Frequently Asked

Who is Karim Delgado?

Karim is a Hillsboro resident, bar owner, Marine veteran, former teacher, and candidate for Hillsboro City Council. He enlisted in the Marine Corps at seventeen in the wake of 9/11, served disaster relief operations across Southeast Asia, then was embedded with special forces in Afghanistan, watching the war from the vantage of special operations missions helping stand up the Afghan government and local police force, and came home carrying what anyone carries after seeing that. He used the GI Bill to start over at community college, transferred to Columbia University, graduated with a degree in philosophy, then joined Teach For America and taught in Title I schools in San Antonio. He and his wife Kiley own and operate The 649 Bar in Aloha, where they put their values into practice every day. He is running because the distance between what this government promises and what it delivers is something he has spent his entire life inside, and he is done watching it from the outside.

What is your military background?

Karim served in the Marine Corps and deployed to Afghanistan. His time in service, and what he saw there, shaped his politics. The military showed him what government can do when it decides to: housing, healthcare, a path to education, a path to homeownership. He has never understood why those things should only exist for people in uniform.

What is your background in education?

Karim dropped out of high school before joining the Marine Corps. After his service, he used the Post-9/11 GI Bill to start over at community college, then transferred and graduated from Columbia University with a degree in philosophy and a focus in ethics.

After graduating, he joined Teach For America, which placed him in San Antonio, Texas. He taught a remedial English summer program for tenth graders and a 5th grade self-contained class of 38 students during the school year, in Title I schools with large immigrant populations, the highest concentrations of students in poverty. He saw firsthand what it looks like when underfunded schools fail kids who can't afford to be failed.

That experience is inseparable from his politics on housing, taxes, and wages. You can't fund the schools when you've given away the tax base that pays for them.

What is The 649?

The 649 is a bar in Aloha that Karim and his wife Kiley own and operate. It's built to run on their values: a guaranteed living wage, 80% of health and dental premiums covered, paid time off, a 5% retirement match, and benefits from day one. During the pandemic, they ran a free weekly soup program out of the bar for neighbors without housing, covered by KPTV Fox 12. The program is still running. There's also a free community fridge and pantry at their home, stocked in partnership with local organizations and churches.

Why are you running for City Council?

Because the distance between what our institutions promise and what they actually deliver for working people is where Karim has spent his entire life, and he is tired of watching them screw it up from the outside. He has seen what government looks like when it fails: in Afghanistan, in Title I schools, in the faces of people living on the streets of Hillsboro, and in the families stretching every dollar just to keep food on the table for their kids. He wants to be the person inside the institution who fights to close that gap.

What ward are you running in, and who can vote for you?

Karim lives in Ward 2 and is running for the Ward 2 seat being vacated by Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair, who has endorsed him and is running for Washington County Commissioner. Every registered voter in the City of Hillsboro votes on every city council race, regardless of ward. The ward designation is a residency requirement, not a voting boundary. That means this isn't just a Ward 2 race. It is a Hillsboro race.

What is Democratic Socialism?

Karim's democratic socialism isn't academic. He learned it in the Marine Corps.

The military gave him, and every other Marine, sustenance, housing, and work that accorded with their skills and talents. It offered a path to education through the GI Bill. It put homeownership within reach through the VA loan. It provided healthcare through base facilities and the VA. The government, when it decides to, can give people a fighting chance to reach their potential rather than having them spend every day just figuring out how they'll survive the next one.

That is all democratic socialism is: the belief that a government capable of doing this for its military can and should do it for everyone. A foundation, not a handout. The same foundation that gave Karim the platform to build everything else he has built.

You call yourself a pragmatist. What does that mean?

It means the goal is to actually help people. Karim is willing to work with anyone, across party lines and across community differences, if the outcome is better for the people of Hillsboro. He is interested in what works: better schools, safer streets, livable wages, accountable government. Those aren't left or right ideas. They're just what people need.

Are you too far left for Hillsboro?

