Amanda, you have got to be kidding. How dumb do you think Portland voters are? "I'm in this to win?" It's nice to see that winning is more important that being principled.

If Fritz doesn't end up sitting in city council, this might be the event that she points to that hurt her the most. She just lost all credibility. She puts out a huge campaign piece that vows not to outsource and also that promises to keep taxpayers dollars in Portland and the very piece is outsourced. Her explanation is that she wants to win above all else. How many people REALLY believe now she wants to bring services to all 95 neighborhoods? This is a power trip pure and simple. You couple this with her sole endorsement from the Multnomah Republican Party and she could be in serious trouble especially if she makes it through the primary.

What gets me is the sneakiness of the whole thing. They had plenty of chances to kill this piece but instead went with the text knowing that it was going to come out of Eugene. Instead of being upfront about it, her campaign tries to hide it thinking they are not going to get caught. Purposeful deceit by making the union bug extra small. Nice work Amanda. Nice work.

Campaigns make gaffs (kinda stupid on Amanda's part, though not illegal).

Then there are those that break the law.

1) For example "Where is the Fry's located in Portland?"

According to his ORESTAR record:

https://secure.sos.state.or.us/eim/transactionPubDetail.do?tranRsn=256496

Lewis has it listed in Portland. Is not providing false information to the Sectary of State illegal?

2) How about all of the building repairs Lewis is using taxpayer money to fix up Ethos (I mean his campaign office he is renting at below market rate)?

3) Or Lewis's lovely commercial that he is showing on Comcast where breaks the law by not doing what is required Chapter 2.10.190 section D of the Campaign Finance Fund rules

D. A television or video advertisement described in Section 2.10.190 A. of this Section shall include the phrase "Paid for by" followed by the name of the Certified Candidate or principal campaign committee of the Certified Candidate. The phrase shall occur visually or audibly. The advertisement shall also include the following statement made by the Certified Candidate: "As a Certified Campaign Finance Fund Candidate, I take personal responsibility for the content of this campaign ad." The statement shall be made by the Certified Candidate while in front of the camera or while a photograph of the Certified Candidate is displayed.

Granted Branum is in violation of section C with his current radio as and Smith has mailers that are in violation of section B.

4) Then there are all of his lawn signs illegally placed in the public right of way according to - http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=93092 that all the candidates are doing.

I really want Voter Owned Elections to succeed here in Portland so that the idea can spread statewide. There is a lot of work to do and maybe going after the ones that are actually breaking the law than those making stupid mistakes is what citizens should be looking out for.

PDX VOE Watcher,

You are mistaken in your comments about me. Our $239.97 purchase from Fry's listed Wilsonville as Fry's address -- the Secretary of State's computer system incorrectly changed it to Portland.

Secondly, I have never used any campaign money to fix up Ethos. My campaign office is across the street in a completely different building owned by the Albina Women's League Foundation.

Thirdly, our commercials broadcast on television contain everything required by VOE rules -- you are mistaken and wrong.

Fourth, we have asked our supporters to properly display their lawn signs in their lawns. If there are any signs incorrectly displayed, we will ask them to display them properly.

Take care,

Charles Lewis

Cool,

Thanks for the clarification:

I guess these transactions you have labeled "Miscellaneous Cash Contributions $100 and under" are someone's else mistake as well

139775 on 11/10/2007 for $330.00
94094 on 08/30/2007 for $300.00
94096 on 09/04/2007 for $255.00
91924 on 08/28/2007 for $255.00
165869 on 12/29/2007 for $240.00
83760 on 08/03/2007 for $235.00
85912 on 08/08/2007 for $235.00
186225 on 01/08/2008 for $225.00
188570 on 01/20/2008 for $225.00
85914 on 08/10/2007 for $220.00
90701 on 08/27/2007 for $200.00
147788 on 11/26/2007 for $168.11
186229 on 01/12/2008 for $140.00
92842 on 09/01/2007 for $120.00
186735 on 01/10/2008 for $120.00
186731 on 01/05/2008 for $115.00
83762 on 08/07/2007 for $105.00
95277 on 09/05/2007 for $105.00

Like I said, I want the VOE system to work and not be abused. I still think that your rent is way below market rate and that should be looked into.

PDX VOE Watcher,

Wow - it looks like you are really out to get me! :o)

Orestar lumps small contributions together into daily tallies -- i.e. if you recieve 60 separate $5 donations like I did on 8/30/07, the system lumps them together in aggregated amounts (i.e. 60 x $5 = $300). All of the $5 donations are listed separately under Orestar, but the system just displays the aggregate amount for public searches. It is a shortcoming of the system, but one you should take up with the Secretary of State.

In summary, you're not doing your candidate any favors by throwing out easily disprovable accusations. You guys should focus more on your own campaign rather than trying to attack someone who is following the rules.

Take care,

Charles Lewis

Dude,

I am more about the integrity of the system than Political Actors.

