February 27, 2004
Your Weekly Tour Of Local Campaign Items
Sten On Mayor's Race, Media On Adams, Fish, Leonard, And Us On Linking
Today's Portland Tribune checks in with the top two contenders for the Council seat being vacated by Commissioner Jim Francesconi -- Sam Adams and Nick Fish:
Fish and Adams may not yet be household names and voters may be weeks or months away from paying attention. But the two already are scrambling for political footholds in what's become a fervent, sometimes raw campaign.
The Tribune reports that Adams picked up the endorsement of the African American Alliance (on a close vote), and also won the vote of the "[j]uniors and seniors in Matt Sten's two natural resources and public policy classes at Madison High School." It also notes similarities and differences between the two candidates, and examines their respective campaign stances regarding Mayor Vera Katz.
Also in the Tribune is a profile of Adams.
Meanwhile, today's "City Matters" column by Henry Stern in The Oregonian reports that Commissioner Erik Sten will be meeting next week with Mayoral candidate Tom Potter as he tries to determine his position on the Mayor's race.
Stern also reports on a "long-awaited citizen activist revolt" against Randy Leonard (since this is a campaign item, we've linked to his campaign website) which apparently is geared toward keeping Leonard from capturing the 50% of the May vote needed to avoid a run-off in November.
Also meanwhile, Potter weighs in on Dignity Village (he was spotted at Thursday's hearing before City Council hugging Village co-chair Jack Tafari).
And readers are commenting on Mayoral candidate Phil Busse's recent appearance before the Personal Telco Project to discuss wireless Internet access in Portland. For what it's worth, "City Matters" reports that in a Mayoral new vote of Mark Sten's students after getting to hear from Busse, the candidate won.
(Note to other candidates: Start posting more regular material to your campaign websites, and you'll likely receive greater linkage from our coverage here. Without fresh content, there's little reason to provide the links except in passing.)
Comments (1)
Gary Marschke on 27 Feb 2004
I for one can't imagine a more committed and fervent public servant than Randy Leonard. Agree with him or not, the man brings a passion that has been missing from local politics for way too long. His willingness to tackle the tough topics often without the incessant political correctness that seems to be today's mantra certainly makes him a convenient and ready target but also makes him refreshing. Some would call him a loose cannon, most would call him colorful, a few would call him things that can't be printed here, but NOBODY would call him dull. All that, along with more hits than misses in my book, earns him my vote.