Whose side is he on? (Jack Bog's Blog)

Poor Nick Fish. Last time he ran for Portland City Council, sitting Commissioner Erik Sten said he was being neutral, but he wound up helping Fish's opponent, Sam Adams, beat him.

This time around, Fish says he's got the support of Commissioner Randy Leonard, but if you watch the Willy Week endorsement interview for that race, Fish's main opponent, Jim Middaugh, also claims Fireman Randy's backing. At about 27 minutes into the tape, he says:

You know, the thing that changed, and I wasn't thinking about running, until I set up an appointment with Erik to have him help me figure out what I should do next. I was aiming for a job at BES, and we sat down to talk. And actually, Ty Kovatch [Leonard's office chief] had called me into his office and said that he and Randy had made a decision, I should run for Sam's seat. [Laughter] And I thought Ty was trying to get me to say that I was interested, so that he could mock me, we were making a little bit of fun of Brendan [Finn, Dan Saltzman's office chief]; and Brendan knew that. And he said, "No, seriously, we'll raise you 75 grand, and here's how we'll do it." And I went home that night, told my wife, and a friend of mine was over for dinner, and he said, "Oh, hell, I'll give you five grand."...

So, has the Fireman changed his mind, and now he supports Fish? Or is there once again equivocation going on about where a current council member stands?

Comments (10)

So having Randy's endorsement is a good thing? This is after all the claims that each candidate is for change. So getting someone who has been there forever to say he's my guy is good?

If I hear one more candidate whose for change at City Hall and then we just keep getting the same tired hacks running the place . . .

Posted by Steve | April 17, 2008 7:45 AM

The Willy Weak Tapes is be a good things.

Posted by Tenskwatawa | April 17, 2008 9:33 AM

Based on Jim's troubles explaining the timing of his knowledge of Commissioner Sten's resignation and the controversy surrounding the amount of money he should receive from the public for his special election campaign, it seems to me that Jim is demonstrating with his remarks that he is not someone who accepts good advice. That is, as Randy and I suggested, he should have run for Sam's vacant position #1, and done so without public money.

I think it is also interesting that Jim would tout himself as "Randy Leonard's second choice" again and again in his current race. I would think that to the extent such an endorsement matters, it would cause those swayed by Randy's support to choose Randy's first choice: Nick Fish.

Ty Kovatch

Posted by Ty Kovatch | April 17, 2008 12:35 PM

"I thought Ty was trying to get me to say that I was interested, so that he could mock me"

I guess I have too agree after re-reading, that is not the most ringing endorsement.

Posted by Steve | April 17, 2008 1:47 PM

"Well get you 75 grand" is what interests me the most. You talk about a political machine...

Posted by Jack Bog | April 17, 2008 1:55 PM

Actually what interests me most is that Ty is apparently earning his $80k a year by monitoring Jack's blog (tho it's probably Randy who is doing the reading and just sending Ty to do the dissing.)

Greg C

Posted by Greg C | April 17, 2008 5:57 PM

"monitoring Jack's blog"

Hey, he's on his lunch hour and doesn't blog 20x daily like TorridJoe (famous CoP employee), so I'm OK with that.

Posted by Steve | April 17, 2008 7:36 PM

Hey, don't chill my readership! I would think that someone from Commissioner Leonard's office should be checking this site daily!

8c)

Posted by Jack Bog | April 17, 2008 8:27 PM

I wish Middaugh continued on with "how we'll do it" explanation from Ty. But I can imagine.

Posted by lw | April 17, 2008 9:18 PM

That's why insiders, like Middaugh, will always choose "Clean Money" over private fundraising. The machine can generate a thousand signatures in no time: send the petitions around the union halls, the BTA, and the machine's dependents (bureau employees, vendors, developers) and VOILA: $145,000 in less than 10 days!

The privately funded candidate (aka Nick Fish) is effectively capped at $150,000 (lest the VOE matching funds kick in), while the machine candidate can still draw on as much "volunteer labor" as the machine deems necessary to stuff envelopes, ring doorbells, make telephone calls, and wave signs at intersections.

Citizen activists rising like tulips on a sunny day to join the groundswell of support for Sten's handpicked successor.

There is no cap on the political machine's ability to motivate their members generous donation of time and energy.

Incumbents (or their handpicked successors) FOREVER!!! A bike bridge in every neighborhood and trolley for every Condo! And it's all FREE!

Posted by Mister Tee | April 19, 2008 5:11 PM

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Whose side is he on?

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