The first candidate forum for the November runoff to replace City Commissioner Dan Saltzman came with a number of rules: No politics. No rebuttals. No personal attacks.
“This is not a debate,” said Tricia Tillman, the moderator for Tuesday evening’s Race Talks discussion at McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom, which packed hundreds of attendees into its painfully non-air conditioned venue.
Nevertheless, candidates Loretta Smith and Jo Ann Hardesty managed to break every single rule before hitting the event’s halfway mark. While Tillman was able to get both candidates to speak on the night’s discussion topic—being a Black woman in a majority-white city’s political sphere—the candidates repeatedly steered the conversation toward their own political records and thinly-veiled attacks on their opponent.
This is the second time Hardesty, a former state legislator, former NAACP president, and perennial advocate for police reform, and Smith, a longtime Multnomah County commissioner, will share the ballot.
In the May primary race for Saltzman’s council seat, Smith collected 21 percent of the votes, Hardesty took home 46 percent, and the rest was divided up among their opponents. Since Hardesty didn’t reach the 50 percent mark required to win, the election was scheduled for a November 6 run-off between the top two candidates. Regardless of who wins the November race, the election will place the first Black woman on Portland City Council.
Tuesday’s event was the first time both candidates met publicly since the May race—and it gave voters a preview of what to expect for the rest of the campaign.
Both women first clashed over a question on how they have supported other Black women leaders who come under attack. The question alluded to the time Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury called Smith a “bitch” in a public meeting last year. At the time, then-NAACP President Hardesty did not publicly defend Smith.
Last night, Hardesty explained that it wasn’t her decision to make, since she represented all members of the local NAACP chapter. “There are people who think the NAACP president is the decision maker,” said Hardestly. “They are not. The members are the decision makers.” Hardesty pivoted to talk about how she’s supported Black mothers who’ve lost their children to police brutality.
“I have always been a very opinionated woman, that’s not because I’m Black, that’s just because I have strong opinions.”
(It should be noted that Kafoury’s admitted name-calling came a few months after an unrelated investigation into Smith that found she had routinely demeaned women of color working for the county.)
“As Black women, we’re always under attack,” said Smith. “When I was called the B-word… I was hurt by it. But I knew I could either elevate and go nuclear, or I could go forward and settle it. And I did. As an elected official in this community where people are looking at me, and young girls are trying to figure out how they respond in those kinds of situations… I always go back to what Michelle Obama said: ‘When they go low, you go high.'”
Then, Smith went low.
Tillman asked both women what they admire about their opponent. Hardesty acknowledged she admires Smith’s development of the county’s youth summer employment program, SummerWorks.
Smith’s response: “I would say that Jo Ann knows how to reinvent herself.”
The jab elicited boos from the audience—and a reprimand from Tillman for breaking the rules.
The candidates also butted heads over the phrase “angry black woman,” an often-negative stereotype that Hardesty has embraced over the course of her campaign. Hardesty said she liked that Willamette Week used that phrase to describe her on the cover of WW’s April endorsement issue.
“I love the Willamette Week cover. I don’t run away from that,” said Hardesty. “I have always been a very opinionated woman, that’s not because I’m Black, that’s just because I have strong opinions.”
Smith, however, called the WW cover “unacceptable.”
“Black women have been working so hard for so long to not have that stereotype used against them,” she said. “That didn’t help black women, in fact, that kind of pushed us black. I won’t allow anyone to call me an angry black woman.”
“I won’t allow anyone to call me an angry black woman.”
Questions submitted from the audience allowed both candidates to talk more openly about their political stances. Asked if she would support Portland’s on-again-off-again relationship with the Joint Terrorism Task Force ( JTTF, a controversial partnership that turns several Portland police officers into federal informants that generally target people of color), Hardesty said that within 30 days of being in office, she’d push a vote to dissolve the local program. Smith, however, supports Portland’s role in the JTTF. “I think it’s important the people have the information to make everyone safe,” said Smith.
Smith bungled a question regarding how she’s supported Portland’s LGBTQ community by pointing to work she’s done to help women and people of color see economic success. Tillman pushed Smith to clarify how that would help queer Portlanders.
“If you know anything about public money, you can’t desegregate money,” said Smith. “My [fund] is for everyone.”
Both women said they supported Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw’s work as a Black woman leading the police bureau, and are hopeful for her ability to reform a historically racist police force. They also both snuck in rather radical ideas to their campaign platforms: Hardesty called for free public transportation for everyone during rush hour, and Smith proposed Portland police officers who don’t live in the city limits move into unoccupied “zombie houses” being foreclosed on by the city.
“White men have been running Portland city council for 148 years. I think having a majority female city council will radically change the dynamic.”
