Charlie Hales Defends His Effectiveness and Accomplishments
Friday, September 11, 2015
Charlie Hales; via Charlie Hales Facebook page
Throughout his speech, Wheeler returned to his promise of “real progress” and said he would find a way to repair the “basic” problems the city has struggled with during Hales’ term.
“Do we want to hear another politician say, ‘please give me more time’ or do we want to make real progress now,” Wheeler asked the crowd. “We can lead. We can have action. And we will finally have the city government Portland deserves.”
Hales begs to differ. Shortly after Wheeler’s speech, Hales released a statement refuting Wheeler’s claims of ineffectiveness.
“In just 3 ½ years we've taken the city budget from a record $21 million budget hole to being $49 million in the black,” the statement read in part. “We've invested the money in transportation, affordable housing, parks and youth. Unemployment is down to 4.8% and Forbes magazine just named Portland one of the best cities in America for business and career opportunity.”
Experts Weigh In
Jim Moore, Director of the Tom McCall Center for Policy Innovation at Pacific University, said he thought Hales has shown himself to be a fairly productive Mayor.
“Hales, I think, has been effective,” Moores aid. “Granted, he set high expectations for himself, so I think that’s where some of the criticism come from.”
Moore referenced Hales progress in improving conditions for the city’s cyclists and commuters, and implementing police reforms.
“There really aren’t any big things for him to point to with transportation, but he didn’t have big plans to change what services were offered,” Moore said. “He wanted take what Portland already does and do it better. So far, the services appear to be better than they were before Hales took office.”
Moore said the biggest example of effectiveness Hales can point to is the changes in the homelessness issue.
While Moore acknowledged that the sitting Mayor has not come up with a “total solution” to the issue, he said that Dignity Village, a homeless housing camp established by the City of Portland, has had a major effect on homelessness in the city.
“Dignity Village was a big step forward,” Moore said. “It gives the homeless a place to go and not just be on the streets...It may not fix the problem entirely, but it’s made the situation better. Before that, there were protests in front of City Hall, and it was really an ugly issue.”
Ted Wheeler
Proving Himself
Ted Wheeler
Hales will look to show the benchmarks and goals he set for himself and how he has met them in order to demonstrate his effectiveness. That may not be enough, however.
“He’s been a pretty good process manager, and he’s been pretty good at getting things done,” Moore said. “What he doesn’t have is a signature accomplishment that he can point to and say ‘look what I did.’”
Instead, Moore said the best way for Hales to show his effectiveness would be to gain endorsements from well-known federal officials, local activists and others who carry weight with the people of Portland.
“He’ll need some other people to say ‘Charlie Hales got us from point A to point B, and I want him to take us to point C,” he said. “They can say they trust him to get things done.”
Related Slideshow: Charlie Hales’s Top 15 Donors
Portland's mayoral election is still over a year away, but that hasn't stopped incumbent mayor Charlie Hales from launching his campaign. Thus far, Hales has raised over $88,000 in donations from more than 60 donors, whose contributions have ranged from $100 to $5,000 each. Using state campaign finance records, GoLocalPDX compiled a list of Hale's 15 biggest donors, many of which are major power players in Portland's development industry.
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