Standing out in the Crowd for the Right Reasons
Pat Ryan
Big Doins here on BO when Kari put out the story that our favorite irascible city commissioner, Randy Leonard became the first on the council to endorse my guy Jefferson Smith for mayor. Gotta give props to Kari for maintaining his careful balancing act and evenhandedness, which keeps Blue Oregon viable as we go through the biannual rituals of more or less genteel progressive fratricide.
Anyhow back to the Boyz. Randy’s a guy after my own heart, who has carefully crafted and nurtured his blue collar street cred since back in his Portland Fire Bureau days, and has been a reliable populist icon for the marginalized East Side. Not a surprise then that he came out for Jefferson, who upon embarking on his elective political career, left the environs of the somewhat upscale and reliably progressive Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood, to buy a home in the decidedly grittier, and less reliably liberal east Parkrose area. I lived and worked in Parkrose for several years back in the eighties, and the eclectic mix of light manufacturing, weekly rental motels, massage parlors and strip joints, it was a world away from Northwest or the Hawthorne. In a word, this ain’t Portlandia.
Jefferson swims in hipster and hippie culture with ease of course, given his years of creating and nurturing the Bus Project, so you might see this move, and his moves in the legislature as counter-intuitive. Look a little closer at Jefferson’s personal and family history though and you’ll see what a natural fit it is. Start with RP Joe, Jefferson’s dad, himself an attorney who cut his teeth (and made some serious career and personal sacrifices in the interest of personal integrity) out on Oregon’s High Plateau east of the Cascades decades back. Jump ahead to the last session of the legislature and there’s Jefferson working with Republican rep. Bob Jenson (R-Pendlton) to successfully write and pass HB3369 by a huge bipartisan margin, 43-16 to address pressing issues of water allocation in Morrow County.
Well, of course the Dems have their carpetbaggers and their blue collar upstarts who sometimes morph into seedy imitations of Mafia Dons once elected, so whither Jefferson after the cool populist move in the beginning of his first term in the lege? Why, full bore support for measures 66 and 67 which he knew would be demagogued to death by NFIB, AOI and the rest of the Usual Suspects. But, well, it was the right thing to do and if you can’t stand the heat, get off of the danged stove.
Jefferson’s a total wonk who loves nothing more than making a good TED presentation, but his feet stay on the ground. Utilitarian Progressives are scarcer than hen’s teeth, since too much introspection/dissection often winds up overriding any hope of the practical execution of elegant theory. Jefferson can brainstorm with the best of ‘em and still put something useful and practical on the table at the end of the last chorus of Kumbaya. He's a monster around a conference table and has spent years getting things done with all sorts of disparate players. This guy’s tailor made for the Mayor’s job, and with his lovely wife Katy and the third best dog in the world (Sorry George Bailey, loyalty first and all that) at his side, what’s not to like?
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1:39 p.m.
Apr 8, '12
Thanks for the props, Pat, but entirely unnecessary. Just call 'em like I see 'em.
And thanks for checking in here again. Keep 'em coming!
1:48 p.m.
Apr 8, '12
"Utilitarian Progressives are scarcer than hen’s teeth, since too much introspection/dissection often winds up overriding any hope of the practical execution of elegant theory."
Yep. Jefferson makes pragmatism cool. :)
3:43 p.m.
Apr 8, '12
Prior to the mayoral candidates debate Saturday hosted by the Oregon AARP, I noticed that while Mr. Hales sat at a table talking quietly and Ms. Brady worked the room chatting up everyone within reach, Mr. Smith sat hunched over a pad furiously scribbling notes. In fact, Ms. Brady had to remind him when it was time for him to go up onto the stage.
It's just a style thing, for sure, but I've got to admire someone who takes preparation more seriously that chatting up the voters. I mean, I'm not voting for a friend. I'm voting for someone who will work hard for the city.
8:01 a.m.
Apr 9, '12
Well, perhaps Hales and Brady completed their preparations before entering the room.
(And perhaps Jefferson was also prepared earlier, and his furious note-scribbling was entirely unrelated.)
Full disclosure: My firm built Eileen Brady's website. I speak only for myself.
1:05 p.m.
Apr 9, '12
Could be, Kari. I wasn't looking over anyone's shoulder. Although, Mr. Smith struck me as being the best prepared of the three.
Ms. Brady continually made "We need..." statements that sounded as though they had passed intensive focus-group testing, and Mr. Hales spent a lot of time reciting his past accomplishments.
Mr. Smith, I thought, was far ahead in discussing forward-looking policies and how to pay for them.
(I have no connection anyone's campaign and haven't decided who to vote for.)
4:03 p.m.
Apr 8, '12
I'm sure Charlie and Eileen are nice folks, with good intentions and likely sincere hopes to do the best they can to help Portland and We The Residents.
But we need someone with the personal history, work track record, imagination, global understanding and thoughtful consideration that Jefferson will bring to the job. We can expect him to be tireless, of good humor, considerate and determined in his leadership. Portland deserves this leader, at this time.
Now, more than ever.
4:22 p.m.
Apr 8, '12
True and true. Those wonky notetakers who have a command of their own memory and the events they record for their own reference are rare and invaluable, and save us all a lot of time because they know the facts when facts are the thing. To have that quality and ability in the pro-Portland persona of a man who also loves his fellow man (as opposed to a Naderesque/Gore-ish wonk) is just bonus squared. We need to put this man into ACTION!
6:22 p.m.
