October 03, 2004
Just Who Is This Len Bergstein Person Anyway?
Francesconi Seeks Lobbyist's Help In Becoming Mayor
Within last week's "City Matters" column, The Oregonian reported that "longtime political consultant Len Bergstein brought his political heft to the Francesconi team as an unpaid senior advisor this week." This arrangement, the paper said, means that Bergstein "will no longer provide political analysis for KGW-TV on local races this election, including the mayor's race."
Readers likely are already familiar with the fact that Bergstein has served as KGW's political analyst, although they may be perplexed by the fact that a man who has now claimed a horse in this race in fact was offering analysis and commentary on it back during the primary. It might also be worth noting that the Potter campaign raised some concerns over Bergstein's sudden role in the Francesconi campaign, and how it might effect their participation in any KGW-sponsored debate if Bergstein were permitted to play analyst at the same time.
(Parenthetically, and we understand we're treading on thin ice by bringing this up at all given its nature, but we were reasonably certain that the person with whom Bergstein was speaking on his cell phone two weeks ago at the Governor Hotel as we passed him on the way to the restroom -- discussing how the person on the other end of line should and should not respond to what was then a forthcoming Portland Tribune poll on the Mayor's race -- likely was Francesconi or at least someone with his campaign. Of course, if it was Francesconi or someone from his campaign, that would be a week before The Oregonian says Bergstein went to work for the campaign, so perhaps we're mistaken.)
Besides these peculiar aspects of this story, we think that voters might be interesting in knowing a little more about Len Bergstein, since he's the man one Mayoral candidate believes can lead him through the next thirty days to victory.
Over the years, Bergstein has been a paid consultant, lobbyist, and/or spokesman for a number of local and regional corporate interests which must deal with the City of Portland -- including Clear Channel Outdoor (involved in a long-standing dispute with the City over billboards, murals, and the City's sign code), and the Pamplin family's Ross Island Sand & Gravel (during the hullabaloo over mining, environmental quality, and ownership of Ross Island).
In addition, he represents Threemile Canyon Farms, an operation which has been involved in a labor dispute with dairy workers. More recently, the company has become the subject of a sexual discrimination lawsuit.
A look at the list of lobbyists registered with Metro, reveals that Bergstein continues to represent both Clear Channel Outdoor and Threemile Canyon Farms.
In other words, to guide him through the home stretch of the Mayoral campaign, Francesconi has brought in a paid lobbyist for local and regional corporate interests. In at least one case -- that of Clear Channel Outdoor -- a conflict with the City in which Bergstein plays a role has yet to be fully and finally resolved, and will be amongst the many matters which will be the responsibility of the next Mayor.
Recently, Francesconi has been attempting to draw distinctions between himself and his opponent by asking voters to judge them on what they do, and not what they say. That's fair enough, and it seems good advice to apply to Francesconi himself.
What Francesconi says is that he will open up City Hall to Portland's residents, including his promise to hold "office hours" out in the City's neighborhoods.
What he does is bring in a paid lobbyist for corporate interests which either do business with or engage in conflict with the City of Portland, who has also performed the media role of political analyst on the Mayoral race, to be his "senior advisor" in the final days of the campaign.
Astute and observant readers will notice that what The Oregonian reported was that Bergstien was coming on in an "unpaid" capacity. One might be forgiven for wondering: If he's not being paid for his role in the Francesconi campaign, just what does Bergstein expect in return should he successfully navigate Francesconi into the Mayor's office?
Comments (10)
Jack Bog on 03 Oct 2004
If I'm not mistaken, Little Len and a guy named Neil go way, way, way back.
The One True b!X on 03 Oct 2004
At least as early as his Mayoral days, if I'm reading some Google results properly.
a user on 04 Oct 2004
guilt by association. everyone goes way back with neil. most political consultans have, at one time or another, worked for a corporation.
the key distinction here: is the potter campaign any different? nothing about this importance comparison is mentioned in this story.
Jack Bog on 04 Oct 2004
Do you think Len knew about the girl?
Howard Weiner on 04 Oct 2004
Message to user,not a Len on our team as we are volunteer driven and grassroots to the core. Jim keeps showing his true nature and that's why folks like me have dedicated themselves to Tom's campaign.
doretta on 04 Oct 2004
I'm kind of tired of all the tarring with the Neil brush myself. Fer cryin' out loud the guy was mayor of Portland and governor of Oregon. Lot's of perfectly upstanding people worked with him.
On the other hand, those aren't just any random corporations. There are hundreds of corporations who have not been involved in high stakes legal wrangling with the city. Nor is being a lobbyist the same as any other old job with a corporation.
Mr./Ms. User, you mean you want b!x to recount all the differences between how the Potter campaign relates to big business and how the Francesconi has done so? No, somehow, despite the fact that you seem to be asking for that, I don't believe you do.
Nathan Koren on 09 Oct 2004
Yes, the Neil brush is getting rather old and crusty from over-use. I keep expecting to see a "Rogue of the Week" column along the lines of:
Enough already, really.
That being said, the Clear Channel brush will always carry a heck of a lot of tar.
another user on 10 Oct 2004
howard,
len is listed as an unpaid senior adviser, so he's just as volunteer as you are.
so that means that if we are going to paint Len with the "has worked for corporations in the past," I want to know if Potter's senior advisers, volunteer or not, have also worked (or not worked) for corporations. My bet: they have, as most political consultants have.
doesn't really matter to me. i'll likely abstain this mayoral campaign. Jim has been incompetent and Tom is a set of empty promises. All I know is that Potter is likely to ally with the incompetent Eric Sten, and that's all I need to know.
However, there is serious work to be done in this town, and corporate/business interests have to be part of it. If you're telling me Potter will somehow take on the business establishment, please let me know so I can vote for his opponent.
The One True b!X on 10 Oct 2004
Very clever, changing the issue at hand to one less problematic in order to argue its a non-issue.
At issue here is not merely working for corporations in the past. At issue is working for corporations which have business and/or conflict with the City, while analyzing the Mayor's race for KGW, while being a campaign advisor to one of the people seeking the Mayor's office.
Perhaps you'd like to come back and try responding to the actual issue at hand, not your distortion of it?
Teyuna on 26 Oct 2004
to the poster who alluded to Eric Sten's "incompetence," what exactly are you seeing as his incompetence?