- Multnomah County
- Eric Zimmerman
Note: We’ve updated this post with comments from Zimmerman.
With his decision to run for Portland mayor (he plans to officially declare in January ), Jules Bailey has ensured he’s only got a year left at his newly won seat on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. That means: Free commission seat!
Now we’ve got our first official entrant into the race for Bailey’s job: The guy who’d replace him if he had to leave office today.
Eric Zimmerman, chief of staff to Bailey’s fellow Commissioner Diane McKeel, tells the Mercury he’ll run to represent the county’s District 1, which spans a bit of inner northeast and southeast Portland, and the entirety of Multnomah County west of the Willamette. Zimmerman plans to make the announcement public this morning.
Through his work at the county, 31-year-old ZImmerman touts experience with “A Home For Everyone” a stakeholder group working up plans to fight homelessness. He’s also an Iraq war vet and a member of the LGBT community, and says he “led the effort to make his unit a national leader in preparing for the lifting of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Mostly, though, Zimmerman’s a longtime employee of the county who says he knows the ropes, and can get things done.
“Anyone who’s ever worked for the board knows that ,for the third largest budget in the state, this one takes some time to understand,” he says. “That’s a learning curve I’ll be able hit on day one.”
He touts recent work with other commissioner’s offices to help fund a new psychiatric emergency center that’s underway, and finding $5 million to put toward a flexible “housing investment fund” that’s earmarked for affordable housing.
“I worked really hard on the budget to get that funding with Jues [Bailey] and with Diane [McKeel],” he says. “I want to see those projects come all the way through.”
Zimmerman’s candidacy is not too big a stretch, Bailey already tapped Zimmerman as his alternate should he have to leave office early. Bailey’s decision not to declare for mayor until next year means he’ll serve out the position through 2016, when his term—which was really the remainder of former commissioner, now county chair, Deborah Kafoury’s term—would have run out.
Alternate positions like the one Zimmerman holds have produced quick advancement through the county ranks lately. County Chief Operating Officer Marissa Madrigal was once former chair Jeff Cogen’s chief of staff and alternate, taking over when Cogen resigned amid scandal. And county Human Services Director Liesl Wendt used to be Kafoury’s alternate, taking over her commission seat when Kafoury ran for county chair.
Zimmerman’s going the old fashioned route. And he probably won’t be alone. There are a number of people eyeing Bailey’s seat, including Brian Wilson, who lost a race for the position last year.
By the way, Zimmerman’s relationship with Bailey might have grown more interesting since the commissioner declared for mayor. Zimmerman’s been a visible Ted Wheeler supporter since the state treasurer declared he was mounting a mayoral campaign several months ago. So has McKeel, Zimmerman’s boss.
We’ll update after we talk to Zimmerman. Here’s his campaign website.