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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2012)
street roots 3 April 1, 2012 P H O T O C O U T E S Y O F T H O S E A B O U T T O BE IN C H A R G E Do any of these people look fam iliar to you? Street Roots talks with Mayoral candidate contenders for the City o f Portland — asking them views o f everything that’s already been asked before. S treet Roots: How do you feel about the arts? unions. Bride-building unions are a real good thing for Portland. J efferson Smith: I love democracy. community. I’m not so sure the business community loves me. I know the Portland Business Alliance would soil themselves if I became mayor. Other than that, jobs, and more jobs. Really, it’s all about jobs. E ileen Brady: You know the thing about unions is that I love unions. Yes to unions. S treet Roots: How can we fix government? S treet Roots: I f you are elected mayor, how will you support housing? Jefferso n Sm ith: Government means E ileen Brady: My grandmother loved the arts. I love the arts. The arts equal jobs. Yes to the arts. J efferso n Sm ith: In a democracy, there has J efferso n Sm ith: Think about this for a to be art and I’m pro-democracy. Think about moment — a house of democracy. Yes to alt o f t h e g r e a t a r tis ts th a t h a v e ca p tu red h o u s in g a d e m o c r a c y . W e a r e ta lk in g a b o u t democracy over the years. Art and democracy are fine tools for government. democracy, right? E ileen Brady: My family loves government. E ileen Brady: My mother was a housing Charlie H ales: If you think about it, I’m old I love government. I’ve been trying to get into government for years. Yes to government. advocate. I love housing. Yes to housing. Charlie H ales: I’ve made a lot of money in enough to be art. I love myself. I love art. What was the question again? Charlie H ales: When I lived in Washington I S treet Roots: Will you support a bike friendly agenda in Portland? thought a lot about housing in Oregon. All I can say is that I’m glad I kept my house in Oregon or I might be running for office in Washington (chuckle). I love Portland so much. J efferso n Sm ith: In a democracy, there will be cycling and I’m very pro-democracy. Think about democracy like spokes in a wheel. You have to have a democracy to make the wheels turn. democracy. I like to think of it as getting on a bus. And then riding that bus around Portland and Oregon and then getting people to vote, for, well, me. God, I am in love with democracy. S treet Roots: How will you work with business to ensure Portland’s stays a competitive West Coast city? the private sector and I’ve spent even more while working in government. Yes to government. S treet Roots: When Portlanders go to the ballot this May, why should they vote for you as mayor? E ileen Brady: My family loves Portland. I love my family. Yes to Portland. Yes to me. Charlie H ales: I’m all business, all of the Charlie H ales: Baking is great. It creates jobs and food, which are both good for business. I’m working on a sustainable baking program now. We need more green baking. E ilee n Brady: My family loves to cycle. I love to cycle, especially on the Esplanade. Yes to cycling. S treet Roots: How will you support unions? time. I am a walking business. Business to me means business, jobs, kids, healthy kids, and business. Jobs and business, business and jobs, lots and lots of jobs. E ileen Brady: I bet you didn’t know I’m the co-founder of New Seasons. My family loves business. I love business. Business equals jobs and more jobs. So many jobs. Jobs for your neighbors, and brothers and sisters too. Yes to jobs. Yes to business. Charlie H ales: Unions mean bridges and bridges mean jobs and jobs mean happy Jefferson Smith: In a democracy you get to vote. I get to vote, even though I haven’t always voted. That’s the thing about a democracy, you can also choose not to vote. I was so busy studying democracy (chuckle), I forgot to vote. Vote in a democracy, for me. Charlie H ales: When you ask the question about baking in Portland. I thought was a weird question. But then I thought maybe you said biking. The point is, vote for me. I love both baking and biking in Portland. Jefferson Smith: I love the business Plans scrapped: New 30-year strategic plan in the works BY LOVE TRAIN S T A F F IN F E C T E D umors have been circulating that the next mayor of Portland will come out in support of a new citywide plan to lead the city into the next 30 years. Current Mayor Sam Adams dumped former Mayor Tom Potter’s “Vision PDX, a 30-year strategic plan for the city, for a new and improved 30-year plan called The Portland Plan.” “Together, both plans took around 26,000 hours of community service, and cost the city a shit-ton of money,” says one campaign manager. “We think we can do it better. “Our goal is to reach out to community R organizations and foundations and to help build a plan to last,” another insider says. “The first two plans really didn’t ask the right people, or questions. It wasn’t developed with the next mayor’s vision. We believe it needs to be even more equitable and visionary. It’s very possible that it will take another 30 years to implement the next plan and that may even be optimistic. But if we listen, and plan, and plan to listen and get everyone around the table, we think we can do it. Create a plan that is. There’s a lot of white people that care about this in the community.” This reporter asked several Portlanders in East Portland at bus stops without sidewalks about the plans, and most people didn’t even realize there was a plan. “My feet are wet, man. I don’t know about any plans,” said one man. Another woman said it’s really hard for her to plan, but, she said, “You’ve got to do it. I had planned on getting a cup of coffee this morning, but forgot my purse. I didn’t plan on that.” Plans are currently being drawn up to create another breakthrough plan, this time planning in scarcity instead of abundance, knowing that the federal government really doesn’t have a plan either. Staffers with the current mayor’s office were thought to be reaching out to staffers at the formers mayor’s office for advice on how to deal with the fact that they spent four years on a plan that isn’t going to plan itself. Mayoral candidates scoffed at the idea that they would be put in the same position, saying they’ve already planned for this, and will again. Consulting firms around the city, and especially ones outside the city say that as long as plans were being developed, business would remain strong. “We’re still planning on it.”
