Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio has overseen some of the thorniest issues the city has — like how to speed up housing development. But in her off-hours she has different interests.
To learn more about who the next mayor might be, the City Cast Portland podcast has been asking the leading candidates, including Rubio, both policy-heavy and get-to-know-you questions:
I've heard rumors that you play a kind of video game that is akin to Dungeons and Dragons. Please tell me everything about your gaming character.
“So, it is true. I'm deep, deep, deep into ‘Baldur's Gate 3’ right now. My main character is a high elf named Sabine, and she is a sorceress. She has a lot of psychic power, and she can read people's minds, and she can also throw awesome thunderbolts and manipulate the elements sometimes and cool stuff like that.”
What’s the thing you miss most when you leave Portland for work or vacation?
“I miss the air. I miss the clean air. I know clean air is a whole other story, but like, it's just a brisk freshness that I feel. And maybe it's in my mind. But I don't think so.
“I love the Portland airport when we land, and it feels breezy and green, just like our values.
“I love that we have trees and we're so close to water. I even love the rain, and I think that's what makes me feel grounded here and at home: being really close enough to touch the water and the earth together.
“And so for me, all those sensory things together make me feel like that's home.”
For more on her reasons for wanting to be mayor, check out the City Cast Portland podcast interview with Rubio.
