The Skanner News Endorsements for Local Elections 2018

In Oregon, voters pamphlets for the November 6 election will be delivered this week October 10-12. Oregon voter registration deadline is Oct. 16. You can register online here.

Ballots must be submitted by 8 p.m. on Nov. 6, 2018. Drop sites in Multnomah County are listed here.

Look for statewide endorsements later this week.

The Skanner has chosen not to endorse unopposed candidates.

The Skanner News 2018 Election Endorsements

MULTNOMAH COUNTY AUDITOR

Scott Learn

A former Price Waterhouse accountant, Scott Learn has a forensic knowledge of budgets and has been called "the most highly qualified person," to run for Multnomah County auditor. We agree and we endorse Scott Learn.

PORTLAND CITY COUNCIL, POSITION 3

Jo Ann Hardesty

We endorsed former legislator, former NAACP Portland Branch president Jo Ann Hardesty this spring, and see no reason to change our position. A former state representative, she brings legislative experience to the city council, as well as a lifelong commitment to equity and justice. Over the last 15 years she has shown herself to be a tireless grassroots community organizer and advocate.

Working on the Department of Justice settlement with the City of Portland Police department, Hardesty used the courts to push for police accountability. She also is almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the NAACP back as a force in Portland. Jo Ann is the right woman for the job. She will hold her own on city council, work well with other commissioners and insist on fairness, accountability, and good government.

FAIRVIEW CITY COUNCIL, POSITION 5

Natalie Voruz

Incumbent Natalie Voruz has served on the Fairview City Council since 2015. In that time, she’s demonstrated leadership around transparency – calling for an audit of a stubborn colleague’s emails – and a commitment to addressing the growing community’s challenges head-on.

GRESHAM CITY COUNCIL, POSITION 6

Janine M. Gladfelter

Janine Gladfelter was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the Gresham City Council in early 2017 and has risen to the occasion. She seems ready to meet the challenges presented by a community that is growing quickly and rapidly becoming more diverse.

LAKE OSWEGO CITY COUNCIL

Massene Mboup

Massene Mboup, an educator and entrepreneur originally from Senegal, is committed to making Lake Oswego a more affordable and equitable place for all residents. We hope voters give him the chance to do great things.

METRO COUNCIL, DISTRICT 2

Christine Lewis

Christine Lewis has strong bipartisan support, and her focus on increasing available affordable housing and improving infrastructure make her a formidable candidate for this often overlooked but crucial seat.

TROUTDALE CITY COUNCIL, POSITION 3

Jamie Kranz

Jamie Kranz’s diversity of experience – as a stay at home mom, a teacher and someone who’s worked in the retail and hospitality sectors – will bring a refreshing perspective to Troutdale’s city council.

CITY OF PORTLAND BALLOT MEASURES:

✔ YES	MEASURE 26-200 - Measure 26-200 would limit candidate contributions and expenditures and require campaign communications to identify funders of city-level campaigns. Politics, at the local and national level, is increasingly a sport closed to those without enormous financial resources. This measure would provide a necessary corrective to that trend – while also requiring greater transparency from candidates and funders. Vote Yes.
✔ YES	MEASURE 26-201 - This measure would charge a 1 percent surcharge on revenues from large retailers to fund renewable energy, with a focus on providing jobs training for communities of color, women, people with disabilities and those who have been chronically underemployed. This measure was the result of a rare grass-roots decision-making process where communities of color led the way rather than being tokenized, and the result is a win-win: a measure that helps Portlanders shift away from a fossil-fuel economy while ensuring people of color will benefit from the green economy. Vote Yes.
✔ YES	MEASURE 26-199 - This measure would create a bond to fund affordable housing in Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah Counties. The housing crisis is now a statewide problem, with the Portland metro area being particularly hard-hit and with rents increasing in nearly every part of the region. Black families throughout the metro area have been hit particularly hard by this crisis, first facing gentrification and displacement, now facing spiraling rents in the suburbs and outer rings of the city, along with stagnant wages and longer commutes. It’s time to act to stanch the bleeding and get more of our neighbors into stable housing. Vote Yes.