Last rites are in order for Commissioner Jim Francesconi's candidacy for mayor of Portland. Today comes the news that ex-City Commissioner Mike Lindberg, one of Jim-Bob's buddies in the aerial tram scam, has jumped off the Francesconi bandwagon. Supposedly it's because of Jim's negative ads, but perhaps it's more likely that Lindberg, who continues to hang around the local political scene years after leaving office, finally realizes that he picked the wrong horse months ago.
The other day the Francesconi campaign issued a list of things that the Commish says he'll do in his first 100 days as mayor. Things like setting up a telephone hotline that will get potholes fixed in 48 hours. The reaction: Why isn't he doing these things now, as a city commissioner?
With seven or eight years on the Council behind him, you would have thought the guy would have been smart enough not to paint himself as an agent of change -- not to be pointing out all the common-sense things that should be done but aren't. I think the clumsiness of his campaign is a bad sign of how he'd be as mayor. He may close the gap with Potter slightly, but he can't win now.
Comments (11)
"Celebrate and aggressively promote the growing diversity of Portland, which is one of our city’s strengths."
This is my favorite on the list. Jim is going to "celebrate diversity." Wow! What a visionary. What a leader. I've never heard that before. He's truly a man ahead of his time.
I also take issue with his attack on MLB. You don't have to like MLB, and there are reasons why MLB shouldn't come to Portland. But David Kahn and the OSC (along with Lenn Hannon of Ashland) have done an excellent job of crafting a stadium plan which protects the tax payer.
The majority of this stadium will be built with tax dollars that will not exist unless a professional team comes to Portland.
With ridiculously high unemployment numbers, Portland would be smart to attract large businesses. Even Major League baseball.
I think the clumsiness of his campaign is a bad sign of how he'd be as mayor.
It's more than that. Even if one believes in his "back to the basics" message, a Mayor still needs to have both leadership and imagination. In his campaign, Francesconi has made two major decisions: For the primary, he decided to try to buy his way into office; for the general, he decided to try to smear his way into office.
Both of these major decisions describe an utter failure of both leadership and imagination, and have a direct bearing on what voters need to consider when choosing a new Mayor.
FYI, re: MLB. I continue to be skeptical about Portland's ability to support an MLB team anyway, but one thing that should be pointed out is that Francesconi is running around not only saying that it's a distraction from focusing on priorities, but that it's not something that should even happen without the interest of an owner wanting to come in to begin with. Problem is, Katz's plan specifically won't move forward at all until and unless that exact thing happens. So what's Franny complaining about?
i've only been following your blog since your return, so if i ask a question that has already been answered, i apologize.
you state - arial tram scam - is this a statement against the tram or against how the tram is being brought to pdx? i think they are two different issues.
my issue with the tram situation is that portland has a tough time with change. no-one is seems wants change in thier neighborhood even if it is for the good. take the boise-elliot neighborhood. they don't want mississippi ave to be fruitful because it will raise property values. they call it gentrification. i call it progress. would these long-time residents rather have the drugs and prostitution?
in sw pdx, the entrance onto powell blvd and that whole crazy situation just screams for change. with the new waterfront development, where are those cars going to go? into the neighborhoods. the tram i believe is a good alternative and will bring some cache to pdx.
now, if it has been done illegally or for politicians profits, that sucks!
Personally, I've been in rather perpetual conflict over the tram issue. But in the end, and for better or worse, it mainly came down to the fact that we wanted OHSU to expand here in Portland itself rather than expanding to some suburb (which at least as far as I understand it, was a possibility). And what OHSU wanted if they were to expand within Portland was tram access to and from the hill.
That doesn't mean there might not be other specific issues with the how, especially given that the cost of the tram keeps escalating. But it was only within the past three months ro so that I came to understand the reason for the tram to begin with.
There's no way OHSU was moving. The prospect of the rich doctors of Pill Hill fighting the traffic on 26 all the way to Hillsboro is, and always was, ludicrous. The threat to move was a bluff, and city failed to call it -- especially with Neil jerking everyone's strings the whole time.
But the city did play hardball with Columbia Sportswear -- chased them right out of town.
I'm not so sure, Jack, that "never" is appropriate there; my dad used to work up on the Hill, back in the day, and if OHSU had moved his clinic to Hillsboro he would have gotten in his car and soldiered on driving in from our house, along with the rest of his clinic.
Maybe his office was unique, but I don't think it does justice to the guys who work up there to insist that they think they're sufficiently special that they'd quit rather than work in Hillsboro.
I know there are a lot of dedicated "little people" up on the Hill that make it the fine place that it is. I was referring instead to the fat-cat, bloated bureaucrat "visionaries" who haul obscene salaries out of there, home to their little Dunthorpe love shacks. Those are the guys who wouldn't move, and alas, those are the guys calling the shots.
