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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2004)
aprii 16.2004 ' f^HïTTTFTRTïnews F ighting C ity H all Two gay men oppose Commissioner Randy Leonard by M ichael Burdick wo gay men are among the 11 candidates I • vying for the seat occu pied hy Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard. Frank Dixon and Aaron Hall are Portland natives who talk about creating a better working rela tionship between City Hall and neighborhood associations and helping small businesses in order to create jobs. Both express dissatisfac tion with Leonards performance, saying his thuggish management style hinders his ability to conduct the city’s business successfully. Aaron Hall recently married his Aaron Hall (left, with spouse Edmund Gaines) wants to partner of seven years, Edmund streamline small-business regulations Gaines, in the first few days Mult nomah County issued licenses to same-sex couples. entering politics. He was once an assistant to After joining the Navy as a young adult, where he Commissioner Dan Saltzman, and this is his sec trained as an electrical engineer and worked as a ond bid for elected office. power plant operator, he attended architecture Dixon explains how he and five other candi school. He returned to Portland with Gaines a year dates have employed a novel grassroots approach ago after completing his architectural internship in in their efforts to secure better leadership on the Baltimore and Philadelphia. council: “T he question was, would we just sit back In explaining why he decided to run for City and let [Leonard] have another term unopposed? NobcxJy was stepping forward really to run against Council, Hall says: “I’ve always been interested him. So a number of us.. .decided to run against in city government, the planning department, him. The idea is to give Portland voters a choice. [Portland Development Commission], all the If we’re able to prevent him from getting 50 per bureaus in the city o f Portland.... I actually cent plus one of the vote in the primary, then we’ll hadn’t planned on pursuing it quite so soon, but sort of coalesce behind the person besides him seeing Randy Leonard mess up so much— to be blunt, he’s really screwed up a lot lately.” who makes it in the race, assuming of course that According to Hall, Leonard creates a dysfunc Randy Leonard doesn’t end up third.” tional working environment. “His demeanor is Although Hall is a neighborhood advocate, very abrasive. People that work for him are afraid he has not been involved with this concerted for their jobs basically because you never know effort to unseat Leonard. T h e incumbent enters when he’s going to go off. He’s like a loose cannon.” the race with a big advantage because he has As an active member of the Beaumont- raised substantially more money— largely from Wilshire Neighborhood Association, Hall has developers and the firefighters union— than any experienced firsthand the frustration of trying to of his opponents. work with Leonard. He says neighborh<xxJ rep Dixon disagrees with Leonard’s votes that in resentatives are “fed up with [Leonard’s] in his view benefit developers at neighborhoods’ action and his not listening to the communities expense. Dixon also believes Leonard’s ideas in the city. There are 95 neighborhoods in the about how to fulfill Portland’s transportation city, and they all have different priorities and needs are overly focused on cars. needs. Randy’s just basically blowing them off.” But Dixon’s greatest concern is not with ideol Another thing Hall finds troubling is how ogy or policy but with Leonard’s management much money Leonard has received from develop style. “In Portland we have a tradition of doing ers in campaign contributions “and his votes while things together, and his method is to try to go it he’s been in City Council the last 18 months sup alone. That causes problems that are usually greater than the individual problem that he is try porting these developers.” Leonard cast some of these votes, Hall says, despite vocal opposition ing to solve.” Dixon acknowledges Leonard’s heart may be in from neighborhcxxl advocates. the right place but thinks that’s not enough. If elected, Hall would make helping small “There’s no question that he has some good inten businesses a priority. “O n e o f the things 1 want tions. . .but a commissioner is to do is streamline regulations.” an executive. He is the top Hall believes Portland’s repu manager of the bureaus he’s tation for being unfriendly to assigned. That takes leader small businesses— which employ ship and management skills 77 percent of those who work in that are essential to make the the area— perseveres because city work. I’m sorry to say that the companies are ovcrregulated we are not seeing them.” j H and are subject to onerous taxes and fees. “W e need to make it For more information about simple. W hat I’m propping is a A aron H all and F rank one-stop shop where businesses D ixon visit can go in and get all the permits ivwuj.hall4dtyhall.com and they need.” www. dixm4council. com . Frank Dixon is president of the Northwest District Associ- M ichael B urdick is a ation and co-chairman of Basic Rights Oregon. He attended Frank Dixon believes Randy recent graduate o f Reed Lewis & Clark Law School and Leonard’s votes benefit developers College. 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