Curse of the Zombie

[March 19th, 2008]

Just weeks ago, Portland’s mayoral candidates were advertising the May 20 election as a friendly potluck, promising a civil discussion on the city’s future, with vegan options.

Now, candidate Sam Adams, a city commissioner, is going for the kneecaps of his lead opponent, businessman Sho Dozono. Nothing unusual there—even in the age of Obama, U.S. politics demands blood sacrifice.

Except that Dozono carries a special burden: He’s set to run with taxpayer money, since City Auditor Gary Blackmer ruled Dozono qualified for $160,000-plus in public financing.

Announcing his candidacy in January, Dozono qualified in record time for the public money, by collecting the needed signatures and $5 donations. But just as quickly, Dozono faced charges that he undermined Portland’s Voter Owned Elections system by accepting a much larger contribution—a $27,000 poll—from a lobbyist.

Call it Dozono’s “Zombie Poll.” It just won’t die. Spurred by challenges last week from Adams and three other candidates in the field of 14, State Administrative Law Judge David Gerstenfeld took up the convoluted case on March 17. He’s expected to rule by Friday, March 21. Meantime, here are the three key outstanding questions:

Did Dozono break Portland’s public-financing rules by accepting a $27,000 poll before formally announcing his candidacy in January?

No, says Blackmer, who runs—and helped devise—the public-financing program. But Adams and mayoral candidates Bruce Broussard, Craig Gier and Beryl McNair say Dozono did break the rules while Blackmer let it slide. (Broussard has since pulled out of the race.)

This may seem like just another hissy fit, given that election-year polls are like white on rice. But the trouble with the Zombie Poll concerns who paid for it and when.

The December survey was commissioned by Dozono’s adviser, powerhouse lobbyist Len Bergstein. Dozono didn’t report the poll to officials until the Portland Tribune and WW revealed its existence in early February. State elections law required the poll be listed as an in-kind contribution. For publicly financed candidates, city code limits such contributions to $12,000. Dozono’s poll cost $27,000—more than double the limit.

After consulting Blackmer, Dozono paid for the poll himself “to avoid the appearance of being beholden.” Blackmer soon reversed himself, saying Bergstein had to be listed as the poll’s buyer.

On the weightiest question of whether Dozono broke city rules, however, Blackmer agreed with Dozono. Here’s where things get even muddier with a second question: When did Dozono become a candidate?

Blackmer says Dozono wasn’t a candidate until he formally announced in January. But under state law, Dozono became a candidate as soon as he accepted the poll results in December.

Blackmer says that’s the state’s problem, not his. But Democracy Reform Oregon’s Janice Thompson—a booster of public financing in Portland—points out that the city code requires compliance with state elections rules, as well.

Adams’ team argues that Blackmer—who never saw the poll results before making up his mind—lacked the professional expertise to know whether the poll was merely “exploratory,” as Dozono described it, or substantial, with ongoing value to Dozono’s campaign.

Robert Meadow, a Los Angeles-based pollster now working for Adams, argues that a poll so costly would do much more than “test viability.”

Here’s a third question: What will Dozono do if loses the ruling?

Dozono said in January that he would run only if he qualified for public financing. He now tells WW he may accept private financing to finish the race, if the judge decides against him. And, he points out, he can always appeal.

In that case, the Zombie lives on.