Thank your for your reporting. Despite the flaws in the new "3 councilors per district" system, its what we have and its important to elect moderate, rational, and non-activist councilors if we want to avoid chaos under Portland's new governance structure.
I live in D3 but I have put all my energy into supporting rational D1 candidates get elected. Folks out in East Portland don't seem to have the luxury of fixating on things that don't support clean and safe streets, let alone ... jobs.
Back to D3: I am hoping that DeMelo can be the voice of the disenfranchised (i.e. homeowners and people who were hoping to raise a family here) and squeeze into the third D3 seat. He's worked hard to build credibility in at least certain corners of D3. Novick's comment about Gaza is unfortunate but with his name recognition, perhaps he can crowd out another uber-lib.
Novick is one of the orginal Portland police defunders. I doubt he has changed his tune.
Check out Harrison Kass, he’s the best pragmatic candidate in D3. If you can send him a few bucks. He got in late so he needs all the help he can get.
Jon Walker and Sandeep Bali both look better to me than Novick and DeMelo but DeMelo seems to be a decent one to at least rank. Take a look at the others.
Great we could kibitz about some of the better candidates trying to make D3 a better place but the majority of fellow D3 voters would rather have a representative of the Teacher's Union (who considers it their mandate to keep the Palestinian issues front, center, and local), a member of the DSA, and, well, good ol' Novick. I think the next story regaring our new form of government is the apparent very low voter participation in the council elections. My inital analysis is that only about 1/3 of Portlanders who voted for mayor managed turn the ballot and rank anyone as their choice for councilor.
Great reporting! Given the realities of "single transferrable vote" (and you surely understand that, don'tcha?) there will be many surprises in the days that follow the election, as the computer slices 'n' dices the rankings of 30 candidates and moves them, in fractions, up the ladder of success...and three people will be given $133K a year after getting what the computer tells us will be 25% (plus one magic vote), no more, no less.
It's a hot mess--the mayoral vote will be even more bizarre, but the mayor will be all talk and no hat, so no real damage will be done, other than to one pol's ego. But these council people will have virtually unlimited power (no veto from the capon-mayor) and dole out little favors to the usual suspects around town. Let's start a betting pool on the first indictments...or fistfights.
I live in District 3 and the problem with it is that it is affluent. Rob Henderson has identified what he calls luxury belief systems. These are ideas that wealthy people espouse to show off their wealth, such as defund the police. These ideas give status to the person supporting them, and hurt low-income people stuck in high-crime neighborhoods. When the well-off people who organized this event made it clear that it was to be about their "progressive" values, what they really meant was that it was to show off their luxury beliefs.
I find it interesting that there is no mention of Harrison Kass. Kass is Rene Gonzalez's policy advisor and one of the few who is not making his candidacy about luxury beliefs. Did he not show up or was he not invited because he is on the evil Gonzalez's staff?
Jon Walker is another sane person who wants to make city government boring. By boring he means that the city government needs to fix our broken streets and provide basic safety by funding the police. It sounds like Kass, Walker and Dr. Bali are the only candidates for district 3 worth bothering with.
Kass was one of the many candidates (out of 30!) who didn’t participate in this forum. A couple of candidates who were listed in the promo as participating did not show — Theo Hathaway Saner and Matthew Anderson.
Kass looks great. He got into the race late. Send him a few buck if you can. With the crazy match….anything helps: https://kassforpdx.com
Walker also looks good. Spread the word….otherwise it's going to be ex-Hardesty staffer and pro-shoplifting advocate Angelita Morillo and her kind running D3
These people make the now-archaic Portlandia TV show almost look like commonsense. Thanks for informing us the way no other local media could or would.
More power to you for attending this. It sounds like a meeting of high school theater kids that decided to get involved in city government. And of course they can't even keep the focus on our actual city if Palestine, a place literally in the other side of the world, got as much or more "airtime" as anything local. What perfect voting bait. They can't do a thing for Palestine, but it will sure sound nice to the airheads that decide our elections. Far left progressivism will never be the problem as far as they're concerned; the rest of us are the problem for failing far left progressivism.
I don't spend any time in inner SE. One wonders if the leafy green Reed college suburbs are like the West Hills and mercifully free of the homeless. So, the opposite of outer SE. This ranked choice election is going to be such a disaster.
District 3 is truly Social Justice Warrior paradise! I’m actually quite surprised that JoAnn and Chloe aren’t running in that district…they’d be re-elected in a heartbeat.
The Vanguard of the revolution has some remarkable resemblances to the MAGA movement , IMHO.
