Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman Will Seek Re-election in 2018

"My intent is to run again," he says.

(Photo by Emily Joan Greene)
By Beth Slovic

Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman says he's in.

The five-term city commissioner says he'll run again for the City Council in the May 2018 primary election.

"There seem to be a lot of rumors around that I'm not running, so I wanted to take the opportunity to dispel that notion," he tells WW. "My intent is to run again."

It's not clear what kind of platform Saltzman will run on, because Mayor-elect Ted Wheeler hasn't announced bureau assignments for next year. Nor is it entirely clear what kind of competition he might face to keep his job. Jo Ann Hardesty, a former state legislator and a police accountability activist, has said she might run for the Portland City Council in 2018, when Commissioner Nick Fish also faces re-election.

"I expect it will be a robust election," Saltzman says.

Saltzman, 62, also says he wants to focus on securing stable funding for Portland's Children's Levy, a property tax he launched in 2002 to pay for anti-poverty and wellness programs for kids.

"I'm very intrigued by soda taxes passing in a lot of cities," he says. "We're going to take a look at that."

 

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