News

The Portland City Council last week considered supporting the Responsible Banking ordinance, which directs staff to look into allocating City money to local banks and credit unions, keeping taxpayers' money in our community. I support this initiative.

The Council heard testimony on a proposed new Urban Renewal Area. While I strongly support Portland State University, I can't agree to allocate City resources to new buildings for PSU when we have so many urgent infrastructure needs in neighborhoods outside of downtown. Plus, I don't see the wisdom of investing in capitol improvements for PSU when we can't pay faculty, or provide student loans, at adequate levels.

I attended a rally against coal exports traveling through our region, at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made another inspirational speech, similar in tone and passion to the one he delivered at the River Rally convention the weekend before, which I also attended. RFK said, "Portland is the best city in the country". I agree.

Commissioner Saltzman and I participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Asian Family Center on NE Sandy/81st. I hope I get to continue supporting multicultural actions in Portland.

The election deadline is Tuesday. So, if you haven't mailed in your ballot, please take it to an Oregon public drop box. Remember that all the Multnomah County Public Libraries are authorized sites, as well as many other places around the county and the city. Postmarks don't count - your ballot must be received in a County elections box by 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Oregonian reminded you of the strong endorsement I received from their Editorial Board, reiterated last Thursday and over the final weekend of the primary: "Fritz, who ran as a neighborhood activist, is a trustworthy voice on the City Council and a consistent voice for fiscal prudence and common sense. She is also more of a representative than a politician, which is intended as a compliment. It shows in her independence on issues and her responsiveness to constituents. Voters looking for someone who listens, and who is more beholden to the public in general than to specific interest groups, should re-elect Fritz."

I am counting on you, my neighbors, my fellow Portlanders, my friends and constituents, to re-elect me to another term on the City Council. I will continue to be Your Voice in City Hall, if you choose to re-elect this Registered Nurse, public schools Mom, and progressive community activist to the Portland City Council. Please get your ballot into the County system by Tuesday at 8 p.m. Then join me at Ecotrust, 729 NW 9th, from 7 - 9 to celebrate all our hard work and view the inital returns.

May started with the Oregonian Editorial Board calling out my opponent on questionable advertising claims, saying her "ad is quite misleading." And noting that I am "a principled commissioner and a consistent watchdog of taxpayer resources."

I am proud to stand on my record.

The Willamette Week quoted my campaign consultant Hiram Sachs making clear why I have been contributing to my own re-election: "Since Amanda limits her contributions to $50 and doesn't take special interest money, she's always planned to use her savings during the campaign." It's a different (and personally costly) way to fund a political campaign, but I want people to know if I'm re-elected that my first commitment is to the voters and citizens of Portland, not special interests and people who have financial interests in City Council transactions.

This means that I'm counting on my supporters to give as much as you can up to that $50 limit, which you can deduct from your state taxes. Please visit my Supporters page now, and donate $5 to $50 if you haven't already this calendar year. We are getting close to receiving donations from 1,000 people, which was one of my goals for this primary. Please help lift our donor list over the top!

May 1 was also the first day of The Great Cafeteria Takeover, a campaign to install salad bars and drinking fountains in schools across the country. I enjoyed being at James John Elementary in St. John's for the event, along with a couple hundred third, fourth and fifth-graders. I was amazed how well-behaved they were. And delighted with the young girl who squealed in delight when my name was announced at the assembly. Being a role model to young girls is one of the key reasons I chose to run for re-election. I want young women to know they can pursue careers (even "traditional" female careers like nursing) and then be valued leaders in politics and/or other spheres.

If you have HBO, you can see Weight of the Nation, a four-part series starting Monday, May 14th at 8 p.m. Also, click though to the Oregonian article for more important information about eating and obesity.

PolitiFact analyzed a claim by my opponent that they found Half True. I originally listed NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon as an endorser when they had "green-lighted" me, meaning they determined that I supported their issues. I corrected that, and I hope you'll read the article to get a complete sense of the issue. To be totally clear: I have been pro-choice all my life. I support NARAL and Planned Parenthood with my personal donations as well as by attending as many of their events as I can, in my role of City Commissioner. I received the Green Light of NARAL ProChoice Oregon ProChoice Action Team. I received NARAL's Green Light in 2008, also. It is not possible for anyone to be MORE supportive of every woman's right to choose her own health care options -- I am 100% supportive of that principle.

