Mayoral candidates endorsed four weeks before election

Mayoral candidate endorsements are rolling in with less than a month to go before the Nov. 8 elections.

The Portland Education Association, a professional association for teachers representing more than 800 employees, announced Tuesday that it plans to support Nick Mavodones' bid for mayor.

The Portland Education Association held a news conference at Deering High School, and the group said it "strongly" endorsed Mavodones for the new elected-mayor position.

"Members of the PEA feel Nick is a 'friend of education' and certainly someone who has tremendous experience in city government," stated Kathleen Casasa, PEA president. "We are confident he will be a great mayor and a strong advocate for public education in Portland."

Mavodones was the number one choice for the PEA. The group also endorsed Mike Brennan, Markos Miller and Ethan Strimling as the union's second, third and fourth choices, respectively. The election will be decided by ranked choice voting, means the follow-up selections of voters will come into play if no candidate receives a majority vote.

"… The endorsement of Portland educators means a great deal to me," said Mavodones, a former school board member.

"Our teachers and educators do a great job educating our kids," he said. "We have to continue to support them by making education funding a priority, renovating and rebuilding out of date schools and investing in early childhood education."

The PEA said it planned to send the message of its endorsements to its current and retired members.

"These are difficult times for public schools," Casasa said. "Now more than ever we need to elect leaders that will stand up for public education and the students we serve.”

Brennan also received an endorsement form Portland Tomorrow, a group that supported the city charter and includes former charter commissioners, school board members and other residents.

The group made its decision by evaluating candidates on their vision for Portland, commitment to the job, ability to build consensus and lead, and whether each candidate has support throughout the city.

"Our interview process focused on identifying one or more candidates who best meet the criteria for elected mayor as described in the new city charter," stated Pamela Plumb, former chairwoman of the Portland Charter Commission and current member of Portland Tomorrow.

"After careful review of all the candidates, Portland Tomorrow believes that Mike Brennan best meets this standard," she said. "He has proven success at bringing together different constituencies to forge a consensus … (and) also recognizes the need for economic development and job growth."

Portland Tomorrow made each candidate's response to the group's questionnaires available on the website PortlandTomorrow.com.

"I'm very pleased by those endorsements because they show that my campaign is growing," Brennan said on Tuesday. "I think it points to the broad base support that the campaign is starting to receive across the city."

The campaign for Jed Rathband announced yesterday that next Tuesday, Oct. 18, Roxanne Quimby is hosting a fundraiser in support of his bid for mayor. "Roxanne has graciously opened her home and we hope to see you there. I am honored to have her support and yours," Rathband reported in an email message.

Other endorsements have trickled in over time. Last month, the League of Young Voters endorsed David Marshall as its top choice for mayor.

There are 15 people running for mayor, a position that carries a four-year term and earns about $66,000 per year. The new position, which was created in 2010 when voters approved revisions to the city charter, includes a handful of new duties including veto power over the budget. The charter change also brought ranked choice or instant runoff voting — a system in which voters can rank each candidate in order of preference.

Currently, Portland’s mayor is a city councilor that serves for one term and is selected each fall by the entire city council. The position is part-time, pays about $7,200 per year and acts as “first among equals” with the rest of the council. The position is currently being held by Mavodones.

A mayoral forum is slated for today at the Preble Street Resource Center. Preble Street Homeless Voices for Justice has invited all 15 candidates running for Portland mayor to a voter education forum at 9:30 a.m. Later today, at 6:30 p.m., West End Neighborhood Association plans to host a mayoral candidates’ forum at the Reiche Community Center, with submitted questions.