What to Expect in Portland’s First Mayoral Forum

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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

One week from today, on January 26, Portland’s Mayoral Candidates will begin their first Mayoral forum, one of six so far scheduled for the race. Each is on a different issue, and in this first forum, experts told GoLocal to expect the candidates to try to establish their bases early on.

Tuesday’s forum will focus on Portland’s “cultural future.” Later forums are slated to focus on houselessness, the future of northwest Portland, affordable housing, diversity, and economic development.

Jim Moore, Director of the Tom McCall Center for Public Policy, told GoLocal he was surprised by the topic of the opening forum. 

“Portland has a lot of ‘cultural futures,’ Moore said. ‘Unless the candidates hit on all of them (east side, up and coming urban, Portlandia, West Hills, gentrifying N and NE, ethnic communities, sexual orientation communities, Rose Festival, neighborhoods, etc.), they may alienate some important group. This is a pretty vague concept.One thing is does not seem to invite is specific policy proposals. And that is what we have heard most often from both Wheeler and Bailey.”

Moore also said that he thinks the forums will be compelling and influential in the race.

“What’s going to happen is we’re going to see the candidates try to differentiate themselves and their expertise, their personalities and their actual plans to solve these same problems,” Moore said. “It’s going to be fascinating because there’s agreement on what problems need to be solved, it’s just how you solve them.”

Jules Bailey

What to Expect

Moore said that entering the forums, Wheeler seems to be leading the race handily, giving him the most to lose while behind the podium.

“Wheeler is acting like the incumbent, so he has most to lose,” Moore said. ‘Bailey is acting like the challenger, so he as most to gain. Until we see credible poll numbers, that dynamic will probably hold through all these forums.”

He also said he expected the pair to use the wide boundaries of the forum’s topic to establish the differences between the two campaigns.

“Typical behavior in the first of a series of appearances is to introduce the candidate, talk about qualifications, and give some broad themes for the campaign,” Moore said. “With a topic this undefined, it seems like it will be pretty easy to move away from “cultural futures” and toward candidate resumés.”

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