Metro Council President Juan Carlos Gonzalez says agency must evolve to meet modern challenges

For more than four decades, Metro has played a key role in how the Portland metro area grows and plans for the future. It’s the only directly elected regional government in the country, and its work crosses city and county lines. Back in June, Metro Council President Juan Carlos Gonzalez told KGW’s Blair Best he wanted to get the region back on track, and a few months later, he was a guest on this week’s episode of Straight Talk to check in on how it’s going. Gonzalez was first elected in 2018, becoming the first Latino and youngest person to serve on the Metro Council. This past May, voters elected him council president, and less than a month later, he was appointed to fill out the remainder of the former president's term.