A Campaign Contribution Plunges the Front-Runner for the Portland City Council Into a National Debate Over Soda Taxes

Two of the three women of color seeking a City Council seat aren’t signing on.

Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith (Christine Dong)

The effort to levy a soda tax in Multnomah County has been repeatedly delayed—most recently in February, when advocates abandoned a bid to put the tax on the November ballot.

But the fight isn't over.

On April 10, Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith disclosed a $1,000 campaign contribution from the Oregon Soft Drink PAC. The PAC is funded by Coca-Cola, Pepsi and local bottling companies, which want to block soda taxes.

It's a moderate-sized donation. But it plunges Smith, a candidate for the Portland City Council, into a national debate over soda taxes.

The taxes are championed by billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, among others, as a way to curb the obesity and Type 2 diabetes epidemic by discouraging the consumption of sugary drinks. In Oregon, African-Americans are disproportionately affected by obesity, as are some other minority groups.

But soda taxes have been criticized as regressive—raising costs for the people who can least afford them.

And in the City Council race, two of the three women of color seeking office aren't signing on.

Smith doesn't say whether she would support or oppose such a tax. She says she'll accept the donation—and then hear both sides.

"I look forward to advocates bringing forward a proposal and will offer my assessment once they have done so," she told WW in a statement. "Further, I feel strongly that public policy is better when advocates representing all interests come together and work issues out long before a heated election cycle occurs."

Jo Ann Hardesty, a former legislator and the other black candidate in the race, is often Smith's foil on key issues. She opposes the tax.

"It is a consumption tax that will disproportionately impact low-income community members," says Hardesty.

Andrea Valderrama, a mayoral staffer and David Douglas School Board member, is the one woman of color in the race who unequivocally supports taxing Coke.

"I strongly support a soda tax," says Valderrama, who is Latina. "We know that sugar intake is directly correlated with health concerns like diabetes and cavities. Our youth deserve to be educated about their nutrition."

A soda tax, like tolling the highways, is a policy objective that plays well among the liberal elite of Portland. But it's a less obvious sell to voters on the economic margins.

A public health study has estimated that a 1-cent tax on every ounce of soda nationally would save $24 billion in health care costs over a 10-year period.

"Soda and other sugary drinks are the No. 1 source of added sugar in the American diet," says Dr. Tom Jeanne, deputy state health officer and epidemiologist for the Oregon Health Authority. "Efforts to increase the price through any means, it's safe to say, would reduce consumption."

In the past four years, soda taxes have passed in cities up and down the West Coast—in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco and Seattle. In Multnomah County, a soda tax has been under consideration for at least five years.

On one level, the entry of soda money into the City Council race isn't surprising.

The industry spreads its money around to top Oregon elected officials. Smith is the presumed front-runner to replace departing City Commissioner Dan Saltzman. She's raised the most money—more than $188,000 in cash over the past two years.

In recent weeks, she has reported key donations from other business interests, including $5,000 in cash from the Portland Business Alliance (which endorsed her in March).

Emails obtained by WW show the soda industry has been wooing Smith for a year, including seeking a face-to-face meeting in June. Industry executives flew into town, but she didn't show.

She now says she wants more details.

"It is important that we consider the specifics of any tax proposal and its potential impacts," Smith says, "before taking a position."

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