Why are you running for City Council, what do you bring to the table that your opponents do not?
What I bring to the table is not everybody’s cup of Tea, it’s usually a bottle of wine the makes gathering around the table feel special. I’m running because Tigard is finally ready and excited about a guy like me that can actually be so many things to so many people in our community.
- As a versatile political moderate, people who engage with me soften their hardened opinions. Without changing how you feel about an issue, we can figure out how to achieve what you’re wanting through respectful time together and more moderate conversation.
- As a community steward and military veteran, I believe in a fully funded police force, trained well to use progressive trauma-informed engagement skills. My most important award received during my service was for field diplomacy among adversaries.
- As a successful community organizer, I know how to best partner with and promote our nonprofit organizations, to reduce the demand on tax-payer programs and celebrate our local champions through collaborative governance.
- As a father, I’m passionate about Tigard becoming even more livable, crime-free and inviting for people of all backgrounds. Fatherhood has empowered me to reach out and get to know my neighbors. With our teenagers patrolling on bicycles and new babies on the way, our vision and hope is that our children will choose to become the local artists, business owners and leaders who raise their families here too.
What is the #1 problem facing Tigard and what do you propose we do about it?
Tigard doesn’t need to be fixed, but it does need representation of our young families who are asking for greater livability and a new sense of community identity. We can do better than we have at shaping the reputation and character that comes to mind when people talk about Tigard. I have no personal agenda or one specific problem I’m trying to solve. I’m available to hear what’s important to you, to identify patterns in the feedback I’m receiving and to keep that top of mind when carrying out our community business. To encourage public involvement, we can do more to activate stewardship from all 14 of our unique Tigard neighborhoods.
Maybe you knew already that we have 14 individual neighborhoods. But, have also asked yourself, where does Portland end and Tigard begin? Community identity is knowing without signs that you’ve left one area and have arrived somewhere else. As a student of regional community planning, I’m excited for further discussions about our new MAX line and the economic importance of the Tigard Triangle. Knowing that some folks aren’t sure yet about what the new MAX line will mean for them, I see the Tigard Triangle as an opportunity to remodel our community identity and consider a version of Portland’s Pearl District that works best for us – spaces and places that indicate, you’ve arrived!
Ethan E. Erickson for Tigard City Council
EEE for TCC. A New Community Identity.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EEEforTigard
