Dan Thackaberry Rides Again: Rematch in HD 17 October 17, 2007

‘Farmer’ Dan Thackaberry has filed to run for state representative again in House District 17, which includes the Santiam Valley, Lebanon, Sublimity, Aumsville and Sweet Home.

Thackaberry, a former Lebanon city councilor, lost to former representative Fred Girod in 2006 by a margin of 8,682 to 12,658. In that race, former Rep. Jeff Kropf dropped out mid-season to tend to his KXL radio program. Girod has also filed to run again, making it a rematch in the Santiam Valley for 2008.

One might think that the House Democrats do not expect to pick up House District 17 from the Republicans, but if this race were run on moustache quality alone, it’d be Thackaberry by a more than a few follicles over the patchily-goateed Girod.

Let’s also say that Girod, a dentist, has made himself quite the conservative curmudgeon in the Oregon House. He gravitated all the way to the right-wing fringe during the 2007 session, voting against civil unions, anti-discrimination, access to birth control, and in opposition to almost every pro-environment bill–moves which gave him a 20% score from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. He made no attempt at moderation.

By contrast, in the 2006 contest Thackaberry picked up the endorsements of the Farm Bureau, The Stayton Mail and former state Senator Hector Macpherson, a Republican who authored SB 100–Oregon’s landmark land use bill.

Watch for the district’s support of Measure 49 in a few weeks to gauge which way this district might swing.

Interstate: Geography and Utility

With a stated commitment to ‘Place, Politics and Power in Oregon’, one would think that the Boundary would have alredy weighed in on the current debate over renaming Portland’ N Interstate Ave as César E. Chávez Boulevard. What strikes this blog in the back-and-forth is the lack of discussion about the geographical utility of the name Interstate.

If you’re not familiar with Portland, the first lesson in its geographical division would have to be the five quadrants of the city (yes, that’s right), which may contribute to the most basic sense of place felt by city dwellers. Burnside Street, five blocks north of the Willamette Baseline (also known as Stark Street), serves as the dividing line between the north and south halves of the city. And generally, the Willamette River divides the west and east halves of the city. The exception to this rule is North Portland, which sits as a wedge of sorts between Northwest Portland and Northeast Portland. Williams Avenue serves as the boundary between North and Northeast, and it runs along a north/south axis along an imaginary line that extends from the intersection of the Burnside Bridge with the east bank of the Willamette River.

North Portland has a number of north-south thoroughfares, though the length of each one shortens as one moves from east to west due to the narrowing gap between the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. Only one major thoroughfare spans the entire length of North Portland, from its origin in the Lloyd District next to the Steel Bridge on up to the Interstate Bridge (which actually contains Interstate 5). Much has already been said about the MAX Light Rail line that runs along the street; a little less has been mentioned about the eventual extension of the line to Vancouver, WA that will create an actual interstate connection.

The name Interstate reflects the simple connection that Interstate Avenue has with Interstate 5. It runs 2 blocks west of the freeway for almost its entire length. Conveniently, drivers attempting to find I-5 in North Portland need only find Interstate to be close to the real thing, and they can even merge on to I-5 North from Interstate at Delta Park. The name Interstate obviously refers to the connection between Washington and Oregon, which is entirely governed by a north-south axis. In terms of transportation for the Portland-Vancouver area, that axis consists of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, Interstate 5, Interstate 205 and the ships that cross the membranous Columbia.

Geographically, Interstate has more utility than just about any other street in North Portland, and much of that would be lost if the name of the street changed to a name that did not refer to the north-south characteristic of the street and its proximity to I-5. This is especially important because of North Portland’s eastern boundary is not very well defined for most Portlanders, and I-5 serves as a stand-in of sorts for N Williams Ave. The Boundary would bargain that a poll of most Portlanders would show that most think I-5 is the eastern boundary of North Portland, not the lesser-known N Williams Ave, even though the streets are 13 blocks apart. Changing the name of N Interstate Ave. to a non-geographic term could have the unintended effect of blurring the already tenuous North Portland boundaries.

Of course, utility is but one element of a sense of place. But in a city where diversity and tolerance promote divergent and distinct senses of place, on what can process ride besides utility? The current situation, which may lead the City to a decision that makes no one happy, can only run on plurality.

UPDATE: Blogtown PDX’s Amy Ruiz breaks the news that Mayor Potter has called for a public vote on the proposal to change the name of Interstate Ave. to César E. Chávez Boulevard.

Oregon AG: Alice Dale is Out

Apparently the Boundary missed a beat, because two of Oregon’s major newspapers have scooped it on the Alice Dale rumor. Since her potential candidacy was posted here earlier, so, too, shall it die here.

From the Salem Statesman-Journal‘s Steve Law:

Former state-workers leader Alice Dale has decided against running for Oregon attorney general.

Dale cited personal reasons, noting that a rigorous statewide campaign would leave too little time with her 12-year-old son.

“You have to be in all parts of the state on a regular basis,” Dale said. “While I was exploring it, I went through a period of 10 days where I was home just one evening.”

Of course, family reasons are a mitigating factor in allowing one to run for office. It’s also a factor for current elected officials choosing to resign retire, including Rep. Wayne Scott, who, thanks to the power of his family will soon stop his reign of terror on Oregon.

As stated earlier at the Boundary, Dale’s candidacy seemed like a reaction to Rep. Greg Macpherson’s entry into the race. Dale, the former leader of SEIU 503 and current leader of SEIU 49, had apparently been recruited by union leaders upset with Macpherson’s role in the 2003 reform of Oregon’s Public Employee Retirement System (PERS).

Steve Law caught on to this too:

Fellow labor leaders had urged Dale to run, she said. Some of them still are angry at Macpherson for promoting Public Employee Retirement System reforms in the 2003 legislative session.

Dale is the former executive director of Local 503 of Service Employees International Union, the largest state-workers union.

She currently is president of SEIU Local 49, a smaller affiliate in the Portland area that represents health systems and property services workers.

This may make Macpherson’s opponent, law professor John Kroger, ripe for union endorsements in the primary. And those endorsements could very well tip the scales in what promises to be a close race. The Oregon Political Staffer straw poll at this month’s Oregon Summit showed Macpherson with a narrow 76 to 73 lead over Kroger. But one should not go as far as to say that Kroger has the labor movement all sewn up–Macpherson, aside from the 2003 PERS legislation, had a pretty solid legislative record. He earned the AFSCME endorsement for 2006 and an A/B+ rating from SEIU 503 for the 2005 session.

While the Secretary of State race might turn out to be a dull primary, what with Sen. Kate Brown’s huge advantage in money and endorsements, the Attorney General’s race could be a real barnburner.