Apr 8, '12
I don't care how he prepares, really--it could just as easily mean he is scrambling to get his mind together at the last minute--but what comes out of his mouth when it's time to talk is what tells the tale, for me. I haven't heard the AARP transcript, but the OPB one was an eye-opener, even for someone who has already made their decision. Jeff was on another level. I thought it was very farsighted, for instance, to think about how the world would have viewed Portland if they had attempted to roust Occupy in that first week or two. There was enough notoriety from the pepper spray incident to prove that they were indeed "watching."
It showed up for me most in the way Brady and Hales seemed to compete on who was the better "big project" candidate. Brady kept exhorting us to think big, Hales would chime in and say "I already did one of those last time I was on Council"...and Jefferson would say "yeah, but do we NEED that big thing, is it more important than these other things, and does it really solve a city problem, or just show that we can do big things?" They also both seemed to indicate that they'd try to rise above the "weak mayor" label. I believe Smith views his task as one where it's imperative to work WITHIN that circumstance, not try to subvert it or dominate it.
Thanks for the read, Pat.
9:55 p.m.
Apr 8, '12
I was wondering why George Bailey was hogging the iPad. Now I see he was just admiring his own image. How cute is my puppy?! Oh, also, vote Jefferson for mayor.
11:50 p.m.
Apr 8, '12
Pat I don't mean to sound snarky, but your profile has about as little content as most of the campaign. Can you give me at least a few specifics?
Honestly, it's the lovefest that worries me, it feels oh so familiar from four years ago.
A "monster around the conference table", what's that supposed to mean? He's been in the Leg how long exactly?
He supported 66 and 67 from a totally safe legislative seat. I give him props for supporting fiscal sanity, but this distinguishes him from the other candidates how?
The story about Jenson, I don't get the point. He worked with a member from the other party to pass a bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support. Ok. So the lesson is ... that he can identify a winning issue? Or did he actually build that bipartisan coalition? I honestly don't know, but just citing a random story doesn't do much for me.
I am looking for some stability, some competence. I don't want big ideas. I want a well managed city. Economic development is a number one priority for me.
And I am very concerned about what appears to me to be cronyism in a number of recent high profile city appointments, an issue that Jefferson has been notably silent on. Perhaps unfair, but it makes it seem like he's the candidate of the current power structure.
I don't know who I am supporting yet, but Jefferson is not at the top of my list. He was a great legislator. I have a lot of concerns about him as chief executive.
1:25 p.m.
Apr 9, '12
When Jefferson and Jenson were assigned the water issue, there was a collective belief that they wouldn't be able to find a solution that would have broad support.
As they say, "whisky's for drinking, and water's for fighting over."
Instead, Jefferson and Jenson worked hard, thought creatively, and managed what many thought was impossible - craft an agreement to do something about Eastern Oregon water that users and conservation advocates could support.
Here's a newspaper clip from early in the process, demonstrating the skepticism.
Here's an East Oregonian editorial praising the work, "Many agree its approval was among the bigger accomplishments the 2009 Legislature."
The Oregon League of Conservation Voters called it "the most important water bill in more than 20 years."
1:27 p.m.
Apr 9, '12
Disclaimer: I worked as OLCV's legislative affairs director during the 2009 session.
1:18 a.m.
Apr 9, '12
Paul, what do you think of his experience as a chief executive of the Bus? Pretty successful organization, pretty important if you ask someone like Barbara Roberts.
I think Jeff had a lot more to do with reaching a compromise solution--or at least applying it to the problem as suggested by subject experts--than about working with Bob Jenson. As winning issues go, that was a pretty solid one. So was online budget transparency, pretty much cited as the key reason Oregon went from a D to a B in a recent study of state transparency. It's a lot harder than you make it sound to find substantively useful ideas to make into law, that can get through the Leg with a wide agreement. Half the gang in those chambers go whole sessions without something substantive passed out of their offices.
Fiscal sanity differences are key to distinguishing him from the other candidates, IMO. On Thursday Brady was for both CRC and OSC, Hales for CRC. Brady seemed to have an even longer list of smaller projects to undertake, particularly with expanding PDC into real estate management and the more vague "make Portland world class" promise. Hales chimed in to talk about the really big projects he got built the first time around. Jefferson was the only one to say "what happened to basic services and not throwing money at everything?" Instead of new green buildings, Jeff pointed out the most sustainable building is one that's already built, and suggested making Portland a model of efficiency through (much cheaper) retrofitting instead. Instead of chasing big business with tax breaks like PBA wants, spend less and grow the ones already here. Take Mozart on the Max, something that almost sounds so silly he mentions it apologetically if at all. Piped in classical music, preliminarily at least, appears to have coincided with a significant drop in crime on MAX platforms in his district. That's the antithesis of a big project, but if it really does work, do it.
Maybe this piece doesn't bring the substance, but put them all three folks in a room, and Jeff's talking a much broader and more holistic game than either other major candidate. IMO. For instance, after hearing Brady and Hales both say they'd have gone down and told Occupy after about a week, "OK, time's up let's go," Jefferson questioned how people could talk about that situation and have it boil down to whether people could put tents in a park. He wasn't being pollyanna about the unacceptable behaviors that had developed, but I thought the notion of believing you could just tell Occupy when its protest was over, was pretty hubristic and pollyanna at the same time.
For me it's boiling down to the other two being large-bore on ideas and small-bore on issue thinking; Jeff is small-bore on ideas to take into City Hall with him, but large-bore on the philosophy of governing it. It feels like he's given much more thought than the others about what it MEANS to be Mayor, and how to make that job work.