Spencer Burton Runs For Saltzman’s Seat

Stonemason Spencer Burton is like a cross between Jack Kerouac and Don Draper. This struck me about ten minutes into our interview this morning at the Black Sheep Bakery on NW 19th, and I had to blurt it out.

“You’re a cross between Don Draper and Jack Kerouac,” I said.

“Who’s Don Draper?” he asked.

“Okay, let me re-phrase that as a question,” I said. And so begins our candidate Q&A.

Do you think your obvious charisma will have an impact on the campaign?
“Well, you framed it in that way. I think my spirit, my sense of heart, my big heart is going to attract people to this campaign. I want to be a servant to the people, but a fiery servant, to get people fired up. Whatever you want to call it, I think that’s going to be a factor, yes. It’s pretty much the only way I’m going to get any traction in this race—these last campaigns, you wouldn’t even have known about them if you hadn’t been paying close attention. But I want to stress the importance of public engagement in this campaign.”

• BURTON: WITH HIS FORD TRUCK. “I’VE HAD TWO OR THREE OF THESE,” HE SAYS.

Who is Spencer Burton?
“I always knew I wanted to get involved in politics, since I was a little boy—I was inspired by Bobby Kennedy in ’68, even at a young age, sitting in our family room watching him on the television, and that’s just stuck with me. It’s just a question of when the heart is right, and the spirit is right. I’ve been preparing myself for this from the inside out, rather than from the outside in.”

How did you end up in Oregon?
“I studied American Political History at UCLA, I did a second degree in economics at the University of Oregon, I’ve studied German and a little Italian, I lived in Paris for two six month tours I like to call them, and then I moved to Arizona, and cleared some ground for a winery down there, and that’s how I got into stonemasonry. I’ve lived in Portland four and a half years now, and I love this place. I’m an independent stonemason—I work pretty much by myself, but when I need a digger I’ll use a couple of Street Roots guys, I’ve used Latino day laborers—wherever I can find a good man. I keep it simple, I keep it small, it gives me plenty of time to read and think and study, because I’m an educated stonemason.

And what are you reading at the moment?
“I read several newspapers every day, the Mercury, Street Roots, the Northwest Neighborhood papers, the Oregonian, the Wall Street Journal and lately I’ve been getting a sense of urgency about the climate change situation.

How would you describe the “sense of urgency” around climate change?
“Well, I think we need to be doing weatherization upgrades across the city starting with the poor neighborhoods, and employing the people in the neighborhoods so that we have diversity in the workforce. I think we need solar panels on rooftops across the city, and be requiring all new buildings to have those. I think there’s a way of bringing in institutional money to do that. For example, we recently did something here in our school system, and I talked to them about that, and we were able to bring an 11% return on investment for the investors.”

“I also think transportation is a key issue. Instead of being incremental about this, we need a network of bike paths and streetcars across the city, not just a couple of lines. And we need to figure out a way to use some sort of local money to do that, instead of stimulus money. We need to invest in ourselves. I don’t think the council’s real clear right now on how to put people back to work.”

How is council unclear?
“I think they’re focusing on things that aren’t all that important. We need to be training electricians to fit those solar panels. We need to be using Portland Community College as a main vehicle for that training, and Portland State University as a main source of the research.”

How do you feel about the Columbia River Crossing?
“I think we should have tolling on the 205 and I-5, and use that for a new bridge, but not the 12-lane CRC that’s being talked about. First we do the light-rail bridge, with the bike crossing, and then we build on that platform.”

So what’s your platform for running, apart from climate change and transportation?
“I think we need to bring collective wisdom to city government. We need to be more inclusive, have more voices at the table—we need groups of people to work on these things. I want to see parks across the city and walkable neighborhoods. I’d like to turn vacant lots into gardens, build community by bringing people together to work on these things, and it feeds people. I think we’re under-utilizing our space here—why can’t we be planting trees in the medians on the street, for example? I think we could change some of the zoning laws to make that happen.”

