Portland is at a pivotal juncture. The city is poised to boost its tourism appeal by welcoming a new professional women’s basketball team and potentially a baseball stadium while simultaneously scrambling to build more housing and shelter space. All of this will happen with a brand new governing system and new elected leaders at the helm.
There’s a lot on the horizon, but as we start to recover from the economic hit and social unrest of the pandemic, some candidates would only serve to set our city back.
We’ve seen inklings of that in the leadership style of Rene Gonzalez, a current city commissioner who’s eyeing the mayor’s seat. During his nearly two-year tenure on council, Gonzalez has said a lot, but accomplished little.