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While the age-old riddles about screwing in light bulbs and getting to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop remain unresolved, we now have an answer to this question: How many votes does it take for the Portland City Council to elect a president? Answer: 10 rounds of voting, with the progressive and moderate wings of the 12-member council deadlocked for the first nine. The winner, at long last, was compromise candidate Elana Pirtle-Guiney, a longtime union organizer. WW reporter Sophie Peel covered the drama round by round on wweek.com, including details about the snacks that got Councilor Eric Zimmerman through the ordeal (Doritos, lasagna). Here’s what our readers had to say:
Stephen Peifer, via wweek.com: “The new City Council suddenly bears a striking resemblance to a meeting of Chicago aldermen, which should be a surprise to no one.”
shademalek, via Reddit: “This a good show of compromise. And that was my biggest worry going into this, that unwillingness to come to a consensus would cripple this new council. Yes, this was a long process, but the fact that they found a path forward in a middle-of-the-road candidate is a good omen. I’m cautiously optimistic, but it is going to take a few months for the new-to-politics members to get their sea legs under them, so to speak. I hope I can still be optimistic six months in. It’s their job to prove it, though, and it is not going to be easy. This process and council are all new to us, and to them, so it’s going to be bumpy.”
No_Cat_No_Cradle, in reply: “What worries me is that all six on the moderate side plus one on the progressive side agreed on a compromise candidate. I’m worried that the progressive bloc is just gonna dig their heels in time and time again. Not so much worried about gridlock in voting again because there’ll be a tiebreaker, but this will suck if it gets factional.”
Richard Ellmyer, via wweek.com: “I watched the proceedings and Sophie Peel got it right. Excellent reporting. Bravo. With 12 egos demanding attention, it’s a fair bet that whatever the issues that come before the council will take a very long time before a final vote. The Kumbaya moment will soon pass, and the standard behavior of all legislative bodies will soon emerge. This is what we voted for. It is the democratic process. This is a good thing. Best of luck to them and us.”
ormammo, via Reddit: “As a person who knows Elana personally but lives nowhere near her district, I support this. She will listen to both progressive voices (like me) and establishment voices, and do the right thing. If there’s anyone on the council I trust to get stuff done, it’s her. I voted for [Candace] Avalos because I think she is awesome, and I hope Elana will see all of Candace’s wisdom as valuable.”
Henry Rearden, via wweek.com: “Some observations:
“*Nobody is going to take this selected clown car committee seriously. Especially so for the employers and producers at Level 2 (get set) preparation for leaving this dumpster fire before it is escalated to a full-on, running shitshow.
“*It appears the kiddie table of DSA sycophants is firmly dictating what they can, just shy of an outright majority.
“*Mind-boggling that so much occurred behind the scene prior to this first meeting without violating public meetings regulations.
“*Four to five hours to get to the first agenda item portends well only for the popcorn lobby.
“* Is it time to predict the over/under on when Portland devolves into a full-blown, Class 5 cluster*#&k?”
Nicole, via Bluesky: “You buried the lead: Councilman Eric Zimmerman microwaved lasagna because the other 11 members haggled so long that he ran out of Doritos.”
Material_Policy6327, via Reddit: “Honestly, I’d rather heat up lasagna than go to a meeting.”
BigMtnFudgecake, via Reddit: “His only other option would’ve involved eating a secret hot dog out of his sleeve. You can’t skip lunch.”
Letters to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: P.O. Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com