This time around, Amanda Fritz beat her own record by three
days, collecting over 1,000 signatures and contributions from
supporters in hopes of qualifying for $150,000 in public campaign
financing, in just two months and 18 days.
And this time around, Fritz hardly needs an introduction: She’s the
woman from SW Portland who ran against Dan Saltzman two years ago, on
her background as a neighborhood activist and active volunteer. She was
the first to successfully qualify for public campaign funds last
election, though she ultimately lost to Saltzman in the primary despite
a glowing endorsement from this paper. We gushed: “She’s got a passion
for the city’s inner workings, after a seven-year stint on the Planning
Commission and 20 years of neighborhood activism. Combined with her
outsider status, Fritz’s insight into things like land-use planning and
neighborhoods’ needs will shake up the city council.”
But this time around, Fritz is planning a different campaign. The
city auditor is currently checking the validity of her contributor
forms—if she turned in at least 1,000 qualified ones, she could
obtain the public funds in the next few weeks. She’ll be using the cash
to “convey what’s in her heart” to voters.
Having done this once before, she’s “more aware of the challenge,”
and now knows about things like media buys (AKA targeted political
advertising). She’s also realized that her vision for Portland needs to
be conveyed in broader strokes on the campaign trail, as opposed to
detailing the “hundreds” of nitty-gritty ideas she’s collected during
her years of service.
“The value is the important thing,” she explained over coffee on
January 4. “Things that I specifically want to do aren’t particularly
exciting,” like putting in sidewalks on the routes kids take to school.
(She studied incumbents Saltzman and Erik Sten during the 2006
campaign, and notes that the seasoned campaigners usually answered
questions with a reiteration of their core agenda).
What’s her broader agenda? Basic services in all neighborhoods,
equity for residents regardless of who they are or where they live, and
scrutinizing city business to make sure the council is focused on its
core functions. Also, she notes, there’s been enough vision on things
like increasing citizen involvement. What Portland needs, she says, is
“more action.”
Her style of action will be unique, though. “Sometimes you’re a
leader and sometimes you’re part of the group,” she explains. In other
words, if elected city commissioner this time around (if not, she says
she won’t run again) you’ll be just as likely to find her addressing a
crowd as you will find her sitting in the middle of it. “I will show
up,” she says. “To sit in the crowd and listen.”