However, there are areas for improvement. High on my radar is the Portland Development Commission. In May 2007, Portland voters gave more audit of the Portland Development Commission to the City Auditor and PDC budget oversight to the City Council. I think that both of these actions were warranted and I supported the measure that authorized these changes. I want the City Council to utilize the new budgetary oversight to ensure that the PDC's actions are aligned with the City's overall goals. There is a lot of work that needs to be done for the agency to be viewed as a helpful source of assistance in economic development and job creation.

In particular, the SEA report highlighted that only 39% of businesses viewed the City as providing quality economic development services. Even worse, 25% of businesses viewed the City's efforts to provide information on business opportunities as good or very good. And still worse, only 18% of businesses rated the City's efforts to provide information on financial assistance for business development as good or very good. All of these activities lie squarely within the jurisdiction of the PDC and should be at the heart of its activities.

The City Council, with its new budgetary oversight authority, is in a position to improve the PDC's ratings in these basic yet vital areas and I will seek to be a leader on the council in the continued reform of the PDC. In addition, I plan on creating an active, ongoing working group made up of the Small Business Advisory Council, other individual business owners, labor representatives and others to identify ways the City can be a partner to existing businesses, support new business start-ups in Portland and encourage business relocations to Portland.

In terms of bureaus that are doing a good job, I would highlight the Bureau of Emergency Communications and Portland Fire and Rescue as consistently delivering very high quality service in the core area of public safety.

A primary thrust of my campaign - and, for that matter, my past professional experiences - has been strong leadership. No matter which bureaus I'm assigned I look forward to providing leadership that is both visionary and collaborative, and that looks to make improvements where there are shortcomings or oversights.

Although it is doubtful as a new council member that I would oversee the police bureau, I would like to make some improvements in public safety, and therefore plan to introduce several initiatives towards that goal.

By and large, the police bureau does a great job every day protecting and supporting Portlanders. These are, of course, important accomplishments because they directly contribute to Portland’s livability. That said, the police bureau has two primary challenges: One is a need for more effective use of resources; and, two, is a need for strengthen its relationships with communities and neighbors. For this questionnaire, I will address the second of those challenges - and what I would do to address it.

I believe that to better police a neighborhood, individual officers need to have strong connections to those communities. One way to accomplish this is to set in place a work plan whereby each officer is expected to spend four hours each month working, “on the ground” with a community organization. This would offer neighbors a great way for community members to know their officers better while also offering officers an opportunity to better understand the specific issues challenging a neighborhoods. Further, it would assist our officers in developing a more positive relationship with folk which I believe will pay off significantly, in terms of reducing crime and increasing the degree to which Portlanders feel positively towards our police, over time. (Moreover, I will set an example for this initiative by encouraging my staff members to each to spend four hours per month working with a community organization.)

A second measure to better integrate the police bureau with the neighborhoods they serve is to emphasize recruitment efforts on young men and women from Portland. Over the past several years there have highly publicized recruitment efforts from places as far away as Hawaii. If an officer is serving his or her neighborhood, not only will he or she have a stronger emotional connection, but also better understand the ins and outs of the community.

Additionally, I also will push to increase the number and training for response team officers working with neighborhoods. When elected, I will introduce an ordinance that would require city council to review assignments for any officer who has been a named defendant for more than two brutality lawsuits. Further, I will encourage adapting rules that permit full subpoena powers for the citizen’s police review committee.

Over the past year, under Chief Rosie Sizer, I believe the police bureau has addressed several concerns regarding use of force. As a councilmember, I hope to push these improvements further, and will work to substantively strengthen community policing so that the police bureau can address public safety at its roots.

For “best” bureau, again, I do not consider the city agencies in that regard. If I had the opportunity to choose one bureau, though, I would be most excited to work with the Office of Sustainable Development. Portland has a unique opportunity to demonstrate extraordinary leadership in rolling back our impact on the planet, and the Office of Sustainable Development can play a key role in our doing so. I would like to push and lead this important agenda.

Among the many ideas I have to preserve and improve Portland's quality of life, below are a few that relate specifically to this bureau:

The number one contributor to greenhouse gases is vehicle emissions, especially those coming from combustible engines. To address this serious issue Portland should increase its efforts to acquire a full fleet of low/no-impact vehicles. An exciting and relevant opportunity would be to partner with Honda to become the second region to pilot their newly released zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

Further, the City of Portland must redouble its efforts to move towards purchasing only renewable energy - such as wind energy - to power its infrastructure.

The second major contributor to environmental degradation is construction. Without question I am excited about Portland's growth and its commitment to being a global leader in green building. Critical, then, is our ability to pioneer building practices that compliment Portland's vision for having green structures, and for building those structures utilizing innovative, green techniques.

While not considered by many to be an environmental issue, public housing is a key driver of suburban sprawl, whereby individuals and families move outside city centers (often seeking less expensive housing) and commute to their jobs still inside the city center (and, hence, creating more emissions). Suburban sprawl does unimaginable harm to the environment each year, and preventing it should be a top concern. As Portland continues to grow and experience economic success, we need to ensure Portlanders of all income levels can live inside the city - where they can bike and take mass transit to accomplish their daily needs.

In addition to these ideas I look forward to spending the first several months in office listening to the experts - bureau employees and passionate Portlanders - about their ideas for the Office of Sustainable Development and how we can, together, be more aggressive about preserving our beautiful natural surroundings and our amazing natural resources.

Many thanks for the opportunity to share my ideas. For more information about my platform or to join my campaign for city council please visit my website at www.John4PDX.org.

We've got a real opportunity to change the future of Portland politics in this election by electing someone with a demonstrated track record of both
fiscal and social responsibility. Through my work with Ethos Music Center, I've demonstrated what a rag tag group of social entrepreneurs can do to solve a pressing social justice issue -- that of equality in education for all of Portland's youth.

In terms of which bureaus are doing fine, I would say that the Fire Bureau and Water Bureau have made considerable strides. Personally, I would like
to focus specifically on the Bureau of Housing and Community Development to help Portland's struggling families and individuals better afford to live in our fair city.

For more information about my candidacy (including a number of video responses to candidate questions), please see our web site at
www.CharlesLewis.com. Thanks!

1. I make no claim to have observed the operations of every single bureau; and
2. I know there are hardworking and conscientious employees in every bureau and it would be unfair to pick on some

Having said that, if elected, I would want push every bureau I was responsible for (and I hope all the bureaus, with the cooperation of my
Council colleagues) to:

• Have programs of continuous improvement, to deliver better service at better value to the taxpayer;
• Be part of making the whole City more sustainable; and
• Be more transparent in decision making and more open to citizen participation.