During a joint interview with my well-funded opponent, Willamette Week asked me how I differed from her. I mentioned that I limit my fund raising to individuals -- not organizations-- and to a $50 per person donation amount. I do this so that there could never be even a suspicion that my votes are based on anything but my best judgment. My opponent felt that this meant I was insinuating something about her. See for yourself.

Unmitigated positive news: the Portland Mercury endorsed me! Thank you, Portland Mercury!

The Mercury also invalidated a charge by my "Ms. Negative Ads" opponent that I "improperly shaped the final draft of a report that wound up grading, somewhat positively, the rollout of Portland's new 911 dispatch system." Not so.

I made time to attend the Power Past Coal rally, featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Pioneer Courthouse Square last Monday. The concerns RFK expressed were two-fold: pollution from coal dust along the train routes to Oregon ports, and the overall pollution/community degradation from mining and/or burning coal. Bobby also said, "Coal will undermine everything that you love. I've seen what it's done to small Appalachian towns. It's ruined democracy, corrupted politicians and literally drove people out of town. Do not let it corrupt this community. You are at the front lines of this battle."

Governor John Kitzhaber made a request for an environmental impact review of coal ports. I talked with Mayor Adams about this issue after the rally, and I believe the City of Portland will oppose coal exports transported through our region.

Two polls have shown my race essentially even. A KATU poll shows Mary ahead by 3%, with 21% undecided.

On the other hand, an Oregonian/KGW poll shows me up by 5%, with 28% undecided.

That means two things to me: one, the race is yours and mine to win or lose, and two, talk to your friends and spread the word about the good things you've seen from me in my time in office.

I'm looking forward to the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization's open house this Friday. I'll tell you all about it in my final post for the campaign.

Please help out however you can with the campaign these last few days. Email and/or call your friends independently, or contact Ellen or Sunshine to find out how you can join with others to Get Out The Vote. We have some fun, non-stressful ways you can help that will make a huge difference. I want our News Update on May 16 to be titled... "We Won!"

From The Skanner came a report that Portland Public Schools intends "to close the Harriet Tubman Young Women’s Leadership Academy despite impassioned pleas from the school’s community and local elected leaders."

I am one of those "elected leaders," along with State Senator Chip Shields and State Representative Lew Frederick. We offered help with fundraising, as well as PR and marketing to prevent Tubman from being closed. I felt this was especially urgent because Tubman is an all-girls school with a focus on math and science, something I relate to as a nurse. Some Tubman students were at a reception for my new Office of Equity and Human Rights Director, Dante James, earlier this month. One of them, Ansallah Pulla said, "In the beginning I never thought about going into engineering, but then after going to the school and taking some engineering classes I found out that I really like engineering and I want to be an engineer.” She will be going to PSU with a scholarship this fall.

Alas, our advocacy went unheeded, and the Portland Public Schools District 1J Board voted to close the Young Women's Leadership Acadamy at Tubman..

On a more up note (depending on how you feel about my singing), I participated in Candidates Gone Wild, where I joined the amazing Storm Large and primo guitarist Scott Weddle in a duet. A lifetime thrill, singing with Storm and Scott.

Another up note, as reported in the Portland Business Journal is the 3-0 vote (by Sam, Randy and me) to follow neighbors' priorities when instituting street improvements in East Portland. There will be sidewalks and more bike routes, as well as paved and upgraded roads. This is something neighborhood residents beyond East 82nd Avenue have been wanting for years. With federal money, the $20 million budget will be within reach.

Last week, I was happy to put out my first campaign ad, which can be seen here. It ran in prime time during the first round of the NFL draft - yay! And the second one is now playing, here. Note that all the co-stars in both of my ads are real supporters in their community roles, not actors.

Also on TV, this interview for Your Voice, Your Vote on KATU. Please comment on line if you wish.

The big, wonderful news this past week was my endorsement by the Oregonian, here. I am delighted not only with the Editorial Board's support, but also with the content of the endorsement editorial. Please read it for yourself, and if you like, comment below on the piece(s) you agree with most.

