Vera Katz

OCCUPATION: Mayor, City of Portland, Oregon

OCCUPATIONAL BACKGROUND: Director of Development, Portland Community College

educational background: B.A., M.A. studies, Brooklyn College, New York

PRIOR GOVERNMENTAL EXPERIENCE: State Representative (1973-1993); Speaker (1985-1991)

"Katz offers ambitious vision…she laid out an activist agenda for a third term…"
The Oregonian, January 29, 2000

Dear Portlander,

We have a lot we can and must do to make our city even greater, including:

• More life-long learning with better public schools, job training and higher education opportunities;

• An end to youth gun violence with continued tough law enforcement and effective youth gang prevention programs;

• The creation of more living-wage jobs for Portland's families;

• A renaissance of the Willamette River that links together more natural areas and cleaner wildlife habitat with sustainable business and neighborhood districts;

• Good design and smart planning for our changing and growing city that will protect and improve our unique neighborhoods;

• A fight against gentrification by funding more affordable housing to increase homeownership and supporting our locally-owned neighborhood businesses;

• Stronger civil right protections for all Portlanders;

• Continued support for the arts and cultural life of our city;

• An expanded, more frequent and fareless transit system; and,

• A continuously improving city government that offers the best services to Portlanders and is efficient and effective.

This will require innovation, energy and determination and all of us working together. I look forward to each challenge and opportunity.

I invite you to join us. Learn more about each of these issues, email me with your ideas and thoughts, or sign-up to receive regular updates about our work:

www.ci.portland.or.us/mayor

Thank you for your support.

Vera Katz

(This information furnished by Friends of Vera Katz)