District 3 candidate · Portland City Council · November 3, 2026
Heart Free Pham
Campus safety officer; former teacher
Lists his current work as a Willamette University campus safety officer and previous work as a teacher in his 2026 filing.
Reach the campaign
As published in their City filing.
In their words
Said: There is no candidate in this race whose roots in the Rose City go deeper than mine.
Campaign site
Candidate statement · Current campaign website; extracted September 20, 2026
Pham · About Me ↗Verbatim opening of the campaign site's About page, read from the rendered page. No pamphlet statement, and the candidate's City filing contains no statement text.
No pamphlet statement was published; this is the verbatim opening of their campaign site’s About page.
What they say they would do
Our summary of their platform, in our wordsCombines treatment and civil-commitment reform with consequences for refusing available services. Calls for measuring program results and assessing fiscal risks before raising taxes, and promotes hemp-based housing construction.
- Oppose criminalizing homelessness itself while supporting consequences for refusal of available services and wellness farms with job training.
- Require public outcome measures and cost-benefit accounting before expanding programs or taxes.
- Promote hempblock construction and respond to property crime affecting small businesses.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their wordsHe opposes criminalizing homelessness itself but supports consequences for refusing available services. The distinction turns on what those consequences are, whether suitable care exists and who can lawfully require it. His housing-cost and fiscal claims still need independent verification.
Where they stand
Rent and homes
Hemp-block construction- What
- Said: Promotes hempblock construction as a way to reduce building and energy costs. His numerical savings and claims about engineering requirements are campaign assertions, not validated findings here.
- How
- Not in their sources
- Measured by
- Said: Says the payoff would be homes built up to 80 percent faster than stick framing and heating and cooling costs up to 70 percent lower.
Camps, crime and who responds
Treatment and consequences- What
- Said: Supports civil-commitment reform, wellness farms with job training and consequences for refusing available services, while opposing criminalization of homelessness itself.
- How
- Said: Would modernize civil commitment, create wellness farms with job training, attach consequences to refusing available services, and build treatment capacity before removing accountability.
- Measured by
- Said: Would require pre-committed public metrics for any new homelessness policy; cites the county’s unsheltered count, nearly 9,000 and rising, as evidence the current strategy is failing.
Your bills and taxes
Cost-benefit before taxes- What
- Said: Would examine the tax base and migration risks and require cost-benefit accounting before new taxes or spending. His causal and numerical claims are not independently established here.
- How
- Said: Would require cost-benefit accounting before any tax increase or program expansion.
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
Streets, buses and air
Not foundNot found in the sources we reviewed. That is a research gap, not a position.
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 8 questions. Heart Free Pham is on record on 2, with 6 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could findPublic money and terms for renovating the Moda Center?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep funding camp removals at current levels?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Restrict new AI data centers in the city?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Expand Portland Street Response to a full 24/7 role?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep the monthly street repair fee?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Raise water bills to pay for the Bull Run filtration plant and system repairs?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Raise new revenue, or hold the line on taxes and fees?
Said: Would demand honest cost-benefit accounting before raising taxes or expanding programs, citing outmigration of high earners.
Hire more sworn officers, or invest first elsewhere?
Said: Told the 2024 OPB/Oregonian questionnaire he supports hiring more police with stipulations: a cultural change, including no longer disqualifying applicants for past marijuana use.
Council votes
No Council vote yet. That is not a judgment about experience.
Earlier statements
Said: In his 2024 OPB/Oregonian questionnaire, Pham opposed using $25 million in PCEF funds for electric city vehicles and advocated ending the Small Donor Elections program. These are historical, self-reported positions; this guide has not established whether he renews them in 2026.
Questionnaire
Candidate statement · October 7, 2024
Pham’s 2024 questionnaire · historical campaign answers ↗A question the evidence leaves open
What consequences would follow service refusal, who would determine that an appropriate service was available, and which government has authority to act?
Sources (7)
- Portland certified candidate registerElection authority · Checked September 18, 2026
- 2026 candidate filing · background on PDF page 4Candidate statement · August 17, 2026
- Pham · Homelessness and recoveryCandidate statement · Current campaign website reviewed September 18, 2026Read from the rendered issue page. Policy commitments are attributed; economic, crime and construction claims have not been independently established by this guide.
- Pham · Tax base and spendingCandidate statement · Current campaign website reviewed September 18, 2026Read from the rendered issue page. Policy commitments are attributed; economic, crime and construction claims have not been independently established by this guide.
- Pham · Housing constructionCandidate statement · Current campaign website reviewed September 18, 2026Read from the rendered issue page. Policy commitments are attributed; economic, crime and construction claims have not been independently established by this guide.
- Pham · Public safetyCandidate statement · Current campaign website reviewed September 18, 2026Read from the rendered issue page. Policy commitments are attributed; economic, crime and construction claims have not been independently established by this guide.
- Pham’s 2024 questionnaire · historical campaign answersCandidate statement · October 7, 2024