 Union Endorsement for Political Mojo-Making: FIREFIGHTERS IMAGE: jenna biggs |
Best Union Endorsement for Political Mojo-Making
What's not to love about people in big, ugly coats and funny hats saving your life? Like most American cities, Portland has an infatuation with firefighters—in an annual City Hall poll, nine out of 10 residents give them high marks. So it's no wonder that their union, the Portland Firefighters Association, is the source of the most sought-after endorsement for city candidates and ballot-measure campaigns. Their track record is actually shaky—the PFA did not endorse Mayor Tom Potter or two of the four current city councilmen. But their reputation as kingmaker remains, even according to Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams, whose last run the union snubbed.
Best ex-Mayor
You have to meet three criteria to be a good ex-pol: Don't spend your retirement carping publicly about the person who replaced you, pick the areas where you can still be of value in public life and be blessed with a successor who makes you look good. Nobody's saying 73-year-old Vera Katz was perfect during her 12-year run ending in January 2005, but as an ex-mayor, she scores well on all three criteria. She doesn't bitch about Mayor Tom Potter's torpor. She teaches a class at Portland State University on urban renewal and the Portland Development Commission, and stepped in recently to help Potter salvage the Ross Island donation deal promised by Robert Pamplin Jr. As for her thoughts on that last criterion, Katz says, "I'm not going to comment on it. He's a wonderful human being, he loves this city and he honors almost every citizen group that has an event." Which brings us right back to No. 1.
Best Bureaucrat Who Deserves His Place in the Sun
The red-tape wranglers in Portland's bureaucracy don't usually see the light of day. Occasionally, one deserves a spotlight. Such is the case with Housing Authority of Portland Executive Director Steve Rudman, a Pennsylvania native who came to Portland to retire outdated notions of public housing as high-rise pens for the poor. There is no better example than his revolutionary New Columbia development in North Portland, which replaced the hellhole that was Columbia Villa. Completed in 2006, New Columbia mixes market-rate housing with low-income units, creating not only much-needed housing but a new community. So don't call Rudman just a paper pusher. Says Susan Emmons of NW Pilot Project, a housing outreach group for the elderly, "Steve's got a lot of heart."
Best Political Impersonation of Tammy Wynette
While some have lost their enthusiasm for Mayor Tom Potter, one supporter has been steadfast: Potter's wife, Karin Hansen. Unlike the spouses of other pols, Hansen regularly stands by her man at public meetings and on blogs (in early May, when Potter's proposed charter reforms were a hot political issue, she posted on BlueOregon seven times in 24 hours). The toughest part of the job, says Hansen, 45, is when she sees people misrepresenting what she believes to be the truth. She has let Potter's fellow commissioners Randy Leonard and Erik Sten know she doesn't appreciate their criticism of her hubby. "Sometimes," she says, "I have the urge to get down in the dirt with them and get scrappy."
Best Token of Affection
Pearl District developer (and possible mayoral candidate?) Bob Ball is naming his 15-story, 465,000-square-foot condo project "The Wyatt," after former 1st District U.S. Rep. Wendell Wyatt (R-Astoria). Although both men came from the Astoria area, outwardly they have little in common. Wyatt, 90, is a patrician Republican who served 11 years in Congress and co-founded one of the city's largest law firms, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. Five decades Wyatt's junior, Ball is a gay property developer and reserve cop. But the two shared a keen interest in politics and became good friends. Last fall, the two men and Wyatt's son, Bill, who is the executive director of the Port of Portland, met for lunch. They joked about what Wyatt likes to call Ball's "hole in the ground," and Ball sprung the news on his friend. "It was the best I've felt in years," Ball says.
Best Brainiacs in Ill-fitting Business Suits
While local high-school athletic teams receive accolades for their on-the-field triumphs, the speech and debate team of Beaverton's Westview High School toils along in relative anonymity, kicking ass and taking names as the best forensics team in Oregon. This group of about 60 students (ages 14-18), along with their coach, Trudi Harte, have posted back-to-back state championship titles. Sophomore standout Nima Ahmadi is ranked in the nation's top 60 for International Extemporaneous Speaking with the National Forensic League. Harte said, "This team is so good because the kids are dedicated to the program. They have a willingness to keep going at it." Suits and ties are the norm for these uber-brainiacs, who interpret lines of prose or debate the issues of the day with counterparts from around the state and the nation. Do the parents of these teens ever get to win an argument?
