Earlier this season, Portland Metro Chamber Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Jon Isaacs sat across from Mike and made his case: the DSA is bad for Portland, bad for business, and bad for the social programs progressives claim to care about. It was the most downloaded episode in Schmidt Show history.
This is the rebuttal.
City Councilor Angelita Morillo — First term District 3 representative and proud DSA member, comes into studio to respond. She doesn’t just push back on the argument. She makes her case, point by point, with data, personal experience, and insight into the day to day of actually doing the work.
This is our Season 2 finale. And if you’ve been with us from the beginning, thank you. More on that below.
About Councilor Morillo
Angelita Morillo represents District 3 on the Portland City Council. Born in Paraguay, she came to the U.S. at age four, moved to Portland in seventh grade after her mom Googled “what’s the rainiest state,” graduated from Lincoln High School, and earned her degree from PSU. Before running for office, she worked in Commissioner Hardesty’s office doing constituent services and tribal liaison work — which is where she first saw how disconnected people were from the systems meant to serve them. She built the PNW Policy Angel platform on TikTok and Instagram to close that gap. She joined the DSA after taking office. On purpose. In public.
In her first term, she passed Portland’s first ban on rent-setting algorithms, expanded Portland Street Response as a co-equal first responder, passed the city’s first-of-its-kind fee on ICE detention facilities, is a fierce proponent of social housing, and co-authored the city’s data and privacy ordinance. She’s running for re-election in November.
What We Cover
How Portland’s affordability crisis tracks directly with the homelessness crisis — and why the “back to basics” conversation has to start there
The origin of the PNW Policy Angel account and why she built it
Democratic socialism: movement, moment, or both?
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, “sewer socialism,” and why Jon Isaacs calling him “just a good politician” doesn’t hold up
The tax flight myth — and why the data from Multnomah County, and 45 million national tax records tells a different story
Mike’s parallel story: Jordan Schnitzer at the Arlington Club, a bowl of soup, and the demand that he hire auditors off a handpicked list
Why the Metro Chamber isn’t actually pro-free-market
The social housing fund fight during the budget cycle — an attempted Albina district compromise that could have made everyone a winner, and why it failed
Charter reform, the “mod squad,” and the case that what looks like dysfunction is actually democracy working more transparently than it ever has
What it means to carry your passport as a naturalized citizen right now — and why she’s not going anywhere
Her re-election campaign and how Portland’s small donor match system works
Season 2 Milestones
One year. Two seasons. 25 episodes. Over 100 Substack subscribers in the last five months. Our first episode to crack 1,000 downloads. None of that happens without you. Thank you for making this show worth making.
Season 3 is coming. We’ll be up on video! Guests and topics are already being lined up. Stay subscribed — announcements are on the way.
If you have ideas for guests or shows in season 3 - send them our way. Some of our best shows have come from your ideas!
Support Councilor Morillo’s Re-Election
Morillo is running for re-election in District 3 this November. Portland’s small donor elections program matches the first $25 of any donation 10-to-1. Regular people, competing with big money. That’s the point.
👉 Angelita For PDX Campaign Link
Follow Councilor Morillo on Instagram and Tik Tok
📱 @PNWPolicyAngel / @CouncilorAngelitaMorillo
