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Seeks to represent: District 3 (Southeast and Northeast Portland)
Age: 27
Pronouns: He/him
Job: Full-time candidate
Fun fact: He presented at the 2022 Seattle Metamodernism Summit on post-postmodern narrative structures in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Daniel DeMelo, 27, made a small splash over the past year as the chair of the Joint Office of Homeless Services community budget advisory committee—he spoke out against what he saw as inertia and apathy. A software engineer, he brings a data-driven approach to the District 3 race. DeMelo qualified for matching funds from the city’s Small Donor Elections program. Here’s how he says he’ll govern.
Why are you running for office?
I relaunched and now oversee community input on more than $4 billion in public spending on behalf of more than 800,000 Multnomah County residents. In my years of experience as the chair of the Joint Office of Homeless Services community budget advisory committee, I recognized the urgent need for change after learning that Multnomah County lied about whether they had the funds to end unsheltered homelessness.
The new City Council needs pragmatic, action-oriented Portlanders ready to roll up their sleeves, dig into the details, and fight for real solutions. I’ll work tirelessly to ensure that our city is efficient, transparent, and accountable to the people we serve.
What are your top three priorities if elected?
1. End unsheltered homelessness by purchasing and siting 3,000-4,000 additional shelter beds. More on that later.
2. Improve public safety: We have 33% less police officers per capita than we had 20 years ago. We need to support programs like Portland Street Response and Community Health Assess & Treat, build more safe infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, and reduce 911 hold times.
3. Hold government accountable. Despite years of housing emergencies the city hasn’t acted urgently to reduce housing costs. We’re losing ground on carbon emissions and since committing to ending traffic deaths we’ve instead seen a doubling. Let’s stop twiddling our thumbs and get to work.
How would you foster economic growth in Portland?
Support local businesses. Addressing homelessness and safety will help.
We can encourage small business owners to open here instead of in neighboring counties by streamlining permitting and reducing taxes, fees and system development charges. For example, I’d like to see the downtown tax credit extended to smaller businesses and to other neighborhoods with significant vacancies.
We also need to address the struggling schools and livability issues that impact our ability to attract and retain skilled professionals. And we need to reduce housing costs: This year, we’re set to build less than 10% of the homes we need to maintain affordability.
The city of Portland is facing budget cuts next year. Where would you cut money from the current city budget? Please point to a specific program, bureau or place.
Beyond a temporary hiring freeze we need to cut administrative bloat. Over the last 13 years, while the overall budget doubled the amount we spend on administrative services tripled to more than $200 million.
Multnomah County should accept financial responsibility for some of our programs that, per our negotiated agreement, are clearly county responsibilities: medical programs like CHAT, mental health care programs like Portland Street Response, and homeless services programs like our city-funded shelters and the homelessness impact reduction program.
Where is the city currently wasting money, or is using money in a way you think is inefficient or unnecessary? Where is the bloat?
We waste money on outside contractors for essential services, reducing efficiency, transparency, and frontline worker wages. Workers whose employer receives millions via a city contract to clean up homeless camps after a 2023 disability settlement have told me they themselves are homeless due to low pay.
The city auditor reported that we paid contractor to rebuild the same $20,000-plus ADA-compliant curb ramp four times. Per a 2018 settlement we’re legally required to build at least 1,500 ramps yearly through 2030. Instead of overpaying contractors, we should establish a dedicated Portland Bureau of Transportation team to handle these projects efficiently, reducing costs and improving oversight.
What is the Joint Office of Homeless Services doing wrong, and what do you see as things that can right the ship?
The Joint Office is failing Portland by not committing to ending unsheltered homelessness, despite 83% of voters supporting a plan to shelter every person on our streets. They’re building a bureaucracy around a problem we should be solving with urgency. Thousands are employed across hundreds of nonprofits, using a tax set to expire in 2030, yet the Joint Office can’t say how much more money or time they need to reduce unsheltered homelessness.
To right the ship we must commit together to sheltering every person by purchasing and deploying at least 3,000 pod-based shelter beds.
Is the tax rate in Multnomah County (with Portland Clean Energy Fund, Preschool for All and supportive housing services taxes) too high, or at an appropriate level? If too high, what do you suggest be done about it?
Taxes are not just too high—there’s too many of them! It’d be different if we received a commensurate level of services. But we don’t. We’re losing the high-income families that fund our services to our lower-tax Clackamas, Washington and Clark county neighbors. Let’s stop taking advantage of the goodwill of Portlanders.
I’ve made a promise: no new taxes. We need to make sure we’re spending the funds we already have wisely before asking voters for more.
What is the first piece of policy you would bring to the City Council?
Beyond a push to end publicly financed matches on candidate-to-candidate donations, I’d like to see the city make a formal commitment to ending unsheltered homelessness and create a task force dedicated to acquiring and siting the 3,000-4,000 pods we’ll need to shelter every unsheltered person on our streets.
And on day one I’ll seek to fund an independent study of the costs, challenges and obvious benefits of city-county consolidation. It’s going to be a busy first day.
Beyond policing, what measures would you take to improve public safety in Portland neighborhoods, and where would you get the money for it?
It’s not often that there’s such a clear solution to a complex problem. In 2022 roughly 33% of our homicides involved homeless perpetrators or victims, Portland Fire & Rescue classified 41% of all fires as “homeless-related fires.” Homeless Portlanders were 37 times more likely to die from a drug overdose and constituted half of 2023 pedestrian deaths. Studies show that the move from unsheltered to sheltered homelessness reduces mortality risk by as much as 80%. And we must reduce 911 call times and continue to build improved safe infrastructure for cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders.
What experience can you point to that you believe would make you a prudent policymaker on the City Council?
I’m data-driven, results-oriented and in my roles at Multnomah County I’ve spent years overseeing community input and ensuring billions in public spending achieve the best possible outcomes.
I’ve worked with civil rights attorneys to hold government accountable, led a tenants’ union and experienced arrest at racial and climate justice protests. Meanwhile, my deep knowledge of our housing and public safety challenges earned the endorsement of business groups and our police officers, 911 operators, firefighters and EMTs.
I have unparalleled experience collaborating across significant differences and no other candidate has as much experience holding our county partners accountable.