But neither candidate dug into the actual work they’d be handed as soon as they enter office: overseeing the
“non-police” public safety bureaus. Last week, Mayor Ted Wheeler announced the latest bureau assignments for city commissioners, and noted that Comissioner Saltzman’s assignments will be directly handed over to whoever assumes his position in January. Those bureaus are Portland Fire and Rescue, Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, and Bureau of Emergency Communications (the office responsible for 911 calls).
Smith did briefly mention how she was disappointed by a three-hour wait for a police officer after her son’s apartment was broken into—but offered no solution to the problem. Hardesty said she’d like to have firefighters be the first responders to mental health crises rather than police officers, since firefighters are trained to save lives.
Despite the passive-agressive zingers woven throughout the discussion, both women were confident that having a Black woman on the city council would be a game-changer.
“White men have been running Portland city council for 148 years,” said Hardesty. “I think having a majority female city council will radically change the dynamic.”
The “passive-agressive zingers” were entirely in one direction. Jo Anne kept it positive.
After hearing Smith’s response: “I would say that Jo Ann knows how to reinvent herself.” it sounds to me like Kafoury, while unprofessional was also dead on when she called Smith a “Bitch”.
Hardesty made a point of saying she rejected advice to straighten her hair when she first ran for the legislature. That sounded like a jab at Smith.
Hardesty keeps pushing the idea of having firefighters respond to calls involving the mentally ill. Has she bothered to run that past the Fire Department? Despite her long-time criticism of the police, Hardesty didn’t hesitate to ask for — and receive — two plain clothes police officers to attend one of her events because she was concerned about security.
The most impressive thing about this forum was the turnout — roughly 600 people in a hot room with no air conditioning. Too bad neither candidate seemed worthy of a dedicated audience. Neither gave any indication that she will be able to improve this particular city council. So what if the council will become majority female? Look at the poor performance of the all-female Multnomah County Commission in letting Wapato go to waste.
@Pamela Fitzsimmons Wapato was purchased long before Multnomah County had an all-woman board. You’re blaming the people who addressed the problem for the problem.
And using Jo Anne’s anecdote about the political advice she got 30 years ago to rationalize an unambiguous attack by Loretta is bullshit. The audience last night didn’t fall for the “both sides do it” excuse. They were a Loretta Smith crowd, but they saw it for what it was.
Wapato was not “purchased.” It was built at the direction of the voters. It was the all-woman board (minus Smith’s vote) that unloaded it at a loss – while our streets are crawling with drug-addled homeless who prey on each other, when they can’t find anyone else to harass or steal from. Wapato was designed, in part, for substance abusers.
I don’t know where you got the idea the turnout last night was a Loretta Smith crowd. Both candidates had many supporters in the audience. It was Hardesty’s fans who applauded and cheered the loudest – so much so that even Hardesty gestured for them to keep it down.
Ok, here we go. Tell us more about your opinions on people you don’t know, Pamela. Who else do you hate?
So do you want to make it personal. What’s the matter? Can’t handle a little disagreement?
Until last night I had never met Loretta Smith. Before the forum began, she briefly worked the audience and came up to me. I shook her hand and told her, “I’m sorry you didn’t run against Deborah Kafoury.” (I suspect Hardesty is also sorry Smith didn’t run against Kafoury.)
I have met and chatted with Hardesty several times over the past few years. She’s an opinionated woman; I’m an opinionated woman. About a year ago, when Hardesty was quoted in news stories saying she was going to kick Teressa Raiford’s ass, I rooted for Hardesty.
Does that mean I hate Raiford? You, dear Euphonius, appear to live in a narrow world. It wouldn’t surprise me if you have a “Love Wins” sign posted prominently in your home.
Lol. You know stuff! Yay you!
For some strange reason, you believe that the world cares about the history of your interactions with these two women, and any other black woman you can think of, plus a few bizarre non sequiturs about me.
Go ahead and support Smith. You two seem to have a ton in common.
“Both women said they supported Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw’s work as a Black woman leading the police bureau, and are hopeful for her ability to reform a historically racist police force.”
And she’s off to a great start, backing up her boys who attacked and injured protesters, while defending white supremacists. Her race and gender must be truly informing her decisions here. Good thing an “identity” is the main thing we want from our leaders. Rather than, say: coherent policy, fairness, knowledge, integrity, etc.
Euphonius: I don’t think the world cares what I think, but you obviously do: “Tell us more about your opinions on people you don’t know, Pamela.”
You vote the way you want to, and I’ll vote the way I want to. Hint: In the primary, I voted for none of the candidates. They all relied on the usual progressive platitudes that aren’t working in Portland.