Thanks for a very enlightening article about my district. Dr. Bali is getting my vote because he was the only one with the correct answer on the situation in Palestine. What the hell does that have to do with the citify of Portland.
I’m actually glad that they asked the questions that they did. The answers told me that almost all of them will be no better than the status quo and maybe worse. Novak is out on being a Rubio supporter, whether she’s toast or not. I’m going to save this article to cross out people when I get my voters guide.
Thanks for the tip on Kass. He exactly the type of candidate that I want representing me and our city. Now I have a list of at least 3 people I can vote for in district 3
I had Walker and Bali as my 2 other choices. Any one associated with or endorsed by nonprofits is immediately off my list. That’s what is contributing to the homeless industrial complex in Portland. I’ll check out the other 2 as well.
Portland Dissent does an amazing job of reporting on the depressing and infuriating behavior of Portland politicians and the people who promote, endorse and vote for them.
“Commissioner Steve Novick wants to cut money from the Portland Police Bureau's budget, specifically their Drug and Vice Division.
He said the money could be spent better elsewhere. Novick and the other city council members debated the unusual and controversial idea Tuesday during a City Council work session on next year's budget”
Portland is the most politically violent town in America, and it’s jarring against the contrast where people believe themselves to be so compassionate. Violent virtue signaling Marxist that continue to destroy our city.
WOW this sounds like a cluster ~buck of EPIC PROPORTIONS!!!
Thank your for your reporting. Despite the flaws in the new "3 councilors per district" system, its what we have and its important to elect moderate, rational, and non-activist councilors if we want to avoid chaos under Portland's new governance structure.
I live in D3 but I have put all my energy into supporting rational D1 candidates get elected. Folks out in East Portland don't seem to have the luxury of fixating on things that don't support clean and safe streets, let alone ... jobs.
Back to D3: I am hoping that DeMelo can be the voice of the disenfranchised (i.e. homeowners and people who were hoping to raise a family here) and squeeze into the third D3 seat. He's worked hard to build credibility in at least certain corners of D3. Novick's comment about Gaza is unfortunate but with his name recognition, perhaps he can crowd out another uber-lib.
Novick is one of the orginal Portland police defunders. I doubt he has changed his tune.
Check out Harrison Kass, he’s the best pragmatic candidate in D3. If you can send him a few bucks. He got in late so he needs all the help he can get.
Jon Walker and Sandeep Bali both look better to me than Novick and DeMelo but DeMelo seems to be a decent one to at least rank. Take a look at the others.
https://kassforpdx.com/
Great we could kibitz about some of the better candidates trying to make D3 a better place but the majority of fellow D3 voters would rather have a representative of the Teacher's Union (who considers it their mandate to keep the Palestinian issues front, center, and local), a member of the DSA, and, well, good ol' Novick. I think the next story regaring our new form of government is the apparent very low voter participation in the council elections. My inital analysis is that only about 1/3 of Portlanders who voted for mayor managed turn the ballot and rank anyone as their choice for councilor.
Great reporting! Given the realities of "single transferrable vote" (and you surely understand that, don'tcha?) there will be many surprises in the days that follow the election, as the computer slices 'n' dices the rankings of 30 candidates and moves them, in fractions, up the ladder of success...and three people will be given $133K a year after getting what the computer tells us will be 25% (plus one magic vote), no more, no less.
It's a hot mess--the mayoral vote will be even more bizarre, but the mayor will be all talk and no hat, so no real damage will be done, other than to one pol's ego. But these council people will have virtually unlimited power (no veto from the capon-mayor) and dole out little favors to the usual suspects around town. Let's start a betting pool on the first indictments...or fistfights.
The mayor hires and fires the new city administrator right? If so that does give them a lot of power.
I live in District 3 and the problem with it is that it is affluent. Rob Henderson has identified what he calls luxury belief systems. These are ideas that wealthy people espouse to show off their wealth, such as defund the police. These ideas give status to the person supporting them, and hurt low-income people stuck in high-crime neighborhoods. When the well-off people who organized this event made it clear that it was to be about their "progressive" values, what they really meant was that it was to show off their luxury beliefs.
I find it interesting that there is no mention of Harrison Kass. Kass is Rene Gonzalez's policy advisor and one of the few who is not making his candidacy about luxury beliefs. Did he not show up or was he not invited because he is on the evil Gonzalez's staff?
Jon Walker is another sane person who wants to make city government boring. By boring he means that the city government needs to fix our broken streets and provide basic safety by funding the police. It sounds like Kass, Walker and Dr. Bali are the only candidates for district 3 worth bothering with.
