The five candidates vying for public campaign financing to depose police commissioner Dan Saltzman plan a joint appearance this Friday night, at the corner of 11th and NE Alberta, at Dough Nation, starting at 6pm. The five candidates will each speak for five minutes, starting at 7pm, and are hoping Portlanders will show up and donate $5 to at least one of their campaigns. We'll be there to see what gets said, of course, but it'd be great to see a few Mercury readers come along with some probing questions.

The idea is Burton's, he says, because voters all have an interest in a healthy set of choices in the race. Saltzman will be invited to speak, too. We'll let you know if he deigns to show up.