Portland Public Schools Bond Measure Has a Campaign Manager

When Portland Public Schools goes to voters asking them to approve a school bond in November, Tim Raphael, a former spokesman for ex-Gov. John Kitzhaber, and Amy Ruiz, formerly a spokesperson for ex-Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who work at the firm Strategies 360, will be running the campaign.

"They're a proven entity," said School Board chair Tom Koehler, adding the firm has just completed a successful school bond campaign in Olympia, Washington.

Raphael was also previously a business associate of Koehler's at the company Pacific Ethanol and is a friend of Koehler's.

Koehler and fellow board member Amy Kohnstamm chose Raphael's firm to do the work after reviewing proposals from multiple firms.

And while Strategies 360, a national firm, has run school bond campaigns elsewhere, they have not done so in Oregon.

"We work as a team across S360. Amy's on point. We will tap whatever resources are necessary to win," said Raphael.

Here's list of Strategies 360 work in past elections, provided by Raphael:

"In addition, prior to joining Strategies 360, Amy Ruiz directed the 2014 Portland Parks Bond campaign, and I have directed and advised numerous bond and levy campaigns across the west, including Metro's 2006 Natural Areas Bond Measure," Raphael says.

The last PPS bond campaign, in 2012, was run by Jon Isaacs, who joined PPS afterward as a spokesman and left last month to work for Uber.

A decision on how much school board members will ask voters for is expected next month.

Polling from November suggests that voters are unlikely to approve a bond that is higher than $556.5 million, an amount that is $69.5 million less than early estimates show is necessary for financing costs and full upgrades of Madison, Lincoln and Benson High Schools.

Willamette Week