An article at OPB, adds some clarification from the City Club debate, in which I was accused of wasting nine months of funding for the Office of Equity. Of course I haven't wasted taxpayers' money. I haven't spent money before being sure what results will be achieved. Almost all the new money allocated for fiscal year 2011-12 goes back into the General Fund at the end of June, because it hasn't been spent. I don't invest money on issues without a careful plan with measurable outcome expectations. Office of Equity Director Dante James has been in office for three weeks. We are both careful about spending taxpayers money wisely, on funding projects and programs that produce results. We will establish a work plan for the Office of Equity within three months, with specific outcomes expected by the end of the calendar year.

Bike Walk Vote has endorsed my opponent for my position on City Council. Apparently "bike" wins out over "walk". I am and will continue to be the Council's strongest pedestrian and transit advocate, and also the Council's most outspoken challenger on bike projects that aren't priorities, such as the downtown bike rental program. I advocated for funding crucial bike safety projects instead, with the $2 million in federal funding being passed through Metro now allocated to the Bike rental pilot.

The "vote" that matters is in five weeks. Please help me win re-election that evening, so I can continue speaking out and acting on behalf of all Portlanders -- no matter how you get around Portland. Call Sunshine at 503-875-3202 to find out how you can help.

Apologies to Bill, the volunteer compiling these news reports, and my readers, for the delayed posting of last weekend's update. It was a busy week and I am only now drawing breath and having the capacity to review and post Bill's draft. The good news - another news update coming soon!

Monday of last week, the Portland Tribune ran a story titled Lawsuit questions city Superfund spending.

The suit has been brought by well-known attorney John DiLorenzo, who has devoted much of his practice to representing corporations, reducing taxes that governments need to provide necessary services to the public.

It is unfortunate that the reporter did not talk to me or anyone from the Office of Healthy Working Rivers, which I created to coordinate City policy and actions on complex issues affecting the Willamette and the Columbia. Nor was there any apparent communication with the Bureau of Environmental Services, although the article questions whether the Bureau should be involved in the Superfund process. And the article says the lawyer is "representing Portland water and sewer customers," but it does not identify who these "customers" are. I am working with the Water Users Coalition, a broad coalition of citizens and interest groups, to address rates and service concerns.

I asked the Bureau of Environmental Services and the Office of Healthy Working Rivers to provide an overview of the Portland Harbor Superfund process. To see the Council presentation on March 28, 2012 click here. (PDF)

More Superfund news, this time in the Portland Business Journal. The Lower Willamette Group, the public and corporate businesses entities leading the research in the Superfund cleanup, "provided clean-up options for the 11-mile lower Willamette River." in the Feasibility Study submitted March 30 to the Environmental Protection Agency. Please read the article to garner more information.

In the contest for my next term on the Council, the Oregonian talks about endorsements received by my principal opponent and me prior to the start of April.

I am delighted to have received endorsements from the entire Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, as well as both continuing Commissioners, Nick Fish and Dan Saltzman. What so pleases me is that these are the people I work with regularly to represent you in government. Each of them wants to keep working with me.

I strongly recommend that you listen to the debate the last Friday in March at the City Club. Hearing the whole thing is much better and more reliable than reading little excerpts from a newspaper, blog, television or radio report. Two people came up to me after the forum and told me they came supporting my opponent, and left supporting me.

More news soon. My well-funded opponent will soon start spending the massive war chest she has collected, mostly from affluent people and special interests. I count on support from individuals, not corporations or unions or any other non-person. I accept up to $50 per person per year, so please help me with any amount up to $50. Thank you! If you've already donated the maximum, please volunteer, host a yard sign, and/or help out in other ways. Less than six weeks to the end of the election - let's step it up another notch!

Welcome to my new weekly News Update!

One of the biggest stories of the week (showing up in the Oregonian, the Mercury and Blue Oregon) was the Poll Memo that my campaign released, showing me with a 34-point lead over my main opponent. Last fall, our poll showed my lead at 41-15. So the new numbers indicate an eight point favorable gain over the five months we've been working so hard, with my support increasing while my opponent's dropped. The undecideds remain at 43%, showing we still have a lot of work to do to make sure we can celebrate at the Victory Party on May 15.

