The Holy Trinity

THREE CANDIDATES have so far stepped forward in the race to
qualify for public campaign financing to attempt to unseat City
Commissioner Dan Saltzman in the 2010 election: Spencer Burton, a
stonemason; Ed Garren, a family therapist; and Jason Renaud, a mental
health advocate.

The candidates are still shaping their platforms, but some themes
are emerging. Burton wants to renew a “sense of urgency” in city
government by increasing citizen involvement and “gathering the
tribes,” he says. Garren, who ran against City Commissioner Nick Fish
in the 2008 primary, has since focused his advocacy on environmental
justice and the Columbia River Crossing. Meanwhile Renaud, who went to
school with James Chasse, a man with schizophrenia who died in police
custody in 2006, is primarily running for better police accountability
and citizen oversight.

Under the city’s Voter-Owned Elections rules, the three candidates
must each gather 1,000 signatures and $5 donations from members of the
public, and submit them to the city auditor’s office by January 29,
2010. In exchange, the city will give them each up to $150,000 in
taxpayer dollars to run a campaign against Saltzman.

Burton says he already has 250 signatures, and took local “world
twang” band TapWater to the campus at Portland State University on
Tuesday, December 8, to raise his campaign’s profile and gather some
more. Meanwhile Garren says his signature-gathering campaign is just
getting started, but that “I promised myself if I couldn’t get the
qualifying contributions and signatures, that I’d withdraw from the
race.”

Renaud had volunteers gathering signatures at the PSU Farmers Market
last weekend, and said he had over 400 petition forms circulating to
volunteers by press time.

The three men are all critical of Saltzman’s job as police
commissioner—particularly his recent decision to reinstate
suspended Officer Christopher Humphreys, in response to outcry from the
police union [“Saltzman Backs Down,” News, Dec 3]. Garren says Saltzman
was “bullied” by the union, for example.

“In the rural south, if a bully says, ‘Do this or else,’ we say,
‘Them’s fightin’ words,'” says Garren. “And if you don’t dig in your
heels and fight, no one will ever respect you again. Now everyone’s
saying, ‘We didn’t have a say in this,’ and now we know who’s really
running the city—the police union.”

On the police bureau controversy, Saltzman has been conspicuously
media shy of late, beyond issuing prepared statements. He gave an
interview to Oregonian reporter Maxine Bernstein on December 1,
refuting the suggestion that he had caved to union pressure, saying
instead that he had sought to “deescalate the tensions” between
himself, the police chief, and the union. He declined comment on the
same issue for this story, however, through his chief of staff, Brendan
Finn.

Saltzman has yet to formally declare his candidacy for reelection,
although he has hired a campaign manager, Emerald Bogue, who worked
with him on a successful campaign to renew the popular children’s levy
last year. Saltzman is expected to share Bogue’s campaign management
services with his former chief of staff, Multnomah County Commissioner
Jeff Cogen, who is also running for reelection next year, so far
unopposed.

City Commissioner Amanda Fritz ran a successful publicly financed
campaign for her seat last year, although she ran to fill the
commissioner seat left vacant by Mayor Sam Adams, and did not have to
defeat a wealthy and well-connected incumbent. She also had good name
recognition, having unsuccessfully run another publicly financed
campaign against Saltzman, back in 2006.

Saltzman chose not to use the Voter-Owned Elections program in that
2006 campaign, and was backed by private money, including donations by
local developers Bob Ball, Mark Edlen, and Homer Williams. He also drew
money from the wealthy Schnitzer family, and from Portland Spirit owner
Dan Yates, according to data from the Money in Politics Research Action
Project.

Saltzman’s council colleague, Nick Fish, is also up for reelection
next year, but there are no rival candidates seeking public campaign
dollars in the race for his seat. Unlike Fish [“Windbags,” Hall
Monitor, Oct 15], it appears Saltzman’s notoriously tight-lipped
leadership style may leave him more vulnerable to an election
challenge, judging from statements made by the three candidates so
far.

“He’s an incrementalist,” says Burton. “He doesn’t stand up, he
doesn’t lead. He waits for it to come to him.”

“I’ve heard that Dan’s a good guy,” says Renaud. “But I couldn’t
think of anything he’s ever actually done.”