[April 30th, 2008]

Amanda Fritz

Tattoo she'd get: “Trust,” on her right palm. Temporary, because “real tattoos aren’t good for you.”

This race to replace departing Commissioner Sam Adams has attracted the most “legitimate” candidates because Adams’ run for mayor means there’s no incumbent in this seat. Five of the six candidates have enough money to get their message out, thanks to public campaign financing.

Some have vision, some have energy. Some have a nice smile. In the end, our nod goes to Amanda Fritz. She’s a longtime nurse with an activist background to match. A former member of the Planning Commission, Fritz ran against Commissioner Dan Saltzman two years ago, and we didn’t support her. This time, Fritz has convinced us she may be the only candidate in this race who won’t carry a rubber stamp into the Council. More likely, she’ll bring a magnifying glass and a red pen.

Fritz trumps all her opponents when it comes to knowledge of the city budget and its programs. She obsesses over detail and can be tenacious. She will make bureaucrats lose sleep. We foresee Council meetings grinding to a halt while Fritz and Randy Leonard get testy over the finer points of item 382a on the weekly consent agenda. But that’s OK: Let the bureaucrats sweat a bit. City Hall isn’t a clubhouse.

While Fritz occasionally exhibits a fruitcake temperament, we trust it will be kept mostly in check. And though there’s not much difference between Fritz and her opponents on the issues (all fall within the comfortable liberal perspective that’s required group-think for serious city candidates), Fritz is stressing a basic delivery of services over some of her opponents’ more groundbreaking and exciting proposals. We’re all for breaking ground, but we believe Fritz’s lunch-bucket approach is in short supply at City Hall.

Our next choice would probably have been Chris Smith, a transportation activist and Xerox techie. He’s as devoted as Fritz and almost as knowledgeable. But he’s a bit of a one-trick candidate (streetcars appears to be his solution to poverty, famine and man’s inhumanity to man). And we can’t imagine him ever, ever challenging a Mayor Sam Adams on anything.

Charles Lewis, founder of the nonprofit Ethos Music Center, is an intriguing candidate who’s spent much of his 37 years doing good works. But we’ve concluded he’s been driven to City Hall mostly by anger at the Portland Development Commission. That may be legit, but it’s hardly a platform. Besides, we already have Randy Leonard to act as PDC’s scourge.

Mike Fahey, a former state rep and candidate for state labor commissioner, may have the most political experience and the least energy. We’ll pass.

John Branam may be the most trifling candidate we’ve met this year. The fundraiser for Portland Public Schools has a uniformly pleasant demeanor, a smile he could franchise and position papers lighter than air. He wants to hold meetings and bring people together, and is a strong supporter of education. If Branam wants to build bridges, he needs to stop straddling fences. (And if he can do that, we’ll stop mixing metaphors.)

The last candidate is Jeff Bissonnette, who works for the Citizens’ Utility Board. He’s a mellow fellow who hasn’t convinced us why he’s even running.

One last thing: Fritz would be the only woman on the City Council. Not a categorical reason to support her, but certainly one more.

Video of WW endorsement interview (thanks to Portland Community Media)