When AFSCME Local 189 member Chris Flanary first attended a union meeting, it was to call for dues to be lowered. But the union gospel soon took hold, and Flanary was drawn in, becoming a shop steward, and eventually recording secretary and chapter chair representing several dozen coworkers at Portland Housing Bureau. Eventually, there was even a nine-month stint as a union organizer — standing outside nonprofits talking with workers on their smoke breaks about the value of a union.
“I went from being a little bit of a snot, frankly, somebody who just wanted to complain … to like, ‘now you’re an officer,’” Flanary told the Labor Press.
Nine years after getting involved with Local 189, Flanary is running for Portland City Council.
“I want regular working people to have a voice on council,” Flanary said. “I want to make sure that we’ve got a priority put on working Portlanders, and not just large corporations making enormous investments.”
Flanary grew up in South Carolina and moved to Oregon to work in an AmeriCorps program after dropping out of grad school. Having come of age identifying as a lesbian, Flanary found Oregon a more welcoming environment, and in 2019 began identifying as non-binary.
“I’m non-binary, and for me, that means I don’t identify either as a man or a woman, for the most part,” Flanary explained.
If elected, Flanary would bring some housing policy experience — years working on the Housing Bureau’s asset management team, analyzing compliance reports from affordable housing providers, plus later work on the development incentives team rolling out the city’s inclusionary zoning program.
While on the new 12-member City Council it will take a team effort to pass any ordinance, Flanary’s personal priority is promoting a living wage of $27 an hour. That’s the amount an MIT study says is needed to be able to live in Portland. Flanary wants that wage not just for all city employees, but for city contractors’ employees, and even employees of businesses that get city subsidies. Another priority would be using Portland Clean Energy Fund to put up small-scale solar and wind generation on city-owned rooftops, maybe even Fred Meyer parking lots. Flanary also would like to see city council members set up offices in the new districts where constituents could come and access city services.
To get ready to run for public office, Flanary went through the Oregon Labor Candidates School in 2023, and thinks other union members should give it a try.
“This is much like union work … You’re not just going to the meeting. You’re preparing for the meeting. You’re writing the materials. You’re doing all the calendaring and extrapolating what you need to do next.”
