I don't know Jack.

I think its sort of the same background fakery that cost Wes Cooley his seat n the US House, where he represented the Oregon Second before Greg Walden.

YMMV.

Based on the WW article she seems to exude the whole "Keep Portland Weird"- former hippy turned corporate thingy that you would think WW would like. (gotta love how she gave birth to both of her kids at home and then gave them the last name O'Brady, a combo of her's and her then husband's last names). While I would agree that she over plays her hand in regard to her assertions that she was a "co-founder" of New Seasons, as opposed to being the spouse of an 11% shareholder/executive, the fact is that she has her own track record to talk about. It seems a little off to me that she feels compelled to play up her husband's connections to New Seasons as opposed to focusing on her own accomplishments. I agree that WW has the beer goggles on for Jeffy Smith, and just can let go of the whole Bus Project/Harvard Law Magna Cum Laude mystique. He lasted an entire year as an attorney in a job that many in the legal profession consider the pinnacle of private practice in this town, yet he seems to spin his miserable failure to perform as an attorney in this dream job as some sort of badge of honor, or it's the ADD, I can never tell. Meanwhile he seems to run the Bus Project like its his own personal litter box and can't bother to show up for court dates or pay his bar dues on time. C. Hales is tone deaf to the notion that the small business owners, families and tax/rate payers in this town have it up their eye-balls in trains and developer pork, and doesn't get that we just can't afford it any longer. Has even one candidate addressed the notion that we are going to a hell in a hand basket with the unfunded public employee benefits in this town? Has even one candidate proposed a plan to deal with the gang violence and gun-play that will almost surely reach a fevered pitch when the kids get out of school this summer? I don't know, they all seem like a bunch of light weights to me, but at least Brady seems like the only one who hasn't been part of the political class her entire adult life.

Usual Kevin -

Actually two candidates seem to have addressed the issues you ask about.

Bill Dant and Scott Fernandez.

I will not vote for any of the Big Three, but of them, Brady is the least objectionable. Which isn't saying much.

I was pretty ok with Brady, but then she came out in really enthusiastic support for the Sustainability Center, and that soured me on her, with a quickness.

Of the people running for mayor whom I've looked into so far, the only guaranteed loser is Jefferson Smith.
I actually felt a nagging sense of civic duty to inform Portlanders of what a horrendous d.bag he is. I'm at peace with it now. Once I downloaded my song inspired by him and a similar politician - Newt Gingrich - on Youtube, I felt like I could move on to other things.

Ahh, shoot. There's still one other thing. I know it's asking for a lot but if the Willamette Week would check out my song about their favorite candidate - just search for "Smart Talking Fool" - then perhaps I can still live to see my dream come true. I've always wanted to be Rogue of the Week.

Initially Brady was a possibility.
But as the campaign has ground along and she started parroting the same silly slogans we hear from the other carpetbaggers in the race I moved on.
Fernandez sounds like a viable alternative to the drones we have.

If the press gives Scott Fernandez attention, he has a chance. Even if they don't, he's the best candidate. I'm to the point in supporting someone outside of what some think is "viable".

Willamette Week's coverage of Eileen Brady's mayoral campaign is more personal vendetta than political journalism. From Meeker and Zusman on down it seems that the men who run that place resent the fact that a woman who hasn't jumped through their hoops in the way they require is running for mayor. You want to talk "founders"? Read the statement Stan Amy released stating unequivocally that Brady is a New Seasons founder. And consider other examples of the collaborative founding of exceptional institutions. Such as: the "Founding Fathers." They were not, as Wikipedia points out, just the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Framers of the US Constitution, "they were also all those who, whether as politicians, jurists, statesmen, soldiers, diplomats, or ordinary citizens, took part in winning American independence and creating the United States of America." Eileen may not have been a member of New Seasons' three-person board of directors, but she was key in creating what has become a model of responsible, innovative and progressive entrepreneurism. She has exactly the kind of experience municipal government in the US is lacking and sorely needs.

Meeker and Zussman may have a personal vendetta, but the reporters (Pein and Jaquiss) are reporting it as they see it. Anybody who's spoken to Eileen or even seen her interact with others in public can immediately pick up on something being a little off. And that's putting it charitably.

Brady and her hubby Brian Rohter, whom I've had direct dealings with, have an odd relationship to reality. They seem to view reality as subject to their whims. And those whims tend to be very self-serving.

Brady appears to be a serial fabulist (as one reporter calls her in private). She doesn't necessarily make s**t up, but she sure bends it to suit her chosen narrative.

Barring a surge by Streetcar Hales (enabled by an awakening of the west hills elites), Brady will probably be the next mayor of Portland, and this will all become very clear. Don't say I didn't tell you.