I approach this year's mayoral contest in Portland with my belief that a city that admits in public, as Portland has, that it can't afford to maintain its streets shouldn't start any new and expensive programs until it can manage the ones it has. The current City Council, collectively, lamentably fails on this point, though I suspect that Commissioner Saltzman understands the point and would argue it more if he didn't know he'd be outvoted.
I look among the mayoral candidates for those who recognize this failure of the city and are willing to do something about it. Several see it: Scott Rose and Scott Fernandez, for example, The mayoral candidate I'm most intrigued with is college student Max Brumm, who offers this gem in his Voter's Pamphlet entry: "The problem with our civic leaders is we don't have any. What we have are account managers in hedge fund schemes known as the Rose City. They take their orders from developers and power elite like waiters take a dinner order. The only difference is instead of nametags these leaders come with pricetags." I have two reservations about Mr. Brumm. First is that he doesn't have any administrative experience yet, and as under our commission form of government the mayor is the chief administrator of the city, I think the mayor should have some. Second is that I'm a minor acolyte of the power elite myself, though I don't think Mr. Brumm has me in mind.
So I'm looking not so much for someone who will destroy the existing power elite, but for a candidate who will manage the city's interactions with the power elite on sound principles of political economy. That candidate, this year, is Eileen Brady. The City Council needs another member with business experience, and I prefer her business experience to that of Charlie Hales because hers didn't depend on selling things to the government.
Four candidates are challenging Amanda Fritz's bid for re-election, most notably State Representative Mary Nolan, who has mounted the strongest of the five campaigns. I don't get along with Commissioner Fritz personally, and I'm philosophically aligned more closely with Rep. Nolan, but I think the Council should have one Amanda Fritz -- one person who will question the established order. Every Troy needs its Laocoon to warn of the gifts offered by the developer class.
Position 4, being vacated by Randy Leonard, has attracted five contestants. The easy choice here is Steve Novick, who among the 23 candidates for the three positions is by far the most outstanding in talent, intelligence, and energy. It's time for the City to put him to work.