November 14, 2003
Mayoral And Council Candidate Tidbits From Stern and Stanford
If it's Friday, it must be time to check in with the latest installment of Henry Stern's "City Matters" column. Item of choice this week relates to mayoral and council candidates:
Former Mayor Bud Clark will show his support for mayoral candidate Tom Potter by appearing at his ex-police chief's kickoff event Monday. Clark says Potter's grass-roots approach reminds him of his own campaign and that he's disgusted with the current council, most recently for what he calls failing to stand up for the Northwest District over parking garages. Clark also announced Thursday he's backing Nick Fish for Francesconi's open council seat. In the 2000 mayoral race, Clark backed then-college sophomore Jake Oken-Berg, who placed second to Katz. . . . This year's teenage candidate, 19-year-old council hopeful Alicia Salaz (she turns 20 on Nov. 29), says her realistic goals in challenging Commissioner Randy Leonard are up to 10 percent of the vote and also to energize the city's young voters. "Most of them aren't even aware how city government is organized," the Portland State University student says. . . . Software developer Jason Newell, who's been working the neighborhood and business associations circuit, announces his council campaign Thursday.
For what it's worth, Stern's column this week includes with some questions about how the possibility of Mayor Jim Francesconi plays into attempts by the City to buy PGE and a couple of items related to Commissioner Leonard.
Meanwhile, today's column from Phil Stanford has this:
Well, imagine that: A politician willing to take a stand against sending our water bills into outer space. ... "Time out," says City Council candidate Nick Fish -- speaking, of course, about the council's umpteen-million-dollar plan to cap the reservoirs. "What's wrong with going back and taking another look at it"? ... With polls showing 77 percent of the city in favor of just that, you'd think it was a political no-brainer, but apparently not. ... So tell me: How come the only people who seem to be in favor of it are the ve members of the City Council, the water bureau, and a consulting rm that stands to make millions on the deal?
Most of the rest of it is the usual useless lifestyles stuff.
Comments (2)
Dave Lister on 15 Nov 2003
I attended a meeting Thursday evening at the St. Johns community center. The intent of the meeting was to openly discuss the City's Lombard improvement plan. Activists claim this plan was pretty much kept secret from the 40,000 North Peninsula residents affected until after the period of public comment was closed.
All the sitting council members and Mayor Katz were invited. None attended. It was expected that many of the office hopefuls would attend. As it was there was only one.
Former Chief Tom Potter.
The One True b!X on 15 Nov 2003
There's a growing buzz around Potter being the potential "neighborhood" candidate. I'll have more about the politics of neighborhood involvement soon, as I pull together my notes and thoughts from today's 4th annual neighborhood summit.