December 02, 2003
A Mayoral Campaign Endorsement (But Not For Mayor)
"The second smartest thing I ever did was move to Portland," said Jim Francesconi today in a speech to the Rotary Club of Portland. "I have been able to do things here that I may not have done anywhere else: own my own business, raise a family, and contribute to my community."
In an echo of the just-introduced Brand Oregon campaign, he added, "Where else in America can one person make a difference like you can in Portland?"
After running through the list of groups and initiatives he helped to create in Portland -- the Youth Empowerment Coalition, the Schools Uniting Neighborhoods program, the Small Business Council, the parks levy, the urban renewal district in Lents -- Mayoral-candidate Francesconi outlined his views on where Portland stands now, and where it should head next.
"We have so much going for us in this city," Francesconi said. "Some of the best urban schools in the country; our land use and transportation systems are the envy of the nation."
We also have a vital central city and great neighborhoods and business districts. An environmental ethic that protects our land, our air and our water. And Portland is exploding with creativity in the arts.
But in the last three years alone the Portland metropolitan area has lost 58,000 jobs. The "City that Works" is losing working families at a staggering rate. The hemorrhaging of businesses, jobs, and tax dollars from the city has got to stop.
If not, we face a future of abandoned parks and schools, empty central city and neighborhood commercial space, and declining property values. Right now, our safety net is not just frayed around the edges, it's torn apart. We are seeing more mentally ill on the streets, more hunger, and more homelessness.
It is time to get Portland moving again -- not just the Pearl District, but all of Portland. There is an unfinished agenda in this city. We are settling for too little. Portland is better than that. This is a great city and we are its stewards. We must work together to make sure we pass it on to the next generation even better than we found it.
What continues to be curious to me about Francesconi is that, while the use of phrases such as "unfinished agenda" and "settling for too little" sound like the preface to a sense of vision for the City, they invariably lead into a description of his "back to basics" message. And I remain unconvinced that he's successfully blending these elements.
"Family wage jobs. First class schools. Strong neighborhoods," Francesconi stated. "These must be our city’s priorities."
Don't get me wrong. I am open to the possibility that a focus on "the basics" may very well be what Portland needs in the here and now. But I am unconvinced that it would be properly Portland to focus on basics without also elaborating on a wider vision for later. In fact, I'm concerned that the way in which we approach a "back to basics" cannot help but inform and in some ways determine just what sort of vision we can pursue down the road.
I am still today entirely uncertain whether Francesconi has such a vision for a longer-term Portland agenda.
"The truth is, we need business to invest in Portland," said Francesconi, outlining the first of this three priorities. "There can be no progress without prosperity. Government cannot protect our citizens, educate our children, or protect our environment without the new wealth and new revenue generated by the private sector."
Saying that the City must "help create and expand a vibrant local and regional economy," Francesconi argued that small businesses "deserve star treatment," family-wage manufacturing jobs must be kept in Portland, and the City must "harness the power of the job creation engines" of its research-based universities.
"Education is critical to everything we are trying to accomplish," Francesconi said, moving to his second priority. "Creating jobs, reducing crime, strengthening our neighborhoods, reducing poverty."
Francesconi called for schools, community colleges and universities to be partners in " an ongoing effort to improve public education for all our children, increase efficiencies and accountability and to finally achieve stable, long-term funding."
"We must also work with our principals and teachers, the school boards, parents and our other partners to help close the achievement gap and lower the dropout rate."
Continuing to his third priority, Francesconi said, "There is no provision in the City Charter for first and second-class neighborhoods." He caled for a reinvestment in community policing under Chief Derrick Foxworth (which sounded to me as if Francesconi, like Tom Potter, would seek to keep Foxworth at the head of the Portland Police Bureau), maintaining roads, easing traffic congestion, keeping parks attractive to families, and permanently ending gang violence. There was no mention of the tensions regarding the City's neighborhood involvement processes, despite its certain visibility in the campaigns for Mayor and City Council.
"City government must be about setting priorities, finding solutions, and sticking to them," Francesconi said. "That means getting back to basics. We are public servants. We need to remember who pays the bills, and treat taxpayers as valued customers."
Tight budgets mean no more business as usual. We must have a city strategic plan that drives the budget. We don’t have a strategic plan. We should also conduct performance audits, create quality improvement teams and establish performance measurements in every bureau. And managers’ salaries must be tied to performance.
We must hold government accountable, set benchmarks and goals, and drive down costs. A program's worth must be provable and verifiable, based on hard numbers.
Saying that there is "more to the life of a great city" than the bottom line, Franesconi argued, "Prosperity is not an end in itself but an opportunity to build one Portland."
And that much is true, and that much is important to communicate. But, as I said above, I continue to be at a loss when it comes to trying to find any sense of just what Francesconi's larger vision for Portland might be, regardless of whether we can, in the here and now, plan for anything much beyond "the basics."
I don't doubt Francesconi's commitment to the City. I don't doubt the sincereity or the pride in remarks such as the following:
I love this city that has given so much to my family and me. I love hiking in Forest Park; outdoor concerts in the summer and the view from the Marquam Bridge. I love playing tennis with my children at Grant Park and walking with family and friends along the Explanade. I love our bookstores, pubs, art galleries and coffee shops. And I love the attitude that says we can solve our own problems. You can see it in the thousands of parents and concerned citizens who have said, “enough is enough” when it comes to de-funding education.
But in the end, I was left with the sense that while there indeed might be a place for Francesconi within the City's spheres of influence, he seems better suited in philosophy and temperment to be President of the Portland Business Alliance, rather than Mayor of the City of Portland.
For all of the complaints by some in the business circles about members of, and candidates for, City elected office not having experience running a business, this same group does not appear to be very vocally concerned that the head of the PBA is little more than a hired gun from outside Portland, with little innate understanding of what makes Portland uniquely Portland.
It is certainly necessary for Portland to not forget to address on "the basics," no matter how large or ambitious or unique our larger vision and sense of self as a City might be. But without a clear sense of that larger vision and sense of self -- without having communicated any real sense of what sets Portland apart as Portland -- I remain unconvinced that Francesconi is well-suited for the Mayor's office.
Consider this my first endorsement of the 2003 Mayoral race. While I don't believe Francesconi has vision enough to guide the City through the top office in City Hall, I do believe he has enough commitment to the City, and an understanding of the need to address "the basics" to have a place in City affairs.
So here it is: Jim Francesconi for President of the Portland Business Alliance.