This is the last regular question before closing statements—and endorsements put me behind in post it. Enjoy.

In a year with $33 million in additional revenue to work with, Mayor Tom Potter’s proposed budget did not originally include any funding for new arts related requests—like a $200,000 request for Arts Partners, which funds art programs in schools. Moreover, despite Portland’s reputation for arts and culture, we’re far behind other cities in per capita funding of arts. Are the arts a priority for city funding? Should we increase that funding? If so, what would you do as a city commissioner to make that happen?

James Lee kicks it off.

Jim Lee
Position sought: Mayor
Website: blogmayor.com

The context of Amy’s question had changed before I got it: some funding for the arts later was included in the surplus that Mayor Potter had announced. So I’ll have to wing it from here.

I’m basically an egalitarian guy. I don’t want any more money than anyone else, but I don’t want any less either. My archetype is Luke Grogatch, the protagonist in Jack Vance’s dystopian story, “Dodkin’s Job.” Luke was born into the middle-middle class, then, being exceptionally obnoxious and captious, worked his way straight to the bottom, literally, shoveling stones and muck behind a sewer boring machine as “Class D Flunky, Unskilled.” The only person below him was was old Dodkin, a “Junior Executive…”

…Read the story. It’s all about shovels.

I am a classical music fiend. I have listened in Boston Symphony Hall and Teatro Communale di Ferrara. I have no performing talent whatever, but I can solve physics problems, real problems, the kind no one has solved before. From college days I knew that the theory of reverberation time for auditoriums was completely out to lunch, for no one could build decent concert halls or opera houses with it. I set out to solve the problem, which would be the best contribution to the arts I, or anyone, possibly could make.

In April, 1970, driving my dark blue Saab 99 south on 24th Avenue in Seattle, I did solve it. I did not invent any new physics, but just picked out two pieces of physical acoustics from a couple of old textbooks I had memorized. Knowing that auditoriums cannot possibly be ergodic systems, I scrounged the proximity effect from Harry F. Olson to explain how orchestral stages work, and resonant scattering from Philip M. Morse to prove the necessity of rounded development of walls and ceilings to eliminate echoes.

It is the only theory of auditoriums based on the physics of sound as waves, and has been for thirty-eight years. It is correct because it includes the elusive effects of phase, as well as amplitude and frequency.

I have done more for the arts than anyone in Portland ever has done or will do, and I have financed it all out of my own pocket, often, as Mr. Vance has written, existing, “…in a condition barely distinguishable from poverty.” It’s been hard, and it’s
been fun. Many wonderful people have helped me along the way.

In May 2009 my friends in the Acoustical Society of America will hold a meeting in Portland for the first time. When I am Mayor we shall have a jolly time entertaining them. This is how I shall continue to fund the arts in our wonderful city.

We had a bunch of slackers this week—myself included. This post went up, backdated, a few days late, and missing quite a few mayoral candidates. They apparently aren’t big fans of bridge debates.

Proponents of reusing the Sauvie Island Bridge to cross I-405 at NW Flanders will gather this evening at 5pm to rally in support of the project and take walking and biking tours along 15th, Glisan, 16th and Everett.

The event will begin at the edge of the freeway with a brief orientation of the bridge relocation proposal. Short tours of the streets surrounding the proposed bridge relocation site will highlight current challenges and opportunities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and everyone using these streets.

Jim Lee
Position sought: Mayor
Website: blogmayor.com

Hmm…another BRIDGE question from Amy. My 1966 Random House unaBRIDGED Dictionary recommends the past tense of “shine” as “shone” unless it refers to meaning 9 or 10, which is not the usage here. Maybe her dictionary is different, or Wm. Steve lays down the law on irregular verbs. Whatever.

I have worked this issue heavily on blogmayor.com already, but refuse to cop a Sam and just refer voters to my web site. That said, a SHORT rant here from BLOGMAYOR is overdue!

The idea of Flanders as a bike boulevard is good, but highway bridges are not interchangeable light bulbs. Each is unique, designed for a specific crossing, to carry specific loads, at a specific period of time.

Trying to reuse old Sauvie is a non-starter in every way. A new bridge would use less material, allow old Sauvie to be de-leaded and recycled into lots of reinforcing bar, be cheaper and MUCH more aesthetic from all aspects.

Planning and costing stem from an odd proposal that Sam was against in 2006. No firm figures have been developed since. There never was any reason to try to ram it through as an emergency ordinance. Mayor Tom skunked Commish Sam on this one. BTA’s helmet-heads should cool their clipless pedals and urge the City to hire Gary Rayor, who designed the fabulous trio on Springwater, to promote a great new crossing of I 405 at Flanders.

