The mayor arguably sets the tone for the rest of the city when it comes to transparency—and transparency has been an issue in this race, thanks to a certain poll and reporting it in the campaign finance database. What do our candidates have to say about the matter?

In areas such as transparency, accessibility, and constituent relations and involvement, what can Portlanders expect from you if elected? How have you demonstrated those values in past roles, or in your campaign?

First up, Jim Lee.

Jim Lee
Position sought: Mayor
Website: blogmayor.com
Financial status: Intends to raise less than $300

By being involved in issues over several decades I have learned that our City’s government can be very accessible—if one knows how to work it.

Our Council members usually are very responsive to constituents. Go down to City Hall, walk into the offices of the Mayor or the Commissioners, and a staff person will meet and discuss your concerns. If that is not enough, it’s easy to buttonhole the principals after Council meetings on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Then word will get around the building that citizens have concerns about an issue. Lines of communication are very short in City Hall. All five members of the Council have both legislative and administrative responsibilities; they and their staffs must work closely to accomplish what needs to be done.

But we must do our homework and we must be persistent if we are to influence issues, for there are many issues and many interests. There will be opposing views and positions, but any group, or any individual, can be effective—often astonishingly so.

The rest of Lee’s response is after the cut, followed by several of his opponents (with the notable exception of Sho Dozono, who didn’t reply this week). The two newest Mayoral candidates, Christopher Rich and Patricia Stuart, will hopefully be joining us next week, and there’s an even newer guy, Steven Entwisle, who will also be invited to participate.

I have learned to be wary of committees that allegedly promote involvement of citizens in special projects, however. Usually these are instigated by special interests to promote a favorite cause, and operate to deflect and exclude contrary ideas and interests. Here are two examples, one recent, one ancient:

The Charter Review Commission was empowered to overtly promote a “strong mayor“ form of government. It’s leaders claimed, after fifteen months of meetings and testimony, to have gauged the public’s mood to be favorable toward concentrated and hierarchic governance, rather than the diffuse and collegial form to which we are accustomed. That proposition was defeated at the polls 3:1, as it had been five years previously.

Twenty-five years before the same process unfolded with the Performing Arts Committee. Then, as now, I had a good theory of acoustics of concert halls in my hip pocket, together with a firm grasp of the dangers inherent in aggregating different venues into a “performing arts center.” My position before Council on many occasions was twofold: build individual facilities for theater, opera, ballet, and symphony; be extremely careful, for these are very difficult buildings!

Of course I was excluded and ignored. The project ballooned from $15 million to $43 million, and now arts interests are trying to build their own facilities. The Gerding Theater is but the first.

It took two decades, but I won.

Hang in there!

Jeff Taylor
Position sought: Mayor
Website: portland123.com
Financial status: -$31,420.95 currently in the bank, the balance of a loan to himself

I would attend more of the neighborhood association meetings then any previous Mayor. Our neighborhood associations and our environment are the two main reasons why people move here. I would try to hold more City Counsel meetings outside of City Hall. I would not only try to visit as many businesses, and schools as I could but also take concrete actions to help the businesses and schools.

I would also have a television program on cable called Love Portland where I would recognize those city workers, businesses, union workers, teachers, and anyone doing positive things to help Portland.

Sam Adams
Position sought: Mayor
Website: samforpdx.com
Financial status: $129,285.42 in contributions, $52,984.05 currently in the bank

These values have always been cornerstones of my public service and my record reflects that.

TRANSPARENCY: In 2004 I campaigned to register city hall lobbyists. Historically, professional lobbyist influence – usually on behalf of corporations – has been more pervasive than Portlanders might expect. By forcing these lobbyists to register, the general public is better able to track their influence.

Getting the lobbyist registration in place was not easy. Corporate lobbyists such as Len Bergstein staunchly opposed it, as did Mayor Tom Potter. Eventually we were able to get the program in place. The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is now considering the program for a national award in governmental excellence.

As a candidate for mayor I have nothing to hide. Each of my filings with the city auditor and secretary of state has been completely transparent.

ACCESSIBIILTY: My staff and I have an open-door policy. We meet with anybody who wants to meet with us. Beyond formal meetings, we established the First Thursday series at city hall. Each month Portlanders from all backgrounds tell us it's their first time in city hall whereas previously it had felt like an impenetrable place. We deliberately choose artistic themes each month to diversify the city hall experience to as many Portlanders as possible.

When we established our blog in 2004 we were told we were one of a handful of elected officials nationwide to do so. While we don't always agree with the comments that follow our posts, we honor the right to share one's point of view.

I'm most proud of the fact that I've been able to spend so much time in the city's neighborhoods and business districts and not stuck in city hall. My schedule, which I've made publicly available, reflects that.

CONSTITUENTS: My office is the only one in city hall to have full time staff dedicated exclusively to serving constituents. Cevero Gonzalez in the Office of Transportation and Vicki Grudzinksi in the Bureau of Environmental Services are experts at solving real-world problems for any Portlander.

In summary, I long ago adopted an attitude that I would serve Portlanders in a direct, honest, and accessible way. My record reflects an unwavering commitment to that approach. It has served me well and is a big reason why I think I'm the best-prepared candidate for mayor.

Kyle Burris
Position sought: Mayor
Website: site not up yet
Financial status: Intends to raise less than $300

If I'm sure of just one thing in this messes up little world of ours, it's that information needs to be free.

Free-as-in-people.

Free-as-in-beer.

In my life, I've been a tireless advocate of open information. Usually, this just means I bitch at people about IP law until they tell me to go away--but sometimes I also drag my ass down to Free Geek, and help them do their thing.

In my campaign, I've made a point of releasing all my creative bi-products under a Creative Commons license. And when I start selling off prints of my photographic works (to fund my campaign), I'll also be making a point of including digital copies, so people can do what ever the hell they want with them.

Obviously, fighting for digital freedom on the interwebs isn't quite the same as disclosing the back room deal I just made with some money chucking lobbyist--but still, I hope this can give you an idea of where I'm coming from.

Information is power, and I want that power to be in the hands of as many people as possible. Portlandonline is a decent start--but still, we could be going so much further. Not just visitor logs and police reports, as Amy has mentioned, but every e-mail, every filing. This is the digital age! There's no reason we can't have all this stuff scanned, and put on-line in a timely manner.

On the matter of constituent relations: the city's whole "public hearing" system needs to be reworked from the ground up. The system we have now--people sitting at that little table, reiterating the same points as the last five people before them--it accomplishes nothing. If the city wants to know how many people care about something, they can overpay some consultant to take a poll. These meeting need to be turned into real debates. Citizens questioning counsel members, counsel members questioning citizens. There needs to be a real, productive dialog between to the two sides, and I think these meetings are the place to do it.

Sho Dozono
Position sought: Mayor
Website: shoformayor.com
Financial status: $200,000 in public funding, $33,747.81 currently in the bank (final check from the city hasn't been deposited)

Did not respond by deadline.

Beryl McNair
Position sought: Mayor
Website: none
Financial status: $220.00 in contributions, $220.00 currently in the bank

Did not respond by deadline.

Craig Gier
Position sought: Mayor
Website: myspace.com/craiggierformayor
Financial status: Intends to raise less than $300

Did not respond by deadline.