THE 24-HOUR PROMISE!
Call, text, email, tap my shoulder at Trader Joe’s, yell to me on a run on the Boulevard — whatever your question, concern, or thought, I promise to respond to you as soon as I can and never later than 24 hours.
Here is my personal cell phone number:
207-939-0050
Climate Resilience
My family made a living on Portland's waterfront. I'm committed to sustainability and climate goals. I'll promote weatherization efforts for city-owned properties, efficiency upgrades, streamlined permitting processes, joint city and school sustainability planning, and alternative energy investments, like solar panels.
Affordability for All
We need compassionate policies and strong city services. We recognize that many residents are struggling to afford rent, utilities, taxes, and child care. I promise to cap the rate of property tax increases and to shift the tax burden away from residents so that this city can still be an affordable place to build a life, raise a family, and grow old. I am committed to all ideas that help residents stay and thrive in Portland.
Pedestrian & Traffic Safety
Pedestrian & Traffic Safety
Walkable, Bikeable District 4. I will work to calm traffic and improve pedestrian and bicycle safety so that our district is a place where we all can walk, ride, and play. I want every resident to get home safely. I want my 3-year old to be able to play safely in our neighborhood and will work to make sure the city enforces the speed limits.
Proud of Portland: Why I'm Running
I’m Jake Viola and I’m so proud of where I come from. My great-grandparents arrived as Italian immigrants on Newbury Street. They had ten kids. My grandfather, Kita, was number five. He dropped out of sixth grade during the Great Depression to go commercial fishing, saving every dollar to support his family. He fought in World War Two, married my grandmother, and eventually settled in South Portland.
My dad followed in his footsteps as a commercial fisherman. By the time I was born, Dad had moved on to the night shift at the Hannaford warehouse. He drove eighteen-wheelers and unloaded fish at the wharf as his second and third jobs. He still found time to go to college part-time, graduating at forty.
My mom spent thirty-five years at the South Portland Housing Authority. She helped those in need find housing. I remember going to the resident holiday dinners and attending every craft fair at Christmas time. Public service is still important to Mom. She is a bus aide for the South Portland School Department, helping students of all abilities get to school every day.
I went through South Portland public schools. I pushed to get students a seat on the school board, then served on it myself for two years. During the Great Recession when we were facing severe budget cuts, I successfully proposed saving a teaching position by finding thirty thousand dollars to cut elsewhere in the budget. I learned early that you don’t have to wait for permission to try to fix something.
From there, I went to Yale for college. During the summers, I created an ice cream boat business that I ran on Little Sebago Lake. Imagine an ice cream truck, but on the water and that was Jake on the Lake! I spent my first years out of school in Washington, D.C., working to show the effect of U.S. government programs around the world, like women’s shelters in Afghanistan.
Then I moved to Massachusetts, going to Harvard on a full scholarship for a master’s degree in public policy. I worked as the Director of Strategic Innovation for the Massachusetts Governor, collaborating with private sector and government stakeholders to implement paid family and medical leave, reforming how the state police operates, improving background record checks for early education and care providers, and chartering flights and securing PPE when supply chains were breaking down everywhere during COVID. After that, I oversaw digital and data services for the state, managing multi-million dollar capital and operating budgets.
A few years ago, I came home to Portland for good. And now I’ve got a three-year-old daughter of my own.
When I think about why I’m running for City Council, it’s her. It’s asking a simple question: what kind of Portland is she going to grow up in? Will it still be a place where a fisherman’s kid can make it? Will it still be affordable? Will it still work for regular people, the way it worked for my family?
This city gave my family everything, a place to land, to build a life, to raise a family. I’m running for City Council because I want to make sure it can still do that for every family in this city who’s counting on Portland to still be Portland.
