FeedsReplying to a comment on Portland City Council #1 Candidates: Clear support for the Commission-style of government
No wonder our Portland public schools are in such trouble. We have the director of development for Portland public schools who makes a big public statement with multiple spelling errors. Awsum John!
Portlandurs fur John Branam!
I do not support a move away from the commission style of government and towards a system where we elect our officials by district. Commissioners, by virtue of their specified role in Portland, are elected to represent citizens from ACCROSS our city and not just those from a select group of neighborhoods. Obviously the commission-style design has at least one obvious defect: it has made it far more difficult for racial minorities to be elected City Commissioners because, among many other reasons, we're an overwhelmingly white community and, as in often the case in hiring, our tendency is to elect people that more often than not, look, and sound, like us. As the only racial minority in the race for Sam's seat this challenge is not lost on me. That said, I am most interested in being elected by garnering support from ACCROSS the city, rather than from singular segments or a singular district. Portland's challenges, and opportunities - including our needs to significantly improve education ACCROSS the city, increase public and affordable housing, reinforce the vibrancy of our neighborhoods, reinvest in our infrastructure and support the growth of healthy businesses - are again not germane to a singular district. These challenges, and opportunities, are instead felt throughout Portland. Instead of changing our form of government I would advocate for ensuring our city provides genuine opportunities for all Portlanders, and especially those who have traditionally been excluded from positions of power and influence, to become involved in making important decisions. As is discussed in the city's Community Connect work, we should strongly encourage more INVOVLEMENT by all, be more open-mined to the format, style and location of meetings, and offer leadership training for communities traditionally disenfranchised. By following this plan I am convinced that we will broaden and deepen Portland's leadership pool. If Portlanders pursue this way forward the day will soon come that when our City's most significant leadership seats avail themselves our form of government will no longer be a racial barrier because the candidates will be known, well-respected, experienced, and diverse, just as Portlanders deserve.
Reply
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options,
try reading the
wikipedia article or the
official style guide.
