In interview, Mapps blames BikePortland for Broadway bike lane scandal

Mapps at a press conference in April 2023. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

On Monday July 1st, Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps will no longer be in charge of the transportation bureau. Mayor Ted Wheeler will retake the bureaus and pass them onto administrators ahead of an historic reform to our city government, making Mapps the last ever commissioner-in-charge of the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT).

It was perhaps a fitting end to the dysfunctional and outdated commissioner-in-charge system that Mapps, who hopes to be Portland’s next mayor, spent part of his final week in that position answering questions about a bike lane controversy he was solely responsible for. Mapps was asked about his role in the Southwest Broadway bike lane scandal in a podcast interview published by City Cast Portland yesterday.

Interviewer Claudia Meza pressed Mapps on a number of topics throughout the interview. When the conversation turned to the importance of clear communication from the city’s top politician, Meza told Mapps his stance on important issues was often misunderstood not just by Portlanders, but by his own bureau leadership.

When Meza used the Broadway bike lane “scandal” (her word) as an example — a story we covered closely back in September after Mapps told PBOT to rip out a protected bike lane because several downtown hotel owners didn’t like it, only to have his plans thwarted by swift pushback from the community — he didn’t take responsibility.

Instead, Mapps blamed my reporting.

“It doesn’t matter what’s right, what’s wrong, it’s the confusion,” Meza said. “People aren’t clear about where you stand, where you want things to go, including your bureau.”

To which Mapps replied:

“Well, Claudia, I think what you might be pointing to is the quality of reporting that happens in this space… Frankly, I did not recognize the reporting on this. It did not jive up with my experience… You know… I have no influence over what blogs publish.”

When Mapps first took over the PBOT commissioner job, he told me in an interview that he was, “the guy where the buck stops on transportation.” But when things got messy on Broadway, he ran away from chances to take responsibility and clarify his role. It was the PBOT director — not Mingus “Where the Buck Stops” Mapps — that apologized for what happened. And Mapps continued to share an inaccurate version of events when asked about it in public.

I’ve given Mapps every opportunity to set the record straight, including an interview just one day after I broke the story and several emailed requests for comment that remain unanswered. We still don’t have a the full picture of who did what and why.

While many Portlanders remain confused about where Mapps stands, he shows no self-reflection or humility about what happened. The only thing he’s clear about is who to blame. That’s not the type of leader Portland needs.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

Thanks for reading.

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Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
4 months ago

So many urbanists voted for this guy because they were upset by Eudaly’s mild skepticism of developer/landlord deregulation as a major path towards addressing our chronic and continuing lower-income housing crisis.

Jay Cee
Jay Cee
4 months ago

Tbh as much as I’m taking bad about Mapps, I’d still vote for him over Eudaly, Hardesy, Vega Peterson, Rubio or DePass any day of the week, in any election. That’s how toxic and regressive I think those neoliberals are for Portland’s future.

Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
4 months ago
Reply to  Jay Cee

And, of course, its neoliberal to fight for tenant rights and tenant-run cooperative housing according to “Jay Cee”.

John V
John V
4 months ago
Reply to  Jay Cee

Words have no meaning I guess?

Neoliberal? You use that word when talking about the only slightly left leaning people we’ve had in local government?

Lisa Caballero (Contributor)
Editor
Reply to  Jay Cee

Jay Cee, you might want to look up what “neoliberal” means, I think you are using it incorrectly.

Neoliberalism, in recent times, is most closely associated with Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, and was a reaction against Reagan and Thatcher — in this country, an attempt by the Democrats to regain power by tacking right.

Neoliberalism is characterized by a belief in the ability of the free market to solve social problems — this certainly doesn’t describe Eudaly or Hardesty, nor Peterson or DePass.

I don’t know why you add Carmen Rubio to that list (except maybe that she is a woman with a Spanish name?) Look at her record on council, she quite deftly got Housing Regulatory Reform passed. Most Portland liberals saw that as pro-developer — not something Eudaly would have supported.

When you say “neoliberal” I think what you probably mean is “social justice” liberals. Or, pejoratively, the “wokes.” That is the opposite of “neoliberalism.”

Damien
Damien
4 months ago

When you say “neoliberal” I think what you probably mean is “social justice” liberals. Or, pejoratively, the “wokes.” That is the opposite of “neoliberalism.”

