Two things became official on Monday: (1) Erik Sten squeaked past the 50%-plus-one requirement needed to avoid a runoff against Ginny Burdick in November, and (2) Sten’s former publicly funded opponent, Emilie Boyles, is very, very screwed. Just hours after county officials certified Sten’s win, a group of about 125 of his supporters and campaign […]
Scott Moore
Posted inNews
Hall Monitor
WANNA CYBER?
On behalf of journalists everywhere, I’d like to take this opportunity to extend my undying gratitude to local bloggers for making our jobs a million times easier. Now, thanks to all the comments that your mouthy readers leave, reporters don’t have to do any real reporting—all we have to do is copy and paste your […]
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Signing Away the State
How Out-of-State Groups are Trying to Screw Oregon
Money and petition workers are flooding into Oregon to ensure that a handful of right-wing initiatives make it onto November’s ballot—and according to early results, the effort appears to be working wonders. Last Friday, May 26, was “Early Signature Submission Day,” which allows petitioners to turn their signatures in to the Oregon secretary of state […]
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Hall Monitor
Don’t Call it a Comeback
When it comes to local elections, nobody loses. Except for the candidates who don’t win. And the people who voted for them. Speaking of! Barely a week after her surprisingly large defeat in her bid for a seat at city hall, Amanda Fritz is using her newly raised profile to pick her first post-election fight: […]
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Electoral Dysfunction
What the Numbers Really Mean
Even its detractors have been treating the first election under the Voter-Owned Elections (VOE) system as a test run—a dress rehearsal, in a sense, to get the city ready for the day it goes live with multiple qualifying candidates. And with Erik Sten, the proverbial director of the drama, taking the lead role, anti-VOE watchers […]
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Hall Monitor
Ordered Chaos
Hey city council! I just found a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order on Amazon.com for as little as $4.99 (or used for as little as $0.01). I’m not going to buy it for you or anything, but I would fully support a portion of my tax dollars contributing to its purchase. That way, the […]
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Elections for Sale!
Palm Greasing and Glad-Handing on the Campaign Trail
As the city’s first election cycle with publicly funded campaigns comes screeching to an end, the candidates are using their fleeting time to scramble for the few undecided voters left in Portland. The differences in strategy are—at last—showing real disparities between the candidates’ styles. For instance, Oregon Senator Ginny Burdick, vying for Erik Sten’s seat […]
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Conflicting Interests?
Questions Raised Over BRO Endorsement
For weeks, questions have been raised over Basic Rights Oregon’s refusal to give Ted Wheeler, a candidate for Multnomah County chair, a “green light”—a signal that’s short of an endorsement, but tells Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) supporters that the candidate stands for GLBT rights. BRO’s Equality Political Action Committee (PAC) gave its full endorsement to […]
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The Fight for Housing
City Council Steps Into the Fray
Two weeks ago, in a room packed with low-income housing advocates, city council made the first steps in a process that will keep Portland affordable. The plan: Require the Portland Development Commission (PDC) to make affordable housing a priority by setting aside a portion of its budget for inexpensive residences. The only opposition: The Portland […]
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Hall Monitor
Christmas in May
When I say that I love election season so much that it’s like Christmas and New Year’s Eve rolled into one, what’s the first thing you think? Do you think, “Wow, what a goddamn nerd”? That’s okay, because I’ve seen your TiVo, and no adult needs to watch that much Battlestar Galactica. But maybe you […]
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Who You Will Vote For 2006!
Welcome to Democracy
Primary elections during midterm, non-presidential years tend to be quiet affairs that attract little attention—but this year’s races have shattered that perception entirely. Not only is it the first election cycle to feature candidates taking part in Voter-Owned Elections, but several races could be decided on May 16 without advancing to the November general election. […]
Posted inMusic
Ixnay on the Electroclash-ay
Ladytron Does Some Genre Busting
WHEN THEY FIRST blew up in the early ’00s, Ladytron seemed the perfect band for the era—a mixture of New York worship, coke-buzzed late nights, disimpassioned dual female vocals, and too-cool-for-fashion-school beats and synths. They were part of, and helped usher in, the era of electroclash, which at its best reminded everyone of how much […]