City Council Race Beginning To Heat Up This Summer

Friday, June 12, 2015

GoLocalPDX News Team

Amanda Fritz has indicated she will seek re-election.

In 1992, a young upstart candidate named Charlie Hales dared to buck the Portland establishment and challenged then-City Commissioner Dick Bogle. He won. In the over two decades since, nearly 60 candidates have taken on the challenge of trying to topple an incumbent on the Portland City Council. To date, none have succeeded. Winning an open seat on council is in itself a feat; running against an incumbent is near impossible. Yet, that doesn’t seem to discourage the politically ambitious in Portland.

Every two years a crop of candidates arises to face the seemingly insurmountable challenge. Two years ago, the most serious challenge in recent history seemed to be likely. Then State Representative Mary Nolan faced one term incumbent City Commissioner Amanda Fritz. Nolan had served in the Oregon Legislature since 2001, rising to position of House Majority Leader. Fritz eschewed traditional fundraising, surprising everyone by ultimately loaning her campaign the bulk of funds necessary to win.

Nolan’s decision to run against Fritz may have seemed like a wise political choice. Fritz won her seat using public financing, which had since lapsed. She seemed to have disdain for fundraising. The same year, then-Commissioner Randy Leonard announced that he would retire at term’s end. Leonard’s decision caught many in the political world and the public off guard, but not Steve Novick. Leonard had given Novick some weeks’ notice, so he was able to quietly start organizing a campaign to launch as soon as Leonard made his announcement public. Novick faced token opposition normally afforded to incumbents. Some insiders thought Nolan should have run for that position, yet her political base and Novick’s would have been too similar.

Commissioner Fritz narrowly outpaced Nolan in the primary yet with three other opponents in that race, it is notable that nearly 55% of Portland voters voted against the incumbent. During that race, nearly 20,000 additional voters returned a ballot but did not vote in this race. In the fall election, which was a presidential election, which both increases and significantly changes the electorate. Fritz went on to win by a wide margin, despite being outspent.

Next year’s races seem to be shaping up as rather ho-hum by comparison, but that could easily change. Fritz will seek re-election again despite previously announcing she didn’t intend to serve more than two terms. She lost her husband in a car crash last year, an incident that seems to have encouraged her to double down on her commitment to community. Thus far, she has not drawn opposition.

Novick, on the other hand, has drawn an early opponent. It is a surprise that his opposition is from the left and not the right. In announcing a plan to raise revenue to fixed Portland’s aging streets, Novick asserted "If the voters are really mad at us, we're both up for re-election in 2016. They can throw us out." His comments were made standing with the Mayor, who did not seem to share his élan for challenging the electorate. Novick also launched a crusade against Uber, the ride-sharing service, only to change course and support the pilot project that allows them to operate now. Both of these scenarios have earned Novick cheers and jeers. While his accomplishments in his first term are limited, that is not uncommon in City Hall and he seems poised to be even more of a power player in a new term.

The only candidate to officially surface thus far, Nicholas Caleb, seems to face long odds, yet he is not dissuaded. Caleb is an attorney and professor. He launched a last minute bid against Commissioner Dan Saltzman in 2014, earning just under 20% of the vote, despite limiting contributions. Though there is a state preemption on local minimum wages, Caleb ran on a platform to raise Portland’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, becoming the first candidate locally to champion the issue that has become the cause of the year in 2015. Caleb is humble about his role in igniting that conversation here, citing a national push and the success of Kshama Sawant, a Socialist who won a seat on the Seattle City Council in 2013.

This year, Caleb has continued to beat the drum while legislators in Salem consider legislation to remove the local preemption, something he can only assume as a huge victory in his ongoing battle. Caleb has used his candidacy this time around to highlight environmentalists concerns with a propane pipeline and terminal on the Columbia River. When asked about his advocacy, which seems to thwart the establishment, Caleb said he will “fight for protections for Portlanders in a way that City Hall has failed to do in recent years.”

