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For the better part of five decades, Kathleen Saadat has battled for civil rights. As an LBGTQ Black woman in Portland, Saadat helped lead Portland’s first-ever march for gay rights in 1975 and raised “all kinds of hell” about the police officers who in 2003 killed Black motorist Kendra James.
So it was noteworthy that Saadat arrived in our office last week to oppose a ballot measure to reform Portland’s form of government. The people who crafted and campaign for Measure 26-228 say its remodeling of the City Council—with multimember districts and ranked-choice voting—would amplify the voices Saadat has always championed.
Related: We Tried to Imagine How Voting Would Work Under Portland’s Proposed Charter Reforms
It’s not wholly baffling that Saadat would oppose the measure. She’s close with Thomas Lauderdale, the Pink Martini bandleader, and former advisers to late Mayor Bud Clark, all of whom are active in a “no” campaign. But it was nonetheless surprising.
We asked her about that seeming dissonance. Saadat argued that the changes would add voices to City Hall but wouldn’t fix the underlying fractures in the government—so the ostensible gains for equity would be worth little.
“If we send everyone into a room where it’s not functional,” she said, “it’s no more functional just having more people there.”
Listen to her full answer in the clip below.
