Plan Ride in July
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)
After much speculation, noted citizen activist and blogger Chris Smith has officially declared his run for a spot on Portland’s City Council.
He plans to make the news public at an event on Wednesday (9/26) morning at Skidmore Fountain (see below for event details).
Smith will run for the council seat currently occupied by Sam Adams. Adams hasn’t made his future plans known yet (although there is speculation he might give up his seat to run for Mayor). So far, Smith will run against Ethos Music founder Charles Lewis.
Smith, a Northwest Portland resident who Chairs the Portland Streetcar Citizens Advisory Committee, is also well-known and respected in bike circles for his volunteer efforts (he creates and hosts the KBOO Bike Show Podcast among other things) and his effective and intelligent voice on transportation issues.
His candidacy presents a promising prospect for the bike community.
before the CRC Task Force.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)
Back in February, Smith spoke against building a $6 billion bridge over the Columbia River. In his testimony before the Columbia River Crossing Task Force he said they were being seduced into “building an icon” and he encouraged the 39 member task not focus on just one, five-mile project and instead spread the money around to smaller projects throughout the transportation network (an opinion I wholeheartedly agree with).
In an email distributed by Smith’s campaign he lists the BTA’s Interim Executive Director Scott Bricker as one of the two Directors of his “Citizen Smith for Portland City Council” committee.
Smith’s official campaign website, http://citizensmith.us, is set to launch tomorrow.
To learn more about Chris Smith, stay tuned to BikePortland.org and come out to his official campaign announcement event tomorrow at 9:00am at Skidmore Fountain in Ankeny Plaza (SW Ankeny St. between Naito and 1st).
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I\’ll be there, with my $5 contribution in hand!
I would love it if all my bikey friends (even the ones I haven\’t met yet) would join us for the event tomorrow morning (Skidmore fountain at 9am, as Jonathan lists above)!
Thanks.
Chris
I\’m sure Scott is volunteering for Chris as a private citizen and not as the BTA\’s director, since by law the BTA is not permitted to endorse candidates.
Since I have no such restrictions, though, I\’m glad to say that I\’ve known Chris for a long time, and there\’s nobody I know who loves alt-trans more than he does. He\’s passionate and knowledgeable about biking, walking, and transit issues. I look forward to seeing him in action in a candidate role now, after seeing him be a tireless volunteer for so long.
Jessica\’s absolutely right about Scott\’s role. The state committee declaration requires that occupations be listed, but it\’s Scott who is a director of my committee, not the Exec Dir of BTA.
Scott and I have cooperated on transportation advocacy for many years, since we met as newbie members of Metro\’s TPAC (Transportation Policy Alternatives Committee) and I\’m delighted that he\’s helping out with my campaign – in his individual capacity.
I look forward to the opportunity and the process. I know Chris is dedicated to bicycling and the issues, we\’ve done a lot of work together over the years.
As stated, I will be involved in the campaign only as a citizen, on non-BTA time.