The sun is going down over the Jackson County Fairgrounds in southern Oregon, washing everything in that kind, soft light that you tend to see in uplifting campaign commercials. You might call it the best light possible. Beneath this light, a line of excited Hillary Clinton supporters stretches from a Secret Service screening area toward […]
2008 Elections
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In Other News
ACTIVIST GROUP Oregon Action plans to present a petition to Police Chief Rosie Sizer next Monday, May 19, signed by more than 600 “concerned community members” who think the police bureau has been too slow to take action on racial profiling. The presentation of the petition will mark the two-year anniversary of the first listening […]
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Unhappy Campers
Homeless Protest Continues, Politicos Take Notice
OVER THE PAST two weeks, a makeshift homeless encampment has been growing in front of city hall. Kicking off on Friday, April 25, a few men and women who’d been “swept” out from under the Burnside Bridge—where they usually slept—set up camp on the sidewalk, against city hall’s cement balustrade. They gathered there to protest […]
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Ballot Boxing
For a guy who wants to take over city hall’s third-floor mayor’s office—and who wants to assign bureaus, oversee the city budget, run a few bureaus, and provide overall leadership for the city—Sho Dozono’s campaign has been woefully short on specifics. Until now. On May 2, the day ballots went out—and months after he started […]
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The Status Quo Can Suck It!
Our 2008 Primary Election Picks
WE’LL ADMIT IT. WE WANT CHANGE. It’s already a cliché in the 2008 election, but we want it anyway. The past several years have worn us out politically, and we’re aching for a revolution. We want dynamic new political leadership, people who are going to push a progressive agenda and restore credibility to our city, […]
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Still Fightin’
The Ralph Nader Interview
I knew I was going to interview him, but I wasn’t sure exactly when—his people were supposed to call and set up a time. When the phone rang Monday afternoon, I assumed it was them. “Hello, Andrew? This is Ralph Nader.” Well shit, there he was—gruff, grizzled, and ready to go. Almost as surprising as […]
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Fact Check
Scrutinizing the Candidates’ Junk Mail
If there’s one thing you can learn from this year’s truckload of campaign literature, it’s that candidates have a knack for saying a whole lot of nothing. In case you haven’t been to your mailbox lately, a landslide of fliers have been arriving at your home for the past week, as candidates try to grab […]
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Bait and Switch
Voters Are Lining up to Register as Democrats—But Will They Stick
Lindsey was one of the rare ones. “I feel like a tool,” she said after switching her party affiliation from “nonaffiliated” to Democrat in order to vote for Barack Obama in Oregon’s May 20 primary. “I like to think of myself as a radical. Am I getting old? I just want Barack to win.” After […]
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Stop Payment
John Branam Ordered to Quit Paying Manager
After weeks of digging into city council candidate John Branam’s campaign finance records, Auditor Gary Blackmer determined that the $20,000 Branam paid Campaign Manager Phil Busse did not violate public financing rules that prohibit paying someone a wage that exceeds “fair market value.” But if Branam were to pay Busse another penny, it would be […]
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Hall Monitor
Decisions, Decisions
Mayoral candidate Sho Dozono landed in hot water during an April 21 KGW-Oregonian televised debate, when opponent Sam Adams pointed out that Dozono “would have the city join the Joint Terrorism Task Force [JTTF].” If you weren’t paying attention when Mayor Tom Potter led the ballsy 2005 effort to yank Portland cops from the anti-terrorism […]
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Over the Top
Sam Adams and Sho Dozono Wrestle on the Issues
CITY COMMISSIONER—and mayoral candidate—Sam Adams spent the first warm, sunny day of the year going door to door, asking for votes. “Ballots go out in three weeks and the election is May 20,” says Adams, chatting with a man holding a garage sale on N Rosa Parks Way last Saturday, April 12. “I’d be honored […]