City on the Chopping Block

Let's form the perfect district that "looks like us."

The Portland charter commission—having bamboozled the city’s voters into embarking on a reckless social experiment—has now folded its tents. As with all things progressive, they left behind a raft of details for others to clean up.

And so, quiet as little mice, the Portland Transition Team announced that Mayor Wheeler (who will probably never again be elected to any public office) has named thirteen “citizens” to slice ‘n’ dice the city into four picture-perfect districts, each of which will be represented—if that’s the word for it—by three commissioners who will be installed in office by a voting scheme that no one understands.

Got that?

As the charter commission announced over a year ago, this is designed to get the clammy hands of the west siders off the city council and to guarantee a place on the council for, well…shorn of its high-sounding principle of electing “people who look like” the people in the district, it’s a naked guarantee that minorities will be over-represented.

Approximately, forever.

Here’s what the city had to say about the appointees…

.. without bothering to mention anything about, f’rinstance, their qualifications, their occupations, where they live, or the mayor’s inscrutable criteria for their selection from the 279 people who bothered to fill out the city’s byzantine application form.

In typical fashion, the city’s somnolent media paid no attention to this news. In fact, you would have had to dig out the BikePortland web page which, needless to say, is a teensy bit biased, for any mention of who these folks might be.

So who are these slice ‘n’ dicers? We spent some hours DuckDucking the comissioners and—golly! They’re clones of the folks who gave us the gift of the new charter! How surprising!

Examples…

Amanda Manjarrez. A non-profiteer from way back, now bunked at the Foundations for a Better Oregon as director of public policy and government affairs (aka, a lobbyist) at something tax-exempt called the FBO/Chalkboard project. You will not be surprised that she is described as “a longtime advocate for racial equity and good governance.” What constitutes “good” may vary depending on whose ox is gored.

DaWayne Judd. Weirdly, his LinkedIn web page lists him as based in Beaverton. His entry, self-authored, says…

Dynamic, talented and versatile business analyst & finance professional with 16 years of retail and hospitality experience. Strong record of achievement in budgeting and planning strategies to improve organizational performance.

Since 2021, he’s listed as founder of B-More Management LLC—drop that into the DuckDuck search engine and you’ll find scads of companies with that name—but no mention of Mr. Judd. Due diligence, mayor?

He’s clearly one of the many “looks like” appointments, along with…

Lamar Wise. He’s a political director for the state’s most powerful (and thuggish) union, AFSCME, which is the power behind the curtain for the permanent bureaucracy. In earlier times, according to the Convergence website…

The people of Portland have been in the streets demanding dignity and respect for Black lives while facing attacks by federal police. Lamar Wise, an organizer in Portland, shares with OrgUp how Black people and people of color in Portland are fighting back.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the state’s race-preference handouts, Reimagine Oregon, quoted Mr. Wise on its website thusly…

“We organized protests night after night in order to have real systems changes around public safety, it's clear reform isn't enough.”

Thanks, Lamar, for helping to solidify Portland’s rep as Riot City.

Paul Lumley. Another racial non-profit creature; he’s the new chief executive officer for the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) and a citizen of the Yakama Nation.

NAYA, as it turns out, had a hand in bamboozlement of its own as part of the lobbying effort to turn Cully into an urban renewal district that—we’re not kidding here—will be a permanent reservation for the city’s poor. We wrote about this back in October, in Utopia Comes to Cully. Rest assured: the headline was ironic.

Also from non-profitland…

Steve Fleischman. He’s “managing member” (whatever that means) of something called Change Dynamics LLC which supplies…

…consulting, coaching, and strategic planning services that support leadership and business development in nonprofits and social benefit-oriented companies.

His website adds that…

He recently retired as CEO of Education Northwest, a nonprofit in Portland, Oregon, having led its transformation from government contractor dependent on federal funding to a professional services firm with a diversified client base, well-honed strategic direction, commitment to evidence, and strong mission orientation.

Drawing lines on a map? No problemo!

Not everyone is from the land of 501(c)(3)….

Edie Van Ness. Criminal law attorney, aka Edie Rogoway (who leaves a tangled batch of hits on DuckDuck). )One of her websites mentions…

Portland DUI Lawyer Edie Rogoway Van Ness is listed as providing help to individuals who have been charged with driving under the influence / driving while intoxicated (DUI / DWI). DUI / DWI is a serious charge and you need the help of an experienced Portland DUI Lawyer.

No mention of drawing sober district lines.

Josh Laurente. He got a master’s degree in Decolonization, Political Development and Sustainability from PSU in 2022. Which raises the question: how many equity boxes can one dude punch? His work record is a string of low-level non-profit jobs, ending with board co-chair of the Next Up Action Fund, which…

Amplifies the diverse voices and leadership of the rising generation to build political power, and fight for a more just and equitable Oregon.

