Since forming in the summer of 2023 in response to a series of policy and budget decisions undermining the future of Portland Street Response (PSR), Friends of Portland Street Response’s mission statement has been:
“As Friends of Portland Street Response, we are united in our unequivocal support for the original goals of PSR and the specific actions needed to restore and support the program.”
Those original goals and actions to restore and expand Portland Street Response, a nationally praised unarmed first response option for people in crisis, were outlined in our “Petition to Save Portland Street Response” – which has been signed by over 12,000 Portlanders alongside over a hundred businesses, non-profits, unions, faith institutions, and local leaders.
Endorsement Criteria
If you are a candidate for City Council who has already signed both the petition to Save Portland Street Response and the Portland Street Response candidate pledge, the only step you must complete to apply for our endorsement is the Oregon Futures Lab candidate switchboard, which will help us determine the viability of candidates under consideration for an endorsement.
Candidates who have completed the candidate pledge requirements up to this point will be heavily favored in our endorsement process.
If you are a candidate who has not signed both the petition to Save PSR and the PSR candidate pledge, please complete our supplemental questionnaire to be considered for an endorsement.
The deadline to submit an application is August 11 by 11:59pm. Friends of Portland Street Response will inform candidates who have received our endorsement no later than Sunday, August 18.
Thank you for applying for an endorsement with Friends of Portland Street Response!
Questions for ALL Candidates Seeking an Endorsement
- Have you signed the original Friends of Portland Street Response petition to Save Portland Street Response? If not, please explain.
- Have you signed the Friends of Portland Street Response Candidate Pledge? If not, please explain.
2a) If you’ve signed the pledge, did you complete all aspects of the pledge? If not or not yet, please explain.
*If you signed both the petition and candidate pledge – you can proceed by filling out the Oregon Futures Lab candidate switchboard to provide information that will be utilized to determine candidate viability. You do not have to fill out the supplemental questions below.
*If your answer to either questions 1 or 2 was “No” – you must answer the following supplemental questions below to be considered for a Friends of Portland Street Response Endorsement.
Supplemental Questions (answer only if you answered “No” to Questions 1 or 2 above)
- Will you prioritize, support, and vote for funding Portland Street Response at the level required to operate citywide, 24/7?
- Do you support restoring the ability of Portland Street Response workers to distribute life saving supplies that were previously banned, such as naloxone, warm clothes, water bottles, or sheltering materials during severe weather events?
- Do you support expanding the 911 call types that Portland Street Response could respond to instead of police, such as the potential for PSR to respond to some suicide related calls or inside public buildings/some residences?
- What role, if any, should Portland Street Response play in law enforcement activities, e.g. sweeps?
- What role do you think Portland Street Response should have as a part of our public safety emergency response system? How do you see it positioned relative to police, fire, and ambulances, etc?
- Did you receive the endorsement of PROTEC17, the union representing the majority of Portland Street Response employees?
Viability
As an all volunteer group with limited resources, we want to focus our limited ability to promote Portland Street Response champions on candidates well positioned to win as we get closer and closer to November. Candidates not determined viable at this time but who have signed the petition and/or taken the candidate pledge will continue to have those actions recognized at friendsofpsr.com.
The primary piece of information we will be interested in is whether you have qualified for matching funds as part of participating in the Portland Small Donor Program. We believe candidates must be able to reach the first tier of matching funds in order to have the money that is (unfortunately) required to run a winning campaign.