Kass was one of the many candidates (out of 30!) who didn’t participate in this forum. A couple of candidates who were listed in the promo as participating did not show — Theo Hathaway Saner and Matthew Anderson.
Kass did receive a brief profile in The Portland Mercury: https://www.portlandmercury.com/city-council-race-2024/2024/06/05/46784698/meet-the-portland-city-council-candidates-district-3
He looks interesting. So do Anderson and Melodie Bierwagen. They also weren’t at this forum.
Lewis & Clark Professor Jack Bogdanski has taken an initial stab at sorting through the candidates for District 3 and didn’t think Kass was ready for this election. This is what he came up with: https://www.bojack2.com/2024/09/portland-district-3-first-cut.html
If a long-time political watcher like Bogdanski finds the new system confusing, imagine what it will be like for ordinary voters.
Kass looks great. He got into the race late. Send him a few buck if you can. With the crazy match….anything helps: https://kassforpdx.com
Walker also looks good. Spread the word….otherwise it's going to be ex-Hardesty staffer and pro-shoplifting advocate Angelita Morillo and her kind running D3
These people make the now-archaic Portlandia TV show almost look like commonsense. Thanks for informing us the way no other local media could or would.
More power to you for attending this. It sounds like a meeting of high school theater kids that decided to get involved in city government. And of course they can't even keep the focus on our actual city if Palestine, a place literally in the other side of the world, got as much or more "airtime" as anything local. What perfect voting bait. They can't do a thing for Palestine, but it will sure sound nice to the airheads that decide our elections. Far left progressivism will never be the problem as far as they're concerned; the rest of us are the problem for failing far left progressivism.
I don't spend any time in inner SE. One wonders if the leafy green Reed college suburbs are like the West Hills and mercifully free of the homeless. So, the opposite of outer SE. This ranked choice election is going to be such a disaster.
District 3 is truly Social Justice Warrior paradise! I’m actually quite surprised that JoAnn and Chloe aren’t running in that district…they’d be re-elected in a heartbeat.
The Vanguard of the revolution has some remarkable resemblances to the MAGA movement , IMHO.
Angelita Morillo sounded a lot like Chloe Eudaly.
And Hardesty. She was a staffer for her.
Why am I unsurprised. She does come across as especially self-righteous!
Portland is the Gnosticist capital of America, deluded by ideology, captured by factional totalitarianism, with preductable results.
Thanks for a very enlightening article about my district. Dr. Bali is getting my vote because he was the only one with the correct answer on the situation in Palestine. What the hell does that have to do with the citify of Portland.
I’m actually glad that they asked the questions that they did. The answers told me that almost all of them will be no better than the status quo and maybe worse. Novak is out on being a Rubio supporter, whether she’s toast or not. I’m going to save this article to cross out people when I get my voters guide.
Be sure to take a look at Harrison Kass. He could use a donation if you can.
https://kassforpdx.com
Thanks for the tip on Kass. He exactly the type of candidate that I want representing me and our city. Now I have a list of at least 3 people I can vote for in district 3
After Kass, Bali and Walker…you might want to look at these as well:
Daniel DeMelo - demelo4portland.com
These two aren't great but definitely less bad than some:
Dan Gilk - danforportland.com
Philippe Knab - philippeforportland.com
I had Walker and Bali as my 2 other choices. Any one associated with or endorsed by nonprofits is immediately off my list. That’s what is contributing to the homeless industrial complex in Portland. I’ll check out the other 2 as well.
omg!
Portland Dissent does an amazing job of reporting on the depressing and infuriating behavior of Portland politicians and the people who promote, endorse and vote for them.
Portland has become a very intolerant city. There is little diversity of opinion and the intolerants here try to squelch it whenever they hear it.
In a place where everyone thinks the same, no one is thinking! Zero diversity of THOUGHT!
Politics as opera buffo!
Great quote from Novick about Rubio being toast!! I laughed out loud!! 🤣
One thing about Novick -- he is often quotable.
Here’s Novick circa 2014: From Portland Trubune…
“Commissioner Steve Novick wants to cut money from the Portland Police Bureau's budget, specifically their Drug and Vice Division.
He said the money could be spent better elsewhere. Novick and the other city council members debated the unusual and controversial idea Tuesday during a City Council work session on next year's budget”
Novick would support a stripper single mom. What a dufus. LOL…
Great article Pamela! You’re always out and about, and actively doing serious journalism. I admire you so much!!
Rene Gonzalez for Mayor!!! 😊
Dr Bali gets my vote!
Portland is the most politically violent town in America, and it’s jarring against the contrast where people believe themselves to be so compassionate. Violent virtue signaling Marxist that continue to destroy our city.