Running For A Local Office
Deborah Barnes
I've been on the campaign trail to be Milwaukie's Mayor since last November when former Mayor Jim Bernard was elected to the Board of County Commissioners. I actually started working much earlier by lining up key supporters for the race. Since I began the campaign I have learned a great deal about serious campaigning for a local position as Mayor.
I've worked on a number of campaigns in different capacities. I worked on Senator Courtney's campaign when he first ran as a representative. I worked on Sam Gilispie's campaign when he ran for a representative position. I made phone calls for Jeff Merkley and various other campaigns. And, of course, I worked on my city council campaign. This time, the campaign means a great deal more to me because of the economy, the citizens concerns, and the future of the City I call home.
I found I can make phone calls and beg for money. I can walk door-to-door and actually enjoy it. (It's much better when it isn't pouring out.) I have found myself more organized to run a campaign while working full-time as a teacher. But what I learned the most in this campaign is the importance of volunteers and connections.
The voters will make their decision on May 19th. But, win or lose, and I am hopeful I do become the Mayor of Milwaukie. I have come to feel a greater respect for labor organizations, including my own. Thanks to the incredible work of the rank and file of firefighters, city and county employees, truck drivers, steamfitters, electrical workers, (and all those involved in the NW Oregon Labor Council) and even my own friends in education, I have support with volunteers and donations. Thanks to the Emerge Oregon organization I have met and continue to work with some incredible Oregon democratic women who are working on my behalf.
This campaign I have realized it is about relationships and thanking those people who give time and money to a candidate they may not even know well but are willing to invest their hard earned money to make Milwaukie a better place for our citizens. Thank you!
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connect with blueoregon
May 3, '09
Thanks for running. It is important to have people who care in office.
May 3, '09
Hi, Deborah, how do you feel about the cost of light rail and its claimed effect of causing high density development?
Do you think Milwaulkie wants or needs high density development. Should tax money be used to support high density development? Should high density development receive tax breaks? Do you think light rail makes financial sense? How are you going to control the crime that light rail brings? Where is the city going to get the money to support its part of the cost of light rail?
Will you commit to no tax money, in any form, for light rail?
May 3, '09
Billy,
If light rail makes financial sense, a private firm would be interested in running it. Why not have Tri Met at least put the interurban railway into a separate entity, partly so an accounting can be performed and the public informed as to it's "profitabilty" but also with the idea of putting the whole shitterie on the market to see if there are any takers?
8:11 a.m.
May 4, '09
Growing up in the area, it's great to have a candidate that both understands the bigger picture of planning and also appreciates the local flavor of different Milwaukie neighborhoods.
May 4, '09
Personally, I hope you'll stand up to the NIMBY whiners and wholeheartedly support light rail -- and support putting it someplace useful, as opposed to the tumbleweed section of downtown Milwaukie which is where I last heard it was going. Hint: putting a MAX station in that end of town isn't going to magically cause a renaissance in the crumbling commercial sector in Milwaukie. It's going to mean fewer people will actually use the MAX due to inconvenient siting, and those that do are going to be grumbling all the way to their destinations in the parts of town where ANYTHING exists. Including Milwaukie Transit Center.
May 4, '09
Why do people think MAX magically cause a renaissance no matter where it is? It doesn't. Over and over again it has failed miserably to do just that. Every development either needs heavy tax subsidies through Urban Renewal schemes and/or it becomes the auto-oriented rat race it was intended to avoid or prohibit.
I don't recall Deborah Barnes every citing the example she would like to see repeated for Milwaukie with MAX.
Whatever she envisions for Milwaukie would be far greater a possibility without wasting a couple billion on MAX.
Especially since, as she knows, the city will have to divert many additional millions from basic service in order to attempt what has failed elsewhere.
Maybe she mistakenly thinks the Round at Beaverton is a success story?
May 4, '09
And if anyone would like to donate to support Ms. Barnes campaign in the final days, try here: http://barnesformilwaukie.net/
6:41 a.m.
May 5, '09
Just to note that Charlie Hinkle is a constuent and ask whether he's supporting Ms. Barnes.
May 6, '09
Charlie Hinkle doesn't live in Milwaukie. I do, and I AM voting for Ms. Barnes.
May 6, '09