Karim is a democratic socialist and doesn't hide it. But his politics aren't about ideology for its own sake. They're about outcomes. Living wages. Funded schools. Housing people can afford. A government that holds corporations to the same standard it holds individuals. Those aren't radical positions. They're what a functional city owes its residents. The question isn't whether Karim's politics are too far left. It's whether the current council has been delivering for working people. The record is in the budget.

Are you a Democrat?

Karim identifies as a democratic socialist. He will work with anyone, Democrat, Republican, or independent, if the outcome benefits working people in Hillsboro. He is not interested in party loyalty for its own sake. He is interested in results.

Isn't socialism the same as communism?

No. The major historical examples of socialism failing were not democratic. They were revolutionary and ultimately despotic. Democratic socialism, like what exists in many of the most successful and happiest countries in the world, operates through elections, democratic institutions, and free markets with strong public investment and worker protections. It's closer to how the Marine Corps operates, pooled resources, shared mission, everyone's needs met, than to the Soviet Union. Karim learned his politics not from a textbook but from the most functional institution the US government has ever run.

What will you do about housing costs and displacement?

Push for mandatory notice before rent increases, right to counsel in eviction proceedings, and anti-displacement protections in areas under development pressure. Require affordable housing contributions from any development receiving public subsidy. Stop approving tax deals that exempt billions in assessed value without community benefit requirements that include housing. The city has these tools. It has chosen not to use them.

What is the city actually doing about housing right now?

The city's entire affordable housing investment in its current two-year budget is one project: the Willow Creek site, delivering a minimum of 110 units with construction starting in early 2027. That's it. Hillsboro's first year-round homeless shelter is finally opening on 17th Avenue, four years after the city bought the land. There is no mandatory notice requirement before rent increases. No right to counsel in eviction proceedings. No anti-displacement fund. The city's housing strategy is to slowly build units through bond programs and shelter people who've already lost everything. 110 units starting in 2027 is not a housing policy. It is an acknowledgment that the city has run out of room to pretend the problem isn't there.

Are rent control and tenant protections even legal in Oregon?

Oregon has a statewide rent stabilization law that caps annual rent increases at 7% plus CPI for buildings over 15 years old and requires 90 days notice for increases over 10%. Those are a floor, not a ceiling. Karim's platform calls for going further at the local level: mandatory notice before any rent increase, right to counsel in eviction court, and anti-displacement protections. These are legally permissible and within the city council's authority to pursue.

What is your position on corporate tax deals?

Hillsboro has a long pattern of trading away its tax base through the Strategic Investment Program, enterprise zones, and other exemptions, with few binding requirements in return. Intel has shielded over $4 billion in assessed value from property taxes since 2005. Data centers rushed through just ahead of a state moratorium now shield billions more. Genentech has its own SIP agreement. The pattern is consistent: corporations collect the exemptions; residents absorb the cost in underfunded schools, roads, and services.

Karim is not opposed to economic development. He is opposed to economic development that extracts public value without returning it. When he negotiates future agreements, community benefit, including real jobs at real wages, environmental accountability, and public disclosure, will be a non-negotiable condition. Not a nice-to-have. A condition. The full picture is in the budget analysis.

How do data centers affect my utility bills?

The city subsidizes data centers with your tax dollars. Those data centers drive up electricity demand. PGE's costs go up. PGE passes those costs to ratepayers through rate increases. Your electric bill goes up. PGE also pays the city a franchise fee, a percentage of its gross revenue in Hillsboro, which goes up as data center electricity usage goes up. So the city collects more revenue off your higher bill. You paid the city for the privilege of paying more to the city. The city's own budget confirms franchise fees are up 32% this biennium, driven significantly by data center electricity usage. This isn't conspiracy. It's in the adopted budget document.

Why should corporations have to pay more if they're creating jobs?

