Metro Councilor, 6th District
JONATHAN P LEVINE
OCCUPATION: Student, PSU Graduate School of Social Work
OCCUPATIONAL BACKGROUND: Project Manager; Program Manager; Teacher
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: University of Arizona, Bachelor of Arts, 1981
PRIOR GOVERNMENTAL EXPERIENCE: None
Progressive Pragmatism
About ten years ago my wife and I grew tired of what greed and metastatic growth had done to our once-charming hometown. We researched livability and economic data in several western cities, and came to Portland, our last best place. Six years ago our child was born here.
That our daughter is lucky enough to call Portland home is half the reason I am running for Metro Council. The region she is growing up in is an exceptional place, so special that it has what can only be described as a quality of refuge. From inside the brilliant Oregon innovation of regional government is the best place to ensure that this quality is still recognizable when my child is grown.
The other half of the reason I am running is that the Metro Region has not always been kind to communities of color and not always fair to its most vulnerable residents. As a social worker I am bound by a code of ethics to serve all the citizens of Metro District 6 – and their environment – equally. As a Metro Councilor my door would be open to all.
My experience with what Metro does – budgets and systems and cost-benefit analyses – is substantial. I have also spent much of my life traveling, and have seen up-close what works and what doesn’t in all fifty states and more than forty foreign countries. The value of this perspective to an undertaking as complex and varied as regional government should not be underestimated.
Thank you.