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» Returning For A Friday Campaign Round-Up from The One True b!X's PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post. As our entrance back into things here -- and before we attempt to assiduously solider through the writing and posting of three original and rather length repo... [Read More]
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Comments (11)
"Celebrate and aggressively promote the growing diversity of Portland, which is one of our city’s strengths."
This is my favorite on the list. Jim is going to "celebrate diversity." Wow! What a visionary. What a leader. I've never heard that before. He's truly a man ahead of his time.
I also take issue with his attack on MLB. You don't have to like MLB, and there are reasons why MLB shouldn't come to Portland. But David Kahn and the OSC (along with Lenn Hannon of Ashland) have done an excellent job of crafting a stadium plan which protects the tax payer.
The majority of this stadium will be built with tax dollars that will not exist unless a professional team comes to Portland.
With ridiculously high unemployment numbers, Portland would be smart to attract large businesses. Even Major League baseball.
Posted by Justin | August 27, 2004 12:29 PM
I think the clumsiness of his campaign is a bad sign of how he'd be as mayor.
It's more than that. Even if one believes in his "back to the basics" message, a Mayor still needs to have both leadership and imagination. In his campaign, Francesconi has made two major decisions: For the primary, he decided to try to buy his way into office; for the general, he decided to try to smear his way into office.
Both of these major decisions describe an utter failure of both leadership and imagination, and have a direct bearing on what voters need to consider when choosing a new Mayor.
Posted by The One True b!X | August 27, 2004 1:18 PM
The Big 'F' is gone? Good news.
And a plan to protect the tax payer is only worthwhile if we pay absolutely zero for the park (and the team, and other incentives).
Posted by Scott-in-Japan | August 27, 2004 1:22 PM
FYI, re: MLB. I continue to be skeptical about Portland's ability to support an MLB team anyway, but one thing that should be pointed out is that Francesconi is running around not only saying that it's a distraction from focusing on priorities, but that it's not something that should even happen without the interest of an owner wanting to come in to begin with. Problem is, Katz's plan specifically won't move forward at all until and unless that exact thing happens. So what's Franny complaining about?
Posted by The One True b!X | August 27, 2004 2:02 PM
i've only been following your blog since your return, so if i ask a question that has already been answered, i apologize.
you state - arial tram scam - is this a statement against the tram or against how the tram is being brought to pdx? i think they are two different issues.
my issue with the tram situation is that portland has a tough time with change. no-one is seems wants change in thier neighborhood even if it is for the good. take the boise-elliot neighborhood. they don't want mississippi ave to be fruitful because it will raise property values. they call it gentrification. i call it progress. would these long-time residents rather have the drugs and prostitution?
in sw pdx, the entrance onto powell blvd and that whole crazy situation just screams for change. with the new waterfront development, where are those cars going to go? into the neighborhoods. the tram i believe is a good alternative and will bring some cache to pdx.
now, if it has been done illegally or for politicians profits, that sucks!
Posted by brett | August 27, 2004 2:19 PM
Personally, I've been in rather perpetual conflict over the tram issue. But in the end, and for better or worse, it mainly came down to the fact that we wanted OHSU to expand here in Portland itself rather than expanding to some suburb (which at least as far as I understand it, was a possibility). And what OHSU wanted if they were to expand within Portland was tram access to and from the hill.
That doesn't mean there might not be other specific issues with the how, especially given that the cost of the tram keeps escalating. But it was only within the past three months ro so that I came to understand the reason for the tram to begin with.
Posted by The One True b!X | August 27, 2004 2:27 PM
There's no way OHSU was moving. The prospect of the rich doctors of Pill Hill fighting the traffic on 26 all the way to Hillsboro is, and always was, ludicrous. The threat to move was a bluff, and city failed to call it -- especially with Neil jerking everyone's strings the whole time.
But the city did play hardball with Columbia Sportswear -- chased them right out of town.
Posted by Jack Bog | August 27, 2004 2:57 PM
It wasn't about moving. It was about expanding.
Posted by The One True b!X | August 27, 2004 2:58 PM
They would have gone to the waterfront, even with a shuttle bus. Their people would never drive to Hillsboro.
Posted by Jack Bog | August 27, 2004 3:01 PM
I'm not so sure, Jack, that "never" is appropriate there; my dad used to work up on the Hill, back in the day, and if OHSU had moved his clinic to Hillsboro he would have gotten in his car and soldiered on driving in from our house, along with the rest of his clinic.
Maybe his office was unique, but I don't think it does justice to the guys who work up there to insist that they think they're sufficiently special that they'd quit rather than work in Hillsboro.
Posted by Wes Meltzer | August 27, 2004 9:50 PM
I know there are a lot of dedicated "little people" up on the Hill that make it the fine place that it is. I was referring instead to the fat-cat, bloated bureaucrat "visionaries" who haul obscene salaries out of there, home to their little Dunthorpe love shacks. Those are the guys who wouldn't move, and alas, those are the guys calling the shots.
Posted by Jack Bogdanski | August 27, 2004 10:40 PM