Portland’s City Council District 2 Candidates
How I would rank them after attending the 350PDX candidate forum
Democracy is messy, and a lot of work. And the city of Portland’s new ranked voting system goes out of its way to prove it.
The short of it, for those of you outside of Portland, or those of you who live in Portland and pay attention to other things, is that the city council is expanding from five council members to twelve—three from each of four geographically distributed districts—who will be chosen through a multiple-option ranked-choice voting system reminiscent of 90s-era SAT scantrons.
The Oregonian attempted to help Portlanders understand how it works using the video below that pretends the candidates are office donut choices. The video doesn’t help at all, except to illustrate my earlier point of democracy being messy, and that you’re going to need good coffee if you want to figure out your ballot this year.
The bottom line is that some very smart person (people?) made a system that supposedly eliminates triangulation, making it possible to vote for candidates whose positions and policy ideas you simply like the best, without worrying about wasting your vote because they have no hope of winning.
Given this new system, I decided to do something that I enjoy, which is to go to a candidate’s forum, watch the candidates speak, determine which ones I like the best, and then vote for them in the election. I get the 350PDX newsletter, the local arm of 350.org, started by environmentalist Bill McKibben, and given the fact that the biggest issue facing humanity is the fact that we’re destroying our planet, I thought I would see what Portland’s City Council candidates had to say about that.
Voters get to pick 6 candidates on their ballots in November, and rank them from one to six, so it’s considerable work to sort through. But sort through them I did, on this evening at the 350PDX forum. Below you’ll find my ranked choice list.
Before I start this list, I want to begin by saying that this is an exceptional field. There were ten candidates at this forum, and all of them gave direct and intelligent answers to the direct and intelligent questions asked by our local Sunrise Movement director. They showed each other respect and the debate wasn’t about scoring points with jabs. It was heartening, given the exceedingly bizarre pet-eating turn that our national politics have taken.
There were also about 8 candidates from North Portland’s District 2 who weren’t at this forum—I’d already made the mental choice to not give any candidates who chose not to attend my vote. Some of them are rather prominent, including current city councilman Dan Ryan, who sold NoPo out to Zenith, and who I will not be voting for. There was a competing event on the same night—a hobnobbing VP-debate watching event. Enough said about where these candidate’s priorities and future ambitions lie…
Without further ado:
#1 Sameer Kanal
Sameer spoke confidently and without notes. He stood above the other candidates at this event in terms of his mental acuity. He really knows North Portland politics, has strong community-oriented takes on specific issues, but also understands how the wheels grind. He’s young and energetic, which I take as a plus. I like that he voluntarily brought up controversial issues like noise pollution from the PIR that are specific to North Portland. He clearly soaked in a lot as a project manager with the Police Accountability Commission. And…he has a fantastic origin story, which is well-articulated on his campaign website. He’s got an impressive list of endorsements—I’m #1 on purple and teal.
#2 Nat West
I wish Nat were running for mayor. He’s exactly the eccentric, small business-focused, Bud Clark-type that does well in this city. He knows marketing and branding too—an important quality in a mayor—if you’re not familiar with Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider brand take a look. He has zero government experience, and it shows a bit on a debate stage, where he read his responses from his cell phone and seemed overly focused on his short stint as a bus driver. But we could certainly use someone with a full-on Portland vibe on our council who knows small business. He’s also campaigning from his bicycle (rather than, err, racking up parking tickets like our current batch of mayoral candidates)
#3 Tiffani Penson
Tiffani stands out, with her experience as the PCC board chair, as someone with big budget experience who would work to bring the rest of the city council members down to earth. She struck me as a basic services expert who’d make sure we have potholes filled before we put more confusing green-paint stripes on the road. I also would love her perspective on the council—she has roots in Portland’s NE community before all the hipsters took over. It’s not going to happen, but Sameer, Nat, and Tiffani are my City Council #2 dream team.
#4 Jonathan Tasini
I love this guy, and Portland could use an injection of East Coast bluntness on its city council. 30+ years of union organizing; former president of National Writers Union; supported by dozens of dozens of labor organizations--Tasini is obviously a fighter and would never wander away from his core principles to appease corporate interests. He’s been higher on my ladder, and you could make a case for moving him up.
#5 Mike Marshall
Mike’s expertise as Executive Director of Oregon Recovers is sorely needed in Portland as we continue to grapple with homelessness, and he has a very specific and thoughtful plan for dealing with it. His personal history in the recovery movement is admirable, and a perspective that can’t be found anywhere else on the city council.
#6 Marnie Glickman
Marnie’s been involved in dozens of local advocacy groups over the years. She’s smart, holds a law degree from Lewis & Clark, racked up huge endorsements, has worked for a couple of congresswomen, etc. etc. etc. She would definitely stand her ground on important issues on the council.
Honorable Mention
Chris Olson, Jennifer Park, Laura Streib
All three of these candidates brought good energy and ideas to the stage. I hope they find their place in Portland politics (and a less embarrassment-of-riches field).
In Conclusion
All six of my top candidates belong on the city council—you wouldn’t get an argument from me for putting any of them as your #1. (Any other districts want to give up their seats? Or maybe just get rid of the mayor, since there isn’t a single mayoral candidate I’d vote for over these six?)
In any case, below is a link to the event, should you like to watch and judge for yourself.