Randy Leonard: Dan Saltzman Is Running for Mayor

Portland Mercury:

Straight talk!The O's City Hall blog is annoyingly hard to find without a Google search, but today's entry is worth the keystrokes. Or at least it would be, except that I'm going to link to it right here. In the post, Randy Leonard, talking to his frenemy Brad Schmidt, sheds a bit more light on his 2012 plans. It seems he could be provoked into running for re-election, a la Erik Sten five years ago, despite reports he's leaning against it, if he decides he doesn't like who else might declare. He then allowed that a good candidate could be also be a factor in keeping him out, although perhaps just a small one. As I reported yesterday, Steve Novick is at least one potential candidate who's taken Leonard's temperature. But Leonard saved his best stuff for a discussion of another race: whether Dan Saltzman might make good on his maybe/maybe-not talk about running against Mayor Sam Adams, a move that may or may not also depend on County Chair Jeff Cogen's mayoral plans. (Hey, look: One sentence, four Mark Wiener clients!) Leonard noted Saltzman's dynamism in recent months on several issues close to Adams' purview, something the Mercury has noted, too: the Portland Police Association contract, sex trafficking, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. "I have singularly been the one observing that I think that he is" running, Leonard said. "Everybody else tells me I'm completely out of my mind." I've called Saltzman's office to see if there's any riposte. No word back yet. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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