I've been pleasantly surprised by the Mayor. I really like how he's been standing up to the FBI.

While I didn't vote for him, if he keeps on the same path we've seen so far, I'm almost certain to vote for him if he runs for a second term.

I am taping the show with Tom Potter on Tuesday, April 12.

I will ask him as many questions as possible from Blue Oregon contributors.

Outlook Portland with Nick Fish airs on Portland's WB on Sundays at 6:30 am.

Thanks for the plug.

So far I love Potter. I met one of his staffers at the JTTF hearing, Jamaal. He said they were overwhelmed right now and were still trying to find their stride in the office, but considering everything Potter's office is dealing with, Jamaal felt confident they were handling everything pretty well.

I love how direct Potter is. Our Senator, on the other hand, is a different story.

My question is this:

How do we add both jobs and people without sprawling or adding high-rise buildings?

I kind of already know the answer (it's impossible). But I'm curious to know how Potter would manage the tension between these forces.

Portland has two factions, it seems. One, represented heartily by Jack Bog, doesn't want to see Portland "Californified" and claims our quality of life is going down the tubes because of all those condo towers and public works projects (and by extension, inattention to basics like police services). Sometimes it seems he would like Portland to return to 1979, forever -- pre-Pearl District, pre-MAX, pre-I-205 bridge. Keep us a small little burg all nice and snuggly.

The other, represented by Randy Gragg et al (and referred to by some wag as the turtleneck and beret crowd), thinks Portland needs to continually reinvent and grow vertically in order to attract high quality talent and renewed vibrancy but without exerting any additional strain on land usage.

These visions for Portland are fairly Manichean -- they can't really co-exist. They can struggle with each other for supremacy, but it's pretty much a zero sum game.

So I'd like to ask Potter -- which vision do you support? Which will you encourage? Slow down growth? Limit redevelopment? Encourage sprawl? Discourage new construction?

One of the reasons I think Potter has been perceived as doing so well so far is that he has refused to choose between these two visions. Perhaps he doesn't think we have to choose. If that is his answer, I would like to hear it as well. But these forces will continue to battle each other whether he chooses or not.

Portland is a pretty good city, all things considered. I was born here, moved away and lived in quite a few others all over the country and moved back, and it's still the best as far as I'm concerned. So all things considered, not too many other complaints, as it were.

I'm proud of what the mayor's done.

I'm curious as to what Mayor Potter is going to do to solve the problem of I-5 cutting through SE Portland.

Does he support burying it from the Marquam to I-84? Or is he willing to think even bigger, in removing it entirely and having the Marquam become an amazing civic space with parks on it? Does this sort of bold thinking have any place when we can't even find the money to replace the Sellwood bridge?

How about free transit -- that sends a very visible signal that Portland is serious about global warming, transportation choices, etc. We'd have to find finding to backfill fares, but it'd be a gem of a branding tool.

Never mind that, all those bridges over the Willamette have really become a problem. Eastsiders and Westsiders mingling...we'll have none of that!

The Willamette was intended by Mother Earth to be an insurmountable barrier. It's time we honored nature's promise.

(/Tongue in cheek)

In keeping with the Friday tone of the last two posts:

Let's blow up the bridges! All of them! Why stop at the east-west ones? We should blow up the 205 and interstate bridges as well! Keep Washingtonians out!

See what Potter has to say about that.

Nick: I am concerned about school safety.

As a former Chief how does he view the security of our children in schools post Red Lake, MN?

Thanks!

What a pleasant surprize! A politician who is not beholden to large donors. I liked Potter's self-imposed contribution limits. I liked that he participated in a critical mass ride. I like that he is challenging the Joint Terrorist Task Force. I like that he has said that he will be voting in favor of "Voter Owned Elections". He's even willing to stand up for public ownership of our local utility. Double wow! I'm speechless.

Ditto on two of the questions above: What's happening to the downtown area and how should we grow Portland?

Also, I'm curious how Potter is dealing with the state's largest newspaper's editorial board. They don't seem to like him very much.

I believe that Tom Potter is a genuine visionary. He wants to understand Portlander's priorities, and provide the most important services efficiently. In these first 100 days, he has built trust and relationships with citizens. My question for Tom is: "will you also try to build trust between citizens and the bureaucracy?" The recent pledges to shake up City Hall, shake down budgets, and change business as usual have an implicit anti-bureau, anti-management, and possibly anti-employee tone to them. Kicking bureaucratic butt always yields short term kudos. But it does not seem sustainable as a long term strategy. Beyond reactive budget cutting, ongoing funding of real needs requires that citizen's trust the machinery of government, as well as their elected officials. What role will you play in building that bridge?

Jack, forest and trees, forest and trees.

Potter's done a fine 100 days and we're all looking forward to the next 100. His response to JTTF was right on, as was PGE. I haven't read the budget yet, but no doubt it responds to populist concerns and shorts low-income housing. That's not new here or anywhere else.

Here are questions I don't know the answer to

Is he accessable? One of the pleasure of Portland is if you have a REAL question for someone, you can ring them up and get an answer. Will Potter pick up the phone? Will he have some public forum?

What's his stance with the city unions - especially the police and fire unions? These seem to be potential future hotspots.

Congestion - this is a huge huge problem here not solved by UGB or higher fuel costs or MAX. Will Potter have some long-term solutions?

What's up with the Trailblazers power forward position? Yeah Joel is a nice add and Telfair is the future, but $48M for what's his name? Dive for a lottery ball? Jeez. We can do better. Green Bay did it - privatize the Blazers!

Nick:

I would like to ask the Mayor to decline the $600,000 worth of public funding that Voter Owned Elections would put into his campaign coffers (if his opponent chooses to exceed the spending cap). He already demonstrated that Big Money is a political liability: let his record of accomplishment and the bully pulpit replace his need for public dollars, direct mail, and advertising.

If not, would he consider renaming the City Council the Township People's Congress?

Bruce asks that Potter decline any public funding monies should the "Voter Owned Elections" proposal pass. In Potter's summation statement last Thursday at the city council hearing on the "Voter Owned Elections" proposal Potter said that when/if he runs for re-elections he would forego any public funding.

Thanks Liz, I missed that summation. Perhaps a better question is: Mayor Potter, you have indicated you will not accept public funding if you run for reelection. Would you encourage all incumbent commissioners to forego public funding during the next election cycle?

What's good for the goose is good for the goslings.

Being a thirteen-year-old student in a Portland Public School, I was impressed with the interest Mayor Potter has shown so far in regards to youth. I have had the opportunity to personnally meet him twice, of which I am very glad. The first time was due to the fact that I am part of a group called the Youth Innovation Fund. There are eight boards around the country, funded by the W. K. Kellog Foundation, that are groups of diverse youth whose job for the last two years has been to give mini-grants to youth-led projects trying to create social change and a positive permanent impact in their community. When we had a celebration in City Hall to congradulate the chosen projects, Potter (and Commissioner Dan Saltzman) came as guest speakers. I had another chance to meet Mayor Tom Potter thanks to a program currently in place in which a Portland youth is invited to speak during a City Council meeting once a week. It was a good experience to be able to share my ideas with important adults and the rest of the community. There aren't many ways for young people to express themselves where they would know adults would listen. Both times I met Mayor Potter, he gave the impression of being smart, in control, understanding, and a generally good person. I will be very happy if he is elected for a second term