In February, City Commissioner Sam Adams’ ambitious plan to patch up Portland’s streets got him into an arm-wrestling match with a lobbyist and Mayor Tom Potter, temporarily sinking the proposal. But Adams’ aim to fix the roads is making a comeback—and he’s got a two-prong attack. For starters, he’s asking for $7 million in one-time […]
politics
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Hall Monitor
Payday
February 28 was Phil Busse‘s lucky day. That’s the day that the John Branam campaign for city council cut him a check for $15,000, for Busse’s work as campaign manager. (March 6 and March 14 were also good days for Busse, the Mercury‘s former managing editor. He picked up another $1,000 on each, and says […]
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Polling Weight
Will Dozono Lose Public Financing?
A POLL CONDUCTED last December—one that Sho Dozono got a peek at before he jumped into the city’s public financing program on January 7—is like a can of Diet Pepsi, attorney Christy Monson (representing the city auditor) argued during an all-day hearing in Tualatin on Monday, March 17. Using the empty soda can as a […]
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Bridge to Disaster
A Proposed New 12-Lane Bridge over the Columbia River Will Cost $4.2 Billion, Increase Traffic, and Do Little to Alleviate Climate Change. What the Hell Are We Thinking?
A man driving a gray Toyota pickup truck seems frantic; veering in and out of lanes trying to pass other traffic on the Interstate Bridge. His furtive moves don’t do him much good—moments later, as we crest the green steel bridge headed south into Portland, we’re greeted with flickering brake lights. Traffic slows to a […]
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Ready, Set, Run!
City Candidate Field Settles Down
The primary election is a little over two months away, and we finally have a sense of everyone who will be in the race. Tuesday evening, March 11, was the filing deadline for those wanting to be on the May 20 ballot. Candidates have until Friday afternoon, March 14, to withdraw from the race, and […]
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Hall Monitor
“I just believe in fairness, and fair is fair. It is exceedingly unfair to change the rules for an election during the election.” That was City Commissioner Randy Leonard during a January 9 city council meeting, when the council was discussing a special election to replace outgoing Commissioner Erik Sten. At issue? Whether to craft […]
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Hall Monitor
Budget Bust
You know that feeling when you reach for your wallet, go for that $20 you’re sure is in there, and discover that you’ve only got a fiver after—oh, right, you forgot—going out the night before? That’s pretty much how the city council’s feeling lately. The commissioners have split into teams to dig through bureaus’ budget […]
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Here We Poll Again
After two weeks of devoting this space to Sho Dozono’s $27,295 poll problem, I’d hoped to turn my attention to what the current city council has been up to. Not a whole lot, it turns out. Commissioner Sam Adams is bringing a resolution to the council on Wednesday, February 27, buying his staff more time […]
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Polemic Poll
by Amy J. Ruiz
Mayoral candidate Sho Dozono tried to clear the air last week after a December poll about the mayor’s race had raised a stink. As of last Thursday, February 14, the Dozono campaign hadn’t reported the poll as a campaign contribution. Dozono’s campaign manager, Amie Abbott, released a statement late on Friday afternoon: “Sho determined that […]
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In Other News…
CAMPAIGN SMEAR An anonymous IRS complaint alleging tax fraud landed on the Mercury news desk last week, alleging that city council candidate Charles Lewis “has expolited [sic] the work of Ethos Music Center, a nonprofit organization which he founded and directs, for the promotion of his bid for elected office.” The supposed evidence? A November […]
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Domestic Problems
Oregon’s Domestic Partnership Law Runs into Murky Waters
When Sally Sparks and her partner, Heather Dugas, registered as domestic partners at the Multnomah County Building the day the new state law took effect on February 4, Sparks was overdue with their second child. “It was a good feeling that [the law] went through and we were going to walk into the hospital as […]
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Reviewing the Review
Leonard Pushes Mayor on Cop Review Report
City Commissioner Randy Leonard is throwing stones at Mayor Tom Potter over the credibility of an independent consultant’s report released last month, which said the community doesn’t trust the city’s Independent Police Review (IPR). The report, by Arizona-based consultant Eileen Luna-Firebaugh, came back to the mayor’s office on January 24 and will be presented to […]