All of the bike racks were full outside the Kennedy School for tonight's Metro Council President debate, the first face-off between the three candidates running to replace David Bragdon next year. I had to lock to a tree and now I'm sitting on the floor next to the table selling "Got Green?" shirts, which are being sold by the debate sponsor, Metro's AFSCME union.

Former 1000 Friends of Oregon director Bob Stacey and current Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder have been squaring off on issues like the Columbia River Crossing since the fall and, with the addition of former Hillsboro mayor Tom Hughes, they're here to take questions on Metro issues like urban and rural reserves, the urban growth boundary, transportation funding and how to build more livable communities.

Just a quick thought on the race before I dive into the debate: Hughes is late to the campaign and I think it could cost him the race. He didn't jump in until December, months after Burkholder and Stacey had snagged endorsements from top politicians like Mayor Adams (Burkholder) and former Governor Barbara Roberts (Stacey). As far as I can tell, Hughes doesn't even have a campaign website, just a couple Facebook event pages. Hughes also has far fewer donations so far—his $3,300 war chest looks like a pittance next to Stacey's $87,000 and Rex's $116,000. Can he make up for his slow start with pure charm?

Well, on to the candidates. Here's the rundown of their three minute introductions:

Rex dusted off his laurels and spelled out his lengthy and impressive history working on green issues in Portland. He noted that his first job in Portland was at a recycling facility and he went on from there to help start the enviro advocacy powerhouses the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Community for a Livable Future. He told the crowd that his family tries to live as sustainably as possible: "We recycle, we go shopping at the farmers market, we use one car among four adults."

Tom Hughes delved into his 30-year history as a Beaverton school teacher, letting the strongly-union crowd know that he signed up for the teachers' union on the first day he got his job. He also pointed out how the Oregon League of Conservation Voters endorsed him twice for the mayoral job (though, whoops, he left out that they endorsed Stacey in this race) and told a short story about pushing for the construction of a LEED-gold-certified Starbucks.

Bob Stacey focused on creating carfree livable communities and promoting new jobs in “our downtowns and Main Streets.” He was the only candidate to take the opportunity to hit out at the CRC, ending his intro, “We need to put our money where our mouth is and not spend billions of dollars on big highway projects that take our community in the wrong direction.”

Updates throughout the debate below the cut. Including (OMG!) Rex Burkholder spelling out exactly what his stance is on the CRC.

Here's the question everyone's been waiting for. In two minutes or less, what are the three candidates' stances on the Columbia River Crossing?

Rex's stance on the CRC has confused his friends and allies over the past year, since he helped found two of the groups who oppose the bridge, but then voted to support the 12-lane option. Finally, his thoughts in under two minutes:

"The Columbia River Crossing is a critical project and it reflects my values. I’ve been working for 30 years for increasing transportation choices and for 30 years we’ve had no light rail to Vancouver... This is an opportunity to solve one of our major problems out there. We have a bridge that was built for horse drawn wagons folks, it's built on wood pylons that are sinking into the sand. We need to be responsible, but we need to be sure as we go forward that it’s affordable, that it meets our other goals and helps the communities of Hayden Island and Vancouver... I am in favor of moving forward on the CRC, but in a way that reduces greenhouse gases and increases transportation options."

Tom Hughes is very straight-forward. He says he will support any bridge that reduces congestion, has enough capacity to reduce congestion, is high enough off the river to allow boats through, has light rail, bike and pedestrian paths and is tolled. "Any bridge that meets those requirements has my support," says Hughes, simply.

Bob Stacey is just the opposite, launching into his two minutes with dramatic flair, "There are a lot of myths about the CRC. Here are the facts: we have a 6 lane freeway system in Portland, the bridge proposed by the committee that Rex Burkholder served on has proposed a 10 to 12 lane bridge... It will result in induced development in Clark County. It will result in congestion on I-5 in North Portland. The myth that the existing bridges will fall down is false... We do need to insure that there are six functioning lanes across the Columbia... but we need a cost effective solution to that problem. I would start with the fundamental rule Metro uses in its waste management: 'Reduce, reuse, recycle'" rather than throwing away the two current bridges.

Thanks for that, guys. Now no flip flopping from today until November.

Regional Transportation

The candidates also strongly diverged on responses to the regional transportation plan, the long list of projects that Metro plans to fund over the next 50 years which, in an embarrassment for Metro, are estimated to increase greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 50 percent regionally if they’re all built.

Stacey hewed to the lefty line, lashing out at the plan as a “charade” that should be avoided in the future. Don’t make lofty goals when the projects you’re proposing don’t reflect those goals, he says.

Burkholder took a more positive tact — thanking Metro employees for their hard work on the plan that has an “unprecedented levels of investment” in walking, biking and transit (the audience thanked him with a round of applause). Burkholder says the region will meet its “tough performance targets” with help form local governments.

Hughes responded with what seems to his characteristic straight-forward attitude.
“I think the projects ought to tie to the goals,” he began, continuing that the economy should be considered along with community health. You can’t have a strong economy “without being able to move freight,” says Hughes. Traffic congestion hurts the economy (in addition “leading to worse road rage”) by bottling up freight. Investments in light rail, bikes and streetcar are great, says Hughes but “at the end of the day, only highways can move freight.”

Portland Isn't the Bestest City in America

Ooo, the audience just posed a question I like: what other cities in North America can we learn from?

Bob Stacey kind of rambled on and I'm not really sure what cities he said we should look to as a model. He mentioned Boston's Olmsted-designed parks and then mentioned Portland's Intertwine? Burkholder was more clear, pointing straight to Chicago's investment in public parks and the Silicon Valley's investment in green technology as enviable policies.

I think Hughes took this round, though, saying he admired that San Francisco has “never had a transportation system that they’ve discarded” and telling a small story aboug digging up the streets in Hillsboro to build light rail and finding underneath the old tracks of electric streetcar lines that used to lead out to the ‘burb. He also noted that Seattle has a stronger recycling program and better economic indicators coming out of the recession.

All in all? A very strong group of candidates. Though they differ in opinions, they all know their policy and are not afraid to take clear positions. This will be an interesting campaign to keep an eye on over the next months.