You can look at the Poll Memo here (PDF).

As the Oregonian notes in another story, the poll result is having "asked respondents to compare the two candidates first, before hearing any positive or negative messages about the two."

Please, help me get those undecideds over to supporters by contributing up to $50, if you haven't already donated in 2012. Click on the Contribute tab and donate on line today. And/or, sign up for a yard sign, and/or a volunteer task. Thank you!

On the national media scene, the Huffington Post ran an article about Portland, but didn't fully dig into the issues - see Portland Livery Car Companies: Portland Taxi Laws Crippling, Don't Protect Customers.

Pointing at a 2009 law that enforces a variety of restrictions on how livery/limosine services conduct business, the article implies that the City is protecting the large taxi companies as payback for campaign donations.

My response was, "Even though my colleagues are funded by traditional (campaign donations), they are very principled men and I don't believe they would be voting on the basis of who gives them money." The author didn't mention that I am funded by all Portland taxpayers and ratepayers thanks to Public Campaign Financing, or that I said when interviewed that I believe there is a good chance a new taxi franchise will be approved when the matter comes to Council.

The administrator of Portland's Private-for-Hire Transportation Program, which regulates both taxi and livery services, Frank Dufray, said "The main thing is that you don't want the Town cars to take all of the best fares, which are to the airport, and not leave any for the taxi industry. That's why there's a minimum fare and a one-hour wait requirement." But that comment, which I also stated, is buried in the rest of the article. Not everything you read in the media is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Still, it is fun to have been cited in the Huffington Post. Arianna Huffington and I went to the same college in Cambridge, although she was there several years before me.

I ran using Voter-Owned Elections, i.e., Public Campaign Financing in 2008. I am still staying true to the spirit of the system by limiting my campaign contrbibutions to a maximum of $50 per donation, so voters will never have to worry or wonder whether my votes are influenced by huge campaign contributions from special interests, corporations, unions, or others with financial interests in City decisions and contracts.. As I just mentioned, please make a donation so that your representative on City Council is truly your representative on City Council!. With your vote on May 15, that representative will continue to be me.

Bill Michtom, my volunteer compiling these News posts, and I look forward to posting for you again next week!

The report on Portland's involvement in the Joint Terrorism Task Force came out, just after I last posted here in mid-February,. As the Oregonian reported, it "bears little resemblance to the model called for last year by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon and City Commissioner Amanda Fritz."

The ACLU and I asked that the report "be as transparent and detailed as possible." This was "to ensure Portland Police Bureau compliance with Oregon laws and request police bureau to the attorney general, including a number of consultations and the types of issues and the actions taken as a result of the number of investigations, and time and at what stage the Portland police officers were asked to work with the JTTF. The annual number of hours and officers participating. The number of briefings from the FBI to the police chief and commissioner in charge. And how often terror alert information was shared with city officials."

Although more details were provided due to my advocacy and the work of the ACLU, the report accepted on a 4-1 vote does not state even a ballpark range for how many hours Portland Police officers worked with the JTTF on terrorism cases over the year. Portland Police Chief Mike Reese claimed that revealing the actual number of hours "would be likely to compromise ongoing investigations and reveal the operational tempo of our work on terrorism."

ACLU of Oregon executive director David Fidanque stated it was "disappointing, silly and hard to understand how having a little bit more of a sense of the officers' involvement would compromise security." I agree. The Portland Mercury reported Mayor Adams cut off debate, stating he would not recognize me to speak because I was asking questions "that should not be asked in Council chambers" according to Commissioner Nick Fish. I had made my point, that the Report was not as transparent as I wanted it to be, and that it was clear no further information would be forthcoming. I am disappointed. But there is always next year for me to keep asking .... as long as I win re-election on May 15.

Meanwhile, out in the neighborhoods, the Oregonian reported on a Vernon Neighborhood Association meeting Senator Chip Shields and I attended, where residents were opposing 7-11 opening new convenience stores in Vernon and St. Johns.

