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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
City Council and mayoral candidates debated according to a unique set of rules — not followed by organizers — and encountered some elitism — at a candidates fair held last month. At Fir Ridge Campus in the David Douglas School District, the event’s chief organizer, Russell Neighborhood Association Chair Bonny McKnight, offered speaking time to only 11 of the 23 declared candidates for the three positions.
She stuck to this decision despite a protest by City Council Position #1 candidate John Branam and efforts by co-organizers Alison Stoll, Central Northeast Neighbors coalition executive director, Wilkes Neighborhood Association Chair Ross Monn and East Portland Neighborhood Office Director Richard Bixby to persuade her to relent.
McKnight said, “Other candidates had access to every part of this event except air time. I reject the perception that any candidate was excluded.”
However, in providing status to some candidates denied to others, she arguably ran afoul of city rules stating that neighborhood associations may not take positions for or against any political candidate.
City Council candidate Amanda Fritz used her closing statement to invite voters to consider Branam despite his forced silence.
The candidates for mayor and for two open Portland City Council positions who were not excluded from debate were asked how they would respond to five issues pertinent to this area with the resources that they personally would control if elected. As a flyer for the event pointed out, the mayor has a personal office budget of $3,320,560, and council offices are allocated $805,000 each. Mayor Tom Potter employs 24 staff members, Commissioner Sam Adams has nine and Commissioner Erik Sten had seven prior to his retirement in March.
With these resources — which would be under their personal control and not subject to the give-and-take of City Hall politics — the candidates were asked, how would they address the following issues:
• Inappropriate infill development, done without overall planning or resources for local schools to serve the increased enrollment
• Lack of infrastructure in the area, including streets, sidewalks and parks, and urban services such as police protection
• The effect of development on the built and natural environment, and lack of retail services
• Low wages and rising housing costs that are putting home ownership out of reach for many
• Pressures forcing seniors and longtime residents out of their homes
The event was co-sponsored by East Portland Neighborhood Chairs and the Central Northeast Neighbors coalition, which collectively serves 21 neighborhood associations and six business district associations.
All of the participating candidates made a point of agreeing with the organizers’ point that Portland city government has treated mid-Multnomah County unfairly.
Adams, who is running for mayor, cited his work as commissioner, especially in regard to transportation. He touted his Safe, Sound & Green Streets initiative, which would levy a special assessment to make needed transportation improvements. He noted that this process identified 82nd and 122nd avenues in Mid-county as having the largest concentration of problems needing repair, and that 25 percent of the area’s streets do not have sidewalks. He proposed “civilianizing” police desk positions, freeing up officers to reactivate the Youth Gang Task Force shut down by Potter. He called for design review for new development, now in place only in the central city, Gateway and historic districts. He agreed the area has “too much affordable housing, not enough services.”
Adams took several swipes at his principal opponent, Sho Dozono. He attacked him for proposing to have the Portland School District take over the David Douglas and Parkrose districts “without so much as a phone call” to people here. “If I were to suggest such a large change, I’d have a major discussion first,” he said.
Dozono said that his schools initiative was intended to provide all schools with equal resources. He attacked previous planning decisions, saying, “(Mid-county’s) received density you do not desire, and it’s created havoc. You were promised things you never received. High density has stressed out the infrastructure and the schools.” He pledged to listen to community members before acting and to work with community-based organizations. He said he offered “a new perspective and a new kind of leadership” and that, if elected, he would be out in the community again and again.
To run for mayor, Adams has disqualified himself from running for reelection to his Council Position #1 seat.
Five of the six candidates for Adams’ vacated council position — Jeff Bissonnette, Mike Fahey, Fritz, Charles Lewis and Chris Smith — spoke at the forum.
Bissonnette, who said he was a community organizer by training, focused mainly on improved communication. He would have a district office in east Portland, he said, and representatives will be tasked with keeping him up to date on bureaus he is assigned to oversee.
