Kim Kasch
Kim Kasch ran for election to the Portland City Commission to represent District 3 in Oregon. She lost in the primary on May 17, 2022.
Kasch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kim Kasch was born in Portland, Oregon. She earned a bachelor's degree from Portland State University in 1994. She also attended Portland Community College and the University of Oregon. Kasch’s career experience includes working as a writer. As of 2022, she had five published novels. Previously, she worked in the legal field for 30 years.[1]
Kasch has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- North Tabor Neighborhood Association, board member and communications committee member
- Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, regional advisor
Elections
2022
See also: City elections in Portland, Oregon (2022)
General election
General election for Portland City Commission Position 3
Rene Gonzalez defeated incumbent Jo Ann Hardesty in the general election for Portland City Commission Position 3 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rene Gonzalez (Nonpartisan)  | 52.5 | 149,861 |
 | Jo Ann Hardesty (Nonpartisan) | 47.2 | 134,696 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 897 | ||
| Total votes: 285,454 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Portland City Commission Position 3
The following candidates ran in the primary for Portland City Commission Position 3 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jo Ann Hardesty (Nonpartisan) | 43.7 | 73,152 |
| ✔ | | Rene Gonzalez (Nonpartisan) | 23.2 | 38,760 |
 | Vadim Mozyrsky (Nonpartisan) | 22.2 | 37,218 | |
| Joseph Whitcomb (Nonpartisan) | 4.1 | 6,831 | ||
 | Kim Kasch (Nonpartisan) | 2.7 | 4,548 | |
 | Peggy Sue Owens (Nonpartisan) | 1.2 | 2,046 | |
 | Edward Baker (Nonpartisan) | 0.7 | 1,226 | |
| Jeffrey Wilebski (Nonpartisan) | 0.6 | 1,075 | ||
 | Dale Hardt (Nonpartisan) | 0.5 | 858 | |
| Chad Leisey (Nonpartisan) | 0.5 | 756 | ||
| Karellen Stephens (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 652 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 208 | ||
| Total votes: 167,330 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Kasch's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released April 18, 2022 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kim Kasch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kasch's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I graduated with a B.S. in psychology from Portland State University but I met my husband, of nearly 40 years, Lars, at UofO. Together, we’ve raised three adult children here. I love Portland and all the city has to offer. Portland has always been a city people wanted to move to and where everyone was proud to live, until recently. Unfortunately, our individual leaders have created failed systems, policies and procedures that have created most of the challenges Portlanders are now facing. Oregon had a 1.9 Billion dollar surplus in 2021 yet our city has been cutting program after program. As the largest city in the state, with the largest population, most of that nearly two Billion dollars will stay in Portland. I want to bring back Fareless Square and safety teams to mass transit so people will ride Tri-met again. But, that’s just the beginning. . . It’s time for a change! I have fresh ideas to help Portlanders. That’s why I’m running for Commissioner #3.
- Safety: Portland defunded the police by $15 million dollars. And in 2021, Portland had its most violent year on record, with the most homicides ever documented. I’ll include more funding to Portland Police, with a mental health/substance use component for Portlanders. I’ll expand pre-arrest intervention and diversion programs while partnering with local businesses to empower people affected by the lack of transitional healthcare. With my B.S. in psychology from PSU, I’ll continue supporting people affected by addiction while increasing safety funding and mental health partnerships. I’ll seek investigations into the justice system’s release of dangerous offenders while expanding Portland Street Response and supporting police.
- Affordable Housing/ Houselessness Portland is quickly becoming a city that only welcomes the rich. The pandemic hurt our economy and left many homeless or on the verge of losing their homes. We need quick solutions. I’ll work to stop large corporations from buying up all the Portland properties then soaring the cost of homes and rent to cosmic proportions. We have a lot of housing challenges but allowing the billionaire class to buy all the homes only to knock them down and create tiny apartments with huge rents is not the solution. We need to provide programs that allow local Portlanders to stay in their homes or to get back into them.