Best Spot to Snooze While Waiting for an Elected Official
A bench outside Multnomah County Commissioner Lonnie Roberts' office in Multnomah County's otherwise-lovely brick building in Gresham is a perfect place for a good, long snooze because the commissioner is rarely there. It's a comfy bench. There's no foot traffic. And the gurgling fountain down the hall of the three-story county building makes it downright pleasant. The county commissioners' main offices are in Southeast Portland, but Roberts uses the "satellite" office for his East County constituents who want to schedule a meeting. Roberts' chief of staff, Tom Mack, says the commissioner or a staff member tries to get out there every Wednesday, but a building security guard confides, "I haven't seen him [Roberts] in months." Nap away.
Best Example of Intestinal Fortitude
A networking machine, Nick Fish shows an enthusiasm for neighborhood meetings, rubber-chicken banquets and political minutiae that is downright frightening. After losing to Sam Adams in a 2004 City Council race, Fish found himself politically adrift. Portland television also lacked public affairs programming. Voilà! A Sunday-morning chat show (6:30 am, KRCW, Channel 3) was born. After more than 100 shows, Fish has learned a lot. "I've learned it would be unwise to give up my day job," says the employment lawyer. "But it's been great therapy."
Best Bento with Political Bite...or, Maybe the Only Place in Town to Not See Sam Adams
Seoul native Chang Sim gets to tell Portland's political powerhouses where to put their money—and their mouths—each workday. As the owner of BC2,(431 SW Madison St., 227-0707), located just across the street from City Hall in the Portland Building, Chang says that Portland's promise makers (and breakers) "mostly order what I give them." BC2 boasts a mean bite for a nice price—including classic chicken teriyaki (Mayor Potter's favorite) and succulent spicy chicken (Erik Sten's a sucker for it) for $4.75 a pop. Watch Stumptown's sweet-talkers from City Hall schmooze writers from The Oregonian (including foodie diva Karen Brooks, who swears by this place) and wind down after debating public initiatives. "Everyone comes here," says Chang, "except Sam Adams." In a need to know if Adams had indeed snubbed the bento joint in favor of the Thai cafe around the corner or any other lunchtime hotspot, WW asked the commissioner if, in fact, this allegation had any merit in the halls of City Hall. "I've been there several times," said Adams in his defense. ?"I guess I didn't make a lasting impression." Bento lovers, take heed: A smidgen of skill and schmoozing savvy just might get you on the next ballot (or get you covering City Hall for the O).
Best Utterance that Even John Callahan Wouldn't Find Appropriate
The Multnomah Education Service District faces a tough slog. Hardly anyone knows or pays attention to what it does. Then, bam, volunteer board member Ron Chinn catapulted the agency into the spotlight, making headlines Zach Randolph-style—for all the wrong reasons. Last December, displaying all the grace and polish of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden (who famously called Barack Obama "clean" and "articulate"), Chinn referred to special-education students as "SLABs"—for "slow, low and belows." Colleagues asked for his resignation in January.
Best Ex-City Council Candidate Quote-Machine
If you attended WW's "Candidates Gone Wild" event in 2006, you might think Dave Lister an odd choice for this accolade, given his tongue-tied response to an annoying questioner: "You suck, Hank." But it turns out that Lister, who hasn't ruled out a second City Council run in 2008, is a reliably forthright and funny quote-machine on local politics. For example: Of Mayor Tom Potter, Lister was quoted saying, "I haven't heard anything specific out of him. It's all blue-sky, feel good, let's sing 'Kumbaya' and 'Come Together.'" After disgraced council candidate Emilie Boyles asked Lister and others to attend an election night party, he lamented, "In hindsight, I wished I'd puked on her shoes." Asked recently why he didn't have a better retort to the annoying question about relocating his small business out of Portland during Candidates Gone Wild, he quipped, "My problem was that I wasn't drunk." And the quotes doth flow.
Best Mail-order Model
Imagine our surprise when we opened up the July J. Crew catalog and spied Sam Adams on page 79, sporting cuffed, worn-wash selvage jeans; burnished-suede MacAlister boots (sans socks); and a roughed-out leather belt, and leaning with thoughtful, manly poise on a sawhorse in a canvas-draped room. "What photo op is this from?" we wondered. This was beardy Sam, as he looked in 2006, and his windblown hair and proud demeanor suggested that he had been working on an outdoor project dear to his heart. Ooh, we know! Maybe it's the final stages of construction on the Tram tower? Oh, wait. That's not Sam Adams. That's a model. Or is it?
