Monthly Archives: April 2016

A Candidate’s View: Why I Love Clean Elections!

What if I’d asked for contributions from the developers who are evicting hardworking Portlanders from their apartments and renovating those units into high end Airbnb rentals? What if I’d received checks from greedy employers who refuse to pay their workers enough to live on?

It’s not so much that those people would have “bought” my vote – that phrasing has always seemed weird to me – but had I used their contributions to win, I would have come away from my campaign feeling that I couldn’t win an election without them giving me money.

When potential progressive ordinances were brought to a vote, when the budget came up for discussion, when new corporate real estate developments were proposed, I would have had to think twice.

Why write? Thoughts on launching my blog

A young mom. Hip. Gauges in her ears, tattoos on her arms and a Joy Division t-shirt. Chatting comfortably with the other public school parents, watching one of her kids bounce around on the jungle gym. She seemed like a really good neighbor.

She’s texting me to find out if I know anybody working at the Shalom House, one of the local social service agencies. Sure, I do. What’s up?