Karim is not anti-business. He runs a business. The argument isn't that corporations shouldn't be here. It's that the public should get something real in return for public subsidies. Intel has operated under a tax abatement in this city for 20 years while the Hillsboro School District faces a $20 million shortfall. The city now transfers Intel fee money into its general operating budget just to keep the lights on. That's not economic development. That's dependency. Require living wages, environmental accountability, and real community investment as conditions of every deal, and you still have economic development. You just have development that doesn't leave residents holding the bill.

Do you support defunding the police?

No. Karim supports funding both effective law enforcement and the community services that prevent people from ever needing a cop in the first place. The city is spending $70 million in bond proceeds on a new police headquarters. The mobile crisis team, which routes mental health calls to trained counselors instead of armed officers, gets a fraction of that. A real public safety strategy funds both, honestly, and is transparent about which kinds of calls need which kind of response.

What's the deal with the new police headquarters?

The city is building an $80 to $90 million police headquarters on NE 25th Avenue, funded almost entirely by bonds the city will pay interest on for decades. The stated justification in the city's own budget is two sentences: it will consolidate the east and west precincts. That's it. No condition assessment of the current facilities. No detailed public justification. Compare that to the homeless shelter: four years to build, $17 million cobbled together from five different funding sources including pandemic relief money. The city's priorities are visible in those two numbers.

What will you do differently on public safety?

Fund the Mental Health Response Team as a standalone program, not a line buried inside the police department budget. Trained counselors responding to mental health calls without a badge in the room isn't defunding anything. It's deploying the right tool for the job. Be honest and transparent about what kinds of calls go to which responders. Push for community safety investments that prevent crises rather than only responding to them. Karim already does this personally. He walks with unhoused residents, de-escalates mental health situations, and doesn't wait for it to be someone else's job.

What will you do on environmental accountability?

Hold industrial polluters accountable to the same standard the city holds individual residents. Oregon's vehicle emissions testing program requires working people to spend hundreds of dollars fixing their cars or lose their registration. Intel got cited by Oregon DEQ for a 110% increase in greenhouse gas emissions and for failing to monitor unsafe emissions. The city's financial relationship with Intel gives it no incentive to push back. Karim will push for environmental compliance conditions in every SIP and enterprise zone agreement going forward. Not recommendations. Conditions.

What about transit and transportation?

Cleaner air and shorter commutes aren't talking points. They're quality of life issues that hit working families hardest. Public transit in Hillsboro is inadequate and the city's response in its current budget is advocacy, pushing other agencies to make changes, rather than direct investment. Transportation utility fees went up 11 to 17% for residents this biennium. Sidewalk and bike and pedestrian plans are listed as goals with no attached funding. Karim will push for real investment in transit and active transportation infrastructure, not just goals on paper.

What will you do for workers and wages?

Make living wages and benefits a condition of every public subsidy, permit, and enterprise zone deal the council approves. Right now, Hillsboro has no wage floor attached to any of its corporate tax agreements. Corporations can collect billions in exemptions while paying poverty wages. Karim runs his own business as proof this isn't complicated: living wage, 80% of health and dental premiums covered, paid time off, retirement match, benefits from day one.

Are you pro-union?

Yes. Karim believes workers have the right to organize and bargain collectively. He also believes unions are too often the last resort of employees who aren't being heard, and that a good employer shouldn't need one forced on them. He runs The 649 to the standard he'd want unions demanding: a real living wage, real benefits, real retirement contributions, worker input on how the business runs, and transparency on the bar's investments and his own pay. He would encourage his team to unionize if they ever felt he wasn't being transparent or equitable in how the bar's profits are shared with the people who build them. He would also see that as a personal failing. The question he asks of every public subsidy is whether the company receiving it treats its workers well enough that they'd never feel the need.

What is your position on immigration?

Every person in this community deserves to be treated with dignity, regardless of status. Karim has seen what it looks like when that breaks down, personally. He supports due process for all residents and will push to ensure local resources are not used to facilitate federal immigration enforcement against community members who have broken no local laws. This isn't a political position. It's the minimum a functioning community owes its people.