I appreciated your pushback/distinction, Lisa, though I quibble with this last part: They are by no means opposite. Neoliberals in fact love to hide behind/weaponize “wokeness” so we’re busy focused on that and those issues rather than the economic wealth/power they’re busy trying to funnel upward as much as possible.

Lisa Caballero (Contributor)
Editor
Reply to  Damien

Insightful comment, Damien. Thank you!

Jay Cee
Jay Cee
4 months ago

i actually mean neoliberal, not woke, though neoliberals do tend to cloak their true rightist nature in progressive politics (see Bill, Hilary Clinton or Joe Lieberman for examples). I don’t consider any of the people I mentioned as left or far left – but rather reactionary especially when it comes to bike infrastructure.

For example they might claim bike lanes are racist or gentrifying, but what they really mean is they want to maintain the pro car status quo.

I think they are very status quo cloaked as woke, some with a hint of populism thrown in.

Lisa Caballero (Contributor)
Editor
Reply to  Jay Cee

Thanks for your further comment. Re last paragraph, maybe a little oregano and garlic too! Have a good rest of weekend.

Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
4 months ago
Reply to  Jay Cee

what they really mean is…

Because bike infrastructure for college-educated upper-class-coded people who are hopping mad that they did not get a protected bike lane on a transit- and ped-priority street so that they can ride their $12,000 E-cargo bike to the local brewpub is the epitome of left-wing class struggle.

Ben
Ben
4 months ago

This idea that cyclists are all rich assholes is not true. Drivers are on average much richer than non-drivers (look it up, it’s undeniably true), and cars much more expensive than most bikes. Even 12,000 ebikes are cheaper than many cars you see driving around, and are certainly cheaper than most cars when you consider the cost of maintenance, gas, parking fees, and so on.

Regardless, most places in the city the divide is not between “peds and transit vs bikes” it’s “peds, bikes, and transit vs car lanes and parking”. Nearly always when a cycling infrastructure project gets de-priotized or canceled, it’s done in order to maintain car travel lanes or parking spaces. Most of the time, because a business complained about the removal of parking spots. Same thing happens with transit projects, which I’m sure you’ll find most cycling advocates also support

Watts
Watts
4 months ago
Reply to  Ben

Look it up, it’s undeniably true

I did look it up, and couldn’t find any clear data comparing the median income of Portland cyclists to that of Portland car drivers.

Can you point me in the right direction?

Also, I reject the fundamental premise that there’s any “divide” to speak of at all; I think that’s a manufactured concept, not some organic outgrowth of society at large. I’d be willing to bet that many of the folks on transit would be in a car if they could be, though I doubt too many of them are lurking here in these forums.

qqq
qqq
4 months ago
Reply to  Ben

“Cyclists are all rich assholes!”

“That’s not true! Lots of them aren’t rich!”

Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
4 months ago

I don’t think most people on the left would consider Rubio, Hardesty, or Vega-Peterson as even close to the center-left. Eudaly is on the edges of the center-left according to my opinion but even this position is controversial among left-wing circles. For example, the DSA (which is considered center-left by some) did not endorse Eudaly and has many prominent members who were openly hostile to Eudaly.

Lisa Caballero (Contributor)
Editor

Thank you “Will the last,” I believe you. Eudaly’s politics are probably close to my own, I remember hearing her in an interview say she liked Elizabeth Warren (My two E. Warren t-shirts are worn to rags).

I also think that the traditional right/left spectrum doesn’t describe the political shift happening in Portland right now.

Nathan
Nathan
4 months ago

Eudaly and “mild” are contradictions. Even today i can’t figure out if she was simply naive, too simple, or a calculating radical far left version on Trump minus the MAGA-esque cult following.

Mapps is simply a casualty of politics, business as normal. Bike Portland should not be so offended, instead perhaps flattered to even have some claims lobbed (even if false and unwarranted) as to having such influence as to impact such high level decisions.

Nathan
Nathan
4 months ago

No doubt. Apologies for any misinterpretation, i meant the general audience of the BP articles.

