Due to his role as Commissioner in charge of Transportation, I have reported on Sam Adams many times in the past few years. Last week I finally sat down with Sho Dozono — a Portland business owner who is Adams’ only competition in the race for mayor.
Below are some of my thoughts on this race, along with excerpts from my conversation with Dozono. With nearly two-thirds of Portland voters still holding onto their ballots, I hope the information below helps you with your decision.
Adams at his campaign announcement.
(All photos © J. Maus) |
Sho Dozono during our conversation
last week. |
Sam Adams – SamForPDX.com
Current Commissioner Sam Adams has been just about as active a champion for bicycling as an elected official can be. As the Commissioner in charge of transportation, he has taken the reins of PDOT and his commitment to a wide range of bike-related issues has helped make Portland the undisputed capital of bicycling in America — and has helped put our bike culture on a world stage.
He has traveled to the best bicycling cities in the world (like Amsterdam) and has used them as inspiration to create more balance in our transportation system.
Part of creating that balance has been a commitment to seeing bicycles not just as a mode choice we should try to accommodate when it’s cheap and easy — or politically palatable. But rather, seeing bicycles as an integral part of the city, seamlessly woven into the fabric of our daily lives.
From the fun stuff like funding the North American Handmade Bike Show and working with the Regional Arts and Culture Council to create a permanent public art rack for the Zoobomb Pyle — to more serious commitments like embarking on the bike box campaign to improve traffic safety at dangerous intersections and trying to find a new way to fund much-needed bike safety improvements.
I’ve covered Commissioner Adams’ work on bike-related issues extensively on this site (search for “Sam Adams” in the sidebar to browse the archives) and I think it’s safe to say if he became mayor, he would continue to Portland’s momentum and work toward major gains in the percentage of Portlanders who go by bike.
But during this election season, Adams has been tested.
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Adams worked hard for
Platinum — and got it. |
His aggressive work on the Safe, Sound and Green Streets initiative and more recently the Sauvie Island Bridge relocation project — while exciting for many Portlanders who appreciate his commitment to solving the transportation safety and funding crisis we face — has also made him a target to the media, his political rivals, and to many Portlanders.
To the extent you believe Adams’ name is synonymous with bicycling to a large part of our population, negative headlines about “pet projects” and City Council feuds have ramifications for the “bicycling community” as well.
That’s why, for many people on both sides of mayoral decision, this election is very important.
A vote for Adams means that Portland can expect to continue on its path toward being one of the most sustainable, distinctive, and accessible cities in the country — no matter how you choose to get around.
Adams has been endorsed by every major local newspaper including the Portland Mercury, the Willamette Week, the Oregonian, and others.
Sho Dozono – ShoForMayor.com
Adams’ mayoral foe Sho Dozono — who has the support of current Mayor Tom Potter — says he is better suited to lead our city. And, to many who care about improving biking in Portland, Dozono is the antithesis of Adams.
But when I sat down for a conversation with Dozono (and Rick Potestio, who accompanied him) last week, that’s not necessarily how he sees it.
I asked Dozono to share with me how he would “make Portland like Amsterdam” — which is something he said in a televised debate last month.
I asked for one concrete thing he would do but he steered his answer to a subject knows well — tourism. Dozono said he knows how to make a city attractive to international visitors [like Amsterdam is known for bicycling for instance].
He mentioned how bike-friendly China is and how all the train stations there are full of bikes. I interjected that now, many Chinese are moving away from riding bikes and that to keep them riding would take bold leadership — much like Adams has shown — in order to withstand the car companies moving into the market.
When I mentioned Adams, Dozono was quick to remind me that Portland’s commitment to bicycling was started long before he Adams took office, saying that other leaders like Tom McCall and Earl Blumenauer “get a lot of credit”.
“I was part of the group that was marketing Oregon when Cycle Oregon was born,” said Dozono, “I was part of a group that was thinking about, “how do we really market Oregon as a bike-friendly destination.”
Dozono said he’s noticed a “phenomenal” increase in bike commuters in past years and that he wants to see more — but that he realizes the streets must be made safer for them.
“I see a trend and it’s not just young people [biking]… I see people my age group commuting, I have friends that are actually commuting. It’s amazing how many bikes are in our downtown high-rises now compared to five years ago.
…so I see the trend and I just think we need to do more as a city to not only adopt, but really encourage bike commuting… so my comment about being a bike-friendly candidate, you know, I want to move towards that…no more and no less than any other bike advocate.”