As the Woodstock community discovered last year, and as I affirmed at the meeting, if the zoning allows it, "They have the right to do this." Along with the residents, I called for 7-11 to work with the neighborhood and I will attend any follow-up meeting that is held. The upper managers of 7-11 have agreed to meet with Mayor Adams and me to discuss issues. I also suggested the community talk to the Bureau of Transportation about a traffic study and any impact on neighborhood safety that might have. It turns out such a study was already done. I very much want to be on the Council next year, to ensure that the Portland Plan is implemented in neighborhoods through improved zoning and Zoning Code standards.

I led the creation of the Office of Equity and Human Rights, to address appalling, persistent disparities fof people of color and people with disabilities in Portland. The Oregonian reported on my hiring of Dante James as its first director. He comes from Denver, where he worked for the Mayor on equitable contracting, as well as having experience in the public, political, and non-profit arenas. He also worked with President and Mrs. Clinton for six years. Nice Q& A on the Portland Mercury as he started work here.

More information about Dante is posted on my City blog, Dante is a proven leader in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, who will bring energy, passion, and a wealth of varied experiences to help us address the inequities that are apparent in our community. He brings knowledge and dedication to the Office in this crucial time, when more than ever Portlanders need action and improved outcomes. Welcome, Dante!

Still in February, Mayor Adams and I presented a plan for more diversity and equity required of arts groups asking for public money. It will ask groups to increase the multi-ethnic participation on staff, boards and contractors, as well as a hoped for 30% of their budgets on communities of color. I am excited how the arts community is embracing the equity challenge. Atter all, if we can't celebrate and encourage diversity in cultural groups, we are in even more trouble than we are already aware of, given the State of Black Oregon Report and the Coalition of Communities of Color reports. Our new Office of Equity and Human Rights will be partnering in this work..

Liquor licenses for food carts? Really?? I have serious concerns about allowing food cards to sell alcohol. The OLCC is supposed to monitor establishments selling liquor, but has only nine enforcement agents for the Tri-County area. Portland alone has 2,800 liquor licenses already, and there are close to 700 food carts in our City - many in residential neighborhoods where daily outdoor sales and consumption of alcohol will cause significant noise, livability, and safety problems..

Despite the concerns expressed by the City through a unanimously-passed resolution I authored, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission last week issued a liquor license to the Cartlandia food cart pod.

As I said to KGW, “We asked [the OLCC] to wait until a public process could be conducted and they have not done that. They seem to not care about the problems we're having in neighborhoods and seem to be looking directly at revenue from alcohol sale. Regardless, we have to deal with the problems. “Noise, livability and neighborhood safety are significant – we will be looking at legal and legislative options”.

See also this KATU report I will, of course, keep you up to date on City plans to deal with this problem. I have asked the City Attorney to prepare a lawsuit against OLCC.. Enough is enough.

The Council is working on the budget with our community --and things are looking tough. In fact, as I said, "It’s going to be awful.” We already made 5% cuts in 2009 and 4% in 2010. This year, the Mayor asked the bureaus to cut 4 - 8%. In small bureaus like Neighborhood Involvement, those cuts will impact programs and services to citizens. There are no other places left to cut.
The Council already held one public forum on March 5 and we will have another on March 21 in the Cleveland High School Cafeteria, 3400 S.E. 26th Ave., just off Powell Blvd.

I also recommend you take a look at the budget informaton.

BikePortland.org posted a plea from the PBOT Budget Advisory Committee asking Council to look at new revenue sources. The article noted that there will be new faces on City Council, and we must about Bureau of Transportation issues as it faces significant budget cuts. I will be open to discussing new funding when there are more citizens scrutinizing the entire PBOT budget. And after the recession eases. This year it is not appropriate to ask taxpayers to add additional fees.

One of the joys of my job is seeing engaged Portland citizens come to City Council meetings to advocate for their issues. This month, King Neighborhood residents and St. Andrews students told the Council about the value of the Portland Playhouse.

The Playhouse, "in one of the most sympathetic denials likely ever issued," was told by a City code Hearing Officer that, as a theater, it was "a commercial enterprise operating in a building not zoned for commercial use." However, the Council agreed with the Portland residents that the Playhouse is an arts center for the neighborhood, and a Community Service use.

