Multnomah County District 2 Commissioner

We are supporting and endorsing Jessie Burke for Multnomah County District 2 (N / NE PDX) because we were inspired by her early outspokenness that’s continued over the last few years regarding the deterioration of the societal contract with the open camping and drug use running rampant all over Multnomah County.

Jessie questioned why the small businesses that pay into the downtown Clean & Safe program did not have a seat at the table in the decision-making of how those dollars were being spent as she started to try and help clean up Old Town. She went further in her advocacy by speaking out several times, and eventually holding a press conference, so that elected leaders would come and see for themselves what everyday people were dealing with outside their doors with regards to public safety. She’s become infamous for requesting electeds meet outside her business in Old Town so they can face what they’ve let the county become. And as a resident of Kenton (North Portland), she’s well aware of how inundated certain neighborhoods have become with low-income housing, shelters and public services and how that affects livability.

Her actions sparked a 90-day reset in Old Town, which guided a similar reset in the Central Eastside. These ideas were then folded into the Governor’s Central City Task Force, which she also participated in, and more recently, decorative street lighting to increase visibility and deter criminal activity in Old Town. This is a pilot program we will soon see spread across the entire city.

Jessie knows how to think outside the box and come up with rational solutions to problems. She wants to see increasing accountability and transparency of our taxpayer dollars, and faster action on seemingly simple solutions - like a shelter bed application that would help system users find open beds in real-time. Her solution? Hotel reservation software, something folks from the Silicone Forest have been telling the county for years now. If you want to see less studies and more action, vote for Jessie! www.jessieburke.com

Jessie questions spending of taxpayer dollars on Clean and Safe program (2021).

Jessie calls a press conference in Old Town over public safety concerns, prompting 90-day reset (2022).

Jessie is chosen for Governor Kotek’s Portland Central City Task Force (2023).

Jessie & the Old Town Community Association celebrate new permanent lanterns in Old Town (2024).