Candidates in Multnomah County District 2 – Carlos Richards

PORTLAND, Ore. — Dr. Carlos Richards is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager for Multnomah County, and now he is running to represent the county in the specific area where he’s from and where he spent his entire life. “Born and raised in North Northeast Portland, lived in North Northeast Portland all of my life. Elementary school, middle school and high school and college here in the Portland area.”

He says he has deep roots working in government in Oregon as well. “I have 27 years of experience working in government. I think about 21 of that 23 of that was with the state of Oregon in the Department of Human Services,”

And most of his experience working in Oregon has been helping those who have the least.  “Providing critical and essential services to the most vulnerable citizens in Portland, Oregon as well as ethnic and diverse communities.  A lot of experience working with homeless individuals who are coming in and applying for services. A lot of experience working with individuals who struggle with poverty month to month, week to week, and day to day. A lot of times not knowing how they’re going to feed their families and making tough choices between either buying medicine or paying rent.”

He argues those issues have become even more critical today, and he wants to focus on making Portland safer if he’s elected.  “Being in downtown Portland right now, when you talk about safety and livability, a lot of people I know are afraid to go downtown, not because of businesses. There is activities that individuals want to do with their families. The families are afraid to go into Portland living and have some time that they can spend when you walk around downtown.”

And like many other candidates running for election in May’s primary, he’s also focusing on, “Homelessness that we encounter. And there are some things that are directly related to and attached to the homelessness, crime, drug use, again, addictions, mental health. Again, we have to do something. in terms of accountability with all of the money Multnomah County has received. We have to do something with accountability. ”

Dr. Richards is facing off against four other candidates in the contest for District 2, representing North and Northeast Portland, the position vacated by Susheela Jayapal because she’s running for Congress.