Waiting, hard? Nah.

This week, the Tribune in a Sources Say feature titled, “Waiting really is hardest part”, and the Mercury in “The Waiting Game”, both cover the clock ticking on Mayor Tom Potter’s decision on whether or not he will seek re-election in 2008.

[Note on the Mercury article – I said “Mayor” Potter and “Commissioner” Adams. One British custom I continue to follow is not referring to people by their last names only.]

The Trib says the Mayor’s verdict may be delayed beyond his 67th birthday on September 12, an auspicious date since September 13 is the first day a candidate may file to run. Way to make sure everyone remembers to wish you a happy day, Mr. Mayor!

The hovering over Tom Potter’s decision seems to me like long-lost relatives maintaining a vigil in a hospital ICU waiting room, with legal papers in hand ready to sprint to file claims on the will. I believe Mayor Potter has earned the right to make his choice in his own time.

I do realize I’m uniquely fortunate, in being the only one of those considering running for an open seat who doesn’t have to wonder whether I can raise 1000 donations of $5. I’ve done it. And even though it will be harder with the new rules, I believe I can do it again, even faster. It took my team two months, three weeks last time. A respected candidate with widespread existing community support should be able to collect 1000 donations of $5 from voters registered in Portland in three months. Since the deadline for submitting donations this time is January 31, 2008, that means the end of September or beginning of October should be time enough, even allowing for down time over Thanksgiving and the December holidays.

Although I would like there to be a campaign for an open seat on the Council before Public Campaign Financing goes to a referendum in 2008, I’m hoping Mayor Potter chooses to seek re-election. I think his VisionPDX and Community Connect projects need time and more direct leadership from him to be brought to fruition. I’m concerned that if Mayor Potter leaves the City Council with VisionPDX and Community Connect unfinished, the lasting impression for many Portlanders will be that planning and citizen involvement are warm fuzzy wastes of time and money. Done properly and finished, planning and citizen involvement are a huge part of why Portland is a great place to live. VisionPDX and Community Connect aren’t bad concepts, they just haven’t been conducted well. But a veteran leader who still has the goodwill of most Portlanders could step up, tap the baton more sharply, and pull the orchestra together. I’d like to see Mayor Potter accomplish that.

Few people become experts in a new job in two and a half years. Being on the City Council, like turning talk and public participation into measurable actions, takes time and experience to master – especially for men whose earlier careers were structured with top-down commands, as in the police and fire bureaus. Look at how much more collaborative – and successful – Commissioner Leonard has been since re-election, compared with his rookie years. I hope Mayor Potter combines lessons learned in his first term with his ongoing popular support, to finish the processes he’s set in motion and lead them to successful outcomes. Council wannabes can wait. There’s certainly plenty of work to be done in the community in the meantime.

This is my opinion. If you’re considering commenting saying Sam Adams or Tom Potter shouldn’t be re-elected, please read this post first. I don’t agree with everything either member of the Council has done during their first terms. But I’ve hesitated to post this (although obviously it’s been on my mind all summer), for fear of opening up the kind of personal attacks so often seen in political discussions. Please, if you choose to comment, consider this a conversation in my home, with both incumbents sitting on the couch passing you the chips and dip.