Carmen's Accomplishments

You can tell what you’ll get out of an elected leader by what they’ve done already. And Carmen Rubio has delivered incredible results in just one term of office. No other candidate running for Mayor has a record that comes even close to the positive change she has accomplished for Portlanders.

Here you will find Carmen’s top accomplishments in key areas of city work:

Community and Public Safety

• Secured more than $4 million in funds for community efforts to reduce gun violence through prevention and intervention efforts – one of her first acts as a Commissioner. Since that time, gun violence has dropped by 28%.

• Fought to expand and stabilize Portland Street Response to provide emergency support for people in crisis. As the program’s leading advocate on the City Council, Carmen he also worked to separate its budget away from the Portland Fire Bureau to increase transparency and better understand the financial needs going forward.

• Played a pivotal role in finally breaking the impasse and getting the Portland Police Union to agree to body-worn cameras in early 2023. As Mayor, she’ll make sure they are implemented citywide.

• Led the charge to grow the public safety support specialist program (unarmed officers), with the goal of freeing up sworn officers to respond to critical public safety issues.

Housing and Homelessness

• Ended more than two decades of dysfunction by consolidating Portland’s fragmented permitting services into one team under one authority to build housing faster and less expensively.

• Amended city code to build out Portland’s Shelter to Housing Continuum, making it possible to stand-up faster the shelters and transitional housing we need to reduce homelessness. This action, Carmen’s first major piece of legislation, made Safe Rest Villages possible, and ensures Portlanders who are houseless are treated with dignity and compassion in their transitional housing spaces.

• Passed numerous pieces of legislation to catalyze housing production throughout Portland, including office-to-housing conversion in our downtown core and ensuring more market rate apartment buildings include a minimum number of deeply affordable rental units.

• Pushed Multnomah County to increase the amount of money given to Permanent Supportive Housing rental units to see that more people would get the services they need to be successful long term.

• Oversaw the City’s work to complete its Housing Needs Analysis and the Housing Production Strategy to guide the city’s work to build the more than 120,000 new homes needed for Portlanders.

Economic and Small Business Recovery

• Passed legislation to expedite the removal of graffiti on private property for the most egregious cases, saving the city time and from having to go through a legal process for each case.

• Established the city’s first-ever Office of Small Business, consolidating all of the city’s programs for small businesses owners in one place.

• Created the city’s new Business Incentive Tax Credit that encourages businesses to lease new or renewed office and retail space throughout the Central City, a first of its kind in the country in an effort to keep businesses operating in Portland.

• Oversaw millions in federal Restore and Repair funds for small businesses that are struggling to get back on their feet after COVID, dealing with broken windows or were hit hard by the recent ice storm.

• Passed Portland’s updated economic development strategy, guiding the city’s economic development work for the next five years. Called “Advance Portland,” the plan will spur inclusive growth by advancing economic competitiveness, racial equity efforts, and essential climate action.

Climate, Sustainability & Natural Areas

• Reformed the Portland Clean Energy Fund to invest in bigger and bolder carbon reduction and climate resilience projects, like planting thousands of trees, subsidizing e-bikes for low-income families and making affordable housing more climate-friendly. More than $750 million will be invested in our local economy.

• Updated the city's Renewable Fuels Standard to facilitate the transition away from traditional fossil fuels - the most ambitious plan in the country - and fought for zoning code amendments to limit the expansion of traditional fossil fuels at the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub to do what we can to influence the market and transition to lower-carbon fuels.

• Established Portland’s first-ever Climate and Sustainability Commission that will oversee all of the city’s climate programs and investments.

• Brought Portland's industrial sector together to design a Clean Industry Hub that will identify innovative and achievable carbon reduction investments with a goal of also creating new jobs.

• Passed legislation to phase out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers that create air pollution and endanger landscape workers’ health.

• Increased funding to hire more Park Rangers, and expand their coverage citywide, to ensure that our parks and natural areas can continue to be welcoming community spaces.