In my line of work, i deal with diverse opinions daily. Part of being able to achieve needed work results, which positively impact our community, is not going off kilt for every unkind thought that floats by. Sometimes knowing my opposition, having them outspoken directly, is more empowering than having a bunch of yes-men and nodders that could equally be colluding behind my back.

qqq
qqq
4 months ago
Reply to  Nathan

Part of being able to achieve needed work results, which positively impact our community, is not going off kilt for every unkind thought that floats by. 

Having a City Council member who’s running for mayor trying to salvage his reputation by publicly denigrating your professional work is on a whole different level than the typical “unkind thought that floats by”.

It’s also not just another typical “diverse opinion” about something.

Calling Mapps out was a totally appropriate, rational, legitimate response.

John V
John V
4 months ago
Reply to  Nathan

A casualty of politics? I guess you could use that to describe any politician that lies and deflects. The way you say it, it sounds a lot more passive, like politics just happened to him and not the fact that he utterly screwed up and showed himself to be an untrustworthy leader.

Middle o the Road Guy
Middle o the Road Guy
4 months ago

No. It’s be a use she was an awful commissioner with a lousy temperament for someone in a public position.

Patrick Cashman
Patrick Cashman
4 months ago

But this is just a blog, what’s the problem with making that observation? You are a strident amateur single issue propagandist, you are utterly predictable as to what your take on any issue will be, and you carefully curate and massage your comments to create the illusion of support and legitimacy where there is none. That screams “blogger”.
What is it you thought you were doing if not blogging?

Nick
Nick
4 months ago

Folks can call me whatever they want!

Local Hero

stephan
stephan
4 months ago
Reply to  Nick

“But this is just a blog”
It is about the quality of reporting, and bikeportland is consistently top notch. Jonathan, your work is highly valuable to the bike community and, I would say, to the Portland community in general. I am glad that Portland has such a great institution!

Jay Cee
Jay Cee
4 months ago
Reply to  stephan

Agreed!

Basiluzzo
Basiluzzo
4 months ago
Reply to  stephan

I agree.

Amit Zinman
4 months ago
Reply to  stephan

Yes, the reality is whenever I make any videos about urbanism, trying to figure what’s happening with our streets and roads, most of the reliable and in-depth information that comes up when googling this stuff comes from this site.

Patrick Cashman
Patrick Cashman
4 months ago

So nothing about how you carefully pick and choose comments for your own ends? You allow a comment when it suits your purpose but that is your wholly subjective and self serving call to make, because this is an astroturf blog. True sign of a blogger; totalitarian control of feedback to avoid accountability and transparency.
Though I hear some guy in Lake O bankrolls your hobby so I guess it’s HIS blog.

Lisa Caballero (Contributor)
Editor

Hi Patrick,

I’ve been taking it a little easier this past six weeks or so, but I probably do most of the moderating. (Jonathan would probably disagree with that!) We share the task, w/o much of a schedule or too much coordination, so you can’t really know who is approving you. I, personally, have gotten a little more lenient with approvals this spring, and my take is that JM has gotten more engaged. No big reason for any of that.

BikePortland is subscription-based, although a couple of years ago a long-time reader generously gave BP an infusion of cash. But subscriptions are the bread and butter. JM works his rear end off, and has been doing so for nearly a couple of decades.

My take on you is that you are an attention-seeking provocateur. Those types of comments clog up our threads and are a disservice to our readers. So, yeah, I might be discerning about which of your comments I push through.

Damien
Damien
4 months ago

My take on you is that you are an attention-seeking provocateur. Those types of comments clog up our threads and are a disservice to our readers. So, yeah, I might be discerning about which of your comments I push through.

It really is appreciated!

bjorn
bjorn
4 months ago

Super weird to call someone whose source of income has been running a journalism outlet for nearly 20 years an amateur. I mean blogger is factually accurate but he’s clearly gone pro.

Amit Zinman
4 months ago
Reply to  bjorn

At this point in the history of journalism the differences between a well-researched blog and a newspaper are negligible. BikePortland is a blog in the same way that Politico or Huffington Post are blogs.

qqq
qqq
4 months ago
Reply to  Amit Zinman

Exactly. People who use “blogger” pejoratively seem like the same people who respond negatively to evolution in other areas. A blogger is basically a self-employed writer.