“I also think we need cultural centers in every neighborhood so that craftsmen, actors and performers can find ways to show and display their products. I think we need to beautify the city, localize the economy, and put people back to work. Partly it’s about our procurement policies. As an economist, I understand the multiplier effect—if we can keep money local it goes around and around, instead of leaving the area.”

What could city council have done better over the last year?
“Well, I wouldn’t have invested city money in the soccer renovation. If it’s such a great deal, why couldn’t Merritt Paulson raise the money himself? Also, when we’re cutting budgets and laying people off, why did Dan Saltzman and Randy Leonard take a cost of living increase? I thought it was totally the wrong message to send—that pay raises are for the special few that are already in. The Bull Run watershed, too. Right now the city isn’t fighting hard enough to get a waiver, and we’re looking at spending more than $100million on a system that for over 100 years has gotten nobody sick. Why doesn’t council stand up and fight?”

What’s your impression of Dan Saltzman?
“Dan has been in it for 12 years. He’s an incrementalist. He doesn’t stand up, he doesn’t lead. He waits for it to come to him. I want to build this together, with my hands and your hands, actually put visions into action. I loved Tom Potter’s Visioning idea, but the city has just dropped it—with all our hands, we can have a season of service. For me it’s part of why I’m running. I think words are powerful. I’m hoping to hold the center so that people can get on board and build a movement for change. I think the city’s a little bit stuck right now. It’s flow is stuck, a little bit.”

Do you think you’re going to be seen as a credible candidate?
“I think I’m going to resonate with people as someone who looks and feels like them. A lot of people really don’t know what Dan stands for—he’s part of the mushy middle, as one friend called him. We’re going to get a flatbed pick-up truck, and put some bands on the back, and we’re going to go round the city, and create that heightened visibility for me. I feel like it’s the right time with the right message. People are ready.”

“When people say it’s impossible, I can see the light. I think people are going to see a contrast of styles between me and Dan, and people are ready for some new, vigorous change.”

Where do you stand on the effort to recall Mayor Sam Adams?
“I’m not for it. I was disappointed in Sam—I thought he was a good guy and a good mayoral candidate, I thought his head was on the right way, and then boom, right on election day fro Obama it emerged that he lied to all of us. Not so much what he did, but the way he lied to us, I was disappointed. But I think we need some solidity right now in the mayor’s office. I don’t see anybody else in the council being mayoral material.”

What do you think of Saltzman’s handling of the police bureau?
“That’s a tough one. I’m going to sit down and talk with Scott Westerman, and with some of the ministers who have been weighing in on this issue. We need to have a community dialog, both for the police, and for the civilians to have an exchange of ideas. I couldn’t understand why that level of force was needed to be used on that girl, I don’t see why two good sized officers couldn’t subdue her. I want to start to bring people together.”

So did you approve of Saltzman’s decision to suspend Officer Christopher Humphreys?
“I think he needed to be taken off the streets. He needed a review. I think he needed removing from the streets, but whether or not he needed to be suspended, I don’t know. And also, we shouldn’t have taken three years on the Chasse inquiry. If there’s a pattern. We need people out there who are sensitive in our community.”

How’s your campaign going so far?
“Well, we’ve got 250 signatures, and 60 days left to get the thousand. I’ve been to neighborhood association meetings, business association meetings, we’re just getting out there to house parties and events. There’s two campaigns. There’s the campaign, and then there’s the campaign before the campaign, because I need to be a publicly financed candidate to run.”

So you’re ready to do this?
“This is where I want to be. This is where I can have an impact, and I love it here. It’s like I can’t do anything else—I’ve been thinking about this for years, and finally I get to see the way clear. It’s time to shift the vibration of the city and the planet—nobody wants to get on the dance floor by themselves, so I want to lead by example, step in and speak out. It’s all about gathering the tribes.”