Well, there sure are a lot of candidates to cover this time around. Tripling the number of Portland City Council seats with a new voting system aiming to improve representation will do that.
Street Roots also needs to provide readers with information about that new voting system and the four geographical districts the 12 new City Council members will represent. Oh, and six of the most popular spots for voters to return ballots — Multnomah County libraries — moved this year due to construction.
So, there are city, county, state and federal candidates, an entirely new local government and voting system, and big changes to how some voters will return their ballots. Street Roots also identified a number of local and state ballot measures relevant to our readership. With its one staff reporter, one editor, one digital producer and one illustrator/designer, Street Roots did its best to provide readers with information on each. It already published stories on the new ranked-choice voting system and geographical districts, as well as how, where and when to register and vote.
Now it’s time to publish three straight issues entirely (or almost entirely) consumed by information on who and what are on the ballot.
The effort required contracting Tom Henderson, longtime Oregon journalist and Street Roots freelancer, to send questionnaires to over 100 candidates and provide three subsequent reminders. Marjorie Skinner, contract managing editor, also stepped in to push Street Roots’ three election issues across the finish line.
It was a heavy lift, and everyone had to pitch in.
In total, Street Roots contacted 122 candidates. There were additional candidates Street Roots would have contacted in an ideal world. So many people threw their hats in the ring for City Council and Portland mayor, Street Roots had to make the difficult decision of limiting its scope to candidates with more realistic chances of winning. In an elections system still swayed by influence and the almighty dollar, the bar was set by which candidates raked in enough dough to have to register a campaign finance account with the state two months before voting day.
Street Roots adopted its questionnaire model, initially for primaries due to the much higher number of candidates in those elections, in spring 2022. As a small staff, it can’t possibly interview and write stories about dozens of candidates, let alone hundreds. The questionnaire allows the paper to ask a large pool of candidates a limited number of critical questions and publish their answers. This election marks the first time Street Roots relied on the model for the majority of a general election.
Street Roots circulated a reader survey asking prospective voters to rank what matters most to them. Street Roots then relied on the newspaper staff to write those questions based on those rankings. As a result, the paper asked candidates about homelessness and housing policy, environmental policy and other high-profile topics.
Street Roots encouraged candidates to provide concise, substantive answers with specific proposals. Some answers diverge from the restraints of our material reality and find themselves rooted firmly in misconception or misinformation. Some answers include thoughtful policy proposals backed by research and expertise. Some are idealistic platitudes. Some are rage-filled rants. Regardless, each answer is helpful for voters trying to sift through the hundreds of names set to appear on their ballots.
As with every round of questionnaires Street Roots circulated over the past two and a half years, some candidates were more serious about communicating with voters than others. Of the 122 candidates, including a few contacted for interviews rather than 300 word questionnaires, 59 responded.
Because Street Roots believes it’s important to notify voters which candidates simply chose not to respond to these critical questions, it will publish the names of each candidate that let Henderson’s initial email and multiple reminders languish in their inbox for weeks. It will also publish the questions those candidates elected not to answer.
Street Roots hopes this resource, in addition to all the other election coverage, can help voters inform themselves ahead of November.
Sincerely,
K. Rambo
Street Roots Editor in Chief
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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This article appears in October 9, 2024.