A working person’s guide to the Portland mayor’s race
B Y DON M C INTOSH
A SSOCIATE E DITOR
In the May 2012 primary, all three
leading candidates for Portland mayor
have some labor union backing, re-
flecting the diversity of the union
movement — and the differing
strengths of each candidate.
To help union readers make an in-
formed choice, the Labor Press inter-
viewed each candidate, talked to union
political coordinators about the reasons
for their endorsements, and reviewed
candidates’ answers to a questionnaire
from the Northwest Oregon Labor
Council (NOLC). [NOLC interviewed
the candidates, but didn’t endorse be-
cause no one candidate had support
from the necessary two-thirds of dele-
gates.]
Portland’s City government pro-
vides police, fire, water, sewer service,
as well as roads, parks, 911 service, and
zoning, planning, and permitting de-
velopment. Under its unusual commis-
sion form of government, the mayor
and the other four members of City
Council are put in charge of certain city
bureaus. The mayor chairs council
meetings, proposes the overall budget,
and decides which bureaus go to which
commissioner.
Ballots in the non-partisan race are
due May 15, and it’s likely the top two
vote-getters will face off in the Novem-
ber election. To win outright, a candi-
date has to receive a majority vote (50
percent plus one).
The names of 23 candidates will ap-
pear on the ballot, but only three con-
tenders have union backing: Eileen
Brady, Charlie Hales, and Jefferson
Smith.
Businesswoman Eileen Brady is en-
dorsed by the Columbia-Pacific Build-
ing Trades Council, and by Bricklayers
Local 1, International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers Local 48, Operating
Engineers Local 701, and Sheet Metal
Workers Local 16.
Of the three leading candidates,
she’s the most ardent supporter of the
Columbia River Crossing — the pro-
posed two-state transportation project
that includes a new I-5 bridge and light
rail between Portland and Vancouver,
plus upgrades to six nearby highway
interchanges. And more than other can-
didates, she has pledged as mayor to
focus on private sector job growth.
“The biggest problem we face right
now is the need for jobs,” says Local 48
political coordinator Joe Esmonde.
“Portland needs to attract business, and
she can speak the same language as the
business people.”
Brady is best known for her associ-
ation with New Seasons grocery chain,
though there’s been some dispute about
the extent to which she was a “co-
E ILEEN B RADY
C HARLIE HALES
J EFFERSON S MITH
founder” alongside her husband Brian
Rohter and two other investors. Brady
says she’s proud that New Seasons pro-
vides health insurance to even part-time
workers and their families. In 2007 and
2008, Brady served as vice chair of the
Oregon Health Fund Board — which
met to work out details of a proposed
health insurance reform. She’s cur-
rently board chair of Chinook Book.
Former Portland City Commis-
sioner Charlie Hales has the endorse-
ment of Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 757, Teamsters Joint Council 37,
and United Food and Commercial
Workers Local 555. They like the fact
that he’s been in City Council before,
and has a working knowledge of city
transportation and land use policy.
“He has a better grasp of the poli-
cies of the city as it relates to urban
planning,” says Local 555 Secretary-
Treasurer Jeff Anderson. That’s impor-
tant to Local 555 because it represents
grocery workers whose jobs are under
threat from expansion plans by
nonunion Walmart. Hales also has been
a big proponent of light rail and street
cars, and had a hand in major urban re-
newal developments during his time on
City Council from 1993 to 2002. Hales
resigned half-way through his third
term on City Council to take a job with
an engineering firm promoting street
car development in other cities.
Oregon State Rep. Jefferson Smith
is endorsed by AFSCME Local 189
and 328, as well as Oregon AFSCME
Council 75, Communications Workers
of America Local 7901, Portland Asso-
ciation of Teachers, Portland Fire
Fighters, and the Portland Police Asso-
ciation. They credit his solid pro-union
record during two two-year terms in the
Oregon Legislature. He’s also founder
of the Oregon Bus Project, which gets
young people involved helping to elect
progressive candidates to the Legisla-
ture.
“Smith actually understands work-
ers’ issues,” says Local 189 PAC Chair
Mark Gipson. “We speak the same lan-
guage.”
UFCW asked Brady to support a
commitment to card check neutrality at
New Seasons. She demurred, saying
she is no longer associated with the
company and has no say.
None of the three candidates has
ever been a union member. Brady had a
role developing HR policies at non-
union New Seasons. Hales put himself
through college working nonunion as a
framer on apartment construction in
Virginia; he later owned a nonunion
construction business. Smith briefly
practiced law before going to work full
time directing the Bus Project. But all
three say they support workers’ rights
to unionize without interference or co-
ercion from employers, and they
pledge to publicly challenge employers
who interfere with workers rights to
unionize.
Other areas of agreement:
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
MAY 4, 2012