“I am so overwhelmed by this testimony and the value to community this playhouse brings,” I noted at the meeting, as the Council allowed the Playhouse to be in their church home at NE Prescott and Sixth. There was an interesting (and annoying) twist added at the vote after the hearing, as reported by Denis on Mercury Blogtown. Commissioner Leonard and Mayor Adams scolded staff in the Bureau of Development Services ..... for following the rules in the Zoning Code. If I am put in charge of BDS in my second term, you can be sure I will empower staff to act with principles and values that honor appropriate public process.

A fun and interesting campaign event was the Candidates Arts Forum that I experienced with other candidates for the open Commissioner seat, and for Mayor. The Gerding Theatre in the Armory building was the setting and the whole thing is available on video at the link above. The part with me, Steve Novick and Brian Parrott is right at the beginning. I appreciated the Oregonian's report

I am especially proud of this comment from the ArtsWatch article's author, Barry Johnson: "The diversity discussion proved to be the most interesting to me, maybe because Fritz has such a passion for it, and that passion seemed infectious. Support for the new RACC diversity standards was the litmus test, and everyone passed it, but for Fritz it seemed more like a crusade." Yes, it is one of the main reasons I am running again. We cannot fail, this time.

Family Forward Oregon and the MotherPAC sponsored another forum.. Check out the video here.

The Oregonian editorial board called on me, as the Commissioner in charge of the Office of Healthy Working Rivers, to lead "a dialogue that also will invite public input" into the Portland Harbor Superfund site, in their editorial "Choosing the right cleanup". It's unfortunate the Oregonian's editors didn't call me to ask what is being done, before printing this editorial. The Office of Healthy Working Rivers is working with me to coordinate public involvement in making decisions on the Harbor. A public presentation to City Council is planned for March 28.

The Oregonian also ran an article this past week discussing, in particular, River Mile 11, an especially contaminated spot between the Broadway and Fremont bridges on the east side of the Willamette. The City has been working to coordinate cleanup on this site, even though we likely have limited liability at this location. I want to be on the Council in 2013 to make sure we spend taxpayer and ratepayer money wisely at each step. We must clean up the environment, reduce risk to humans and wildlife, encourage continued viability and growth of good industrial jobs, and look to coordinate cleanup and restoration in ways that minimize costs and develop new green techniques that can be marketed in other cities.

Willamette Week asked the leading candidates for Mayor and City Council to release the completed questionnaires they have sent to endorsing groups. WW reports: "The mayoral campaigns for Brady, Hales and Smith released stacks of these documents to the newspaper. Two candidates for City Council—Steve Novick and incumbent Amanda Fritz—have also released some questionnaires. Rep. Mary Nolan, Fritz’s challenger, has declined to release any." I released the AFSCME response I sent, as I am especially proud of my work with this City union with members in the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, Bureau of Emergency Communications, and Office of Cable Communications and Franchise Management. Many of the members of AFSCME who have worked with me are strong supporters who are volunteering on my campaign. We lost the membership vote for the AFSCME endorsement by 12 votes to 10. My opponent has refused to release what she said to AFSCME to win their endorsement.

This is a very full update, so I have asked my volunteer, Bill Michtom, to help me get them out more often. He has enthusiastically agreed. So, stay tuned! Thank you, Bill, for keeping track of all my "earned media."

Another month has come and gone since my last news update. Thank you to volunteer Bill Michtom for assisting on these News Updates. Bill had this one drafted a week ago, but I've been so busy I haven't had time to add the inside scoop until today. In the work taxpayers are paying me to do, I continue to examine Portland's government services and work to make our city better.

Just after my last report to you here, the Portland Police physical evaluation that was included in the contract with the police union came under scrutiny, with two public hearings at Council on the issue. The question was, how did plans to provide an incentive for police to keep fit, turned into premium pay for a biometric screening that many other City employees take without a premium?

