In The News

The Portland Mercury's Blogtown, PDX site has been producing a weekly series of questions for the various candidates running in the Portland mayor and city council races. This series is a great way to meet the candidates and learn about the issues affecting the public and Portland city government. We're reproducing (with permission) Chris's responses here, while also providing links to the original Blogtown posts.

Question #1:

(Original Post from Dec. 13, 2007)

Who are you, and what's the number one reason you're running for city council?

In July of 2006, the Oregonian's Anna Griffin profiled citizen activist Chris Smith.

Excerpts:

Who is Chris Smith, if not a lobbyist or a neighborhood activist or a bureaucrat? He's a pro bono political operative who does everything from data analysis to door-to-door campaigning for progressive candidates and causes. A deep-thinking advocate for smarter transportation planning who can't seem to resist a City Club research project. A foodie. A biker. A blogger. An outsider who nudged his way inside by working hard and showing up.

Bike Portland editor Jonathan Maus interviews Chris about the campaign, bicycle issues, the Columbia River crossing, and more...

Excerpt:

Do you ride a bike regularly?

In my 30’s [he’s now 47] I cycled a lot more. I’m the veteran of two Cycle Oregons (4 and 6). At that time I was more of a “bike on top of car” recreational cyclist, although when training for Cycle Oregon I used to do my Portland-to-Wilsonville commute by bike once or twice a week (I got it down to about 1 hr, 20min for the 18 miles). These days of course I’m much more of a “transportation” cyclist.

Blog post on BlueOregon about Chris's new campaign which references the recent Blogtown PDX (Portland Mercury) blog post.

Excerpt:

Another BlueOregon contributor has made the leap and is running for office. Chris Smith has announced his campaign for Portland City Council.

The Merc's Scott Moore blogs about the campaign launch, studies and counter-studies about transit use and urban planning, and the latest good news about Portland-area bicycle use.

Excerpt:

Almost as if timed by a magical transit-loving deity, two reports have dropped this week that should bolster Smith’s early campaign days. As I wrote in the paper this week, Smith will be a hit among the urbanist, pro-density, alternative transportation crowd, but will probably be Public Enemy No. 1 among the pro-sprawl, pro-car, more freeways set.

Jim Redden reports on the launch of the Citizen Smith campaign and the issues relating to all candidates this cycle who plan to utilize Portland's Voter Owned Elections (VOE) system.

Excerpts:

When activist Chris Smith announced for City Council on Wednesday, he took a stand on a controversial issue that will not appear on the ballot for three years — the city’s public campaign financing program, which the council has promised to refer to the voters in 2010.

The Merc's Scott Moore cover Chris's entry into the race, and the challenges and issues facing the campaign.

Excerpt:

In a number of ways, Smith will begin his run as the early frontrunner among the field of likely candidates, but among the city at large, his name will probably register a collective "Chris who?"

"With the tens of thousands of people who will be voting in the May primary election," Smith says, "my name recognition is pretty low. But if you look at the 'thought leaders' who will be out there talking and informing those voters, it's quite high."

Editor Jonathan Maus posts observations from Chris's campaign kickoff speech.

Excerpt:

I’ve seen and heard Smith at countless meetings over the years, but now it’s a whole new ballgame.

Portland Tribune: Citizen Smith

(Originally published February 20th, 2007.)

Excerpt:

But if one thing is true about Portland civic life in recent years, it is this: If there’s a table — at least a table where wonks are talking about policy frameworks and regional planning and assessing needs for the future and seeking input from stakeholders and blah, blah, blah — Chris Smith is probably at it.

He is Citizen Smith.