Portland City Council candidate Rex Burkholder wants one of the three seats in District 3, and he visited Bike Happy Hour on April 10th to tell us why. As I do whenever a candidate shows up, I handed Burkholder the mic and let him share his stump speech.
Under sunny skies on the Gorges Beer Co patio overlooking the SE Ankeny Rainbow Road Plaza, Burkholder grabbed the mic and stepped up onto a bench. Below is most of his speech (edited slightly for clarity):
“Despite some of the noise that we hear, especially from some of our downtown business owners, Portland is still a rockin’ place. You try to go out for dinner or something, you can’t get a seat. And the theaters are full. And I went to music last night, at the Old Church, and it was jammed. I mean, this is a great place to live! And I think we have to remember that.
“I’m running because I’m not ready to garden for the rest of my life. This town needs help. It needs work.”
This is a great place to work and it’s a great place to live because of actions of people like you who got involved in the community.
I got started as a member of my neighborhood association… I ended up being part of a bicycle club with a bunch of people who basically said, ‘Shouldn’t we be able to ride our bicycles without being killed and threatened? Maybe bike lanes would make sense.’ Those were radical ideas.
And that group actually got launched by Jay Graves, who used to own the Bike Gallery stores. He sent us a $300 check with a note saying, ‘You get one of these every month, as long as you keep doing your good work.’ And we looked each other and go, ‘What the hell are we gonna’ do with $300?!’ I’m saying, well, let’s hire somebody. Let’s go professional. And that was the start of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
I’m running because I’m not ready to garden for the rest of my life. This town needs help. It needs work. It needs people who know how to organize and bring peoples’ voices to the table. And that’s why I’m really excited with this new form of government — and also kind of a little worried that we get a lot of people who are just really just gung-ho advocates for an idea. I think they’ll get bamboozled by the bureaucracies.
We have lots of plans, don’t we? We’ve got to put them in into action. And that’s why I’m running.”
— RexForPDX.com. Browse more of our 2024 City Council election coverage here.