Potential candidate Charles McGee, founder of the non-profit The Black Parent Initiative, is also seriously mulling a run. McGee, a native of Liberia, has lived in Portland since he was five years old. His potential candidacy seems to have sent a ripple of excitement through the progressive community. While openly discussing a run, McGee hasn’t indicated whether he would run against Commissioner Fritz or Novick.

When asked about what would prevent him from running, McGee repeatedly cited family and the importance of his decision being one made jointly with his family. When he uses the term “we” in talking about his decision, you immediately know it’s not the royal we but a deeply devoted family man. As to the long odds, McGee only said, “for folks like me, nothing ever comes easy,” adding that it would be worth it because “we are searching for the soul of our city and at a true turning point.”

Both McGee and Caleb seem unfazed at the challenge they are up against. Each cited other leaders who faced long odds. For McGee it was President Barack Obama and for Caleb is was Senator, and presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders. Each faced insurmountable odds to earn their positions.

As for this race, one former candidate advises that would be candidates to have a solid campaign plan and to know where they are going to get the votes to win. While policy issues, rallies and relationships are important, having a technical plan to ensure you are reaching out to the right voters will be key to success.

Related Slideshow: Slideshow: 10 Ideas to Help Fix Portland City Hall

GoLocalPDX spoke with over a dozen longtime Portland political experts who have worked inside and outside City Hall, and asked them what could be done to fix politics downtown. Here are some of their ideas.

Prev Next

10

Admit There's a Problem

The first step to fixing a problem is admitting that it exists. The Mayor and City Council don't have to publicly say they are off track, but beginning to accept that things could be better if there were more cooperation would be the first step in making improvements.

Prev Next

9

Strong Mayor

Short of a major shift in political sentiment, Portland probably isn't going to get a political system in which a mayor or city manager runs the entire administration.

That said, the city still needs to be led by a mayor who is both a strong-willed leader and someone who works consistently to bring others over to the mayor's side of the issue.

Prev Next

8

Executive Sessions

Some have said that if City Hall used Oregon's executive session rules more often, relations with the city's press corps might change.

Executive session rules allow reporters to sit in on meetings with public officials but prohibits them from asking questions or directly using the information from the meeting in a story. Some feel if commissioners invited more reporters into executive session meetings, barriers between the press and City Hall might come down.

Prev Next

7

Breakfasts, Lunches or Cocktails

Some say there is not enough socializing between members of the Council when they are not on duty. Some commissioners meet with one another for informal breakfast meetings. But there is not much mingling after that.

Because Portland's commissioner system is so heavily based on relationship-building, getting together a little more to socialize as colleagues a might not hurt.

Prev Next

6

Play Small Ball

Rebuilding trust is best done in small steps. Commissioners could try finding common cause on smaller issues first.

Prev Next

5

Build a Coalition

The reality is if you can get three votes on the Council you can get things done. It's been a long time since there was a governing coalition at City Hall. Building one would be the short path to getting things done in a hurry. An alliance between Novick, Hales and Saltzman might be the most likely option, but even that seems like a longshot at the moment.

Prev Next

4

Cut Deals

Put ideology aside for a moment and get back to business. In the end, delivering services to voters is what counts. Make a deal and move on.

Prev Next

3

Work Sessions

"Work sessions" are city council sessions in which no public testimony is taken and no votes take place. The council essentially meets and works on issues in public. Work sessions don't happen very often these days. But they might be a useful tool to get commissioners back together in the same room and working alongside each other when major votes and the pressure of public presenations aren't hanging over their heads.

Prev Next

2

Work the Second Floor Night and Day

The Mayor, and all the commissioners for that matter, should be campaigning for their ideas at all times. The Mayor and commissioners should be working one another all the time to build support for their own agendas. For City Hall to work, the Mayor and commissioners have to be more engaged with one another, and that often starts with simply walking down the hall.

Prev Next

1

An Inspiring Agenda

Portlanders love to love Portland. Mayor Hales has taken up an agenda of refocusing city government on basic services. He's made some admirable progress there. But it's a slate gray agenda to stump for day in and day out. While Hales doesn't need to embrace frivolous ideas, picking up a colorful project that will make Portlanders feel good about their city helps rally the troops when times get tough--which is most of the time.