Let’s see what the folks who want to be mayor would do for Portland’s younger set:

Beyond improving education, what can Portland do to be a better city for youth, specifically teenagers and young adults?

First up is Patricia Stuart, someone we haven’t seen above the cut yet. Also, I ran into the Sho Dozono campaign’s manager this weekend, and got to the bottom of their lack of responses the past few weeks—too busy, she said, apologetically.

Patricia Stuart
Position sought: Mayor
Website: myspace.com/votepatriciastuart
Financial status: Intends to raise less than $300

Our community centers need to be open til 9 pm . Youth need a safe place to meet and have positive interactions with their peers . Forums where they can talk , laugh and learn together. The city needs to sponsor dances , swim parties and other social events . Staffed by community volunteers. The city could also hire and train evening staff to work more productivily with our youth.

With control over the city budget, what can our next mayor do about the worsening economy?

From the collapse of Bear Stearns nationally, to news that home values locally are now dipping, it’s no secret that the economy’s in bad shape. What would—or could—you do as mayor to protect homeowners from foreclosures, keep citizens employed, and generally strengthen Portland’s economy, both in the short and long term?

Blaming it first on illegal immigrants, first up is Chris Rich. After the cut, read more about Bob Leonard Forthan’s plan to build more bars—and fallout shelters! Plus, :

Christopher Rich
Position sought: Mayor
Website: myspace.com/chrisrich4mayor
Financial status: $0 in contributions, $0 currently in the bank

The most important thing a commissioner can do to protect our Citizens ability to work and maintain a home is to stop giving our jobs away to an illegal work force. This will strengthen our economy and allow folks to keep their homes in the short and long term.The second most important thing a commissioner can do is to stop wasting money on “pet projects” and spend more money on higher education and vocational training. Our Citizens have been left under-educated and without a trade to support themselves. Those are the things that I will focus on in regards to this issue.

Wonder what goes on inside the head of someone who wants to be Portland’s mayor? Now’s your chance. (Hints: One wants to swap jobs with our own Wm. Steven Humphrey, another rides a yellow fixie to work, and a third is highly uncomfortable choosing between Gus Van Sant and Todd Haynes.)

Our first responder was Christopher Rich.

Christopher Rich
Position sought: Mayor
Website: myspace.com/chrisrich4mayor
Financial status: $0 in contributions, $0 currently in the bank

1. I get to work in/on/by: A: If it’s it the city area, I walk or use the bus/train. If out of the immediate area, I drive a 4cyl car.

2. My favorite Portland bridge is:
A: Steel Bridge - Trains, cars and pedestrians all using the same span.

3. My favorite neighborhood business district is:
A: Old Town / China Town

4. At a bar, I order:
A: Rum & Coke + H2O

5. The politician I most admire is:
A: Ron Paul

6. The non-politician I most admire is:
A: Jack Herer

7. This is the best place in Portland for…
pizza: Escape From New York
coffee: There’s a difference!?
strippers: sigh….
hot wings: Yam Yam’s
beer: Tugboat
fancy dinner: Hunan
a picnic: Forest Park

8. Todd Haynes or Gus Van Sant?
A: Gus

9. Storm Large or China Forbes?
A: Storm

10. Regular or Decaf?
A: Neither

11. Obama or Clinton?
A: Neither

12. Cats or Dogs?
A: Both

13. NoPo or SoFoPo?
A: NoPo

14. Cash or Charge?
A: Cash

15. The last concert/show I went to was:
A: RUSH

16. The last book I read was:
A: African Americans in the Revolutionary War

17. If I could swap jobs with anyone in Portland, it would be:
A: The fire boat Captain!

18. If I could live anywhere in Portland, it would be:
A: Where I live now

19. My first kiss was:
A: 2 years too late!

20. My deepest, darkest secret is:
A: STILL my deepest darkest secret ;-)

A little late, but still an important topic—what do we do about the route between Portland and Vancouver?

Our region is poised to consider what to do about the Columbia River Crossing—and we’re faced with an option that costs roughly $4.2 billion dollars, and possibly doubles the size of the bridge over the Columbia River. In your opinion, does the staff-recommended option—a 10 to 12 lane bridge, plus light rail transit, tolls, and improved pedestrian and bike crossing—meet Portland’s goals and needs? What would you advocate for as the optimal plan for the crossing, and how would you ensure that Portland’s needs and goals aren’t lost in a massive regional, bi-state project?