I then shared with Dozono that in order to continue encouraging bike usage we could not go along with business as usual and that it is going to take big steps — someone to take the lead and push for balancing out the transportation system.
Dozono replied that that leadership shouldn’t always have to come from Council. He said ideas for innovative projects and plans to increase bike ridership, “don’t necessarily have to be someone on City Council…it could, but City Council has to be responsive and build consensus supporting the bike advocates’ needs.”
This was a repeated theme from Dozono — the idea that advocacy groups and individuals should clamor for what they want and not rely on a specific champion for their issues on the Council.
I agreed, but then added that, in the end, someone on Council has to put forth the idea and get the votes. Dozono answered that by saying he’ll seek out bike experts and assemble a “kitchen cabinet” of advisers to help guide his policies if elected.
(Perhaps as evidence of this, minutes before we were scheduled to meet, Dozono called and asked if he could bring along Rick Potestio. Potestio is a local architect, one of the founders of the Cross Crusade cyclocross race series, and a vocal critic of the Sauvie Island Bridge project both in comments on this site and in City Council testimony.)
Dozono has not offered much policy during his campaign so far. The most high-profile (at least bike-wise) issue he’s taken a stand on is the Sauvie Island Bridge relocation project.
Dozono was opposed to the project, he took credit for its demise, and now he uses it in his campaign materials where he refers to it as the “bike crossing” and highlights it as a “pricey pet project”.
After talking “with many Portland residents”, Dozono said people “out in Northeast and Southeast don’t have sense of urgency” about the bridge.
I asked Dozono about his statements claiming the bridge project was about serving “special interests”, to which he replied, “…is it really for the Pearl District and NW Portland versus the entire city? I think even Mayor Potter came on board in saying that other safety issues have an equal or higher priority than this particular bridge project.”
He went on,
“I’m not anti-bike. Clearly. I’m not talking about bicyclists as a special interest, really about Pearl District …and this is part of the Burnside-Couch Couplet and that to me is special interest because a lot of people that live on that street don’t want the couplet to happen; a lot of the planners think it’s a bad design… so that’s different from [not] being bike-friendly or making the city of Portland the most bike-friendly city in the country.”
Dozono said he’s not completely opposed to a new crossing at Flanders,
“I opposed the Sauvie Island Bridge for a difference principal — not because I’m anti-bike. Would I be supportive of bike/ped only bridge if it was at a reasonable cost and if it’s a desirable thing? Absolutely.”
In the absence of a Flanders Crossing, Dozono said he’d rather spend a few million dollars to the existing crossings at Everett and Glisan safer.
Toward the end of our conversation, I gave Dozono a chance to try and convince BikePortland readers to vote for him. Here’s what he said:
“I don’t know that anyone… there maybe a handful of people are bicycling because it’s their life and the only thing that matters to them is about bicycles and some politician that talks bike language. I happen to believe that there are more important things than riding a bike.
It certainly can enhance your quality of life, but there’s more to being the mayor of the city than bike issues… whether it’s education or the overall environment — and bicycling is only part of that. I think it’s moving in a positive direction. I think getting people out of cars and riding bikes is great. But that can’t be the only reason people should vote for someone for mayor. This isn’t a bicycle transportation commissioner vote… this is about a Mayor of the city of Portland.
Am I likely to be making decisions that will impact their lives beyond bicycles? Absolutely.
Would I be as good of a bike advocate as Sam Adams? Absolutely. But that’s for me to say, and for you to sort of guess, to see, what’s my record. My record and my life is different from Sam’s.”
My final question was whether or not we could expect different leadership on bike issues from Dozono than we’ve had with Mayor Potter.
I asked; Would you say you’re going to be markedly different than Mayor Potter and that you’ll go more strongly in a direction of making bikers safe and encouraging more riders?
“Not as a negative comment to Tom Potter, but yes. I would.”
Dozono has been endorsed by the Mutnomah County Republican Party.
In Portland, our Mayor’s influence is limited. He/she has the same voting power as the other four commissioners. But regardless of that, the head of our city sets the tone for the kind of city we are and the kind of city we’ll become.
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— What do you think of the race for mayor?
— Who did you vote for and why?
— What do you think the future of Portland will look like with Sam or Sho at the helm?
— Do you think Adams will get over 50% of the votes and avoid a runoff?
