I hate to say it, but...
I told you so.
Burdick's C & E shows no money from Enron ( no longer PGE/Enron) or PGE or any of the other big corporations that folks are so afraid of her being associated with. She's got less money than Sten, who basically paved his own path to get that money. She is out there running- dare I say it again- a traditional campaign, which as I have said before, does not necessarily equate with corruption.
She is still the only candidate for City Council to tell voters what she stands for- besides her opinion on campaign finance. I know that she is committed to bettering the lives of everyday people. Not only has she been clear on the kinds of reforms she sees the city needs, she has a record of past political performance to show it. There are only two things a politician really needs to be able to do: define the challenges a community faces and offer solutions. Burdick is the only candidate, so far to do that. I have yet to hear from Sten anything about solutions to the problems the city faces. All I hear from that campaign is backpedalling and excuse-making. Boyles' is too mired in controversy and Lister offers no concrete soultions.
Portland is a city on the brink. Our schools are closing, we have no real industry and even the infrastructures that hold it all together are weak. Finding a way to bring business into Portland is necessary for our well-being as a city. The people who live here need jobs and schools for their children. If they don't get these things they are going to start leaving for greener pastures and no one will be clamoring to get here. Portlanders should not be so xenocenrtric to think that Portland will always be the great little city people love to love. It is already in decline. Even the Oregonian agrees that Portland is " a city that doesn't work.
Burdick is an advocate for jobs and education. She isn't afraid to take on leadership when it comes to solving school issues. Of course, the arguement is made that schools are a county or state responsibility, and they are. But, Burdick shows the kind of leadership Portland has been missing, when she refuses to sit back and say "it's not my job."
While all the other players sit around fiddling with what has turned out to be a joke of campaign finance reform plan, Burdick is working on issues. Perhaps the fact that she has yet to raise the same kind of money that Sten has been handed is a good sign that she is focused on real solutions and not some red herring that hides a lack of vision.
posted by grrlszgrrl @ 5:55 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
As usual you were right. How sad for the blue doughboys who were o so lackluster and obviously disappointed in their well-
rehearsed response to the contribution reports. Even "mainstream" press, i.e., Ryan, Nigel, et al, were seemingly befuddled, stretching to churn alarm. Ho hum. Gee maybe now focus will be on real issues, i.e., jobs, schools, accountability and leadership. Don't count on that happening while these boys can still play their own twisted version of real-life monopoly.
Go Ginny go.
The Oregonian has endorsed Ginny Burdick, and has some very interesting things to say about Mr. Sten's own funding scheme.
Oregonian Endorsement
Sunday April 16
Elect Saltzman and Burdick to City Council
In an uncertain time, voters should seize the opportunity to boost the council's level of savvy and leadership
In recent years, the Portland City Council has shown a disturbing tendency to engage in "big picture" thinking without any brush strokes. Promise a masterpiece -- a tram, for instance -- but glaze over the details, skip the follow-through and leave the resulting mess to others to clean up.
The City Council doesn't lack vision, ideas or "wishbone." It lacks backbone.
In the May primary, voters should re-elect Dan Saltzman, who has demonstrated the diligence and backbone to finish what he, and the council, starts. Saltzman, an environmental engineer, has helped to spark the city's boom in environmentally friendly "green" buildings, and spin-off "green" industries, and shown a passion for children's issues. His determination to pursue cost-effectiveness has led him to challenge even the city's powerful police and fire unions. And Saltzman cast a pivotal vote for Mayor Tom Potter's plan to rescue the aerial tram.
Voters should replace the other incumbent, Commissioner Erik Sten. Although Sten has done good work to fight homelessness, he has surprisingly little to show for two terms in office. Two of his opponents, state Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, and businessman Dave Lister, would bring a sharper pencil to city budgets, as well as a sharper eye to running city bureaus.
Lister is a snappy "numbers" guy who got involved in city government, in part, because of the water-billings fiasco, which happened on Sten's watch. But Burdick, a public relations executive, has a much better understanding of the innovation that makes Portland tick. A shrewd and progressive legislator who worked for schools and gun control and against the methamphetamine epidemic, Burdick has the right mix of vision, diligence and hard-headedness.
As chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Burdick has built broad coalitions. On the council, she would be an effective champion for job growth, public safety and the downtown. Burdick also knows how to weld public-private partnerships, and their importance in sparking Portland's success.
In two terms, Sten has shown more sizzle than substance. He was co-chef of the half-baked voter-owned election scheme, now penetrating the city with its "let's-burn-the-taxpayers" smell. Not only did the system have inadequate safeguards against fraud, but the council shrank from letting the public vote on the proposal. Instead, the council rushed it through, in time for Sten to tap public money for his own primary race.
That, too, smells funny.
The best argument for the system is Amanda Fritz, a neighborhood activist and former planning commissioner making use of public money to challenge Saltzman. Fritz would stand a chance of winning any race she runs in, even without public money.
But would Fritz antagonize her ardent union supporters to reform the city's tax-guzzling fire and police disability system, as Saltzman has done? Could Fritz rise above parochial neighborhood thinking to do what's best for the city? Fritz has said she would have preferred to see the tram shut down, rather than vote to finish it.
By supplying a third vote to finish it, Saltzman, in effect, showed the courage, not only of his own, but also of Sten's, convictions. Both commissioners have voted in favor of the tram since 2002, but Saltzman's vote took Sten off the hook. Sten could play to the crowd and vote "no" on the tram's rescue, knowing Saltzman had already averted disaster. A half-built tram would have stained both commissioners, the council and the city.
We need city commissioners who can go the distance. Envision masterpieces, yes, but then summon the stamina, the nerve and the leadership to finish the job.
Choose Saltzman and Burdick.
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