How? Clues: he’s on their endorsement and money and parties committees.

Speaking of PSU, it will be represented by…

Melody Ellis Valdini. Her page in the PSU website says…

Her research focuses on the consequences of institutional design, with a particular focus on electoral systems, political parties, and women's descriptive representation.

…and her latest book may have some bearing on the committee’s cogitations, since it is titled, “The Inclusion Calculation: Why Men Appropriate Women's Representation.”

One can easily predict a soul-buddie’s alliance with…

Neisha Saxena (She/Her). In her role as Deputy Director and Civil Rights Administrator for the Multnomah county Office of Diversity and Equity, she is one of the ever-growing number of bureaucrats who act as progressive hall-monitors. Or, as her official bio says…

She also manages the Equity Policy Team focused on: civil rights compliance and policy work, disability equity, LGBTQIA+ equity, gender justice, data and evaluation, the work of the Multnomah Youth Commission and other policy initiatives at the direction of the County Chair's Office.

Before that, she had a successful county career in…

…innovative approaches to dismantling the root causes of poverty and systemic racism.

Mission accomplished, Neisha!

One might be wondering if there are any actual politicians on the commish. Let’s welcome…

Kari Chisholm. He’s a “political consultant,” with frequent forays into non-profits and blogs—a number of which are listed on his Wikipedia page, probably self-authored, as defunct. His current blog pops readers over to a “Make a name for yourself with a page and a domain” site for just $6 per month. Another link takes you to his latest enterprise, Mandate Media, which pitches…

We help progressive campaigns & causes win by integrating strategy with technology and data.

…in which he claims credit, of a sort, for electing our senator from nowhere, Jeff Merkley and city commish Carmen Rubio, plus a host of out-of-state pols.

As further qualification for his district-drawing, his website notes…

Outside of politics, Kari has a national reputation as a leading expert on the voting procedures for college football's Heisman Trophy -- accurately predicting the winner twelve years in a row.

Charges for gerrymandering are not mentioned.

Sharon VanSickle Robbins. Best described—in the Beer Chaser website, no less—as a “civic all-star.” An inveterate joiner, her list of clubs and boards and affiliations is too long for our limited bandwidth but, to give you a taste: City Club, University of Portland regents, Planned Parenthood, International Women’s Forum, and on and on. Let’s just say, on the “looks like-o-meter” she’s got the WASP position nailed down.

On the other end of the socio-economic spectrum…

Arlene Kimura. Multnomah county’s website lauded her because she…

…served on citizen committees for land use and transportation planning, worked on the East Portland Action Plan and Gateway Urban Renewal plan, joined the East Portland Parks Coalition and has become president of the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association, to name just a few of her volunteer roles.

…and gave her 2017’s Gladys McCoy Award. But we wonder: would you want to be lauded for what’s happened to the Gateway neighborhood?

We could go on—but you get the picture. Same old/ same old. Courtesy of our lame duck mayor.

They are what they are—and if these people really are the best choices for the tedious job of drawing four lines on a map, well…just FYI, I’ve FOI’d the city for copies of the actual applications that each of the 13 members submitted as a way to get an inkling of what floats the mayor’s boat. Mostly, I just wanted to count the number of times the word “equity” was invoked. It is being slow-walked.

Not to be grumpy, but I’d be willing to wager that just about any real estate professional knows more about the city’s neighborhoods—which are far more psychological than geographic (a point the charter commission was too naive to understand) than anyone on the committee.

I’d also be willing to bet that my neighborhood barber, Johnnie, knows more about neighborhoods than any “leader” who wants to play spin-the-map. Ditto any number of restaurant-owners or bartenders or small business owners or priests or ministers. The average bus driver or Amazon delivery driver or Uber pilot knows more about Portland’s neighborhoods than any of the properly-pedigreed on the committee.

But they don’t count. The folks on the committee do the pushing-around; the rest of us get pushed. It’s the progressive way and—darn it! Some of us are born to rule.

But, still, one wonders…

Are there any Sam Adams clones (who won’t make thin-skinned female attorneys cry) out there in Portland who might utter a few unfashionable thoughts on the committee from time to time?

Anyone who really has a grip on actual neighborhoods and their history, as opposed to progressive catechism? Anyone with a sense of reality, as opposed to utopian daydreams?

It will be fascinating to watch as, a la Candace Avalos, some aggressive appointee gets their mitts on the committee and, essentially, hijacks it to get, among other things: a nice stipend from the Oregonian or some cushy consultancy or a slot on the new, anarchic City Council. (Yah-yah-yah; there’s language about not being candidates, but memories are short in this town.)

And just remember the key lesson from this exercise in wishful thinking. Fifty-six percent of your fellow voters fell for it.

Live ‘n’ learn.