The deadline for ballots is Tuesday (5/20).
Thanks for reading.
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Whew. Where to start? Please Sho, please, give the citizens ONE concrete idea you have that would make anyone even think you had an ounce of the LEADERSHIP potential Sam Adams has.
Is Dozono deliberately being opaque? Your interview was a chance for him to elucidate something resembling a stance on a hot topic: cycling. He reminds me of W who in his first campaign for President. He would repeat \”uniter not divider\” and \”compassionate conservative\” over and over with nary a detail. The electorate read into it what they wanted and look where we are now.
Dozono = Potter 2.0
During the City Club debate, Sho talked about Sam\’s opposition to WalMart as if it were an anti-business stance. As if there weren\’t a grassroots movement to keep WalMart out.
The Sellwood neighborhood and plenty of other regular people organized to oppose WalMart and and Sam Adams supported them.
About that, Dozono said;
\”That is not the kind of message you want to send to the business community, suggesting that the largest retailer in the world is not welcome here.\”
Actually Sho, that that IS the message that most of us want to send out.
WalMart destroys local businesses and sends the money out of the community.
Sho doesn\’t \”get it.\”
Please, oh please, I hope Sam wins.
Every time I listen to Sho it\’s like a turd falling into my drink.
Johnathan,
Re your first paragraph, how long have you been Commissioner in charge of transportation?
Perhaps better to say, \”In his role as Commissioner….\”
I find both candidates to be equally unpalatable!
-Tourism & Marketing
First of all, Sho seems to think that marketing an item is the same as supporting it. His business is tourism, he makes money off of tourism, he’d probably market watching seals get trapped outside of the Bonneville Dam if there was a niche for it and it would make him money. I find his attitude towards this a sign that he’s grasping at straws; to me it indicates that he has neither a real plan for making cycling safer nor has he any experience truly working with cycling safety issues.
-Needs to be based on advocacy and ‘personal choice.’
Saying that we need to rely on advocates and personal choice is a huge step backwards. We have a great amount of advocacy in this city and a lot of people are making the personal choice to ride a bike (at least some of the time), rather than driving are car, but neither of these factors negate our need for strong leaders within the city. I worry about him saying this and the idea that in the future he might say, “Well, you folks didn’t work hard enough for the change, so sorry.”
-Everett/Glisan overpasses
Maybe I do not understand the goals of other supporters of the Sauvie Island Bridge Project, but I’ve always felt that the bridge was not supposed to address the danger of the crossings. Rather, the bridge was supposed to address the lack of a continuous and safe passage from NW Portland to the Waterfront, thus adding to a greater level of east-west connectivity. Sho, if my opinion is the true case, seems to fail to understand the need for continuity.
-Lack of a concrete plan
In the end I feel the entire thing boils down to this – Sho does not seem to have a concrete plan for what he is going to do as mayor. He claims to have the only candidate to have a First 100 days plan. I believe Sam Adams has planned far beyond the first 100 days. Lets vote for someone who knows what he wants to accomplish, rather than someone who continuously reiterates empty statements.
Man, this guy really tries to have it both ways but he needs to work on his double speak. It\’s killing him.
Check this out (includes Walmart quote)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygwlBwSSrwA
Also, check out the 2002 story on Sho\’s completely improper use of a trust fund that belong to a friend\’s child.
http://wweek.com/story.php?story=3295
— Over the course of four years, Dozono transferred a total of more than $1.25 million of the child\’s money to companies Dozono controlled, committing what legal experts say are serious breaches of his fiduciary duty.
Dozono does not deny using the boy\’s money for his companies\’ benefit. He has repaid it with interest–although he did so under duress–and disputes that any harm was done. \”Did anyone suffer a penny\’s worth of loss?\” he asks. \”No.\”
But the boy\’s mother–who was herself the beneficiary of a trust Dozono controlled–tells a different story. \”My son and I would be 10 times better off today if Sho had never been in our lives.\” —
I really hope Sam gets 50% of the vote because we can\’t have this crook for mayor.
I hope anyone who cares about keeping Portland moving in an environmentally sustainable direction, where bicycling is concerned and beyond, votes for Sam Adams. No politican is a messiah, but as our current president has proved time and time again, political leadership, or lack there of, does make a difference.
