BAGGAGE CHECK

[August 31st, 2005] Yes, we know the election is months off, but now is when Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn's challengers are polishing their pitches and readying their aim at the vulnerable incumbent.

So before ex-firefighters union president Tom Chamberlain and timber magnate Ted Wheeler get too confident that Linn's troubled tenure assures her defeat, WW picked through the liabilities of all three as they vie for a post presiding over libraries, the county health system, jails and bridges.

Chamberlain's message: From working-class origins, Gov. Ted Kulongoski's labor liaison is a low-key negotiator who can navigate choppy political waters and find common ground, according to Chamberlain consultant Mark Wiener.

Potential attack: Having served as firefighters union president from 1998 to 2003, Chamberlain could be tarred with the costly, taxpayer-supported Fire and Police Disability & Retirement Fund, which is on the front burner at City Hall. Chamberlain's close friend and union brother, City Commissioner Randy Leonard, has been skewered for his role in the fund. Could Chamberlain be next?

Counter: Chamberlain says he's pushed for reform, specifically, to get disabled firefighters and cops into "light duty" jobs and thereby reduce costs. Rich Rodgers, aide to City Commissioner Erik Sten, who has proposed changes to the fund, backs that up.

Wheeler's message: Though he was registered Republican until 2001 (when he changed to "nonpartisan"), Wheeler's campaign consultant Liz Kaufman calls him a "pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-environment progressive with needed business acumen."

Potential attack: He's a director on his family foundation, which has donated to groups most voters in über-liberal Multnomah County would condemn. From 1998 through 2003, the Wheeler Foundation gave $15,000 to Bill Sizemore's anti-tax foundation and $35,000 to Oregonians in Action Education Center, which pushed the land-use-law-reaming Measure 37. The right-wing, pro-property-rights Pacific Legal Foundation received $22,500. Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, an evangelical group criticized for not allowing lesbians and gays to hold leadership positions, took in $15,500.

Counter: Since he first spoke with WW, Wheeler says he will remove himself from the foundation once he kicks off his campaign. He opposes those groups and says his father, Sam, makes the final decision on donations. His campaign manager, Barbara Willer, is a lesbian. And Wheeler adds that the foundation has given to numerous benign organizations such as the Portland Opera Association.

Linn's message: The incumbent has been tested and grown on the job, says unpaid adviser Brian Gard, whose firm Gard & Gerber has represented clients with bigger PR problems than Linn's-Neil Goldschmidt, for example. Linn's got a solid record supporting schools and human- and social-service issues, Gard adds.

Potential attack: Take your pick. There's the charge that she doesn't keep fellow commissioners in the loop, screwed up the gay-marriage issue and makes regular missteps, such as proposing an extra vacation day for county employees who went to work during a snowstorm.

Counter (well, it's more of a strategy): Focus on the positive, put the rest into a broader context: The nasty politics aren't her fault alone. Admit the mistakes (we're all human, right?), but try to steer the conversation in a different direction. Who can really meet the media's standards when there's not enough money for anything?