News City Commissioner Amanda Fritz stunned her four colleagues on Portland City Council today by casting the lone vote against Mayor Charlie Hales' city budget. In a speech lasting nearly 15 minutes, she placed herself at odds with the new mayor's first signature project, and did so days before Hales is scheduled to assign city bureaus to council members.Her reason for this self-imposed exile in the last ...   More

News  Even as Portland City Council today accepted the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force's annual report in a 3-2 vote, several commissioners voiced reservations about the lack of specific information in the report about the cases the task force investigates."I had different expectations for the report than what was in it. I was expecting more information," said Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who voted ...   More

News It’s budget season at City Hall, the time of year when we’re told what a dystopian Portland would look like. Streets without cops. Homes burning out of control. Empty swimming pools, vagrants    More

News A $25 million hole in the city budget isn't stopping Portland City Commissioners from seeking one-time funding for projects outside city bureaus. WW first reported yesterday that the city's budget shortfall doesn't include $6.4 million in one-time funds doled out by City Council last year. Mayor Charlie Hales has asked all 27 city bureaus to cut 10 percent out of their budget requests. The deadline ...   More

News As City Commissioner Amanda Fritz puts her much-debated sick leave requirement on next Wednesday's City Council agenda, her staff has run into an odd problem: Nobody in city government knows which businesses offer their employees sick days, and which don't."I've been staring into that darkness," says Fritz's chief of staff Tom Bizeau.Fritz's proposal, mandating that all Portland businesses give employees ...   More

News City Commissioner Amanda Fritz spent her nest egg last year—more than $375,000 of her own money—to buy four more years in Portland City Hall. “Most people could not and would not do what   More

News More than 200 people huddled under the Hawthorne Bridge on Sunday evening at a candlelight vigil to remember "Working" Kirk Reeves—the 56-year-old street musician who for a decade played trumpet at the bridge's onramp in his distinctive white tuxedo and Mickey Mouse ears, until he shot himself earlier this month.Mayor Sam Adams declared Sunday as "Kirk Reeves Day," and an assembly of trumpeters and ...   More

News City Commissioner Amanda Fritz has survived a challenge to her City Council seat.In early returns Tuesday night, Fritz leads her challenger, state Rep. Mary Nolan (D-Portland), 58 percent to 41 percent.Fritz for much of the year looked vulnerable to Nolan, known for her flinty approach and ability to raise plenty of campaign cash. (She spent more than $500,000.) She started the campaign appearing weak ...   More

News City Commissioner Amanda Fritz is a slight favorite to be re-elected Nov. 6 over her challenger, Rep. Mary Nolan (D-Portland), according to new polls.A poll released Tuesday by Fox 12 and Oregon Public Broadcasting shows respondents favored Fritz over Nolan by 37 percent to 29 percent, with 34 percent undecided. And a survey released Monday night by The Oregonian shows similar results: 38 percent ...   More

Murmurs Self-imposed campaign spending limits are often little more than a publicity stunt for candidates, but they can turn out to be a headache. City Commissioner Amanda Fritz raised her contribution    More