- Economy and Sanitation: The pandemic created isolation and distance. We need to bring all Oregonians together again and recreate community bonds that will help the entire state and Portland thrive again. This will include concerted efforts to revitalize small businesses and, with the 2021 $1.9 billion dollar surplus in the State, we can offer tax breaks to small businesses over the next two years, while working to create travel and tourism initiatives to help revitalize the city. Plus, bringing back Fareless Square and Safety Teams to mass transit, will encourage people to come back downtown, to the core of the city, which will rejuvenate the entire economy. Also, we can create volunteer “Bag Brigades” for people to clean-up the city.
This commission form of government is different from most other municipal governments in that its members have legislative, administrative and quasi-judicial powers.
Also, elected officials need to be in-touch with the concerns of the people they represent. I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In fact, I bought the house I was raised in from my parents. I graduated from Portland State University, after starting out at Portland Community College and struggling to make ends meet at the University of Oregon. I know the people of Portland, having participated in a variety of the cultural events from Hood to Coast, to performing in local dinner theater productions and playing on numerous teams, as well as coaching kids' basketball and soccer.
But those aren't the only important attributes for an elected official. Elected officials should be hard-working, honest, and caring.
I have all three of those attributes. I started volunteering in Portland when I was in high school. I started out as a volunteer at a local hospital and went on to become a Big Sister when I was in high school, and I have never quit volunteering because I have always wanted to help Portland be the best it can be.
Having been raised in a family with 9 children, with a dad who was a union laborer and my mom running her own small business, I have always worked hard. I was one of two kids in my family to graduate from college. I always wanted to help others, that is the reason I graduated with a B.S. in Psychology from Portland State University.
I have always worked to help others achieve their goals and celebrated in the accomplishments of others.
But more than being hard-working, honest, and caring, I am also a team-player who will strive to help others achieve goals and projects in a timely fashion--I learned those skills working in the legal field for over 30 years. The legal field has very strict time deadlines.
I started reading when I was very young. Sometimes I would read a book a day. I started out with the Wizard of Oz series. Yes, they are a series. Most people don't know that but it's true. And I read every one of those books. But then I also read all the "Little House on the Prairie" books. I seemed to be a series girl for many years.
But if I have to pick one book as a favorite, I'd say Salem's Lot by Stephen King because he is a master at the art of making the impossible seem possible.
However, many people in Portland believe that each commissioner is in charge of a certain section of the city. I have been asked many times if Commissioner #1 has a particular district, etc. The specific numbers give people the impression that they oversee certain districts in the Portland area. But the truth is each commissioner is in charge of particular bureaus, such as the Department of Transportation. Water Bureau, Department of Fire & Rescue, just to name a few. But the City Council is not simply made up of the commissioners. The mayor is one of the team members as well as the City Auditor. There are six people on the City Council.
This form of government in Portland has existed since 1913 and has served the city very well, until recently.
With this six-person City Council, we need team players on the council. It doesn't seem to be the current situation because the city is facing a multitude of challenges. Of course, I realize the pandemic created many challenges, but I believe there are simple common-sense solutions to many of these issues that could have already been implemented sooner, such as having mobile heating and cooling stations for the houseless, as well as mobile showers and laundry services. But that is just the beginning of my ideas.
1) I have over 30-years of experience in the legal field
2) I have a B.S. in psychology from Portland State University.
3) I am on the board of the North Tabor Neighborhood’s Association (NTNA),
4) I have served on the communication committee for NTNA for years.
5) I have worked with the Morrison Center’s Hand-in-Hand program, as a Behavioral Foster Parent and a respite care provider for several years.
6) I have been a teacher, having taught English for several years through PSU in coordination with the SCBWI.
7) I have participated in and coached many team sports.
8) I have volunteered in my community my entire life.
9) I have been a Co-Regional Advisor for the State of Oregon for an international non-profit organization: SCBWI and have worked to put on large and small events across the state utilizing a team of volunteers.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Portland City Commission Position 3 |
Personal |
Footnotes
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