“Portland can be better. Portland can, you know, improve the way it connects with community, the services it provides, and as a union, we can sit at those tables and really have a stronger voice.”

In episode 63, we talk to Kari Koch, president of the City of Portland Professional Workers Union, activist and all around great person.

Kari discusses the challenges of having a muddy and unclear job title system, the lack of representation amongst over 800 workers at the city until the CPPW was created, how the city whilst moving away from an inefficient commissioner system has replaced many of the inefficiencies  with new ones through management layers, and why city workers deserve a living wages, increases, and clarity in their roles.

With a CPPW strike vote approved, the lack of city engagement in negotiating in good faith will affect all of Portland if this isn’t resolved soonest.

Follow their updates in Instagram @cppwunion

Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram at @ProgressPortland 

The post Episode 63: Kari Koch president of the City of Portland Professional Workers Union appeared first on Progress Portland.

“that’s the type of thing that we keep balancing the city budget on is just rate increases for working class people. When there are people with money. There is money in this economy. It’s just not making its way to us.”

In episode 62, we welcome back Angelita Morillo, the electric city councilor who has introduced and passed more legislation than any other city councilor in less than two years. We discuss why the focus on personality rather than substance is a misdirection (and misogynist), what she is hearing from her constituents and why she is unapologetically advocating for better outcomes, how she plans to build on the successes she’s had, and keeping an eye on the integrity of implementing the work.

And so much more.

A brief show note: we had some technical difficulties, so we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked to talk about other critical topics.

Learn more about her campaign and Get Out The Vote! https://www.angelitaforportland.com/

Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram at @ProgressPortland 

The post Episode 62:  : Angelita Morillo, Portland City Councilor District 3 appeared first on Progress Portland.

“one of the things we’ve learned in being around for almost 30 years is the more you get people on the water on this specific river, the more they fall in love with it and they want to do things to protect it”

In episode 61, we talk to Heather King, co-executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper and the Lower Willamette Riverkeeper (the top half looking up) and how she and other co-director Michelle Emmons who is the Upper Willamette Riverkeeper (the lower half looking down) came together to reshape the organization and role model co-directorship while building on the years of the organizations successes.

Heather discusses how the 187 miles (301 kilometers) of the stunningly beautiful Willamette river is complex with unique challenges and the opportunities to enjoy the river and volunteer to support it. She also talks about paddling experiences, what a “swim” is, and how a disaster at the CEI hub will be catastrophic for the entire state of Oregon and beyond.

And so much more.

Learn more about Willamette Riverkeeper at https://willametteriverkeeper.org/ and support them including the upcoming Portland Spirit cruise event at https://willametteriverkeeper.org/event-list

Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram at @ProgressPortland 

The post Episode 61:  Heather King, co-Executive Director of Willamette Riverkeeper (Lower) appeared first on Progress Portland.

“think we just lost our six followers”

Kat and Kip talk about Star Trek, Firefly, and other Sci Fi classics, video games (Justice Sucks!), coyotes, their only friends: Toys.

And a lot more.

It’s a weird but hopefully entertaining episode.

The post Episode 55:  Kat and Kip Talk About (Almost) Everything appeared first on Progress Portland.

“We need to provide resources for them (survivors) and provide that like a glimmer of hope that there’s gonna be a change in their lives because that will grow and grow and grow as they get to use our resources and be able to get their feet under them”

In Episode 54 we talk with Emmy Ritter, the executive director of Raphael House of Portland.

Content Warning: We discuss physical, emotional, sexual, and animal abuse in this episode. It’s a difficult conversation and will be inappropriate for younger people and challenging for some others.

Since 1977, Raphael House of Portland has helped domestic violence survivors and their families find safety, hope, and independence. We believe that everyone deserves to live a life free from violence. Their 24/7 hotline is at (503) 222-6222

And the web site is at: https://raphaelhouse.com/ but please don’t visit if your phone/computer is possibly monitored.

Kat and Kip talk to Emmy about her background and lifelong advocacy for abuse survivors and how she became ED of Raphael House of Portland. We talk frankly about the challenges people have getting safe from abusive partners and how it can take an average of 7 attempts to do so.

We also discuss how there’s always hope and how we all can help survivors directly and how we need to change the culture of our society to stop the serial endemic issues of domestic violence and abuse.

You can support Raphael House by visiting their web site at https://raphaelhouse.com/

If you need immediate support, see their page at: https://raphaelhouse.com/get-help/#resources-section-two

The post Episode 54: Emmy Ritter, Executive Director of Raphael House of Portland appeared first on Progress Portland.

“I care about, social housing, police accountability, ⁓ active transportation infrastructure, good kind of like left yimby things, the environment. And then there’s another side of me that just really cares about like good governance stuff. And that latter piece is necessary.”

In Episode 53 we welcome back Mitch Green, whom we endorsed for city council district 4, to discuss his first year in office representing D4, the CEI Hub and how fucking dangerous it is for Portland, social housing, shady dealings like the boondoggle the Blazers/Moda center deal appears to be, and so much more.

And of course, hot dogs.

City Council web page: https://www.portland.gov/council/districts/4/mitch-green

Campaign web site: https://www.mitch4portland.com/ Support him here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/m4pdx

The post Episode 53: Mitch Green, Portland City Councilor District 4 appeared first on Progress Portland.

“I’m not here for band-aid measures. I am here for harm reduction as we work towards those permanent solutions.”

For episode 52 we talk with Lauren Armony of Welcome Home Coalition about the “Finding Home” report they released last year that interviews several hundred people facing houselessness and unflinchingly documents what their needs are which are systemically not met in any meaningful way despite the hundreds of millions of dollars Portland and Multnomah county spend each year. You can read it here.

The post Episode 52: Lauren Armony of Welcome Home Coalition appeared first on Progress Portland.

“Is it illegal for progressives to talk to each other about politics? And part of this stems from our state rules around serial communications, really weird and broken, think. It makes it really hard to legislate.”

Our 51st interview we talk to Nick Caleb friend of the pod on running interference on many important efforts including environmental challenges, dark money influences in Portland Politics, and why we just can’t have nice things unless we really put an end to bullshit.

The post Episode 51: Nick Caleb of Breach Collective/Lewis & Clark Law School appeared first on Progress Portland.

” And one thing that I’m proud to exemplify is that if you give people at the very bottom a chance to work and pay them well and give them benefits with it, ⁓ they’re gonna hold onto it and they’re gonna grow from that”

In our 50th (!!!) episode, we welcome Kristofer Brown from People’s Depot which provides a daily central place for people to bring their recyclable cans and serves as a hub for community and connection to services. Kristopher brings his personal stories and intentions to the conversation and demonstrates that a little help up and thoughtfulness goes a very long way.

More info at https://www.groundscoreassociation.org/

The post Episode 50: Kristofer Brown of People’s Depot/Ground Score appeared first on Progress Portland.

“Sit here and listen to us for like 20 minutes and be like, they okay? They’re not okay. They’re not okay. They’re not okay. The white people aren’t okay. Nobody okay.”

A new feature: The Wednesday Kvetch.

Kat and Kip and occasional guests will recap events from the previous week as well as top of mind items. And Kvetch a bit. Let us know what you think.

Takeaways:
– Inclusivity in halftime shows
– Impact of budget decisions on housing and homelessness
– The need for systemic change and multi-angle advocacy
– Stickbugs

Note: we record on Sundays so our info might be slightly out of date. Or totally irrelevant.

The post The Wednesday Kvetch: February 11 2026 appeared first on Progress Portland.