Maybe the same flawed ORESTAR system you are using to slam others is not telling the whole story and you are misreading the data as well.

VOE Watcher,

Charles' characterization of how ORESTAR works on aggregating small contributions is quite correct and I would not characterize it as a "flaw", as it implements the requirements under state campaign finance law. VOE has a higher disclosure requirement, which is why all of us had to submit spreadsheet exports from ORESTAR during the qualifying period which are posted on the Auditor's web site.

I would also be happy to go over any of our mail pieces with you and show you where the required disclaimer language is.

But thanks for the vigilance :-)

Chris Smith

A question? Does Fritz work at OHSU or the VA. Is she a Federal employee. If she is a Federal employee she may well be in violation of the Hatch Act, a Federal violation, as the Democratic party has officially endorsed her even though it is a non-partisan election.I believe the Office of Special Council can answer this question.

Charles Lewis and Chris Smith are clearly misleading the voters with their "red herrings".

The real issue for them is that they will do anything to prevent a woman from being on the council.

Sorry, boys. It is a woman's turn.

And if you don't like the Eugene print shop, tough.

Charles Lewis and Chris Smith are clearly misleading the voters with their "red herrings".

The real issue for them is that they will do anything to prevent a woman from being on the council.

Sorry, boys. It is a woman's turn.

And if you don't like the Eugene print shop, tough.

This is one of the reasons I will have nothing to do with VOE. It should be called "The Voter Are Owned" elections.

As taxpayers, you are forced to fund the campaign of a candidate you probably won't agree with. This is absolutely illegal. The media agencies LOVE it because their revenue is increased by at least 300%.
Example: When taxpayers aren't being scammed through this process, a candidate has to go out and raise their own money. This means that usually 2 will get the kind of money needed to do tv and print. The media only had that limited source of dollars (2 candidates). Now they have promoted a unethical way to generate much more!!! Amazing how the public will let their compassion be used against themselves.

Nearly all of these candidates will further tax you and destroy your infrastructure. Nearly all of them support an illegal workforce to make the rich, richer. If you are a reasonable person, you know this means less jobs for our lawful community. I am running for Mayor so that I can stand between them and you. You, the Citizens, need to be protected from these people. They are not working in your best interest. It also appears that Citizens are not thinking critically enough! I can change that, too.

The Mayor's job is to do just that. If I am elected your Mayor, that is what I will do.

RICH4MAYOR!

The media only had that limited source of dollars (2 candidates). Now they have promoted a unethical way to generate much more!!!

That's a good theory Chris, but check this out: As far as I'm aware—and as far as ORESTAR shows—not a single publicly financed candidate has advertised in the Mercury (they don't really need to, since we write about the city elections so much). And we're unabashed supporters of the VOE concept, even if there have been implementation issues.

Most of the media money is spent on mailers. A few have spent money on radio and tv ads (mostly on local cable, I believe). But the local radio and tv stations have said squat about VOE—and have hardly even touched the city races, beyond the mayoral campaigns. You don't get editorials on KINK or KGW singing VOE's praises, or even mentioning the program unless there's a controversy.

Charles Lewis and John Branam spent a total of $2,049 with Willamette Week, but I haven't been able to pick out a strong pro-VOE stance from that paper.

No city candidate has bought an ad in the Oregonian.

I found expenditures from publicly financed candidates for KINK, KPOJ, Comcast, KGW, and KPAM. You tell me which of those media companies has "promoted" VOE.

It has nothing to do with either Chris or Charles not wanting a woman on City Council. Both are running to win the City Commissioner seat for themselves and there's no law against that.

Amanda made a huge gaffe in outsourcing her print order and like it or not, it calls into question her integrity where she promises not to outsource. When you say one thing and do another, it's a problem and thank God that Charles called her out on that.

If you notice his campaign catch phrase is about actions speaking louder than words. That's the mark of true leadership.

You're welcome Nicholas.

I may be splitting hairs here, but I can see a difference between "outsourcing" -- a government hiring private contractors to do work previously done by public employees -- and not spending locally -- as Fritz did.

Maybe all VOE candidates should be required to produce their election porn at the city's print shop. I could get behind that. (I can hear the veins in BoJack's forehead bursting as I type.)

Steve you're completely missing the point here. Amanda took our tax dollars and spent them in Eugene while telling us that the City Council should spend our tax dollars locally. She fails to practice what she preaches. Portland voters have no reason to believe that she'd act any differently on the City Council.

Whatever critics may say about VOE it has shown us how candidates treat and spend public funds. John Branam proved to be a poor steward of tax dollars by spending $25k on an under qualified, incompetent campaign manager. This episode proves that Fritz is a hypocrite who shouldn't be trusted with another dime of taxpayer funds, never mind the honor of serving in public office.

If Fritz feels her campaign is better served by outsourcing work thats fine. However, it is insulting that she is trying to pull a fast one on Portland voters. Don't say one thing and do another. It's a surefire way to lose credibility and respect.