A wide-stance look at news beyond the public restroom.

[September 5th, 2007]

Here’s an insta-update on Portland Public Schools’ superintendent search : If you’re holding out hope that the ever-popular superintendent of Beaverton’s school district, Jerome Colonna , can be lured east to Portland, Murmurs’ Magic 8-Ball says “outlook not so good .” On June 6, Beaverton’s school board approved Colonna’s second raise in two years, bringing his salary to $189,000 from $149,000 —his base pay beginning in 2003. That higher salary is still $16,000 short of former PPS superintendent Vicki Phillips’ annual pay. Is his raise enough to keep him in Beaverton? Colonna did not respond to requests for comment.

Former City Commissioner Mike Lindberg reports some progress in his year-old health battle with neuropathy , the deterioration of small-fiber nerves. Lindberg, 66, says his pain levels have gone down in the past couple of months after treatments that included acupuncture and massage. The semi-retired commissioner-turned-consultant says his mobility hasn’t improved—he still tires after walking 100 steps. But he’s still able to travel, having gone both to Mexico and Greece. The disease “hasn’t affected my brain, and I still enjoy life ,’’ says Lindberg, whose 16-year career on the City Council ended in 1996. “I’m not depressed about it. My spirits are very good.”

If Mayor Tom Potter bows out and Commissioner Sam Adams runs for his gig and wins, expect televised council meetings to look less like Nickelodeon and more like E! . With Potter on vacation, Adams presided over last week’s meeting. Where Potter plays the benevolent patriarch, opening each session with a word from children, Adams dispensed with the kid stuff and played talk-show host. The first thing on which Adams advised the audience were the rules of decorum: “If you like what somebody said, you do jazz hands .” There were jazz hands all morning.

Former gubernatorial chiefs of staff don’t fade away , they just reconvene at the Port of Portland . Gov. Kulongoski’s recent appointment of his first chief, Peter Bragdon—now general counsel at Columbia Sportswear—to the Port of Portland Commission, brought the number of former top aides there to three . Bragdon joins former Port Executive Director Bill Wyatt, the top aide to former Gov. John Kitzhaber and Port Public Affairs Director Tom Imeson, the one-time top lieutenant of former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt. Wyatt says there’s no conspiracy afoot; it’s merely a happy coincidence of talent and availability .

Dealing John Edwards a blow, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has announced its Oregon steering committee , and it’s packed with big names, including Sen. Ron Wyden’s chief of staff, Josh Kardon, who’ll serve as chairman; Portland Commissioner Erik Sten; and former state Democratic Party chair Paddy McGuire. That said, some of Oregon’s heaviest-hitting Dems—like former Gov. John Kitzhaber—have yet to pick sides . At last count, Edwards was leading the state, at least in terms of fundraising—he has so far raised roughly $81,000 more than Clinton in Oregon. But as Edwards was picking up major union endorsements last week, Clinton was showing she has the muscle and the insight to twist the right arms, er, left arms, in Oregon.

And finally, in the latest sign of the wrenching changes in newspaperdom : Oregon’s largest daily is hiring two new editorial designers . Applications are due Sept. 7. For more information, see Craigslist.org ’s media jobs posting No. 397254355. (Hurry now—the ad was posted on Aug. 14.)