Your Guide to a Portland City Council that Works for Us

A 40-year organizational and communications strategist, author, and former President of the National Writers Union (UAW). Currently president of the Economic Future Group, a national consulting firm. He writes frequently for a blog he created, “Working Life,” and is the author of five books on economics and labor issues.  He has provided issues analysis for a number of national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, The Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Principal, Confluence Solutions; former advisor to Gov. Kate Brown; political director at Oregon AFL-CIO.  She helped raise Oregon’s minimum wage, convened a group that wrote the state’s paid family leave law, and developed expertise on living-wage workforce policies. She helped to pass Oregon’s first racial justice agenda as a member of the governor’s executive team and led a coalition that helped pass a gun violence prevention ballot measure.

A Woodlawn neighborhood resident, West is the founder of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, and a former TriMet Bus Driver and member of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

Portland Public Schools teacher and union organizer, “Teacher Tiffany” is a fourth-generation Japanese American active in the local AAPI community and has served on Teacher Advisory Councils at the Portland Art Museum and the Japanese American Museum of Oregon.  She has worked to bring universal preschool to Portland, has worked as a community organizer on anti-racist events, and has participated in landmark programs for museums through the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Attorney for the Oregon Dept. of Justice and former Portland City Commissioner, Novick spent nine years suing polluters while working for the Federal Dept. of Justice after graduating from Harvard Law School.  When then-14-year-old Steve’s school was shut down, he began taking college classes at the University of Oregon, obtaining a degree in Mathematics at age 18.  He has spent 20 years in politics and public policy, working for the State Senate, as a lawyer, as an organizer and researcher, and as a candidate for the US Senate and City Commission.

Housing Program Specialist, City of Portland. Their interest in public affairs began when, as a teenager, they fought for marriage equality.  Flanary worked at a Washington, DC, housing-related nonprofit that operated a spectrum of housing options including mortgage and foreclosure assistance. In Oregon, Chris worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer and then at the city’s housing bureau.  Flanary has also worked as their union’s steward, board member, and organizer.

Recovery advocate, former policy director, attorney, and realtor. His extensive legislative work on recovery issues include the passage of the 2023 Fentanyl Education Bill and legislation to create safer learning environments for students struggling with addiction.  He has also worked in political campaigns on reproductive justice and candidate elections.

Long-time Government Relations Manager at Tri-Met, Intergovernmental Relations Director for Gov. John Kitzhaber, and chair of several non-profit boards. Clark grew up working in her father’s small diner peeling potatoes and polishing floors.  The first in her family to graduate from college, Clark attended graduate school at the University of Oregon and then found her way to public policy work at the state level.  She has been a neighborhood activist, light rail advocate, and affordable housing voice since the 1980s. 

Chief of Staff to County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards; former city manager for two mid-sized cities.  A lifelong Oregonian, Eric obtained his degree from University of Portland on an ROTC scholarship.  After serving a combat tour in the Iraq War, Zimmerman has continued to serve in the Oregon National Guard for 17 years, on a NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, a diplomatic assignment in the US embassy in Bangladesh, and other assignments.  He served on the Multnomah County Veterans Task Force, as chief of staff to two county commissioners, and as Senior Advisor for the Central City under Portland’s mayor. His achievements include developing shelter plans, fentanyl abatement, expanding street safety programs, sponsoring central city entertainment programs, and helping to open Downtown back up after the pandemic.