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Election update: Bikey endorsements, ‘wild’ candidates, and more

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)


Election madness is heating up in Portland. Here’s my attempt to help keep you updated on the latest happenings…

Political action committee Bike Walk Vote (who counts former BTA director Evan Manvel as a board member) has come out with a few more endorsements. Following up from their previous nod to Council hopefuls Chris Smith and Jeff Bissonnette (a dual endorsement for Council seat #1), they’ve now given a thumbs-up to Randy Leonard (Council seat #4), Jim Middaugh (Council seat #2), and Sam Adams (Mayor).

Bike Walk Vote reaches their decisions based on answers the candidates gave to questions such as:

Critics of bicycle/pedestrian projects often contend (inaccurately) that cyclists and pedestrians don’t pay their fair share in road taxes and other user fees. How will you make the case for allocating city funds for bicycle and pedestrian projects, instead of car and freight projects?

In other local political news, leading mayoral candidates Sam Adams and Sho Dozono will face off during a debate at Portland State University tomorrow (3/20). According to the event website, “A small panel will ask the candidates select questions on specific public policy areas such as transportation, economic development and public safety.”

Poster for PSU’s Mayoral Debate.
(Thanks to Kevin H. for the image)

I’m looking forward to hearing more about Dozono’s platform on transportation issues.

On the topic of debates, those crazy kids at Candidates Gone Wild are holding a big debate event (hosted by rock-star Storm Large) at the end of April. With so many good candidates they’ve decided to limit who appears on stage and base the decision on who gets the most votes.

Everyone is encouraged to vote for their favorites in each race on the Candidates Gone Wild website. *UPDATE: I just realized that once you vote, you get to see the latest results. See the results as of 3/19 at 10:00pm below.

And they’re far from debates, but I plan to continue with an election theme for my upcoming BikePortland Social Hours. Last time we shared drinks and conversation with Chris Smith and Jim Middaugh and I’m working on having two more candidates for the next one. Stay tuned for details.

And last but not least, even though the event has already sold out, I figured I’d mention that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is coming to our backyard on Friday. We haven’t heard much about bikes from any candidate so far, but I’d be surprised (and disappointed) if Mr. Obama doesn’t at least mention bikes while giving a speech in the epicenter of biking in America.

If you’re one of the lucky ticket holders, let us know how it goes.

For more information about the election and the candidates, visit the City of Portland Auditor’s Office Election page and check out the BikePortland archives for more Election 2008 coverage.

Candidates Gone Wild voting results as of Wednesday, 3/19 at 10:00pm:

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