April 24, 2004
Help Us Decide Which Candidate Forum To Attend
Competing Events Scheduled For Wednesday Evening
Okay, the Gods of Portland Politics have conspired to schedule two competing election events for essentially the same time this coming Wednesday evening. So we invite readers to use the comments on this item to vote for which one we should hit.
First, barely, is the Pacific Green Party's candidates forum, scheduled from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Central Library. For our purposes, two segments of this event are relevant: From 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM, they hold a Commissioner No. 4 forum; and from 8:00 PM to 8:45 PM, they hold a Mayoral forum.
Second is the Southeast Uplift candidates forum, scheduled from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM at Portland Mennonite Church. This event includes candidates for Mayor and the Commissioner No. 1 position.
So we leave our scheduling for Wednesday evening in the hands of our readers. We will tally the results, as posted to the comments here, until the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday.
Comments (10)
brad taylor on 24 Apr 2004
Well, since I was only invited to speak at the Green Party forum, that is where I will be spending the bulk of my time (I will attend the candidates' reception with SE Uplift members first). As always, it would be great to see you there.--brad taylor
Jack Bog on 25 Apr 2004
At this point, Fish vs. Adams is more interesting than Leonard vs. the Six Pack. I sense that Fish is losing ground (alas) and may take the gloves off a bit. Randy -- well, he never puts the gloves on in the first place.
Joseph Lyons on 25 Apr 2004
Central Library Green Party Event. While I really love and respect SE Uplift, SE Portland is generally well represented in city politics (except outer southeast - Tanya Collier, sigh), an event at the Central Library is a terrific accessible location that ideally more people from all over the city can attend. I think though that neighborhood based candidate forums are key, why were they scheduled competing? What are candidates going to drop in and drop out?
Sioen on 25 Apr 2004
I'm still interested in and gathering info on Leonard's opponents, which makes me lean toward the Green Party event, but a mayoral forum without Potter or Francesconi makes me wonder... how can progressives feel these two out some more if they're not around? On the other hand, we've already heard many of their non-answers, and how useful will a mayoral forum be in SE without the other candidates? Go for the Greens.
Free Marmaduke on 25 Apr 2004
Can you send a trusted proxy to the event that you decide not to attend?
pdxkona on 25 Apr 2004
Trusted proxy would be YOU, would it not?
We all should be involved in our communities and make the effort, that a certain someone also makes, to do so.
Jeff on 26 Apr 2004
I'm the Chair of the Portland Metro Greens, so this is more of a clarification than a vote (I think I'm a bit biased). These events were scheduled to compete because there was little advanced outreach for either of them, other than scheduling the candidates. In fact, tonight is the first I've heard about the SE Uplift event (and I know a lot of the people there fairly well). Nothing on CNRG (that I recall), Indymedia or the neighborhood association listserves I'm on. Portland progressives definitely needs more communication on these issues.
Also, the SE Uplift event doesn't even list which candidates were invited or will appear. My guess is Francesconi, Potter, Fish and Adams. The Executive Director at SE Uplift is a big Tom Potter supporter, which might explain why they chose to exclude candidates like Busse and Posey. The Greens were more interested in hearing from a wide variety of progressive grassroots candidates who have struggled to get their message out. Potter was the only one from the SE Uplift forum who we invited. Fish v. Adams has been done over and over again, and I'm not convinced there's any meaningful difference between them. Both decent, but not particulary substantive in terms of vision or progressive change (same with Potter and Francesconi).
Finally, the Green forum will also have Rex Burkholder and Robert Liberty from the Metro races. I consider those races important but they've gotten very little coverage. The Liberty/Monroe race is extremely interesting because the progressive challenger has raised more money than the incumbent!
Overall, we're looking at a fairly productive and interesting event. The Greens hope to follow it up with a forum of local elected officials after the May primary to focus on how progressive grassroots candidates can build a base, develop experience and become elected. Stay tuned for more details.
goody on 26 Apr 2004
Didn't you report on a Green party event already this election season? I know for a fact that the SE Uplift event has been planned for quite some time...it's been on my calendar for over 2 months. And I do believe a variety of candidates will be attending---more than just the few that the above poster cites. Check the event schedule or e-mail me and I'll get a copy of it to you on Tuesday. There will also be an candidate reception time before the forum where you can observe the candidates interacting with people one-on-one which can be informative.
The One True b!X on 26 Apr 2004
Yes, we did a Mayoral forum the Greens had. But part of the trick here -- and why I opted to leave it to readers to decide -- is because I couldn't decide whether to focus on Commissioner No. 4 (a race that is very complicated) or focus on Commissioner No. 1 (a race for which I am close to an endorsement).
The One True b!X on 27 Apr 2004
My big reason for considering the Greens event was because I need to start going deeper into the Commissioner No. 4 race, and that's where they are going to be.
However, I've now learned that there will be a Southeast Uplift forum for that race in another week or so.
All thing considered -- including the fact that the SEUL event is closer to my apartment, and I'll have to be booking to whichever even almost immediately after the end of watching tomorrow's inquest session online -- and it looks likely that I'll be hitting the SEUL forum.