I prepared questions for a Portland City Council debate that never happened.
We had lined up the participation of the three District 4 incumbents and the leading challenger. But a week before the Oct. 5 date, Councilor Mitch Green said he would pull out unless two candidates he named were also included in the debate.
We said no. If debate sponsors yield to the demands of one contestant, the notion of a fair and independent arbiter is shattered. Just as candidates should not control the questions, they should not choose their opponents, certainly not bending the rules for one without giving the same latitude to others.
We did not have the option of carrying out the debate without Green and his designees because the venue, The Armory, would not accept liability should someone file suit over their exclusion from the stage.
I was left with nothing but my questions, the questions that I had hoped would reveal consequential differences between the candidates or penetrate the foggy generalities so common in campaign speech. With those questions swirling in my head, I attended a City Club debate involving six District 4 candidates the following night. I heard answers to some of my points, but here are some that I still consider important:
Does the city’s neighborhood program, Office of Community & Civic Life, need a different place in the city’s organizational chart? It’s now placed under the City Administrator, where its unique role in supporting independent citizen participation depends on the discretion of one official.
What changes are needed in the city charter? How soon should such changes be brought to the voters?
Should Portland Street Response remain a separate agency, or can mental-health incidents be handled better through the Portland Police Bureau’s own Behavioral Health Response Team?
What will you do to curtail severance payouts to former bureau managers? Can nondisclosure agreements covering managers be banned or limited?
Should people be allowed to camp in the public right-of-way if they decline available shelter?
Should the council exert influence to require city employees to return to their offices?
What norms or rules were violated when two City Council members participated in confidential negotiations with PGE? Does the public have a right to know on what authority they participated? Should they be recused from participating in a likely rehearing of the land-use proposal to extend power lines through Forest Park?
Can the council continue to give assurances of support for Portland State University’s proposed performing arts center without undermining the future of Keller Auditorium?
Was the Northrup Street Shelter a fair test of what happens when an overnight shelter is placed in a residential neighborhood?
We are asking the candidates to provide their answers in writing to allan@nwexaminer.com by Oct. 13. We will publish the answers (maximum 50 words).
Brilliant idea, Allan; I hope you / we receive answers to these germane questions that affect our daily lives.
Allan, these excellent questions are exactly the ones that I would put to them and they get to the very core of how our city is run. Thank you! You are a treasure.