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

I’ve had a lifelong love affair with bridges, from the time my mother pointed to the great Eads Bridge from the levee in Saint Louis. Portland fed the fascination, with its marvelous and unique collection, during high school, and college found me zipping over my all-time favorite, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, whenever we could get out of the dorms on Thursday nights to hit the Symphony in the War Memorial Opera House.

8.4 miles long and double decked, designed and built in five years, it opened in 1936. The upper deck of a truss span on the eastern side collapsed in the World Series Quake of 1989, but Caltrans quickly repaired it. Then a long study decided on replacing the Oakland side, and reinforcing the two suspension spans leading into San Francisco.

Nineteen years after the earthquake the replacement is not open—and will not be for another five! Twenty-four years to replace the lesser half of a bridge that was built entirely in five.

The proposed Columbia River Crossing looks like what Caltrans is doing to the East Bay—trying to pave it over. Big kahunas in the freeway trade are wedded to vast projects: build as big, ugly, dysfunctionaly, expensively as possible, taking an eternity for what is euphemistically called a “planning” process.

The Columbia River Crossing is the Sellwood project on steroids, which Multnomah County has botched from beginning to end—if there is an end. I have spoken with very capable engineers in the County, but they can do nothing, for the project is run by
aesthetes, sociologists, public relations people, and worst, “facilitators.” Process run wild.

I have told the County Commission and its staff that they have no idea what they are doing. But I have covered my bet by designing my own bridge, to a quantitative level where I have calculated locations of piers, a detailed cross-section, live and dead loads,
sizes of structural members, deflections, vibrational modes, even erection sequence. They refuse to give hard facts or numbers on their designs—because after all these years they do not have any! I calculated mine in two months.

I have a conceptual design for a new Columbia Crossing: smaller, lighter, cheaper, realistically functional. It even accounts for flight patterns of Pearson Air Park in an interesting way.

“In Oregon our engineers have been trained to go to the stream, build a bridge for utility and economy, and at the same time design it to blend with the terrain.” Thus Conde McCullough, our Mozart of Bridges.

No way the current proposal will be built! Absolutely no way!

Speaking of meeting the contenders, five of these candidates were on stage last night at PCC Cascade, answering questions largely related to racial disparities in income, education, home ownership, and incarceration. KOIN anchor Ken Boddie moderated, with Sam Adams, Sho Dozono, Craig Gier, Beryl McNair and Christopher Rich participating.

Dozono’s answers largely revolved around his view that “I believe our city government is gridlocked, frankly broken.” Adams, meanwhile, stuck to his theory: “Portland is a great city, but we need to be humble in the knowledge that Portland isn’t great for everyone.” He had one of my favorite lines of the night, when noting that the next mayor will oversee the adoption of the Portland Plan: It’s “a 25 year plan. Not a vision, not a wish list.”

Gier was a crowd favorite, with his self-effacing wit (“I’m young enough that I haven’t been corrupted yet”). McNair had good points to make on home ownership and leveling the playing field for everyone, but she was the least polished of the candidates—often referring to her notes and tripping up. Rich proved himself as the most Libertarian of the candidates so far, saying as mayor, he’d give people a hand up instead of a hand out, and espousing values like an opposition to the day laborer center, and to “drugging our children into complacency.”

I may post audio later, but to be honest, it wasn’t a very exciting forum. There was very little back and forth between the candidates, and on most of the issues, candidates had the same things to say.

Anyways, onto this week’s question!

The last candidate who turned in more than 1,000 signatures has been certified for public financing. What are your thoughts on the program? Why did you or didn’t you participate? Also, would you vote to put the program to a public vote in 2010?

Jim Lee’s up first, but I’m putting everyone after the cut. And, for the second week in a row, Sho Dozono has opted not to answer. Funny, that.

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.

Fourth verse, same as the first:

It seems that due to the current mortgage meltdown and the recession we are currently in, all of the major property management companies have decided to raise their rates in some cases up to 25 percent in non-hip areas. Most of the statues of Tenant’s rights are geared towards property owners, not renters. Leases are not worth the paper they are printed on: I have known many people who are given the 72 hours to vacate notice letter for the most shallow of reasons, but God forbid the tenant wants to walk away as management companies have no problem sticking the ex-renter with charges that are legal, but in bad faith. I.e., you have lived somewhere for 5 years without any work being done on the property, yet the ex-tenant will be billed accordingly for the work that is needed, even though the “damages” are just a part of normal wear and tear.

