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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2011)
8 street roots O ct 14, 2011 The challenger Mary Nolan, the only candidate challenging an incumbent in City Hall, wants to bring Oregon’s cultural and commercial hub into focus BY AMANDA WALDROUPE . STAFF WRITER regon Rep. Mary Nolan has been a name in politics for more than a decade down in Salem. Now she’s hoping to bend a few ears at City Hall. Nolan is in the race to unseat City Commissioner Amanda Fritz. Nolan was first elected to serve downtown and Southwest Portland in 2000. She held a variety of leadership roles, including cochairing the budget writing Ways and Means Committee, and as Democratic Caucus Leader and Speaker Pro-Tempore, the number two position to the Speaker of the House. Before serving in the Legislature, Nolan was CEO of AvroTec, an aviation supplies company in Hillsboro. She also worked as director of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services. Nolan attended Dartmouth College, majoring in mathematics. Her freshman H T irst y e a r D a r t m o u t h a d m it t e d women, and Nolan often was the only woman in her classes. “For the most part, it was a non-event,” she says. “I had one professor who clearly was unhappy that the college had decided to admit women. He would ask occasionally for the female interpretation of this theorem or that theorem. I was able to handle my own, but it was a bit awkward.” Those classroom experiences prepared Nolan, in some ways, for the professional world. Men still largely dominate the technical and engineering world, and there were many other times when Nolan found herself being the only woman in the room. “Being able to handle that with some aplomb is a very valuable skill,” she says. Amanda Waldroupe: Why are you running for City Council? Mary Nolan: The City Council needs to be more focused on providing efficient, respectful, and timely services that support our neighborhood livability, economic prosperity, and assure safety for all citizens. We’ve sort of become distracted over the PHO TO COURTESY O F last several years. A.W.: In what ways? M.N.: We’ve floated lots of ideas, and we end up spending energy, resources and good will studying them to death. The council and the entire city will benefit from people who not just have good ideas, but who have a mindset and skillset to bring them to conclusion. My background both in business and in the Legislature is all about bringing together people with diverse and sometimes contradictory interests ... that enable you to push people beyond what they want and develop solutions and negotiate deals that can be implemented and endure. A.W.: How come you don’t want to serve in the House of Representatives anymore? M.N.: I served there for six terms, or will have by the end of this term. I’m very proud and pleased to have that opportunity. But my heart is also with my hometown. I am at a place where I think the most value I can regional green building L WWW.BUILDGREEN411.COM 503 823 5431 çprFMHQTLINEQPORTLANDOREGON.' bring, to not just Portland, but Oregon,, is to be part of leading the state’s largest city and trade center back to economic vitality, and keep it focused on smart, forward thinking policies. . A.W.: W/ry are you challenging ' Commissioner Amanda Fritz, specifically? M.N.: Because I don’t think she can deliver as effectively as I can. A.W.: I f elected, what city bureaus would you like the mayor to assign to you? M.N.: It should not surprise you that I’m most interested in providing leadership for a heavily infrastructure portfolio of bureaus. . Transportation would be one, the Water Bureau would be another, and the Bureau of Environmental Services. The Parks Bureau I also consider to be an infrastructure- related bureau. Some combination of th a t See CHALLENGER, page 9 M A R Y N O L A N FO R P O R T L A N D C IT Y C O U N C IL
