Ooh, nice one-liner!

… in the Op-Ed published today by the Oregonian. It’s written by Len Norwitz and Leslie Hildula (too bad the paper couldn’t spell her name correctly), members of Portland’s Citizens Campaign Commission, with concurrence by the other members of the commission — Andy Linehan, Jessica Sweeney, Christy Mason and Stan Baumhofer. I note all their names, because like many other citizen volunteers, they gave up huge amounts of their time, for no reward other than to seek the long term public good.

The Op-Ed contains this sentence:

“The Oregonian’s reporting on this issue would have benefited if its reporters had attended any of the commission’s many meetings over the past 18 months.”

A case of “Don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up” ?

The Op-Ed concludes:

“As the 2008 election season begins, members of the Citizens Campaign Commission hope that all candidates, the public and the press can work with us in uncovering unanticipated problems and discovering opportunities for improvement. Golovan’s conviction and the earlier penalties against Boyles make it clear that the city will crack down on those who abuse the system. The public financing reform program has been strengthened and is in good shape to continue its progress in improving Portland politics.”

Today is the first day candidates may file to run under the system and begin collecting $5 donations from Portland’s registered voters, to qualify for public funding of their campaigns.

The ethical bar is even higher now. Candidates using the program must put honor of the system at the top of their priority list. Every action, every press release, every stump speech, should consider how its content will reflect on Public Campaign Financing. Whichever candidates are elected to Seat 1, Seat 4, and the Mayor’s position, those people will merit a few lines when Portland’s history is written. Public Campaign Financing can change the way Portland is run for ever.