None other than Amanda Fritz, neighborhood activist and 2006 publicly-financed candidate for city council.

This blog is about issues I find interesting in Portland, Oregon. Its subtitle is “Portland A-Z” because the main focus is the city of Portland and the people who live, work, and play here, and I aim to be widely inclusive in encouraging everyone to feel welcome to read and comment.

Also, my older son pointed out in an epic Mother’s Day poem a few years ago that my name starts with an A, and ends with a Z.

As I’ve started writing articles, I realize that many of my posts will be longer than typical blog entries. I aim to delve into issues in detail, as often core policies are carried out (or not) in those details. Explaining complicated issues often can’t be done in a paragraph or two, and I make no apologies for refusing to dumb it down. I believe Portlanders deserve adequate, accurate information and are very capable of understanding and digesting it.

So far, she’s weighed in on local government transparency, and the city’s charter review project:

This is a huge issue coming down the pike, which deserves much more attention and time than is possible over the next three weeks - particularly since information about the proposal is not yet (as of 12/27, three weeks before the public hearing) posted on the City’s Charter Review web page.