With the November election now just days away, time is running out to help make sure Pro-Union, Pro-AFSCME candidates become our next Portland City Council members.  We're asking folks to read about each of candidates our members have endorced and help spread the word.  Links to each of their website are listed below.  And here's a link to a form where members can sign up to take *direct action* in support of one or more of these wonderful folks (including our own fellow AFSCME Local 189 member, Chris Flanary, who's running in CD 3).   

The City Councilor positions to be filled are all brand-new jobs.  While some candidates may have served in similar, or similarly named, offices in the past, no one has ever before been a Portland City Councilor in Portland’s new form of government.  It will be the first time since 1913 that there are no incumbents (because the office is newly created) and will be the only time, at least until the next Charter Reform, that all 12 City Councilor seats are to be filled in a single election.  This unique opportunity to set the pattern for future Councils, combined with new ranked-choice voting and small donor matching fund opportunities, resulted in an electoral race which has drawn an extraordinary number of candidates, from a wide range of backgrounds, approaching the role with an equally wide array of visions for what the role is and will become.  Likewise, the changes to the role of Portland Mayor has attracted a broader range of candidates than we've seen in quite some time.  In fact, of all the elected offices in Portland city Goverment, only one--the office of Portland City Auditor--is unchanged as a direct result of Charter Reform.   

At the July 9 General Membership Meeting, AFSCME Local 189 members chose the following candidates to endorse.  

For the office of City Auditor:  Simone Rede.

For the office of Mayor of Portland:  Carmen Rubio.

For the office of Portland City Councilor, Council District 1: Candace Avalos, Jamie Dunphy, Timur Ender, and Steph Routh.

For the office of Portland City Councilor, Council District 2: Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Jonathan Tasini, and Nat West.  In a subsequent meeting, members also endorced Dan Ryan 

For the office of Portland City Councilor, Council District 3: Jesse Cornett, Chris Flanary, Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Steve Novick.

For the office of Portland City Councilor, Council District 4: Mitchell Green, Tony Morse, and Sarah Silkie.