Okay now! Longtime business-minded Portland politico Jim Francesconi has come out. As a backer of publicly-financed elections! In the current election, Portlanders have to decide whether to renew our voter owned elections system (Measure 26-108).
When former city commissioner Francesconi ran against Tom Potter for mayor back in 2004, he outspent Potter $1 million to $225,000, the most campaign funds in Portland city history... and still lost.
But today in the Oregonian, he penned a column explaining why he's come around to public financing:
First, our democracy is better served by having a variety of candidates run from diverse backgrounds, even if these candidates lack access to the connections that typically help fund political campaigns. I would add that there has been an historic and appalling lack of diversity on Portland's City Council that should be addressed.The second compelling argument to continue public financing is that since its passage, there's been a significant reduction in the amount of money being contributed to political campaigns in Portland. That's a good thing. Although I believe I was prepared to be Portland's mayor, I also believe that I would have been even better prepared had I spent less time raising money and more time listening to voters.
Is now the appropriate time to apologize for this caricature of Francesconi we ran back in 2004? Nah.
