(PORTLAND, OR.) —Jeremy Beausoleil Smith, a District 4 city Portland City Council candidate, took some time to be interviewed by OpGov.news reporter Rory Holbrook about his candidacy, in which he is running to represent working families, protect local waterways, and help build a vibrant downtown that works for everyone.
Photo Credit: Beausoleil Smith website
Beausoleil Smith’s campaign is for every Portlander who believes in the dignity of their neighbors and that the government’s job is to make our lives better. He believes we should be preparing for the Portland of 2050 by investing in a strong social safety net while being a responsible steward of the taxpayer dollar.
Beausoleil Smith talks about the importance of making Portland affordable and sustainable, and fighting back against the uncertainty of the future.
“I am a husband, a parent, and a capital projects and construction manager at Portland State University. I am running because Portland's way too expensive. I want to make the city more affordable, and I am huge on sustainability and really want to focus on planning for the next century,” Beausoleil Smith said.
He is working toward the municipalization of the power grid by creating a democratically governed, municipalized power grid that is transparent and accountable to ratepayers, eliminating for-profit, investor-owned utilities that are rapidly increasing the electric bills of working Portlanders.
Beausoleil Smith gives his ideal vision for Portland.
“I see for our future investments in mass transit, pedestrian, and cyclist infrastructure. I see investments in social housing, investments in our parks, investments in housing. It is not dignified to live on the streets. I will not accept that a single person is living on the streets. It's not okay. And to me, care is making sure that people have a roof over their head and they have their basic needs met,” he says.
To Beausoleil Smith, planning for the future is key.
Photo Credit: Zoom / Rory Holbrook
“To give it a timeline, I mean, I kind of think in the next 25 years, I'm thinking about the Portland of 2050, you know, and even beyond that. But for me, I want to see an inclusive space. I want to see a Portland that's for everyone and Portland that we can all afford to live in,” he says.
According to Beausoleil Smith, Portlanders need something to believe in right now.
“I think these are kind of desperate times, and I mean, there's a lot of despair and a lot of diseases of despair happening, especially for people in my generation.”
Continuing, he addresses the concern over climate change and the need to fight for the future.
“I think right now we really need huge emphasis on the climate catastrophe and the climate crisis that we're facing. So that's a huge thing for me. Again, I kind of harped on it already, but my generation doesn't really know if there is a future right now… it's a little bit more than politics. It's kind of a fight for our lives.”
Beausoleil Smith is no stranger to the responsibility of leadership and financial stewardship.
“I have been on projects from anywhere from $20,000 up to like $90 million on a job; the art and design building here on Portland State's campus. It's one of the biggest construction projects happening in the city right now.
Beausoleil Smith reflects on how it feels to be a part of this important work.
“And it can feel kind of wild to be, you know, in your mid to late 20s and being entrusted with like millions of dollars of taxpayer money, but you just show up every day, and you keep working at it, and it kind of becomes normal after a while… I know how to be a good steward of the taxpayer dollar, and I'm responsible enough to absolutely do the duties of being a Portland city counselor,” he says.
Photo Credit: Zoom / Rory Holbrook
Beausoleil Smith offers a closing statement, highlighting what he brings to the election.
“I bring experience to the table that no one on council has right now. A lot of what we do in the city is capital projects, and I manage all my projects on time, quality, and budget… and I think that it comes down to a lot of legislators don't really know how construction projects work from like cradle to grave.
He explains how important it is to have Gen Z representation on the council.
“We need more Gen Z representation right now. If you run through the proportion of my age group versus everyone else in the city, we need another Gen Z counselor for it to actually be proportional and representative of our demographics in the city," he says.
Beausoleil Smith wants Portland to stay a place where people are allowed to be themselves.
“I'm queer and I think that I've been allowed to be myself here, and I love that, you know, and I truly feel like I can be my authentic self here, and I want that for everyone. I want Portland to be that beacon for people. And we are going to see a lot of political refugees coming to Portland in the next decade,” Beausoleil Smith says.
Beausoleil Smith finishes by again looking towards the future, and the possibility of Portland being a place of refuge for many due to political reasons, and also because of the climate crisis.
“Between, you know, political refugees and climate refugees as well as the climate warms, we are going to get more and more people moving to Portland. It's a temperate climate and we have plenty of water. So, I think we need to be prepared for that. You know, by 2050, by 2100, what are we doing to get ahead of this? Because Portland is going to be a very desirable place to live for people, and understandably so. It's a great city,” he says.
If you would like to comment or add to this report, please email me at rory.h@lead4earth.org.
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