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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 9, 2012)
Ideas continued from page 11 “In issues, programs, policies and priorities that most impact the African American com- munity, and other communities of color, I know I need advice, wisdom, criticism, and advocacy to get it right,’ she says. “I’ve tried to welcome and absorb that advice in my public and private life.” Fritz’ record on equity is crystal clear: Despite massive opposition to creation of a citywide Office of Equity and Civil Rights – even from her own fellow city commission- ers – she eventually persuaded the rest of the council to back her big idea, which is: a “one-stop” center for tackling racial issues in City Hall that would help bird-dog the other Eileen Brady at the Multnomah Youth Commission elections forum, where all candidates were invited to meet with youth in breakout sessions. The Hales campaign stresses that their can- didate is “shovel-ready” – as a former City Commissioner who was instrumental in bringing more diversity to the Portland Fire Bureau and is intimately acquainted with how the city works, Hales, if elected, should be able to just plug in and go. “Charlie is the only candidate with a proven track record of delivering results for local schools, parks, streets. More important- ly, he's the only candidate that has shown he can bring diversity and equity in hiring to an existing City Bureau - bringing real change fire bureau when he last served on council, pushing it into hiring more minorities and women,” his campaign manager Jessica Moskovitz said. Hales’ biggest idea is to stop looking at services and communities as completely sep- arate – but rather to consider the whole city’s services together. “Speeches and promises can be inspiring, but they don't run a city. My idea for Portland is a city that serves all of its communities -- uplifting our neighborhoods, and not replac- ing them - with functioning parks, summer programs for our kids, and affordable, acces- sible services. I want to set the stage for the next 20 years, with a city government that reflects and respects all of our resi- dents,” Hales said. Smith’s campaign did not supply a comment by press time, but by many measures what really set him apart from the others is his deadpan refusal to accept the Columbia River Crossing Plan. In our interviews with candidates, Smith had a simple idea for how to address equity issues of all kinds – creation of a citizen advi- sory committee of his own for feedback on his policies. Portland City Council The two Council races – for position #1 and #4 – couldn’t be more different. In the first, Commissioner Amanda Fritz is neck and neck against former state Rep. Mary Nolan. Nolan, a canny career politician, outlined for The Skanner News detailed ideas about police accountability (she would “prioritize real change in recruitment, psychological screening, initial training, ongoing training and General Orders”). She also strongly cast herself as a strong leader who “gets things done.” Cameron Whitten drew attention to lack of representation at candidate forums. city bureaus on equity. The incumbent is also strongly rooted in local communities of color as well as the immigrant and refugee communities – per- haps the only contender for city office who can say that besides Jeri Williams, a Native City Commission candidate Mary Nolan American city employee who is running for the #4 seat. Not a career politician, Fritz has spent much of her spare time attending community events rather than hosting big-bucks fundraisers. The race for seat #4 is a fascinating one for ideas, as frontrunner Steve Novick is so far ahead of the contenders that he faces no real opposition – and for that reason has had free reign to brainstorm. Novick – an attorney who made his name successfully prosecuting a major corporation in an industrial pollution case –says that cleaning up the Superfund site in Portland harbor may not be a good idea. He also suggests a Portland-based health reform effort that targets the individuals who use up the most health care dollars by essen- tially improving their health care services. His idea about Measure 11 is similarly thought-provoking: The state gives each county a lump-sum budget for Public Safety, including its prison system, forcing local law enforcement and prosecutors to calculate the actual costs of their incarceration rates. May 9, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 13
