Page A3
A p ril 16. 2008
Red Hot Race Close to Home
Portland house district up for grabs
May 20
Primary
Reminders
by R aymond R endleman
The only candidate for House
T he P ortland O bserver
D istrict 45 w ho's not accepting
As Barack O bam a, H illary contributions from Political A c­
Clinton and John McCain duke it tion Com m ittees, Jon Coney has
out for the presidency, there’s an­ com m itted him self to schools,
other hot race closer to home.
healthcare, transportation im ­
Three northeast Port­
p ro v e m e n ts and
land Democrats are locked
environmental pro­
in a close race for the O r­
tection.
egon Legislature in House
Coney refers to
D istrict 45. All have
his "solid D em o­
strong campaigns by the
cratic credentials”
standard of a state race,
in the c am p aig n
and the ensuing competi­
and hopes to ad­
tion could make for a nail-
dress a broad spec­
biting finish when the
trum of needs by
votes are tallied in the May
se c u rin g la rg e r,
20 Primary vote-by-mail
m o re
re lia b le
eleetion.
so u rc e s o f sta te
The local activists have
funding.
a wide range of govern­
He feels w ell-
mental experience to help
positioned to make
define how they weigh in
a difference politi­
on the issues:
cally with his back­
ground as a former
Cyreena Boston
aide to former Gov.
The
y o u n g e st
Michael Dembrow
John Kitzhaber and
candidate’s age is decep­
current em ployee
tive. Cyreena Boston has already
with Metro regional government.
logged more than a dozen years
Coney says one o f his most
in northeast Portland as an advo­
powerful political observations
cate for health and education is-
cam e with the terrible tragedy of
sues.
the state budget crisis in the early
From taking on gang crim e by
2000s. Seeing O regon's current
knocking on doors with family
sources o f funding for public
and church groups to becoming a
services as too volatile, he ar­
health disparities equity-policy
gues for a state sales tax to spread
analyst for Multnomah County,
out the burden more evenly.
her em ergence as an African-
He says a stable funding of
American candidate came as a
state governm ent would give it
surprise to com m unity members
the ability to find solutions to
who h ad n 't seen com petitive m i­
problems on the most basic cause-
nority candidates for years.
and-effect level, arguing, for ex­
" I ’m the candidate that people
am ple, that " it’s not surprising to
have been w aiting for but d id n 't
see an increase in crim e when we
know would everexist,” she says.
see more reductions in drug or
Boston hopes to bring urgency
alcohol prevention.”
to issues in Salem affecting the
C alling transportation “a huge
diverse and underserved popu­
underpinning of our society,” Co­
lations in the neighborhoods near
ney considers it “ inexcusable”
her home.
that streets a re n 't paved in many
She emphasizes improvements
parts o f his district, including the
in healthcare and schools based
C u lly n eig h b orhood o f o u ter
on what supporters have urged
northeast Portland.
during her campaign. But with air
Considering his young daugh­
pollution causing higher rates of
ter, he also pushes for increased
asthma in her highway-laden dis­
investm ents in education and
trict, she also has lent increased
public safety.
importance to environm ental is­
C o n e y ’s e n d o rse m e n ts in ­
sues, seeing how land-use and
clude Kitzhaber, Metro Council
tra n sp o rta tio n p o licies affect
President David Bragdon and
quality o f life.
State Sen. Mark Hass.
Noticing resurgence in the in­
terest of young people surround­ M ichael Dembrow
ing such issues, Boston makes a
The professor of English and
special effort to get people who film studies has done more than
have recently turned 18 to vote. teach during his 27-year career at
She recently told seniors at Grant Portland Com m unity C ollege's
High School how much a vote Cascade Campus in north Port­
matters in a state House race com ­ land.
pared to the presidency.
Michael Dembrow has advo­
" It’s time for the Oregon Leg­ cated for the rights of students
islative Assembly to be repre­ and faculty as president o f the
sentative of the com m unities that co lleg e’s faculty federation for
it serves,” she says.
the past 16 years. He has also
B o sto n ’s en d o rsem en ts in ­ fought for the rights of students
clude form er Gov. Barbara Rob­ and faculty in promoting a diver­
e r ts , M a y o r T om P o tte r, sity of educational programs.
M ultnomah County Chair Ted
In 1991. Dembrow co-founded
Wheeler, and State Senators Avel the Cascade Festival of African
Gordly and M argaret Carter.
Films, which now attracts more
than 4,000 visits to the PCC cam-
Jon Coney
Wyden Town Hall at Jefferson
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., will
host a town-halI meeting on Sunday,
April 20, at Jefferson High School.
Residents arc invited to attend
the open forum to ask questions and
voice their concents. Wyden will
I,!r Jlorthutb
also honor the Jefferson boys and
girls basketball teams, winners of
this year's 5A state titles.
The meeting wi II take place at 3:30
p.m. in Jefferson's auditorium, 5210
N. Kerby.
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photo by
R aymond R f . ndleman /T he P ortland O bserver
House District 45 candidate Cyreena Boston (right) congratulates Grant High senior Danielle Tucker's
getting into Spelman College, the historically African-American school from which Boston graduated.
p u s, M cM e n a m in s K ennedy
School and the Hollywood T he­
atre each February.
He perceives his own political
campaign as represented in "W ar
Dance," a film about former child
soldiers in Uganda who are reha­
bilitated through winning a na­
tional music com petition. His
class this spring is studying how
the film overcomes stereotypes.
Dembrow hopes to help O r­
egon overcome stigmas and chal­
lenges associated with being the
only state in the nation recording
lower levels of education for 20-
and 3 0 -som ethings com pared
with their parents.
He advances a focus on dis­
parities that begin in K -12 public
schools and wants to show stu­
dents that state and local gov­
ernm ents are willing to invest in
them.
Dembrow sees the accessibil­
ity o f college as related to not
only good jobs, like in the build­
ing trades, but also every other
social-justice concern.
"A lthough 1 definitely plan to
be the education leader when I'm
in the legislature, obviously we
can ’t ignore those other things
as well, because there's no way a
student can be successful when
they're hom eless or if they have
health issues,” he says.
Dembrow represents community
colleges on a state advisory board.
His endorsem ents include the
American Federation of Teachcrs-
Oregon, the Oregon League of
Conservation Voters, the Portland
Association of Teachers and the
Oregon AFL-CIO.
• Vote-by-mail ballots will be
sent out tw o w eeks before
Oregon’s May 20 Primary Elec­
tion.
• The ballots must be received
at any county election office or
designated drop site by 8 p.m. on
Election Day. Postmarks don’t
count.
• To vote in the historically com ­
petitive U.S. presidential race
between Obama and Clinton, or
in O regon's red-hot House Dis­
trict 45 primary, you must be reg­
istered in the Democratic Party.
• The voter registration dead­
line is April 29. Postmarks do
count for mailed registration
forms.
• Current addresses are required.
I f you’ve moved or changed your
name, you must reregister to
vote. Ballots cannot be for­
warded by the U.S. Postal Ser­
vice.
• New federal regulations for
voter registrations require a
driver’s license number or the
last four digits of a Social Secu­
rity number. Also make sure to
indicate a political party, “no po-
litical party" or “other." Do not
mark more than one party.
• Voter-registration cards can be
filled out at the Multnomah
County Elections office, 1040S.E.
Morrison St., or printed from
Oregonvotes.org and mailed in.
R egistration form s are also
available at post offices, com ­
munity centers and Sisters of
the Road, 133 N.W. Sixth Ave.,
which offers its address so
homeless people can partici­
pate in the election.
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