\”I think getting people out of cars and riding bikes is great. But that can’t be the only reason people should vote for someone for mayor. This isn’t a bicycle transportation commissioner vote… this is about a Mayor of the city of Portland.\”
Let me tell you why I am voting for Sam. It\’s not because of bikes and not because he has supported the bike community so well in the past.
I am voting for Sam because he is the only person who I have heard say that he wants Portland to be \”a great American city.\”
Because the last time I talked to him for 30 seconds, he encouraged me to call 823-BUMP if I came across a pothole.
Because he makes me feel proud to be from Portland and also a responsibility to make it better.
Here\’s my perspective as someone who has lived, cycled and worked in Portland for more than 45 years. We have a chance to build on a our legacy as a livable large city. The bicycle can be a huge part of reducing congestion, carbon emissions and public health concerns. As Austin Ramsland suggests in comment #11, we are poised on becoming a world class city, if we aren\’t there already. A vote for Adams is a forward looking vote and a vote for a candidate who seems to truly love Portland. A ballot cast for Mr. Dozono is at best a vote for the status quo. The other evening I was riding home through downtown and as I stopped for a red light (really) Sam Adams came walking down Broadway. He smiled at me and said \”thanks for riding\” to which I replied thanks for your advocacy. A simple chance meeting that might not happen in too many places. Walking and cycling in a beautiful downtown core. Close your eyes and think what we might make of this place. Cast your vote for the right guy.
Wow, that last quote from him on why anyone on this site would vote for him is absolutely nuts. The rest of the interview is somewhat balanced and he sounds like a seasoned politician skirting specifics and saying mushy good things about all sorts of subjects and how things would be better under his rule, but the last exchange where he just lays into people foolish enough to base their life around a bike… jeez, you can\’t possibly alienate the people on this site quicker than mocking their relationship with their bikes.
Can anyone explain the slogan \”Sho gets it. Sho gets it done\”?
What is he getting done other than charging more for your plane ticket than if you had bought it directly through the airline? Seriously, is this another in a long line of businessmen/politicians who claim that government would work better if if were run like a business? These people are so invested in the idea that government doesn\’t work that, once they\’re in control of government, they make sure it doesn\’t work, so they can prove their point. One need only look at what the first MBA president has done to this country in the past 7.5 years to see where that leads.
Sam for Mayor!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-14-highways_N.htm
As long as we\’re thinking big, let\’s elect Sam as mayor and tear down Interstate 5. A world class city shouldn\’t have a freeway bisecting it\’s most valuable real estate. Sam Adams would listen to a statement like that one. Dozono wouldn\’t even hear it.
Crazy?: yes;
crazy expensive?: yes
If they can tear down freeways in Oklahoma City so can we.
Dozono replied that that leadership shouldn’t always have to come from Council.
And: Would I be as good of a bike advocate as Sam Adams? Absolutely.
Advocate: One who defends, vindicates, or espouses any cause by argument; a pleader;
If he doesn\’t take leadership on an issue, how can he call himself an advocate of that issue? Forget the \”good\” part, how is he an advocate at all?
$ #14:
I can explain Sho\’s slogan, peejay.
The part \”Sho gets it,\” is intended to mean that Show understands big business\’ frustration with Sam\’s willingness to represent the will of the people, rather than just the people with the money, and to do creative things that enhance the uniqueness and safety of Portland for everyone. Sho, if elected, will reverse that and ensure that business interests get what they want – an opportunity to make more profit at the expense of the public good.
The part \”Sho gets it done\” is purely ironic. It\’s a reference to the fact that he has never, ever accomplished a single thing in public service. Also, in his chosen field, Sho has succeeded chiefly in defrauding children, bankrupting his businesses, and, of course, tax delinquency to make a political point. He can\’t tout any of those things, so he refers simply to \”it.\”
Great slogan, huh?
Sam will win if enough people can see through Dozono\’s business minded ethics! Money spent on people (bikes, safety, pedestrian bridges) is transparent and unfortunately money wasted on other issues goes unnoticed. Lets start here in Portland invest in people and make this city even greater for everyone and tourists will flock if you really want more tourists.
But there aren\’t \”more important things than riding a bike.\” Does Sho really get it?
While there are many reasons why I would never vote for Sho Dozono, I would like to point out one new reason that I think is very illuminating:
\”Sho Dozono picked up the sole endorsement of the Multnomah County Republican Party.\”
This is a quote from Amy Ruiz\’s column in yesterday\’s Mercury. That pretty well sums it up for me. Sho is definitely not the right person to lead the people of Portland.