It’s like saying, “If you drive downtown and sit in a big noisy room with fluorescent lighting, typing and talking on land lines, writing stuff that gets printed (along with a crossword puzzle) on paper and thrown onto people’s driveways, and get paid by a huge syndicate, now that’s real journalism. But you work at home? You don’t have a secretary? And no stationery? You only use a mobile phone? You eat at places without indoor dining? You wear clothes at work that don’t need dry cleaning or ironing? What a loser!”

jakeco969
jakeco969
4 months ago
Reply to  Amit Zinman

Not even close. Huffington Post and Politico are driven by propaganda and have a politically biased way at looking at everything. Neither are worth reading anymore save as barometers of a certain political persuasion or if you are that political persuasion than the value in reading them is positive emotional feedback.
BikePortland is and has been well researched and presents articles that are for the most part as politically neutral as can hope to be and deliver information that is actually timely, useful and affects its readers. When I read BikePortland I know I’m reading something that the author (usally JM) has actually gone out and looked at. The pics are his for the most part and the information is geared towards furthering the readers knowledge.
If you can say the same for H-Post or Politico I’d like to hear your argument.

Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
4 months ago
Reply to  jakeco969

Huffington Post and Politico are driven by propaganda and have a politically biased way at looking at everything.

Could you please provide some examples of propaganda-free and unbiased US journalism.

Pockets
Pockets
4 months ago

In ye olde USo’A it’s only real propaganda if it comes from a point of view you disagree with, everything else is just sparkling confirmation bias.

John V
John V
4 months ago

Lol at the complaints about comments. Did you not like your alternate accounts being discovered or something?

I don’t think I’ve ever had a comment not approved except when especially off topic maybe. And I don’t think they agree with everything I say, and I certainly see comments that seem completely antithetical to what I’m guessing are Jonathan’s opinions all the time. Seems baffling to come in here with that complaint.

dan
dan
4 months ago

“strident amateur single issue propagandist” LOL. Grade-A projection in the flesh.

Ben Goldberg
Ben Goldberg
4 months ago

A blogger is comparable to a single issue columnist in a news paper – sure it might not be exciting front page stuff, but it’s still *news*, and is accurate, well written and informative.

John V
John V
4 months ago

Frankly, I did not recognize the reporting on this. It did not jive up with my experience

Mind blowing. The one and only reason there was a scandal is that someone in his bureau was saying to rip out the bike lane (with all signs pointing to Mapps). The “confusion” came from somebody noticing it and reporting it? He can’t deny that they were trying to remove the lane.

What a blatant dishonest statement. Just own your mistake! Just apologize and go on, people would respect that more than lying in such an obvious way.

Jay Cee
Jay Cee
4 months ago

Too bad about Mapps. I was always a supporter of him here in the BP comments. I liked his voice of reason during the crazy days of the pandemic and the hardesy years.

But, he hasn’t really been that visible this election or given us any reason why we should vote for him as mayor.

I think this quote from the reporter sums it perfectly: “people aren’t clear on where you stand”

I know where Gonzalez stands.
I know where Rubio stands (no thanks btw, I don’t want a replay of Portland’s early 2020’s failed policies).
But I don’t know where Mapps stands…

Watts
Watts
4 months ago
Reply to  Jay Cee

I know where Gonzalez stands / I know where Rubio stands

Gonzalez bike commutes to work. Rubio drives an SUV.

Alan Love
Alan Love
4 months ago
Reply to  Watts

Gonzalez was also “accosted” on TriMet when another rider slightly brushed against his shoulder.

Watts
Watts
4 months ago
Reply to  Alan Love

Indeed he was; now he’s a bike commuter.

Micah Prange
Micah Prange
4 months ago
Reply to  Watts

And an absolutely terrible council member. Really hope he loses his bid for the mayorship.

qqq
qqq
4 months ago
Reply to  Jay Cee

If he had vision problems, he might be standing in the middle of the bike lane in front of one of the 3 Broadway hotels or the Schnitzer, because after all the chaos surrounding that project, PBOT installed the loading platforms without the ADA-required tactile warnings that allow arriving hotel or concert guests to identify that they’ve stepped into bike traffic.

But if a guest or bike rider gets injured because of that (I’ve tried exhaustively to get PBOT to add them), or if a hotel gets sued, or sues PBOT, it will probably also be BikePortland’s fault.

