The bridge between who's in and out around town.

[June 15th, 2005] Portland's newly minted public campaign financing system has attracted one almost-certain candidate next year: former city Planning Commission member Amanda Fritz . She plans to spend the summer exploring a City Council bid that would rely on the new system, which trades public bucks for candidates' pledge not to exceed spending limits or raise money elsewhere. Fritz cagily declines to say which council seat she's aiming for (both Dan Saltzman and Erik Sten face re-election in '06). "You never know," she says. "Someone might resign before then."

On the county side, state Rep. Gary Hansen (D-Portland) is considering a run for Serena Cruz's seat on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners next year. Hansen, a retired plumber, served on the Metro Council from 1982 to 1990, and held Cruz's county board seat before going to the state House in 1999. Cruz can't run again because of term limits. Jeff Cogen, City Commissioner Saltzman's chief of staff, plans to run for Cruz's seat.

Two groups of lesbians are planning downtown dyke marches this weekend to coincide with Sunday's annual Pride parade for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people. Regular Dyke March organizers jettisoned the formality of securing a permit for what's usually a Saturday-evening event. Instead, they plan to march from downtown's O'Bryant Square at 11 am, barging in on the main Pride procession. A second group secured a permit for a Saturday march at 6 pm and will meet in the North Park Blocks. More Portland festival news: With Navy ships coming in for the Rose Festival last Thursday, police blocked pedestrian and bicycle traffic on several bridges, partially in response to information that a person or groups "may try to disrupt" things. Police spokesman Sgt. Brian Schmautz would not confirm rumors that police had heard specifics about protesters threatening to chain themselves to a bridge. But two officers guarding the eastbound walkway of the Broadway Bridge did face irate bikers, who accused them of blocking democracy by refusing to let them cross.

The Oregon ACLU wants to know whether the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on medical marijuana (see cover story, "In Weed We Trust," page 18) means Portland cops working in federal task forces will be enforcing federal pot laws against medical cardholders. The short answer? Probably not. "We're required to follow all state laws," says Capt. Frank Romanaggi of the Regional Organized Crime and Narcotics task force, which employs four Portland cops. "We target only large importers," says Officer Len Braithwait, the sole Portland cop working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. That may be, but a mayor's spokesman says all federal task-force agreements will be reviewed. In April, the city of Portland quit the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force, arguing that its lack of civilian oversight was at odds with the city's policy.

Portland Public Schools superintendent Vicki Phillips is facing a test of her management skills with a rebellion against the principal of Richmond Elementary School. Teachers at the Southeast Portland Japanese magnet school held a vote of no confidence in principal Abby Myers last week. And parents were prepared to submit a petition demanding her transfer at Monday night's school-board meeting-before last-minute concessions by the school district. Myers, who has been at Richmond one year, is viewed as one of Phillips' favored principals after raising test scores in her previous assignment at Applegate Elementary. But she has drawn fire for, among other things, her treatment of a Japanese resource specialist and for an alleged top-down management style. Stay tuned....

Yet another witness has come forward to say he lied on the stand in Oregon's version of the JFK assassination, the 1989 murder of prisons chief Michael Francke (see "Francke Fracas," WW, June 8). This time it's the sole alleged eyewitness in the slaying, Cappie "Shorty" Harden, who was key to convicting small-time drug dealer Frank Gable. The catch? A guy named Rob Taylor, operator of freefrankgable.com, paid Harden $1,000 for his new story, which appeared in Tuesday's Portland Tribune. Even if Harden is telling the truth, it can't affect Gable's case unless his current appeal-which asks for a new trial-is successful when it goes before the Court of Appeals on June 28.

An unexpected highlight for City Hall nerds watching last week's City Council hearing on the disputed Big Pipe sewer project: the sight of defeated mayoral candidate and ex-City Commissioner Jim Francesconi sitting in the gallery's front row. Francesconi was hired to advise Kiewit, the Omaha firm that won the $500 million bidding competition to dig a massive tunnel beneath the city's east side. Even though Francesconi lost the mayor's race last year to Tom Potter and was regularly blasted on the campaign trail by Commissioner Erik Sten, Francesconi didn't hurt the Kiewit case. The council voted to reject an appeal from Impregilo, the Italian firm that claimed Kiewit got the job after city employees bungled the bidding process.

With the Portland Development Commission spending the next two weeks on hiring a new boss, insiders say the list of four finalists (see page 7) is most notable for one name not on it: former City Commissioner Charlie Hales. Hales, credited with pushing through the Portland Streetcar and other major projects while on the City Council, did interview for the PDC job. And while some thought his political acumen, charisma and development experience made him a perfect fit for the troubled urban-renewal agency; the volunteer search committee led by PDC Commissioner Eric Parsons apparently disagreed. No one knows for sure what derailed Hales. But like just about all politicians, the ex-commish totes baggage. Before leaving City Hall in 2002, he crossed swords with downtown's ever-whiny business elite, and clashed with current City Commissioner Randy Leonard a decade ago, when Hales oversaw the Fire Bureau and Leonard led the firefighters union. (Leonard says all that's ancient history.) It's also possible that the prospect of a dynamic, independent PDC exec (which Hales would surely be) spooked the PDC, which has not been particularly successful in overseeing strong-willed outgoing director Don Mazziotti. Ditto for City Hall, where just about everyone (including Mayor Tom Potter) seems interested in making PDC less independent, not more.

The bull market continues for enterprising Trail Blazer-haters. After recently pocketing $1,325 for his sale of domain www.BlazersSuck.com (now owned by the Blazers), the entrepreneur who goes by Q Madp sold www.Blazers-Suck.com (note the hyphen) for $1,625 on eBay and threw in www.jailblazers.info for free. Blazers spokesman Mike Hanson denies that the team, or a third party at its direction, made the most recent purchase (see WW's Murmurs, June 1, 2005, and "Blazers Play Domain Name Game," Jan. 2, 2002).