NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | March 4 , 2016 | PAGE 3
POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS
Labor unions weigh in on May 17 primary races
NW Oregon Labor Council
backs Novick in Portland,
Schroeder in Multnomah Co.
Delegates to the Northwest Ore-
gon Labor Council issued en-
dorsements for the May 17 pri-
mary.
At the City of Portland, del-
egates endorsed commissioners
Steve Novick and Amanda Fritz
for re-election. The council took
no action in the mayoral race,
where 12 candidates have filed to
succeed Charlie Hales, who is
not running for re-election. The
top two contenders are state
Treasurer Ted Wheeler and Mult-
nomah County Commissioner
Jules Bailey. Wheeler is term-
limited from office and Bailey is
giving up his post to run.
In Multnomah County, five
candidates are running to suc-
ceed Bailey. All of them —
Brian Wilson, Eric Zimmerman,
Sharon Meieran, Mel Rader, and
Marisha Childs — are consid-
ered “strong” candidates for la-
bor, so no action was taken to
single out just one.
NOLC supports Jessica Vega
Pederson in District 3. The seat
is currently held by Judy
Shiprack, who is term-limited.
In District 4, delegates en-
dorsed union activist Amanda
Schroeder to succeed Diane
McKeel, who also is term lim-
ited. Lynn Lehrbach, a retired
union rep for Teamsters Joint
Council No. 37, had filed to run
for the seat, but has since with-
drawn. Schroeder is president of
the American Federation of
Government Employees and
serves on the Oregon AFL-CIO
Executive Board.
In Clackamas County, dele-
gates issued a “no endorsement”
for incumbent Chair John Lud-
low, as well as for District 4
Commissioner Tootie Smith. A
no endorsement means the
council will actively work to de-
feat the two Tea Party Republi-
cans. Two current Clackamas
County Commissioners — Paul
Savas and Jim Bernard — are
running against Ludlow for
chair. NOLC delegates consider
both men decent on labor issues,
so they stayed out of the race.
Neither Savas or Bernard will
lose their seat if they lose.
Tea Partier Smith faces two
opponents — Sandy Mayor Bill
King, and Ken Humbertson, a
retired probation officer who
serves on the Clackamas River
Water Board and the Clackamas
County Economic Development
Commission. Humbertson has
some union endorsements, but
NOLC decided to stay out of the
race for now. Delegates did en-
dorse incumbent Commissioner
Martha Schrader for Position 3.
Delegates endorsed a Clacka-
mas County Emergency Com-
munications bond measure, as
well as a Milwaukie Library
bond measure.
At Metro, the labor council
endorsed incumbents Sam
Chase in District 5 and Bob
Stacey in District 6.
In Columbia County,
NOLC supports Margaret Ma-
gruder for commissioner, Posi-
tion 1, and incumbent Commis-
sioner Tony Hyde for Position 3.
The Position 1 seat is an open
seat now held by Earl Fisher,
who is not seeking re-election.
In Washington County, del-
egates backed incumbent Dick
Schouten in District 1.
AFSCME Local 189 endorses
both Bailey and Wheeler for
Portland mayor
The American Federation of
State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME) Local
189, the union that represents
about 1,000 Portland city em-
ployees, has dual-endorsed Jules
Bailey and Ted Wheeler for
mayor in the May primary.
Twelve candidates have filed
for the open seat. If no candidate
receives 50 percent plus one
vote, the top two will advance to
the November general election.
“We are aware from their
track record in other positions
that both Bailey and Wheeler
have been great for working
people,” said Local 189 Presi-
dent Mark Gipson. “Neither one
has worked for the city directly
before, but both candidates have
been excellent with our fellow
AFSCME members in their
roles with Multnomah County
and in state government, and we
simply couldn’t zero in on one
or the other.
“It is a good ‘problem’ to
have,” Gipson added.
Local 189 also endorsed in-
cumbent city Commissioners
Amanda Fritz and Steve Novick.
“We are thrilled that Com-
missioner Fritz helped pass the
city’s family leave and sick
leave laws,” said Gipson.
“Commissioner Novick has al-
ways been accessible to hear our
concerns, and he has long been
a local supporter of working
people.”
AFSCME Local 88 endorses in
Multnomah County races
AFSCME Local 88, which rep-
resents about 3,500 workers at
Multnomah County, as well as
employees at Transition Projects
Inc. and Central City Concern,
has issued a series of commis-
sioner endorsements for the
May primary election.
Local 88 President Jason
Heilbrun, a senior business sys-
tems analyst for the county, an-
nounced the following endorse-
ments:
■ Multnomah Commission
Dist. 1: Dual endorsement for
Brian Wilson and Eric
Zimmerman.
■ Multnomah Commission
Dist. 3: Jessica Vega Pederson.
■ Multnomah Commission
Dist. 4: Amanda Schroeder.
“The dynamics of District 1
changed, in particular, when
Commissioner Jules Bailey an-
nounced his candidacy for
mayor in early January,” said
Heilbrun. “Given the short no-
tice and the presence of two can-
didates who really rose to the
top, we ultimately decided a
dual endorsement in that race
was the best option.”
Heilbrun said Schroeder has
strong labor roots as the presi-
dent of her federal government
employees local union when she
worked for the Veteran’s Ad-
ministration. Schroeder also is a
member of the Oregon AFL-
CIO Executive Board.
Local 88’s endorsement
process included a written ques-
tionnaire, an interview with the
union’s Political Action Com-
mittee and a candidate forum
with all candidates. Ultimately
proposed endorsements are de-
bated and voted on at a general
membership meeting. Heilbrun
notes all Local 88 endorsements
came by a two-thirds majority
vote.
Tim Probst gets early backing
from Washington AFL-CIO
The Washington State Labor
Council (WSLC) has endorsed
Tim Probst, Democratic candi-
date for State Senate in the 17th
District covering eastern Van-
couver and other parts of south-
west Clark County east of I-205.
The seat is currently held by
Republican Don Benton. He an-
nounced earlier this year that he
will not seek re-election.
Probst is the first candidate the
WSLC has recommended for the
2016 election cycle. It’s only the
third time in the labor federa-
tion’s history that it has endorsed
a candidate prior to its political
endorsement convention (to be
held May 21). The other candi-
dates receiving early support
were U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell
and former State Rep. Tami
Green.
But with the importance of
the 17th District, and an incum-
bent not running, the Southwest
Washington Central Labor
Council urged the WSLC to
take action at its February Exec-
utive Board meeting.
Earlier this year, Probst re-
ceived endorsements from
IBEW Local 48 and Vancouver
Fire Fighters Local 452.
Probst served two terms as a
state representative for the 17th
Legislative District. In 2012, he
gave up his seat to run against
Benton. He lost by 78 votes.