Chris Henry

Chris Henry graduated from UAW Trade School in 1985. His career experience includes working as a community advocate, union truck driver, and aircraft mechanic. Henry has been affiliated with Honest Elections Oregon.[1][2]

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born nine of twelve children, so that affects my worldview. I see myself as one of many people, and I work well with teams because I come from a large family that’s also a small community.

My family is also where I first drew my political courage to run for office. My grandfather Kevin McCann was President Eisenhower’s speechwriter, and had a knack for sneaking in creative ideas that were ahead of their time (such as, the infamous warning re: “Military Industrial Complex”).

So I’m someone who seeks to balance these two elements - being a team player and being a leader - and to always stand for justice. I feel that this balance is essential to be a true advocate for the people and the planet - whether that be for workers and the environment here in Portland, or for those suffering under military occupation abroad. And my policies of divesting from the polluting war economy and investing in a green peace economy will reflect this to the fullest.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

The Pacific Northwest is woefully underprepared for the next Cascadia Megaquake, with scientists reporting that Portland could see "more than $80 billion in building damage, tens of thousands of people wounded or killed and more than 250,000 people facing long-term displacement."

Even when it comes to basic emergency response, City Council has been very negligent. The only position in the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management dedicated exclusively to earthquake preparedness was cut in 2024. And the entire department receives only $5 million a year (for *all* emergency preparedness) from the city, while city council forks over ~$100 million/year of our tax money to Wall Street - just as interest on loans!To fund public works projects (like earthquake retrofitting), I will advocate for a publicly owned Green Portland Bank to cut out the Wall Street middlemen.

A Green Public Bank can invest in green jobs, worker cooperatives, climate justice, and earthquake preparedness. By taking our money back from Wall Street, we can ensure our investments meet our needs and align with the priorities of residents.

I also advocate for making PGE publicly-owned as a People's Utility District. This allows us to stop their price gouging, accelerate renewables adoption, and decentralize the grid for earthquake preparedness.

To address massive challenges like climate chaos and the megaquake while meeting daily needs, we need radical structural change!We are in an exciting time with new districts, matching funds, and ranked choice voting for City Council. This is an opening for real transformation, and for the progressive ideas we support to become a reality.

But a major obstacle we face is the classic dilemma, that most Politicians promise what voters want to hear, then sell out once elected. So how do we ensure that once elected, city council follows through on our vision?

My candidacy is unique - I have dedicated the last two decades of my life to campaign finance reform, as a board member of Honest Elections Oregon. Over the last decade, we won Oregon's first limits on corporate donations and matching funds for Portland. My dedication to systemic integrity is public record.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about advocating for an implementing structural changes that enable our city to use its vast resources to meet big challenges and working people's needs at the same time.

I love the collaborative aspects of public policy, and will always seek to gather input from community members and keep an open-door office. This also includes collaborating bioregionally for a more self-sufficient food system in the Willamette Valley, and working with other cities to prepare for the Cascadia Megaquake.

We are in a totally new era with the present climate breakdown, and it will take a combination of leadership, vision, and accountability to grassroots movements for city council to become a part of the solution.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

With the ability to enact new legislation, direct an $8 billion/year budget, and be local enough to truly incorporate the input of everyday residents - I feel that an ethical and effective City Council is an indispensible public good.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Ursula LeGuinn's The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas; Ernest Callenbach's Ecotopia; Rachel Caron's Silent Spring; and The Matrix (take the quakepill, Portland!)

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity, incorruptibility, brevity.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Accountability to the ordinary people of Portland, rather than corporations and special interests.

What legacy would you like to leave?

When the megaquake happens, Portland will be ready. We will look back to this time and be glad we pushed city council to act responsibly and get ready before it's too late.

The Willamette River will be cleaned up, and braided once again. All the toxic tanks and fossil fuel supplies have been removed, and the companies paid for the restoration needed. Linnton is no longer a sacrifice zone, and public parks, beaches, and fishing sites line the banks of the river.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Check our Website for the full scoop!

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

This is essential. With an $8 billion/year budget, city hall needs to be much more transparent. Currently, there is no public record of which wall street banks we are paying over $100 million/year to in interest, alone.

Furthermore, we see backroom deals with companies like Zenith Energy violating lobbying laws and placing up to 1/4th of all Portland's population in mortal danger (being in the blast zone of their dangerous oil trains).

Chris Henry did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Henry's campaign website stated the following:

Support Creating a Post-Carbon Economy

De-construct the fossil fuel infrastructure of asphalt streets in neighborhoods to re-connect communities… turn streets into farms, community gardens, parks, food forests, arboretums, etc.

Farms Not Streets, Food Not Lawns

look into technologies to use carbon-based waste for fuel (retrieve plastics from Pacific Garbage Patch and landfills. Grow algae for fuel.

Shift all logging, mining and fossil fuel subsidies over to industrial hemp production on a massive scale as a carbon sink and fiber alternative

Call for a moratorium on clear cutting (Tax the Timber Industrial Complex)

Form an Arbor Corps patterned off of the Civil Conservation Corps

Form PUDs at the Neighborhoods Association level to form 100s of local microgovernments and return utilities back to the commonwealth. (change PUD definitiion to include; internet, petroleum, cell phones, cable tv, freight, grocery stores, factory farms, satellite) State banks would fund them.

Emissions Caps (no pollution trading)

Pollution Tax

Increase Gas Tax

Support creating a Worker First Economy

Freeze assets of company CEO's in bankruptcies and allow workers to reorganize and reopen company as a Worker Co-op.

Oppose Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), other "free trade" agreements and Fast Track Authority for President

Make Oregon a “Card Check” state [basically, A State Level Employee Free Choice Act]

Four Day Work Week/ three day weekend to reduce carbon and to encourage involvement in civics, community, family, quality of life

10:1 Wage Ratio like Swiss 12:1 (to hearken in a true living wage above the minimum wage)

Maximum Wage (excess profits should go into worker pensions, before being taxed)

Minimum Wage to at least $15/hour

Support Building a True Democracy

Create Corporate Charter Citizen Review Committee (hear citizen testimony against re-chartering corps… fashion it like a parole board hearing for corporations)

Impose Sunset Dates, Term Limits and death penalty for Corporations

Create a separation between corporations and the state at the state level

Support Move to Amend, an organization advocating for a 28th Amendment: Corporations are not people/Money is not free speech

Abolish Corporate “Personhood” at the state level

Support Creating A Peace Economy

Divest from the Military Industrial Complex (Ban military recruitment in Oregon)

Advocate for a state level Department of Peace

Turn the Military, Humanitary (with a “Prime Directive”)

Civilian-Based Defense (Gene Sharp, Einstein Institute)

Kellogg-Briand Pact (Outlawry of War)

Peace Tax Dividend (divert federal war taxes to human needs)

Expand Peace Corps

Build A Peaceagon (perhaps, on the 45th Parallel in Salem) w/ gardens in between inside sections (to rival the Pentagon)

Other

Advocate for a state-level Single-Payer Healthcare System(Fund it w/State Bank)

Open state bank to marijuana businesses and industrial hemp full banking needs

Advocate for a Bullet Ban Bill (doesn't conflict w/2nd Amendment – treat bullets as UXOs… ban sale, manufacture and possession… highly regulated and heavily taxed -- the way 1937 marijuana prohibition was; keep all ammo at state bank/ armory)[6]

—Chris Henry's campaign website (2022)[7]

Chris Henry did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2020 Candidate Connection survey.