News The campaign spending one-upmanship continues. It's Rep. Jefferson Smith's turn. More than a month after mayoral candidate Charlie Hales unilaterally announced a campaign contribution limit of $500 $600 and no out-of-state donors, Smith has responded with his own—entirely different—spending cap.Smith's cap limits individual contributions to $1,000 and has no out-of-state rule. But Smith promises ...   More

News Mayoral candidate Charlie Hales picked an unusual time to start paying back his campaign debts: immediately after he'd set limits on how much money he could raise for the November election. Among Hales' biggest backers has been Rejuvination, Inc. chief executive James Kelly, who loaned $25,000 to the campaign—and donated another $25,000—before the May 15 primary. On June 21, Hales announced ...   More

News More than 1,400 people took to the Willamette River's east bank near the Hawthorne Bridge Sunday afternoon, clad with floaties, inner-tubes and kayaks to participate in the second annual Big Float to promote recreational use of the city's main body of water. The event—organized by Will Levenson of Popina Swimwear—included a performance from local artist Violet Isle and an attempt to break ...   More

News  Consistently excellent public transit magazine Portland Afoot celebrated its second anniversary last night, and publisher Michael Andersen debuted his plan for the future: a mobile app.Today, Portland Afoot launched a $5,000 Kickstarter campaign for a mobile magazine with an inspirational video that's a who's who of transit geeks. The magazine is a sometimes uncomfortable blend of solid reporting ...   More

News Next Tuesday, people living in and around Atlanta, Georgia will vote on a tax increase to fund a $602 million transportation package that includes a streetcar line. The Atlanta project is closely linked to Portland. As a vice president at the engineering firm HDR, Inc. after leaving Portland's City Council in 2002, current Portland mayoral candidate Charlie Hales had a hand in shaping the Atlanta ...   More

News Last week, WW reported that mayoral candidate Charlie Hales kept taking big checks from influential supporters in the days before he announced that he'd limit contributions to $600 and would not take any out of state money in his bid for the Nov. 6 general election.The timing wasn't immediately obvious because, at this stage in their campaigns, candidates have 30 days to report contributions. Hales ...   More

News Back on June 21, mayoral candidate Charlie Hales announced he'd limit contributions for the Nov. 6 general election to $600 and would not take any out of state money. Turns out he was grabbing as many big checks as he could—right up until the time he promised he wouldn't.Currently, candidates are in a 30-day reporting window, which means under elections law they don't have to report contributions ...   More

News Early in his campaign for Portland mayor, Charlie Hales had a big money problem. His chief foe, Eileen Brady...   More

News The Service Employees International Union Local 49 has endorsed Charlie Hales for mayor, a source near Hales' campaign has told WW.The candidates have largely split the labor endorsements. Hales landed backing from the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Joint Council of Teamsters. his opponent, Rep. Jefferson Smith (D-Portland), has been endorsed by the Portland ...   More

News The coal wars continue in the mayor's race.Former City Commissioner Charlie Hales responded today to a pledge by opponent Rep. Jefferson Smith (D-Portland) to seek a city resolution banning coal exports. Hales' statement implies that Smith is scoring cheap political points with an empty gesture. Hales says the city should instead pressure the Oregon congressional delegation to slow a prospective coal ...   More