Keith Wilson

Portland is entering uncharted territory with this election, and one of the biggest changes involves the role of the mayor.

From January, when the next mayor takes office, the position will carry less responsibility and the scope of work will be much smaller. The next mayor of this city will no longer have a vote in the city council and no longer hand out oversight assignments to the office, such as party favors. Instead, the mayor’s duties will be twofold: hiring and firing the city manager, who will oversee the day-to-day operations of city departments, from police to drinking water; and providing the public face that City Hall presents to the people of Portland and the world. In other words: the mayor will be an agenda setter and an ambassador. As voters decide who will fill that role, they should look for the person who can best perform these limited duties.

We still have reservations about this revision. But perhaps it’s a blessing that the mayor’s job is being reduced, given the quality of the candidates voters have to choose from.

Revelations about the past actions and character of the election’s two leading candidates, incumbent City Commissioners Carmen Rubio and Rene Gonzalez, have caused many voters to throw up their hands and wonder: Is there no other choice?

There is. Are Keith Wilson.

Wilson, 60, runs Titan Freight Systems, a trucking company with 70 employees. He defends green energy not just in rhetoric, but in action: Titan is the first trucking company in Oregon with a completely green fleet. He runs a tight ship at Titan, bringing in about $10 million in revenue annually.

Wilson’s campaign is built around his lofty plan to end unsheltered homelessness within a year of taking office by setting up 20 to 25 overnight shelters across the city in businesses, churches and community centers. We know that’s probably an impossible goal, and even if it weren’t, it would be difficult for Wilson to get a majority of the 12-member City Council and Multnomah County behind the plan.

But at least it’s a plan. None of Wilson’s biggest opponents have formulated a homelessness strategy that we can tolerate. Gonzalez would jail people who violate the city’s camping ban and take resources off the streets; we worry that Rubio could take a back seat to the failed leadership in Multnomah County. They offer voters a familiar, binary choice between cruelty and passivity.

Wilson’s plan is refreshingly based on what other cities are doing. For the past three years, he has traveled to cities across the country to research best practices when it comes to sheltering unhoused people.

Critics have called his research selective, and political consultants, homeless service providers and local elected officials have scoffed, saying his plan doesn’t take into account the complexities of homelessness, especially when it involves mental illness and addiction. Maybe they’re right. But take a closer look: How have local experts managed to reduce the misery and misery in Portland? This city has suffered immeasurably because two warring factions – business and nonprofits – have refused to consider that their approach is insufficient. Wilson offers a starting point to reset the conversation.

His enthusiasm for solving the problem is unwavering; perhaps that’s something we shouldn’t scoff at, but instead ask for more from our elected officials.

We recommend that you rank Carmen Rubio second on your ballot.

Rubio, 50, worked for several local elected officials, including Mayor Tom Potter, before spending a decade growing the Latino Network into an $18 million nonprofit. At City Hall, she has passed meaningful legislation such as redistributing revenues from the Portland Clean Energy Fund to close the city agency’s budget holes, consolidating the city’s permitting functions under one office and launching new tax increment financing districts, a historically successful economic development tool used by the city. .

But two things give us important pause: First, she has failed to formulate a vision for the city. Second, she has demonstrated a blatant, years-long pattern of disregard for traffic laws. In some ways, these two problems are the same: an inability to act when faced with a crisis. She has given us no reason to think she would be the standard-bearer Portland needs to restore trust in its residents.

Our third choice, René Gonzálezdoesn’t shy away from a fight. But we suspect he would cause as many crises as he would solve.

Gonzalez, 50, is determined to bring law and order back to the city. He is full of bravado, but has made few meaningful policy decisions in the city council in two years. Instead, he has antagonized his colleagues by introducing slapdash legislation, and he has grown increasingly paranoid that progressive activists and nonprofits in this city are trying to take down all the moderate politicians. At times, his backstabbing turns into self-pity, suggesting he believes Portlanders should ask what they can do for their public officials, rather than the other way around.

We recognize that there is value in having a mayor with a clear vision and a blunt assessment of the city’s woes. So we’ll put Gonzalez in third place.

The Mingus Mapps of three years ago could have been our choice of mayor today. But Mapps, 54, a former political science professor, has shown little ability to make a measurable difference at City Hall and has effectively failed to realize some of his bigger policy ideas, such as introducing an alternative measure for the Charter reform. the vote when he was unhappy with the measure approved by the Charter Commission of 2022. We do not doubt Mapps’ commitment to this city nor his intelligence. He just doesn’t do much.

We praise Liv Osthusbest known as a dancer at Mary’s Club for bringing some levity to a mayoral race that felt dimmer than a broken light bulb. Her campaign message is simple: hope. Unfortunately, she did not quickly investigate the workings of the city government, and did not formulate a vision for the city other than returning the art scene to vacant buildings.

After talking to the rest of the candidates, we don’t see a viable sixth option.

This newsroom has often warned about the dangers of throwing out what we know — a lame politician or a dysfunctional form of government or policy — in the hope that some shinier, untested thing will do better.

Yet here we are, taking a big chance on Wilson because he offers a third way and an energy that is lacking in city politics. Portland has decided to start over. Voters must elect a mayor who offers a clear break from a decade of lowered expectations. It’s Wilson.

What Wilson was known for in high school: He was the worst player on the varsity basketball team.