Fahey, a former state representative, spoke repeatedly of his own North Portland neighborhood as another put-upon community. He’d hire a local person chosen by the community, he said. He declared himself against increased density to provide housing for an influx of newcomers. “We need to serve the people we have; why bring in more?” he said. He also disapproved of the city’s treatment of businesses and said, “We have to change the whole atmosphere.”
Fritz, a community activist from the West Portland Park Neighborhood and a former Portland Planning Commission member, said her goal was “to provide basic services to all 95 (city) neighborhoods, provide and keep jobs in Portland and protect our public schools.” She called for better zoning codes for development, elimination of flag lots, protection of trees and addressing “developments crammed together with no space in between.” She called for grants to small businesses and better security measures on TriMet.
Lewis, a Cully Neighborhood resident, founded the Ethos art and music nonprofit in North Portland. Affordable housing spread throughout the city is “absolutely essential,” he said. He called for having urban renewal district’s set-aside funds for affordable housing administered by the Bureau of Housing and Community Development, rather than the Portland Development Commission. “It’s absolutely outrageous that we’re funneling money downtown when we have 127 miles of unpaved streets,” he said. Increased density “definitely has its place, but not at the expense of established neighborhoods.”
Smith, a Northwest Portland community activist and a leading streetcar advocate, said he would assign staff to stay on top of Metro and the Portland Plan effort. He called for improved transit, including better bus service. It would be preferable to place higher density in new neighborhoods such as South Waterfront than to “shoehorn them into existing neighborhoods,” he said. Like Adams, he said, “Design matters so much.” He would partner with businesses to bring about economic development.
Nick Fish, Ed Garren, Jim Middaugh and Fred Stewart are among those running for Sten’s vacated seat, Council Position #2.
Fish endorsed Adams’ Safe, Sound & Green initiative and his plan to restore the Youth Gang Task Force, and echoed Fritz’s call to bring city resources to all 95 neighborhoods.
However, Fish took a swipe at Adams, who defeated him in a council race four years ago, for pursuing pet projects such as a $100 million plan to turn West Burnside Street into a one-way couplet. He suggested holding public hearings in east Portland, limiting development in the area and expanding the Lents urban renewal district to gain more revenue. Regarding development regulations, he said, “One size doesn’t fit all.”
Hayden Island community activist Garren noted, “I’m the newest to Portland of those running, but other places I’ve lived have taught me a lot.” He spent the most time discussing housing, saying the city uses its resources to subsidize “speculative housing for the most affluent, hoping someone will buy it, pushing everyone else out of the way, ignoring the needs of working people.” He called for promoting green technology development rather than making Portland a third-world city based on retail and low wages.
In an obvious reference to Middaugh, the only voter-owned candidate in this race, Garren said, “I didn’t get 1,700 signatures in 10 days.”
Middaugh, Sten’s chief of staff, has been accused of using inside information of Sten’s retirement to prepare for the required gathering of $5 contributions. Answering Garren, he said his success was a testament to “the strength of my grass roots network. I’m not a downtown lawyer; I’m not taking PAC money from realtors.” He mainly invoked projects he had worked on in Sten’s office, including cooperating with local school districts and securing funding for a David Douglas High School annex.
Stewart, an inner Northeast realtor and community activist, said several times that he would “listen, learn and lead.” He suggested surtaxes on airport use to provide funding for local projects. The things he has done were “never just for myself, but for my family and my community.”
In addition to those who spoke at the fair, candidates McKnight excluded from speaking were: Kyle Burris, Steven Entwisle, Bob Leonard Forthan, Craig Gier, Lew Humble, James B. Lee, Beryl McNair, Christopher Rich, Patricia Stewart and Jeff Taylor, all candidates for mayor; Branam, running for Position 1 on the City Council, and Harold Williams II, running for Position 2. The fair did not include Position 4, where Randy Leonard is running for re-election.
Voters have received ballots by now and they are due by May 20.
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