I know I should look at all the aspects of a politician\’s platform to decide how I should vote, but the fact is that Sam Adams is a major proponent of biking and Sho Dozono is not: that alone will get my vote for Sam.
Sho says, \”I think getting people out of cars and riding bikes is great. But that can’t be the only reason people should vote for someone for mayor.\”
Sorry, Sho, it\’s reason enough for me. Portland is setting an example of sustainability for the country and we need a mayor that recognizes that. Bikes are not the only issue, but they are certainly a bellwether in this town.
Another thing to note: Sho continues to tout how much he\’s done for Portland schools and his business mindedness, yet the Portland Association of Teachers \’recommends\’ Sam Adams for mayor and the PBA endorsed both candidates. Meanwhile, Mayor Tom Potter endorsed Sho and we all know that Sam and Tom love each other, furthermore Tom\’s been an awesome mayor . . . right?
I believe Sam knows this city, the economy, the infrastructure, the people and he has the supporting details in his head.
I don’t see that of Dozono. No substance and a lack of preparation even for an interview.
Sho is just a bozo. Has he paid his damn rent yet?
Well, the rent was paid, but if you read the article in the Portland Mercury:
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/2008/04/sho_dozono_and_the_weirdest_pr.php
It sure seems like paying the rent wasn\’t his idea…if his restaurant manager had not taken the fall…Dozono never would have paid.
He\’s not a bozo, he\’s a stubborn bozo.
Ride Humphrey and Fairmount Blvd from Sylvan leading towards and around Council Crest, and you\’ll see a lot of the Sho campaign signs. Sho\’s made some mistakes, but I wouldn\’t go so far as to say he\’s a bad guy. He\’s done some good things, I just don\’t think he\’s got the right stuff to be Mayor.
The mayor has got to be a person with a sufficient vision and energy to lead the city in a good direction and have the skills to get council members together on the issues to take it there. I just get the impression that this is not what Dozono is good at. What Dozono has been good at, and may still be, is in being a workhorse, reliable for helping to implement other\’s great ideas or agenda, rather than his own.
I just don\’t think Dozono has enough good ideas of his own, or the strength to push them against critics that are always there.
Adams on the other hand seems to be overflowing with ideas and energy the same, and he runs with them. That\’s what I think makes some people nervous about him, and so, they don\’t like him.
I think Portland with Adams will be contentious but upbeat. He\’s going to want this Burnside-Couch couplet. I think a lot of people have yet to be convinced that\’s anything close to a good idea.
With Dozono, it will probably also be contentious, but downbeat…the \’fiscally responsible\’ excuse will always be coming into play to justify infrastructure cutbacks primarily benefiting the general public.
I live in NE portland, around the piedmont, king and woodlawn neighborhoods, and ALL I SEE are tons and tons of Sho Dozono for Mayor signs. I don\’t get it? Who are these people that not only want to vote for this man, but are willing to admit it publicly, and proudly, encouraging others to do the same. This is mostly a poor neighborhood. Poor people will absolutely not benefit in ANY way, by having Sho as our Mayor. His interest is solely in scratching the backs of all his buddies in the PBA. Bringing \”big business\” to Portland. Putting Big Box retailers on every major intersection. The last man I would ever want to lead this city. The last man I would ever imagine getting elected here. His politics seem to go completely against the grain of Portland ideals.
This interview is about as far from \”honk for the wonk\” as we could ever get.
That wonk will be a great mayor.
#26 – As far as I\’m concerned, the Portland Business Alliance is hell-bent on turning downtown Portland into an open-air mall. When the Police wouldn\’t help them, they hired their own Pinkerton gang instead. Something no one seems to care one whit about. I can\’t find the connection you assert, between Dozono and the PBA. Could you perhaps explain this connection? The PBA is the Progressive antithesis, and is Portland\’s very own Haliburton-in-the-making. I think it is important to expose this connection, if there is one. Downtown businesses have no right whatsoever to work against the long-time Portland goal of keeping downtown Portland a predominately residential neighborhood.
Read this policy analysis (2007) by Randal O\’Toole before you blindly assume Adams can stop big-box retail from setting up shop anywhere they like. The \’07 City Council has been pretty accommodating. Whether or not this has anything to do with Adams specifically, I couldn\’t tell you. Maybe Commissioner Adams could, I don\’t know, but a lot of this went down while he\’s been in city-hall.