Basiluzzo
Basiluzzo
4 months ago
Reply to  Jay Cee

I won’t be voting for Gonzalez, Rubio, or Mapps because they all had a hand in creating the current mess. They were handed a mess and made it worse. Implementation of the new city government will surely be a difficult process and I’m sure there will be many controversies before we settle into the new paradigm – but the people who let things get so bad are NOT the people to help us recover.

Preston Freeman
Preston Freeman
4 months ago

Spoiler…the whole “remove the bike lanes” stance alone will probably get him elected mayor. The more page/screen time we give him on the way out is only helping his campaign. The whole thing reeks of political posturing – because infrastructure choices and budget portionings always cause community perturbances. There’s a large and vocal “bikes are in the way” contingency in town now. I really wouldn’t be surprised if he uses this to his advantage – and then wins by majority.

Watts
Watts
4 months ago

the whole “remove the bike lanes” stance alone will probably get him elected mayor

I doubt it… Mapps’ campaign seems to be going nowhere.

David Hampsten
David Hampsten
4 months ago

In this next election, only two people have any viable chance of getting elected president, and everyone nationwide knows that the current incumbent will win California, Oregon, & Washington – no doubt supporters of his opponent will claim election rigging and whatnot – but there’s really no dispute who will win in those states. That said, many Oregonians will in fact vote for the other guy, they always do, even many voters in Portland. So for those voters, who will they likely vote for in the coming city council and mayoral elections? Because they will vote for someone.

If you are a marginal candidate for office in Portland, do you try to cater to liberal voters who likely will vote for other liberal candidates? Or do you cater to these conservative deplorables (as Hillary Clinton once put it) who are anti-liberal? Given that a majority of commuters in Portland still get around by car, if you can project yourself as the main anti-bike a-hole in the community, might not that be a good strategy on getting more of these deplorable voters to vote for you, given that they’ll be voting anyway?

And so I agree, Mapps isn’t looking to get your or any votes from BP readers. He’s looking to blame you, however unjustly, so he can get more votes from those deplorable folks who irrationally blame you for all those expensive painted bike lanes that are increasing congestion, causing homelessness and abortions, and not allowing America to be great again. He needs all the votes he can get, and so I agree, there is a large “remove the bike lanes” constituency in Portland (and most other US cities), and you have done him a real yuuge service by taking the bait and publishing this story.

He’s using you, and you were just successfully used.

qqq
qqq
4 months ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

…and you were just successfully used.

I don’t think that could be further from the truth.

It’s POSSIBLE Mapps wants to position himself as the anti-bike lane candidate, and maybe POSSIBLE he’d pick a fight with BikePortland to demonstrate that, despite the fact that hardly any anti-bike voters have ever heard of it.

And if Mapps HAD taken out the Broadway bike lanes, he could claim he stood up to the bike people and won.

But he didn’t. The lanes stayed, and there was even some positive PR about them later on from the hotels.

So it’s hard to claim Mapps “successfully used” BikePortland when–because of the efforts of BikePortland and others–he can’t even mention BikePortland or the Broadway bike lanes without highlighting his own inability to stop them, even though he was in a perfect position–head of PBOT–to do so.

He stood up to the bike people….and LOST–very publicly.

That’s hardly successfully using someone.

dw
dw
4 months ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

I don’t think it’s just right-wingers who are voting for “bike lanes bad” candidates either.

On The War on Cars podcast, they put it really well; what the coal miner/plumber/construction worker is to the Republicans, the suburban driver is to the Democrats. Plenty of liberal politicians in our state and beyond who portray the poor, oppressed motorist as the everyman just trying to get around, now stuck in traffic because of the whims of those few cyclists forcing through their Big Bike agenda.

I’m also feeling a bit doomer about who we elect and how they’ll shape our urban landscape. Transit and cycling were the big “green” thing to do in 2005, but now it’s all about electric cars. Seems like the thinking for many of our candidates for office – when they aren’t speaking at Bike Happy Hour – is that we just need electric cars and everything will magically be a-ok in the transportation sector.

