Campaign finance watch: Bailey on a roll, Regan among donors
March 4, 2009 7:06 pm
In the only (so far) contested race for school board this May (zone 5), Scott Bailey has set the wheels in motion on what looks to be a campaign fund-raising juggernaut. He’s raised over $7,000, including $250 from school board member Bobbie Regan, and spent nearly $3,000 in the two months since he kicked off his campaign fund-raising efforts.
Other donors contributing more than $100 so far include Elizabeth Marantz ($200), Donald Oman ($200), Lynn Youngbar ($200), Joan Volpert ($200), Kalyn Culler Cohen ($200), Laura Foster ($150), Leslie Comnes ($200), Robert Arnott ($1,000) and David Oberhausen ($350).
Kari Chisolm’s Mandate Media, Inc., remains the number one beneficiary of Bailey’s campaign spending, having pocketed $1,000 for “management services”. Bailey also has campaign manager Kathy Couch on his payroll, to the tune of $900 since February 12.
Bailey’s opponent, Pam Knowles, will be playing catch up, having only raised $100 to date and spent nothing. One can assume the business community will start ponying up to her campaign soon enough, and the first mailers for both candidates should start hitting your mail box within the next several weeks.
The school board election for Portland Public Schools zones 4, 5 and 6 is May 19. The filing deadline is March 19.
Steve Rawley published PPS Equity from 2008 to 2010, when he moved his family out of the district.
filed under: Elections, School Board
March 4th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
But what if Bailey represents the interests of the business community? In Portland there’s a fine line between the movers and shakers, the ones likely to back Bailey, and business interests.
The line, in fact, may be non-existent.
March 5th, 2009 at 7:07 am
The overlap you speak of, Terry, is the fact that the middle and upper middle class run the show in Portland. Some of them own businesses and assert themselves as the “business community.” Others assert themselves through non-profits like Stand for Children or CPPS.
The coalition that gave us Bobbie, David and Dilafruz in 2003 is an example of this overlap.
But there are always shades of gray. I’m sure the percentage of Republicans in the Portland Business Alliance is about the same as the percentage of Democrats in Stand for Children, for example, even while they share a vision of “school reform” that preserves privilege and opportunity for white middle class neighborhoods at the expense of the rest of Portland.
It will be interesting to see the names that show up on Knowles’ balance sheet. My guess is she’s already got some big donations pledged and won’t mess around with the nickel and dime business (Bailey’s raised a big chunk through donations of $100 or less).
March 5th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I have a feeling she won’t, but we’ll see.
Dems and Republicans too often tend to be on the same side of “school reform”. It’s called neo-liberalism if you’re a Dem, and market-based accountability if you’re in the other party.
He may prove me wrong, but I fear Bailey fits right into the accountabilty crowd. He may be more receptive to higher taxes than the business types, but I don’t see him doing anything about choice and transfers. And that’s where the problem is with regard to school equity.