What is a, \”Portland ideal\”, by the way? As a resident of NE, surely you know that neighborhood has been heavily gentrified by non-natives. This gentrification displaced poor blacks from those neighborhoods into those of poor whites. Which in turn moved into the outlying municipalities skirting the Metro area boundaries. Areas like Sandy, and Troutdale. If a bunch of tacks on the road is still a mystery to you all, there\’s a little hint for ya.
Adams is the only choice for mayor, this time around. I\’m not arguing against this guy driving the city. But Portland is so much more than cuisine, and commercial art, and Subaru wagons. Is Adams going to support Portland Police and their Union, or is he going to continue to let the PBA run the city via remote-control? Tax Incremental Financing, the Urban Growth Boundary, and now maybe the Street-car network in the 201, have all failed to meet expectations. Can Adams do the right thing when it comes to his pet-projects?
Mr. Dozono, I appreciate your talking with this crowd. I\’m not convinced you are going to do anything but further sell-out Portland, Oregon to the all-mighty buck. So Sam Adams will definitely get my vote for mayor. I have the hope that I\’ve seen a different Sam Adams this last year. I\’ve seen this guy commit, and take his lumps when necessary. Sometimes, the measure of a human being is their performance during a hardship, as much as anything they actually achieve.
As I see it, the only person who could possibly be worse for Portland, than Sho Dozono, would be Terry Parker. Nothing personal Mr. Dozono. Consider the source. I\’m one of those unkempt types the PBA is trying their level best to run out of downtown; and wouldn\’t you know, I\’m a registered voter in Multnomah County.
Sorry Jonathan, but I wanted to point out that the policy anylasis I\’m refering to in my comment (#30) is available as a .pdf at the bottom of O\’Toole\’s page. I really hope some of ya\’ll read that. O\’Toole\’s got a pretty good sense of humor, so it\’s dry reading, but not bone-dry!
Sheez, sorry wsbob, I meant #27 in my comment (#30), not #26. I blame the PBA. Just the mention of… Get\’s me all worked up, and look what happens. So sorry.
Randal the tool is a champion of suburban sprawl and automobile-centric transportation. Doesn\’t surprise me at all that he\’s promoting the big box sores that fit in with that model.
Whoops, I meant \”stores,\” but \”sores\” woks too. 😀
Hey rixtir #33. I\’ve only read this analysis, and a few other documents that O\’Toole has produced. Is this bad data? I seriously don\’t want to post links to stuff that is, \”fringe\”. I read it. It seemed relevant. I didn\’t know he was a proponent of many of the things you listed.
I thought the thing was actually purchased by some bureaucracy as an actual analysis. My bad if it is lame. I took away that he was criticizing poor management, and not the actual policy so much.
This is proof positive that you shouldn\’t always believe what you see on T.V..
Did you have a link for something refuting the analysis?
Ok guys, I admit this is pretty bad. I\’ve never voted for a president or any city council member ever and I\’m almost 40 yrs old. I voted for Sam purely because of his bike policies. I\’m pretty conservative, have a family, live in NE, not gay, etc. I\’m traveling right now on vacation and saw a 60 year old lady riding her bike in Amsterdam wearing a nice hat with a nice dress. Sam I hope you are reading this article and I hope you can get Portland to the same point. I have not seen one concrete thing about Sho, I don\’t see any bikes at his restaurant.
As I mentioned before, Jonathan, you seem to be interested in steering your readers to making their voting decision based upon which candidate will more strongly support bicyclists. Yeah, I know this is YOUR BIKE website, but I personally find that method to a poor way to choose any candidate for any office. I support Adams, BTW. Thanks for proving my previous point.
Horowitz #37,
What\’s wrong with what Jonathan is doing? He is one of the most visible bike activists in the city. He committed to getting more people to use bikes, to improve bike safety. I see no problem with providing the info to voters on this issue. How is what Jonathan is doing any different than any other special interest group? In the end he is not telling you who to vote for and makes no endorsement. Readers can draw their own conclusions about where Jonathan stands.
I think Jonathan\’s approach is dead on, give the voters all the information and let them decide for themselves.
I think people will vote based on the issues that are most important to them.
The fawning over Sam (who I support) bugs me.
He spends less than one percent of our capital money on bikes, and gets all this credit as \”just about as active a champion for bicycling as an elected official can be\”?
