland. Look, nowadays, I can tell you about all of the BIPOC-owned cafés and shops in the city, by neighborhood. And it doesn’t end there. There are restaurants, bars, even a phenomenal Latino-owned brewery. Many of these businesses have found their voices and identities far better than most that existed here prior to 2019.
When I take a step back, when I look outside of my own establishments and beyond my brands, when I see the rest of us, so casually posting on social media in Spanish, or colleagues naming their restaurants after a memory of their ______-American upbringing. When I go into a new hip bar and see that their cocktail menu has mezcal drinks on it, or better yet, when I go into an Italian restaurant and notice they consciously make an effort to tell you that their house bread comes from a bakery owned by Mexicans… my friends, we have arrived! Well… kinda. Look, obviously, this is not the same Portland from 2019. Certainly not the same as 2017, and lucky for me, not the same as 2014 or before that. And I say this cautiously, knowing that somewhere out there, someone will take offense to that. But just to be clear, I am talking specifically about our existence as people of color in this city – more specifically the cultural shift of the last 4 years - where a person like me can contribute to the history of this great city by simply normalizing the greatness of our community.
Speaking of that greatness.... Today I am here to talk to you about one of those great people, my dear friend, Commissioner Carmen Rubio. As you may know, Carmen is currently running for Mayor of Portland, a role that has previously been held by 53 other elected officials. Of those 53, only twice has that seat been occupied by women… twice! Once in 1949, and the other in 1993. To add to that astonishing number, when Carmen Rubio is elected as Portland's next mayor, she will be the very first Latina (or Latino) ever elected to this role.
Now, before I keep talking about the historic repercussions of this election, I want to make sure that you understand why I believe that Carmen Rubio is the best candidate for this job. To do this, you have to start with her upbringing, one that I happen to find more relatable than any other candidate on the ballot. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, whose origin story resembles a fabricated Disney movie where the characters begin their long days working on a farm, followed by school, followed by more work on that farm. Somehow that character goes on to win some sort of track competition, or golf competition, or become an astronaut. That is the Carmen Rubio origin story!
Through hard work, she got an opportunity to attend a good high school, excelled in honors classes, earned a full ride to the University of Oregon and fell in love with the idea of being a public servant. Just to be clear, her story took place in the late 80s, early 90s, back when saying something like, “I’m going to be the first person in my immediate family to attend and graduate from a university,” only earned you points within those in your own community.
But say that story just doesn’t do it for you. Perhaps you are more interested in what she has done during her time in office. From a record amount of gun violence reduction funding, to a marked increase in housing production, she did incredible work in just her first year alone. Step back further and you see that in her term, she has overseen three major five-year planning efforts on housing, economic development and climate action… when you compare her work to that of her colleagues, it's not even close!
Look, if you have been paying attention to this race, you know that she has earned more endorsements by far than any other candidate on the ballot. There is a reason for that. As someone who spent the last three years attempting to grab the attention of ANYONE in office who would listen to me talk about small businesses, lack of diversity, safety, city planning, code & permits… only one person took the time to listen, and that person was Carmen Rubio. More specifically, those in her office who pointed me in the right direction and provided me with an introduction to the people who I needed to build with and learn from.
In the last two years, I have made those connections, I worked on those committees, I’ve voiced my opinions, and in the process I’ve established more meaningful relationships than any time in the last twelve years spent living in this city. I am not an outlier, nor an exception. I didn’t receive any special invite, I simply worked within the system that Carmen and her people put in front of me. You see, this is just who she is. She is a connector, a builder, a mover… this is why for so many of us she is the “shut up and get shit done” candidate. A trait that often backfires because so often all she does is shut up and get shit done.
Despite the many stories like my own, despite her track record of meaningful policy, despite the many endorsements of people who have worked alongside her over the years, there are still many folks in this city who believe that a candidate with more bravado and less to show for themself is what this city needs right now. I am baffled by this. Perhaps it's because of my own connection to Carmen Rubio, her origin story, our friendship, or even the fact that despite being the year 2024, there are still many in this city who struggle with the idea of having a woman of Latino descent as the next mayor of Portland.
Yes, I know that last statement is going to rub people a certain way. I know that immediately even some within my own circle are going to be quick to shout “what about the parking tickets and the license suspension!?”. Call it a mistake, call it oversight, or call it a lack of maturity from Carmen’s youth, but ultimately, when you are a person of color in this country and it comes to the court of public opinion, the number of mistakes that you are allowed to make in this life and be forgiven for are 0 to NONE. I don’t care if you @ me about this, unless you come from our background and share a similar origin story, you cannot truly relate to this sentiment.
Maybe I am just splitting hairs, but did she really lose her license six times because she could not pay those parking tickets? This is in the span of 20 years! Why is losing your driver’s license over unpaid tickets still a thing when over the years, there have been a number of studies that show the socio-economic racial bias behind debt-based suspension? You know who is affected the most by debt-based suspension? People in Black or Hispanic communities. But hey.
Let’s be real, do you really think a white man named “Charlie Rubens” with the experience, accomplishments, endorsements, and overall affability of Carmen would be treated the same way under the same circumstance? Please!! This is as much about race and sex as it is about so-called “character flaws”, but I digress.
My friends, I cannot say this enough, the rules do not apply to us the same way as they would to a white man named Charlie Rubens. Truth is, even without all this parking bullshit, the mayoral race would be just as close as it is now. Only folks would have to rely on other fabricated reasons to not vote for her. Look, for many years Portland has relied heavily on others outside of this city to create its narrative. From the pieces written by national publications to that Portlandia skit show. If I didn’t know any better, I'd think I am currently living in a drug infested apocalyptic version of Portland, brought to you courtesy of the NY Times. Portland isn’t that.
And yet, whether it likes to accept this or not, this city consistently looks outwards for validation. Sometimes it accepts that validation. But most of the time, if the validation is too good, the people in this city will throw their hands up in total disagreement and try to discredit its greatness, its people, and most importantly, its narratives.
This is just Portland. This is what it's notorious for, the land of passive aggressive nice people. It's those passive aggressive nice people that I worry about. It's they who are oftentimes the loudest voices in this city. They will cancel, shadow-ban, and oftentimes discredit people of color in this city… that is just what they do. But again, I digress. My friends, this is our time to change all of that. This is our time to build our own narrative, to tell our own stories, to create a version of Portland that many of us could not imagine just five years ago (let alone ten years ago or more). This is the time for us all (who can) to get behind this outlier, this feel-good story. To normalize the greatness of Brown Women in positions of power. To elect a candidate who will inspire the many.
A chance as a city to change our history. To thrive, persevere, and become a better version of the Portland of old.
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