The bike ride began at Ladd Circle. As people gathered for the bike ride, a bicyclist mentioned to Tom about the silly citations people have been receiving during Critical Mass (e.g. popping a wheelie) and how sometimes the law enforcement completely outnumber the bicyclists. Tom expressed concerns about the possible misuse of city resources on Critical Mass. The bicyclist invited Tom to ride in next month's Critical Mass. He accepted the invite depending on his campaign schedule.
If Tom Potter is elected mayor, I truly believe he would be a city official that listens to community concerns. I can see him as mayor that when a community member has a concern, he would investigate that concern before coming to a conclusion.
Recently, City Commissioner Erik Sten has endorsed Tom Potter for Mayor. I believe this endorsement came from the commissioner, since Erik and Tom both support the city effort to buy Portland General Electric. Tom Potter's campaign office has also refused to accept donations of more than $25, which goes along with Erik Sten's initiative for campaign finance reform. Former mayor Bud Clark has also endorsed Tom Potter and rode in the March bike ride.
As we left from Ladd Circle, Tom and his wife rode in their recumbent bikes with the other bicyclists. Besides being a mayoral candidate that is a bike advocate, I am also enthusiastic about Tom's strong stance in supporting same-sex marriage. Visit his web site www.tomformayor.org to see why Tom feels really passionate about this issue. I would also like to point out that Tom once served on the board of the Oregon ACLU.
The bike ride stopped along the new MAX train stops where neighborhood associations and community organizations had table and booths. Tom walked around shaking hands with the voters. Some people were thrilled that Tom opposed the initiative to cap the city reservoirs. Tom mentioned during the KGW debate that he opposed using City money to lure a major baseball team to Portland. He believes the City money should go directly into the community first.
I missed the bike ride back to Ladd Circle as I crossed the Burnside Bridge to join the May Day rally. Just to note, Tom introduced community policing when he was a Police Chief under Bud Clark. Hopefully there would not be over abundance of police at peaceful marches if he gets elected on May 18th
About the author: Joseph is community activist that deals with mostly environmental issues in Oregon. I wrote this piece about Tom Potter to inform Indymedia readers about his candidacy. I invite people who support other candidates to also post their own commentary piece about their candidate. Other media outlets have my permission to use my pictures.
- - -------
|