Is there anything the candidates are thinking of that can help tenants avoid astronomical rent hikes and find more ways to balance out the power of property owners? I am not talking about low-income housing either (which i feel is a separate issue), but working-class citizens that are not seeing their wages get any higher suddenly getting sticker shock when their rent agreements are up for renewal. In all honesty, due to my last rent hike, I am not supporting any property-tax levy because I
know this will give my management company the power to disproportionately increase my rent again beyond the true cost of the tax so they can pocket more money. People are squeezed as much as they can be and this would be will just lower the standard of living to a high degree. I love this town, but it seems that the citizens who are not broke, nor own homes do not really have anyone looking out for them.

I wish to remain anonymous because I am afraid of retaliation.

Remember, Slav is out now. And hopefully we’ll get the two newest candidates into the mix next week. Technically, James B. Lee was first up this week, but he submitted a ‘substitute’ answer that’s off topic—I’ll post it separately.

So that brings us to:

Sam Adams
Position sought: Mayor
Website: samforpdx.com
Public financing status: Not participating, capping contributions

In order to succeed in life, people need stable and affordable housing. I think that part of what you are suggesting here could be around rent control. Here are some thoughts:

Like many policies that affect housing availability and tenant rights, rent control is something that would need to happen through an act in the state legislature and, given the current climate, is quite an uphill battle;
As a general rule, rental market forces are much stronger than the affordable housing tools that local government can control. However, local policy can help shape those markets and affect some change;
Places much larger than Portland have seen other issues develop around their rent-controlled units, so I feel it’s an area that deserves a lot of thoughtful discussion;
None of the above should deter the ongoing advocacy of local & state laws that adequately protect tenants while encouraging thoughtful investment in our inevitable growth.

The local solutions that we have to help in the situation you describe are numerous. We must continue to increase the amount of permanently affordable, non-profit sponsored rental units. In this way, we can participate in the market by increasing supply. I have been a continuous advocate for increasing affordable choices for our citizens and I’m proud to have received recognition by the Community Development Network for being a vocal advocate of dedicating 30% of Urban Renewal Dollars to address the need for affordable rental and ownership opportunities throughout our Urban Renewal Areas.

Beyond increasing supply, Portland can do a much better job ensuring that tenants understand their rights under the law. Additionally (and something that may be very helpful to the person that asked this question) organizations like the Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) serve to educate tenants and provide grassroots advocacy. I pledge to continue to support the work of these organizations through funding and collaboration as well as get the word out about their existence.

While I don’t think rent control is in the early horizon, there is achievable progress to be made at the state level. I will personally join the rest of The Oregon Housing Alliance in pursuing three important goals in the 2009 session: 1) enact the document recording fee that will generate dedicated revenue for affordable housing preservation and creation 2) lift the prohibition for local inclusionary zoning policies that can require a percentage of all new housing development to include permanently affordable units and 3) allow cities to use some urban renewal funds for affordable housing outside of Urban Renewal Area boundaries.

Beyond housing solutions, we must continually develop the capacity of our workforce through economic development strategies, trainings and educational opportunities so that people of all income levels are able to rent and live in our city.

-Sam

What do the mayoral candidates have to say about the homeless day access center? Let’s find out.

Stakeholders in Old Town Chinatown—homeless advocates, the Chinese community, residents, business owners, developers, the PDC—have been at odds over where to site a homeless day access center, raising issues about process and power as they debate future development in the neighborhood. How would you, as city commissioner, handle such a hot button issue? What’s the solution for siting the homeless day access center?

Vladislav Davidzon
Position sought: Mayor
Website: ourportland.org
Public financing status: Not participating

I remain unconvinced that the model of creating concentrated homeless centers is the way to approach the problem. The goal ought to be integration, not creation of ghettos and clusters of poverty. Diversity equals stability, and I believe what the city must do is force developers to integrate a *significant* number of homeless housing units into every new condo or apartment building that goes up in our city. Integration, not separation is the answer – no more creation of centers of poverty.

The same approach ought to be taken with homeless services. Rather than creating separate (for we know how successful “separate but equal” programs have been) soup kitchens, we ought to look at integration by demanding that foot service industry provide a percentage of their revenues back to the community in the form of food services to the homeless. Something like for every a hundred burgers sold by Burgerville, one must be served free to a homeless person. Take the same exact approach towards medical services, mental health, etc. Integration must be the key goal, not separate but equal.

I also think the “Not In My Back Yard” syndrome is hard at play here and this is a time when elected public officials must do the job they were elected to do – make hard decisions.

-s