Nathan
Nathan
4 months ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

Tbh your comments, your attitude towards those any so called “deplorables” not devoutly adhering to your values and purity of progressive leftist activism is actually why Trump and other right wing candidates continue gaining ground. Interestingly, if you were very to venture into Eastern Oregon, rural Idaho, or even Texas you’d likely find less opposition to abortions, bike lanes, and helping homeless folks into rehab/shelters as their disdain for smug liberal urban elitists that consistently hold contempt for their values and their perceived issues in non-urban communities.

Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
4 months ago
Reply to  Nathan

your attitude towards those “deplorables” people who vote for the “leopard eating your face party”

My attitude towards these voters is that it will make me sad when the “leopard eating people’s face party” does what it said it would do.

David Hampsten
David Hampsten
4 months ago

The more page/screen time we give him on the way out is only helping his campaign.

The saying is often attributed to Yogi Berra, but “Even bad publicity is good publicity,” which seems to work well with the guy with orange hair – no matter how criminal he is and no matter how many lies he tells, his ratings just seem to go up and up, as his opponents keep mentioning his name again and again. It’s called “branding.” The more you hate Walmart or Coca-Cola – or the USA – the more people remember the name come voting day. Since most voters aren’t very thoughtful (certainly less than people who are on BP), the more likely they’ll vote for the most controversial person.

Andrew N
Andrew N
4 months ago

Love seeing Maus amp up the volume a bit with regards to speaking truth to power (in this case someone who is a well-documented liar and gaslighter) instead of attempting to sidle up to a corrupt, dysfunctional, and decaying system that has no future and cannot be reformed.

jakeco969
jakeco969
4 months ago

What a feather in the cap. Congratulations on doing such a good job of reporting that you’re living in that guys head rent free and you are so firmly in his mind that you’re the only thing he can think to scapegoat.

Frankly, I did not recognize the reporting on this. It did not jive up with my experience

If true (and thats a big if), it just goes to show he had no idea what was happening with that project as your reporting of it was in-depth and factual. How embarrassing to admit to being so unaware of ones duties.

Me
Me
4 months ago

His interview on City Cast sealed the deal for me that I will never vote for Mapps for any elective office ever.

Michael
Michael
4 months ago
Reply to  Me

Eh, we have ranked choice in the city, now. Presuming there are six candidates or fewer I might, say, still vote for his dishonest incompetence over, say, a candidate who is being honest about their malicious intent. He’s certainly not getting near the top of any ballot I cast in 2024, though.

Damien
Damien
4 months ago
Reply to  Michael

It’s worth stressing you don’t need to, though. As I understand it the latest iteration, you’ll be able to pick up to six (not all, which I’m a little sore about as that’s what was sold during the initial charter reform conversation, despite my own testimony to that commission warning them that was geometrically impossible on a ranked-choice ballot, which was just one more reason they should’ve gone with STAR instead) candidates, but don’t have to. You could even just pick one.

I for one will not be ranking Mapps at all. Or Gonzalez. Wilson’s got my first rank so far, but TBD on the others – I’ll be surprised if I rank six in the end.

Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
4 months ago
Reply to  Damien

You could even just pick one.

I think quite a few voters will pick fewer than six candidates which will make for some fun drama as the media suddenly starts discussing wasted/exhausted votes.

Lisa Caballero (Contributor)
Editor

I think informed voters will pick fewer than six. You should only vote for people who you would want to see in office. No need to pick six just to get the form completely filled.

Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
Will the last bike commuter turn off their lights
4 months ago

For a Mayor’s race with 6 candidates this should work fine but for a larger candidate pool race (e.g. D2’s 24 candidates) this could lead to “interesting” and unintended consequences. I’m going to pop some very special popcorn for any electoral drama in Nov.

Lisa Caballero (Contributor)
Editor

The dynamic is going to be really interesting to watch play out. I like to think that the folks at MGGG, who designed the multi-member, four district scenario will be watching too.

There are only a couple (three maybe) people running for mayor who I will rank. Districts will be interesting to watch. Obviously I’m paying closest attention to D4. We have a handful of strong candidates and, except for a late-starter, and with some wobble, donations sort of correlate with strength of candidate. It won’t be hard to find at least 5 to rank.

D2, I’m not watching too closely, what can I say, at least it is contained. 😉

D1 seems to be most similar to D4, clear front runner who is also a standout candidate. I don’t see D1, D4 doing anything too unexpected from donation numbers.