During the Council hearing, I stated that I disagree with the contract provision that gave all officers who took the biometric screening the past year the 1 percent premium pay. I suggested the City could have set benchmarks for officers to pass right away, to get the premium. But that's not what was agreed to in a Memorandum of Agreement, after the Council approved the principle in the contract. And of course, a contract is a contract. The City must follow the agreement made with our police officers. The Code specifies that the Human Resources Director has the independent authority to negotiate for the details during bargaining with the Unions. The HR Director approved biometric testing instead of fitness testing as the Council and I intended. Given the outcome with the Police health and fitness test issue, and also a less-publicized issue on the 40-hour work week/sick time/overtime where what was presented in bargaining was not what I requested, I will be working to revise the Code in this regard.

The Council voted on the issue February 1st. In the hearing, I stated that providing officers incentives to reduce their health insurance costs may work out better for taxpayers. Although the pilot project is expensive, and I wouldn't have voted for it if the details had been put before Council, it will give us information on whether making an employee aware of potential life-threatening conditions causes changes in behavior by the employee, to become more healthy. Since the taxpayers fund City of Portland employees' health care, reducing medical care costs is beneficial to taxpayers. The City's health care costs rose only 3% last year, much less than private insurance plan increases. I will continue to work to manage and reduce health care costs, as long as I am on the Council.

Meanwhile, the Portland Fire Fighters Association Local 43 made a $20,000 contribution to one of my opponents (four have now filed, as well as me - don't they know there is an open seat?) . I did not support sending the $72 million property tax increase to the voters in 2010, as I felt the bureau should have budgeted for apparatus replacement within the existing General Fund allocation rather than asking taxpayers for more money, especially during the recesssion. So it wasn't a surprise to me that the Fire Fighters Union chose not to endorse me for re-election. I am accountable to taxpayers, which sometimes means I am at odds with City employee unions.

I am accepting donations of up to $50 per person per year, continuing my committment to representing everyone in the city, not merely those who can come up with the most money. I am not accepting any money from unions or corporations. Winning the election despite this limit requires an active committment from my supporters to step up and make the largest donation you can manage (up to $50 in 2012) to show that you, too, know and honor the idea that this Voter-Owned Elections Commissioner represents the true democratic process. I am your voice in City Hall, the community member who is also the incumbent. Please contribute $5 - $50 and put your name on my Supporters list, if you want me to keep speaking up for you.

Back on the day-to-day City business front, composting was featured online in the Oregonian (with a photo of me taken by son Luke). My solution to storing food scraps before putting kitchen waste in the yard debris cart: pizza boxes. The City Recycling hotline (503-823-7202) received almost 8,000 calls over the three months from mid-September the mid-December. Some were complaints, but most were questions for clarification on the process. I know from reading the hundreds of emails that arrive in my inbox each week that many people are still mad about the changes. There will be a report to Council later this year, and it's evident if most Portlanders don't like the new system by then, I am open to considering changing it back.

And then, attracting much media attention, selling alcohol at food carts. The topic was all over the media. I led the Council on the issue. The City Council voted 4 to 1 to ask the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to create rules for how food carts might handle selling beer or wine. Commissioner Saltzman voted No, making this just the third time in three years that an issue I've put before Council has not passed unanimously.

This past week, I heard the OLCC may go ahead and issue the first license without rulemaking. My staff and I are continuing to dog this issue. Stay tuned.

On Thursday, January 12, 2012, both levels of the Council chambers were packed with supporters of two Resolutions. The first calls for a speedier end to the war in Afghanistan, which could return over $1.6 billion in taxes paid by Portlanders to uses within the United States. The second Resolution calls for ending some of the rights given to corporations by the Citizens United case in the U.S. Supreme Court. Denis in the Portland Mercury did his usual thorough and insightful coverage.

Also in Council session, I was delighted to participate in honoring Pat Wagner, a Linnton Community Center organizer. She was awarded the 2011 Lowenstein Trust Award recognizing her "significant, personal contribution to helping Portland's under-served populations." Pat is one of so many Portlanders making our City the wonderful place it is to live, and a consistent, persistent Amanda supporter.

I attended a neighborhood event in NE Portland, Here Comes the Sun at Umpqua Bank and Aviary, an Alberta Street restaurant. This was the launch of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods Solarize Northeast Portland II project, as well as a celebration of the Northeast Community in general. The format, with a socializing time at the bank followed by a multi-course sit-down dinner at a local focal point, was great. I would like to see it replicated in other coalitions and districts.