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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2006)
11, JUStpUt FEBRUARY 1 7. UM "So, the one night stand worked?” northwest « Progressives Face Off Portlanders choose between candidates with records of support for queers by Jaymee R. Cuti "Maybe it’s time to get that bigger place...? Kim Trip, Realty Trust 503.416.2017 bup://wtww.iYali\flnMl.c0m/kimlrip 5902 NE Sanfy Blvd Port land E DAVIS AUTOMOTIVE member of the No on 36 endorsement committee. “I’m going to keep “We are denying a fundamental right to a seg making mistakes,” he ment of our population that is no different from the said. “If you want rest of us except in whom they love,” Burdick said. someone that doesn’t Sten has supported the domestic partnership make mistakes, they’re registry, co-sponsored the Equal Benefits Ordinance not going to change and funded the startup study for Q Center through anything.” the housing bureau. Within hours of waking, he He has since made headway in a variety of arrived at the Multnomah Building to greet and support hundreds of same-sex couples lined up to policies in line with his progressive values. get married in March 2004. “I wanted to congratulate people and feel the His publicly funded love in the air,” he said. “I also wanted to show elections project is a political solidarity and lend whatever help my hot-button issue. presence in office delivers.” According to Sten, Today, Sten sees his work with homeless publicly funded elec tions—where candi communities as assisting many queer youth, who dates who raise $5 from are disproportionately represented among the homeless. 1,000 different people Burdick’s campaign is plagued by the appear qualify to receive up to $350,000 in matching ance of a conflict of interest. She is a public rela tions specialist with Gard &. Gerber, a firm that funds—keep candi represents PGE and opposes Sten’s publicly dates’ integrity intact. financed city elections. “It allows anyone to Burdick says her record will stand up to scruti run without selling ny. As a senator, she voted for the bill to prevent their soul or their Erik Sten is defending his seat on the Portland City Council. vote,” he said. PGE from collecting taxes it didn’t pay and sup As a senator, Burdick has walked an extremely ports investigating PGE’s perceived tax scandal. rik Sten was once the young idealist on the liberal line, racking up wins in the arenas of gun She is also declining donations from the corpora Portland City Council. Today, he says his tion or any of its officers. values are in the majority, with the addi control, pedestrian and bicycle safety and drug To Sten, Burdick’s connections to PGE still tions of tireless, openly gay Commissioner abuse by co-authoring the Methamphetamine smell fishy. Sam Adams and left-leaning Mayor Tom Package. Both candidates come with a measurable record “The fact that she’s trying to distance herself Potter. from her clients should tell you something,” he “In my first term, I’d find policies weren’t pro of supporting the sexual minorities community, and both are supporters of same-sex marriage. They also said. “Her employer is being paid by PGE to fight gressive enough,” Sten said. “This time the council attest to a desire to help Adams in requiring that voter-owned elections. That fight is the center is in the same place I am, and I’m trying to make piece of her campaign, but she’s not taking money our strategies more solid and defensible. It’s a won city contractors provide equal benefits for same-sex partners. from them. That kind of tightrope walking is the derful change of roles.” very thing voters are sick of.” © Burdick voted for Senate Bill 1000, the state’s But just as Sten is finding his stride, his seat is failed anti-discrimination legislation, and testified being challenged by state Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, who also brings years of experience against Oregon’s Defense of Marriage Act bill in For more information about the candidates, visit 1997. She donates to both Basic Rights Oregon and and a strong record for liberal politics. wwuj.ginnyburdickforportland.com and the Human Rights Campaign and was an outspoken Sten and his staff are working with the mayor’s www.erikforportland com. office on the new school funding plan and ways to make it more fair to small-business owners. Other pet projects are the controversial publicly financed elections; a lQ,-year plan to irradiate chronic home lessness, which has seen success in its first year; and the creation of a publicly owned utility company through the city’s acquisition of Portland General Electric. “We’re in the middle of stime battles that I’m a key part of winning,” said Sten. But his opponent says Sten is distracted from the core issues of running the city. If elected, Burdick says she’ll focus on fiscal management of city bureaus with a particularly interest in the methamphetamine crisis, job creation and public safety. “Erik has not only lost his sense of priority, but he’s had a record of failure,” said Burdick. Sten continues to get guff for some amateur blunders such as his role in purchasing a flawed water billing system that cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Ginny Burdick has made a commitment to sexual minority causes. Mechanics that fix everything. Including your conscience. 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