March 13, 2004

Oh Yeah, There Are Elections Going On, Too

Using The Weekend To Remember The Other News

We don't need to point out that we've been rather same-sex heavy here lately, occassionally remembering to wedge in the odd item or two about, say, urban renewal areas or the transit mall.

Of course, we're also in the midst of primary campaign season (with candidates coming out of the woodwork) and so we're past due for a tour through the news on that arena.

First, checking in with the candidates running in the neighborhood insurgency against Commissioner Randy Leonard, here's what Frank Dixon (who recently has been spending most of his time volunteering for Basic Rights Oregon) had to say about his candidacy:

I am running to restore the citizen voice at City Hall. I am in favor of forming a Charter Commission to find real ways to improve Portland's government so that we can effectively compete for jobs and support quality public education. I am in favor of City campaign finance reform so that the special interests can not control the political process to the exclusion of the citizens of Portland. I believe that livability is the economic backbone of Portland's economy and that to succeed in the 21st Century Portland must sustain and improve our quality of life within the urban growth boundary.

Fellow insurgency candidate Mark Lloyd Lakeman had this statement about the campaign:

I am running for Portland City Council in order to see that position number four is occupied only after a vigorous civic dialogue. I am not filing for this position in order to run against anyone, but rather to promote and advocate what I am running for. While it is true that what much of what I will be standing for is presently threatened by the actions of the current occupant of this council position, and I intend to engage Randy Leonard especially in regard to his actions that have disrespected our Portland ethic of civic involvement, I will instead focus on a broader, proactive agenda. This agenda will consist of more than defending and extending citizen participation to it?s fullest extent, and it will include an urge to creatively reinvent ways that we do things in the city.

And long-time neighborhood activist Bonny McKnight, also participating in the landmark political campaign strategy provided this:

I am a candidate for City Council position #4, currently held by Randy Leonard because: I will not practice closed government decision making; I will not assume the right answers to City problems can be found without public participation; I will not limit the public voice nor fail to respect its views; I will not publicly demean involved citizens of our neighborhoods; I will not use personal attacks to threaten or abuse people who have different viewpoints; I will not abuse my bureau oversight responsibilities by forcing it to do my agenda; I will not ignore public advice when setting public policy priorities; I will not threaten, accuse, nor demean City employees in public; I will not limit the involvement of people in government nor give special access to public resources to a small circle of campaign supporters; I will not ignore the property investments of neighborhood residents by undermining zoning designations or development rules before they are changed through a legal public process; I will not abuse hiring procedures for public employees to impose my own choices; I will not carelessly spend public funds for any personal agenda; I will not forget that the goverment always belongs to the people.

And before we leave the neighborhood insurgency behind for this item, we have a statement from Scott Stephens:

I fully support the neighborhood association structure that has been created, and as Commissioner I would work to reinforce the partnership between the City and its neighborhoods by: Visiting every neighborhood association and business association to share views and outline City actions and intentions; Encouraging creation of community centers in every neighborhood in some form, and providing support for existing centers to ensure they stay in place as a community resource; Reestablishing the neighborhood plan process, as well as securing funding for implementing and updating existing neighborhood plans; Encouraging existing and new businesses to become good neighbors by working with neighborhood associations to create good neighbor agreements, and using those agreements as a means to waive or speed up the permitting and licensing process for those businesses. I will also support implementation and funding of the recommendations of the Public Involvement Task Force.

Over in the Mayoral campaign, candidate Phil Busse offers a "quick footnote" to the race in the wake of the final count of twenty-three candidates filing to run before the deadline:

Of the registered candidates, we were the ONLY candidate to enter the race by collecting signatures. Ain't that keepin' it true? Sure the filing cost is only equal to about 12-13 burritos, but we wanted to keep the entire campaign at a grassroots level.

Meanwhile, the Busse campaign recently put out a call to have coffee with the candidate this Sunday at Heaven, an Internet cafe in downtown Portland. Trouble is, Heaven attempted to move from its old location and then reportedly vanished altogether (we won't go into the scuttlebutt as to why). Less than twelve hours later, the Busse camp sent out another invitation switching to a new location.

In yesterday's Portland Tribune, the "color commentary" panel, including your humble (?) editor, weighed in on the question, "What do you think should be the key issue that candidates discuss during the upcoming campaign for Portland mayor?"

Meanwhile, in yesterday's "City Matters" column in The Oregonian (which OregonLive appears to have swallowed whole, since it was online yesterday but is missing today which finally came back online Saturday night), Henry Stern gets the award for being the first reporter not writing for PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE to notice, and mention, that John Belgarde -- the man behind the recall petitions aimed at County Chair Diane Linn and Commissioner Lisa Naito, and who currently heads the Christian Coalition of Oregon -- is the man behind last year's failed right-wing recall attempt against Mayor Vera Katz.

Stern reports that Belgarde learned some lessons from that failure. "Strike fast, strike hard," Belgarde told Stern. "Last time, we spent too much time planning instead of striking when passions were high."

Well, not to much time planning, we would imagine. Otherwise Belgarde would not have made so many mistakes that two entirely different complaints could be filed against him. Ironic, isn't it, that someone who disrespected proper process last year is now pushing recalls against politicians for not respecting proper process?

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