D3 — I’m curious to see if frictionless fundraising translates into votes.

I’m taking off for a month and plan to avoid the comments, hold down the fort for me, WTLBCTOTL.

maccoinnich
maccoinnich
4 months ago
Reply to  Me

A couple minutes before the dig at BikePortland, he tried to take credit for the Big Pipe Project (completed a decade before he took office).

Home
Home
4 months ago
Reply to  maccoinnich

And then quickly tried to change the subject when he was called on it.

Lois Leveen
Lois Leveen
4 months ago

Those of us who attended his “press conference” last summer — which was initiated as Mapps’s attempt to upstage the County’s release of a public health report on vehicular violence which was scheduled to be released the following day, but which the County then shared at the same podium that day — watched him blame every other entity/agency for the record number of people killed by motorists during his time overseeing PBOT. (Notably, Millicent Williams’ career was earlier derailed by her taking the fall for something a male politician in DC did. I sometimes think Mapps hired her with the intent of letting her take the blame for whatever he might do. But he’s got enough blame to spread onto lots of other folks, too.)

That said, Gonzalez is IMHO smarter than Mapps but perhaps even worse in his vision for the city, so it’s his campaign that has me more worried. Although who knows, ranked choice voting got New York its current terrible mayor. I do not oppose ranked choice voting per se, but I am aware it requires a lot more informed decision making by voters. And that does have me worried.

Mark Remy
Mark Remy
4 months ago

Small thing, but Mapps means “jibe” here. Not “jive.”

It did not jive up with my experience

John D
John D
4 months ago

Bike Portland had a public policy fight with Maps and won. Good work. Now is the time to quit fighting and make friends. You advocate for bike transportation, and you never know when you will need Mapps on your side for another issue. It’s good to leave space for that to happen.

John D
John D
4 months ago

You look better without the correction. Just my opinion. High road

Sam Balto (Contributor)
Sam
4 months ago

Mapps is a perfect example of failed politicians who has no backbone. When bike bus leaders had a meeting with him back in August to present our letter of safety requests to PBOT bikebuspdx.org/letter he told us that he wished his children had a bike bus to go to school. One would think saying a strong statement of support would mean he would direct the bureau to do something. Unfortunately not.

Liz M
Liz M
4 months ago

You know you’re doing something right Johnathan, when you’re getting named and blamed by politicians. Keep up the great work reporting on bike and transportation in Portland!

Scalawag
Scalawag
4 months ago

Every accusation an admission of guilt. Fool me once, shame on me. I won’t be voting for him again. I.E., he is losing voters. He is clearly running the program poorly. I say that based on my own pet peev, 72nd through Rose City Golf Course. That is an absolute mess.

Cheers

wortkisser
wortkisser
4 months ago

Damn, you really shook the guy. He can’t stop thinking about Bike Portland.

Ed
Ed
4 months ago

“But when things got messy on Broadway, he has repeatedly run away from chances to take responsibility and clarify his role.”

There’s a change of tense there that’s jarring.

Why not ask Ms. Caballero to read your copy prior to publishing?

It’s unusual for a journalist to allow themselves to become the story. It should be handled very carefully lest it descend into accusations and name calling.

Even reporting the facts in an inverted pyramid form can get you into trouble when you put yourself forward as the story.

Instead of writing the Mapps retrospective on his time at PBOT you have given your readers this piece. It makes it harder to view any further reporting on Mapps as not jaded.

I do appreciate what you do and on the balance I think of BP as net positive for moving Portland towards great biking infrastructure. But there are moments like this when your journalism is awkward that I wish you had an editor to help you guide BP towards really great reporting and stories that stay with the facts. With a sharper rapier you could skewer the entire system and provide thoughtful perspective on why things are the way they are. This piece ultimately doesn’t say much about Mapps, and ends with you focusing on what you’ve done. That ends up being kind of dull.

footwalker
4 months ago

Has anyone ever heard Mapps say, “I could have handled that better” or some variation thereof?

Jose V
Jose V
4 months ago

Jonathan, are you sure Mapps was talking about you and your blog coverage of him? I don’t see your name or your bike portland blog mentioned in his statements. Assumptions like that by social media influencers can be problematic.