City council members have limited but real tools for protecting immigrant residents. Karim will push for a formal policy limiting city resources used for federal civil immigration enforcement, a legal defense fund for residents facing deportation proceedings, and a guarantee that all city services, from housing assistance to public safety response, are accessible regardless of immigration status.

People sometimes say: if you care so much about immigrants, let them live in your house. Karim did. Twice. An Afghan interpreter and his family who worked alongside US forces during the war. A family fleeing violence in Kenya. That's not a talking point. That's a guest room.

Washington County has a significant and growing immigrant and refugee population employed in the agricultural and industrial sectors that Hillsboro's economic development strategy is built around. They are the workforce the city courts corporations to employ. The city's budget depends on what they produce. They deserve a government that takes their security as seriously as it takes the tax base they help generate.

What happened with the ICE van incident?

Federal immigration agents came to Karim's Hillsboro neighborhood in vehicles without clear markings, falsely identifying themselves as Hillsboro PD when neighbors asked. Karim and his wife Kiley blocked the van with their truck and their car. Karim walked straight up to the window and pressed the agents until they showed their real badges. Neighbors flooded the street. The agents left. One van mounted a curb to get away.

This is federal overreach, plain and simple. The 5th and 14th Amendments guarantee due process to every person on US soil. Not every citizen. Every person. That is not a political opinion; it is a constitutional right. No one should be seized without that process, and no local community should be a staging ground for an administration that doesn't care about it.

The incident was covered by KOIN 6, KPTV, and KGW. Video is on the Press page.

Did you sponsor Afghan refugees?

Yes. After the US withdrew from Afghanistan, Karim and Kiley sponsored a family of Afghan refugees: an interpreter who had worked alongside US forces during the war, whose cooperation had put his family's lives in danger. They opened their home, helped the family navigate permanent housing and work, walked them through the neighborhood and the country's laws and customs, and broke bread together. That family found their footing. They are part of this community now. Karim and Kiley have also opened their home to a family fleeing violence and political upheaval in Kenya. He had watched the government abandon the people who trusted it. When the burden fell to him, he was unwilling to become another person who broke those promises.

What will you do for schools and youth?

Fight for fully funded schools from pre-K through community college: reasonable class sizes, on-site counselors, and a rule that if you profit from our workforce, you pay back into the schools that built it. The Hillsboro School District faces a $20 million shortfall this year while corporations lock in multi-decade tax exemptions on billions in property value. Intel has operated under a tax abatement here for 20 years. Those two facts are not unrelated. The city council can't directly fix school funding, that's a state policy question, but it can refuse to extend or approve new abatement agreements that starve the tax base, and it can fight at the state level for funding formulas that don't let corporate incentive deals undercut public schools.

Does your campaign take corporate PAC money?

No. This campaign is funded by individuals: neighbors, community members, and people who believe Hillsboro deserves a representative who can't be bought. If you want to help, you can contribute at any amount. The average contribution matters more than the largest one.

Who endorses you?

Karim is endorsed by Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair, who is vacating the seat he's running for as she runs for Washington County Commissioner. He is backed by neighbors, community members, and people who have watched him do the work before there was a campaign. The full endorser list is on the People page.

How can I get involved?

Show up. Knock doors. Put up a yard sign. Talk to your neighbors. This campaign wins through people power, the same way every campaign worth winning does. Sign up to volunteer or contribute what you can.

Why should I trust that you won't change once you're elected?

Karim joined the Marine Corps in 2003. He served in Teach For America in 2014. He hosted Afghan refugees in 2021. The 649's soup program has been running for six years, and the free community fridge has been there for just as long. He and Kiley blocked an ICE van before anyone was filming for a campaign ad. None of it was done in service of a campaign, because there wasn't one. This is the first time he has ever run for office or sought any role inside the political process.

Everything he has done is consistent with how he will work as an elected official. If he could keep doing this work without being in office, he absolutely would. He has. The record is not something assembled for a campaign. It's just his life.