This is the scene at the Ambridge Events Center at NE MLK and Multnomah:

Billed as “The Big Job Interview,” it’s more like watching the UN debate something (to steal a line from one campaign staffer here). It’s big, but it’s confusing and a bit tedious and slow.

I think I’ve heard each candidate speak once, maybe twice, in the last hour and a half, on issues like domestic violence, what they’d change about the city charter, or what will the county look like in five years. There’s a mix of city commissioner, mayoral, and county commissioner candidates up there. With the exceptions of the race for Randy Leonard’s seat, and the mayor’s race, the candidates who are competing with each other aren’t even sitting together. I’m having a hard time comparing people to the folks they’re actually running against; I can’t imagine what the average voter is getting out of this (if there are any here—the 200 or so seats are maybe a third full, and a lot of those folks are campaign staffers).

A few highlights:

“We’re as big as Texas, but we think like Rhode Island,” says mayoral candidate Bob Leonard Forthan in his (bizarre) closing assessment of Portland.

Amanda Fritz, taking the mic to answer a question, and hopping to her feet: “I’ll stand. Because I stand up when no one else does.”

“I’ll take off the month of June, then get to work on July 1,” says Sho Dozono, outlines his priorities (and assuming he’ll win outright in May). Sam Adams shoots back: “Well, I’ll work through June, then…”

Then there was the time Marta Perez asked for votes because she’s “prettier than Randy Leonard,” and the time she sang—yes, sang—”I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way…” Leonard chimed in: “She’s prettier than me, and she sings better than me.”