Newest city council candidate Jason Renaud has been sitting around at city hall this afternoon, waiting for his campaign accountant to file a "statement of organization" with the Secretary of State's office in Salem, so that he can file for public financing with the city auditor's office.

Portland Police Association boss Scott Westerman happened to be in the city auditor's office, tallying up ballots for a union vote related to central precinct. He came out to congratulate Renaud on his candidacy.

"Will you endorse me?" asked Renaud—who is going for coffee with Westerman at Starbucks in a few days.

"Absolutely," said Westerman—meaning neither yes, or no—"there's a process for that."

Westerman seemed surprised by Willamette Week's reporting today, hinting that Westerman and the PPA are lining up behind North Portland realtor Fred Stewart, for the seat. "There's a process for securing our endorsement," said Westerman. "And we haven't heard from any of the other candidates for this seat."

Westerman was at city hall with PPA's Dave Dobler, whom he said had been "maybe" considering a run for Saltzman's seat. Updated, 12/3, 9:22: Sorry, misunderstood here. Westerman was introducing Renaud to Dobler as someone considering a run. My mistake.

Original post: Does this mean the union is not going to endorse Saltzman? "There's a process for that," he repeated.

Westerman told the Mercury he has met only with Spencer Burton, so far. "It's about opening up the dialog, as much as anything else," he says.

"I've never met Dan Saltzman," said Renaud, chatting with freelance reporter Amanda Waldroupe. "I invited him to come and talk publicly about the discipline he imposed on Chris Humphreys, and he said he would talk to us privately, but I said no. He needs to discuss the public's business in public."