He sells the Flanders crossing down the river for political expediency and… ? He sets aside about 5% of his Safe Streets new bond money to bikes, and he\’s the Messiah?
I like Sam. I voted for him and campaigned for him. But we\’re not asking enough out of him for the credit you give him.
The Bike Community needs to demand Sam do more than do good PR for bikes. He\’s done some things, like bike boxes, that were way overdue, and aren\’t very expensive. But we need to ensure he actually spends the money to build our network.
Oh, and there are 10 other people in this race for mayor, so to say Sho\’s the only competition…
Vancouver resident here, hoping that Sam wins–he\’d be a good example for us!
oh, god! that last quote is simply terrible!
“I don’t know that anyone… there maybe a handful of people are bicycling because it’s their life and the only thing that matters to them is about bicycles and some politician that talks bike language….\”
bicycling is not my life but i still care about it quite a bit, and i got involved because this city encourages it so much. without that vision, commitment & leadership, i would not be riding a bike.
\”Would I be as good of a bike advocate as Sam Adams? Absolutely. But that’s for me to say, and for you to sort of guess, to see, what’s my record. My record and my life is different from Sam’s.”
ha ha ha ha ha ha! first, to claim he\’d be as good of a bike advocate as sam and second, \”that\’s for me to say and for you to sort of guess.\” yes, let\’s vote for mayors based on \”guessing!\”
but yes, i see a lot of sho signs and it makes me cringe. i think sho ought to run for city council, not mayor. if he spent some time on the council, then we\’d get to see what he actually gets done and -then- he could run for mayor if he wants.
Excellent idea!:
\”i think sho ought to run for city council, not mayor. if he spent some time on the council, then we\’d get to see what he actually gets done and -then- he could run for mayor if he wants.\” eli bishop
What about it Sho? That, rather than sitting on fund raising committees and such, would be a better test of your ability to function in local government. I wonder if he\’s even checking in on this weblog, after having given editor Maus an interview and all.
Betsy O…\”He sells the Flanders crossing down the river for political expediency…\”. As an opinion, you\’re entitled to that viewpoint, but it doesn\’t seem fair to me. Re-use of the Sauvie Isl span at Flanders was inevitably a complicated sell for many people.
Ultimately though, I personally believe the reason for him withdrawing support for the proposal is that an economically feasible deal just was not presently available.
There\’s nothing new about people getting overly excited about politics and their candidates
Sho said, “I don’t know that anyone… there maybe a handful of people are bicycling because it’s their life and the only thing that matters to them is about bicycles and some politician that talks bike language. I happen to believe that there are more important things than riding a bike.\”
He doesn\’t get it. There is hardly anything more important than riding a bike. Does he think we are simply riding our bikes because we are reliving our childhoods? He does not see the big picture. The future of our planet and this city depends on transportation not reliant on fossil fuels. Yes, riding my bicycle is fun but bike commuting is also a commitment to the survival of the human race.
JOIN A GROUP OF BIKERS AS WE SHOW OUR SUPPORT FOR SAM:
Monday, 7:15 AM: east side of Hawthorne Bridge, on the corner of SE Hawthorne and SE Grand
Monday, 4:30 PM: east side of Broadway Bridge, right where Broadway and Weidler meet, across from Flint
Tuesday, 7:15 AM: W Burnside & 10th by the public art
Tuesday, 4:30 PM: E Burnside & Grand. Then we\’ll hang out until the election night party!
Most people take a solid percentage of their day commuting in some way. So in the pie chart of life, commuting is probably 3rd or 4th behind, sleep, work and maybe eating. So cycling advocacy *is* rather important. And that\’s just the personal impact, nevermind social, economic and environmental reasons. How one gets around matters on so many levels. So yeah, Sho does not get it at all.
For the moment I\’m going to play devil\’s advocate, and say that how you get to work is less important than having a work to go to in the first place… And so in that regard, Sho\’s comment about not voting for someone just because of their stance on bicycling makes sense. But two problems:
1) Sho\’s stances (read: total lack of clear information, much like this interview,) about those other issues doesn\’t help his case much.
2) It is an interview with BIKEportland.org, not ENVIRONMENTportland.org, or EDUCATIONportland.org. It stands to reason that we\’d probably care about bike issues around here. If he can\’t focus on that for the length of an interview, then why is he qualified to run a major American city?