City Council Entrance Interview: Timur Ender

Pronouns: He/him

Seeks to represent: District 1 (East Portland)

Job: Full-time candidate; previously a transportation project manager

Fun fact: He’s biked across the country twice.

When Timur Ender heard about the revamping of Portland’s city government, he was excited. But he was also worried that there wouldn’t be strong District 1 candidates who shared his perspectives.

“Most people, particularly working families, do not have the ability to drop what they’re doing and spend 15 months of their life running for public office,” he tells WW.

After discussing it with his wife, the couple agreed they had nothing to lose with him doing just that.

Ender, 35, is first-generation Turkish American. He frequently uses public transportation and worked for the city’s Bureau of Transportation for almost five years. He lives in Hazelwood, the neighborhood with the highest number of homicides in the past four years.

He’s also a parent of three kids, one who is a foster child. “Every few months everyone is trying to sign up for swim lessons for their kids, and it’s one of the most popular programs,” he says. “Yet so many families are not able to get this very basic city resource. If there were more parents on City Council, I think we’d get some of these basic things, like community centers, swim lessons, public parks, [and a] tree canopy.”

Ender has received $40,000 in matched funds through the Small Donor Elections program. His campaign has raised a little more than $92,000. He’s been endorsed by mayoral candidate Carmen Rubio, IBEW Local 48, Friends of Portland Street Response, Portland for All, AFSCME Local 189 and Oregon AFSCME Council 75.

We spoke to Ender about his campaign. Questions and answers have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

WW: What are your top three priorities if elected?

Timur Ender: I’ll start with housing and homelessness. It’s a big deal for a lot of people in my district. I’m supporting policies like single-stair reform, which allows developers to build apartment buildings with one set of stairs instead of two, provided there are enhanced life and fire safety measures. This approach helps make certain types of housing projects financially viable.

Community safety is a big priority. I also support alternative community response models like Portland Street Response as well as increasing the number of public safety support specialists. These specialists help boost the capacity of our existing police force, which is facing challenges due to the time it takes to hire new officers.

The urgent issue of gunshots in our neighborhoods hasn’t been given the attention it deserves. I support programs like Ceasefire, which provides intensive wraparound case management for those most likely to be involved in gun violence, as well as voluntary gun buyback programs.

Beyond policing, what measures would you take to improve public safety in Portland neighborhoods?

I think street lighting is key. Hazelwood, where I live, is dead in the middle of East Portland. We have a very high number of 911 calls compared to other places and higher rates of gun violence. And when you look around, there’s less tree canopy. Access to green spaces makes a big difference as it relates to public health and gun violence prevention. I’m interested in the big picture.

How would you support local businesses and foster economic growth in Portland?

I just want to highlight that the airport is in District 1. A very large portion of the people entering our region are coming through District 1, and for the most part, they leave pretty quickly. We haven’t harnessed a lot of the kinds of things in plain sight. I like to think of it as culinary corridors. You have immigrant-owned small businesses, you have Roman markets, you have Ethiopian restaurants, a whole bunch of Vietnamese restaurants, vegan restaurants, and then vegan Vietnamese restaurants. We can promote the existing assets of East Portland.

What aspects of the city’s current approach to drug use and overdose deaths do you support, and what would you change?

Housing should be paired with wraparound services. I strongly support crisis intervention teams, but it’s important not to conflate different efforts. First, there’s the Community Health Assess & Treat units from the Fire Bureau, which checks in proactively on frequent 911 users. I’m a big advocate of this because it reduces pressure on the 911 system and helps increase life expectancy, which is my overall broad lens for policy.

I believe we need more eyes on the street. As a resident, I’ve noticed more presence on TriMet with public safety personnel, similar to the Streetcar Rider Ambassador model. These individuals help address issues on transit so the average rider doesn’t have to. I’d love to see a similar approach in East Portland with more park rangers. Right now I only see a park ranger in East Portland parks maybe once a year, and we need more consistent stewardship of these public spaces to stay ahead of challenges.

Do you support the city staying in the Joint Office of Homeless Services? What’s your plan to address homelessness?

It doesn’t make sense for the city and county to tackle one of the most complex issues facing local governments separately, especially in Portland. The city’s role, in my view, should be to ensure accountability, making sure the county is delivering the number of housing and shelter beds promised through the Joint Office with the tax dollars they’ve received.

The city needs to be proactive about alternative models, such as community land trust. If we can stabilize inner Portland and housing cost, I think that’s going to go a long way,

Which council member do you and your policies most align with?

Carmen Rubio. I think she’s done a great job around housing production and supporting the Portland Clean Energy Fund.

How do you want police to respond to riots if Donald Trump wins in November?

I don’t buy that Donald Trump is going to win or that everything’s going to be devolving into chaos. Speaking as a resident, I’ve noticed the posture of police and the tactics used can have a pretty strong impact on how an event ends up. I’m saying this as someone who has had tear gas on my property when I had nothing to do with a protest. The whole city is not participating in a protest. It just feels like this isn’t rocket science, and there are maybe some other proactive ways to look at crowd management.

See the other Portland City Council Candidates here!