Paul Van Orden To Run For County Commissioner

Add Paul Van Orden's name to the list of candidates seeking the Multnomah County commissioner seat that Jeff Cogen said today he would vacate to run for the County Chair position.

Van Orden, a 40-year-old former professional skateboarder, has worked about 14 years for the City of Portland as its noise control officer. In 2006, Van Orden ran a write-in campaign for Multnomah County Sheriff to protest the failure of others to file against then-incumbent Bernie Giusto. Van Orden won WW's endorsement in that race and gathered about 10 percent of the votes cast.

Van Orden joins a growing list of contenders for the District 2 commissioner seat before today's 5 pm filing deadline. The scramble for the seat in north/northeast Portland was set off by Cogen announcing he would run to replace county Chair Ted Wheeler, who was appointed this morning by Gov. Ted Kulongoski as state treasurer to replace Ben Westlund — who died on Sunday.