Mike Delman News

Blog
About

MIKE EMERGES FROM CROWD ON PRIMARY NIGHT

May 22, 2008 on 10:02 pm | In News | No Comments

The voters of District 3 have spoken, and they decided that Mike Delman will be one of two candidates in the November election. With almost all the votes having been counted, Delman was one of six candidates in the race. While he has a broad range of experience in county government, this was the first time he has ever appeared on the ballot.

“I’m delighted to break out of a very crowded, splintered field,” said Delman. “I applaud the efforts of all five of my opponents. This was a very tough campaign, and I’m happy to emerge as the underdog in this race. I’ve talked with thousands of voters over the past year, and I found that many county residents feel like underdogs, too. So, I look forward to being their voice this fall.”

Delman spent the few days following the May 20th primary election calling supporters and volunteers on the campaign, discussing the results of the primary election with them, and planning campaign efforts for the summer and fall.

“We’re excited to gear up for the fall,” Delman said, “and we have great momentum built up. We ended the primary election with a very broad base of supporters, we got a string of key endorsements, and voters obviously responded to my detailed plans for county government. We started this campaign with zero name recognition, but we emerged from the pack and achieved the results we needed on election night.”

When asked about his campaign’s strategy for the fall, Mike replied “We’re going to continue doing what we’ve done all along. We’re going to show the people of Multnomah County that I’ve got fresh ideas and detailed plans backed by the best and broadest experience. And that I have a proven record as a collaborative problem-solver, too.”

Mike will face Judy Shiprack, the current executive director of the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council, in the fall general election.

Willamette Week Endorses Mike!

May 2, 2008 on 9:46 pm | In News | No Comments

Today, Willamette Week announced their endorsement of Mike Delman in the primary election for Multnomah County Commissioner, District 3. The paper’s editors focused on how tough their decision was given a crowded field of candidates and three strong front-runners. Citing Mike’s “proven record in Multnomah County government,” they pointed out that Mike’s experience “would balance [the current commissioners] as an old hand who knows the local players and understands how to work the byzantine county bureaucracy.”

The print version of the endorsement contains one additional bit of information (on page 16) not seen in the online version: “Some [candidates] won our hearts by demonstrating the chops to do the job they seek — we’ve attached a rose to our endorsement of those folks. And others made our hearts skip a beat, which we’ve indicated with a rearing horse, by showing us they’re capable of making real change.” Mike Delman was the only candidate in the District 3 county commissioner’s race to earn a rearing horse.

Willamette Week is an award-winning weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, including a 2005 Pulitzer Prize awarded to one of its reporters for investigative reporting. You can read the full endorsement here, or pick up a copy of Willamette Week locally.

This endorsement truly complements Mike’s broad group of supporting individuals and organizations, including the Multnomah County Corrections Officers Association, the Oregon Nurses Association, Stand for Children, the Portland Tribune, and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555, former Multnomah County Commissioners Gary Hansen and Sharron Kelley, former Multnomah County Chair Don Clark, former Portland City Commissioners Erik Sten and Mike Lindberg, Steve Rudman (housing advocate), Mike Houck (urban greenspaces advocate), former Republican state representative Gene Saylor, Barbara Rommel (school superintendent), Annette Mattson (school board member), and Fred Sanchez and Alan Sanchez (board members of the Gateway Business Association).

A full list of Mike’s supporters can be found here.

Portland Tribue Endorses Mike!

May 2, 2008 on 9:36 pm | In News | No Comments

The Portland Tribune has endorsed Mike Delman for County Commissioner, District 3. As the editor’s themselves said, “The continued reformation of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners would be helped greatly by the election of Mike Delman to replace retiring Commissioner Lisa Naito.” The editorial goes on to discuss Mike’s broad experience and speaks highly of Mike’s opponents in this race, but concludes that “District 3 residents will get the best representation from Delman, who understands their needs and also knows how to get things accomplished at the county.”

“This just caps two great weeks for us on the campaign,” Mike said. “Earning such a diverse range of organizational endorsements — from nurses, corrections officers, union members, children’s advocates, and now two major newspapers — is fantastic. People recognize that I have both great, fresh ideas for county government and the best and broadest experience to put those ideas to work.”

The Portland Tribune is an award-winning local newspaper published twice weekly in Portland, Oregon, that focuses primarily on local news and opinion. A complete copy of their editorial endorsement supporting Mike can be found online through their website.

Mike Delman Receives Co-Endorsement from Multnomah County Democrats

April 30, 2008 on 1:25 am | In News | No Comments

Mike was one of the three candidates for Multnomah County Commission, District 3, to receive an endorsement from the Multnomah County Democratic Party. “As a Democratic Party Precinct Person, I know how difficult these decisions can be,” Mike said. “So, I’m thrilled to receive this recognition from my peers.”

[Editor’s Note: I have re-written this post to state that Mike was endorsed by the Multnomah County Democrats along with two other candidates in the same race. As the author of the previous version of this news blurb, I did not use the term “co-endorsement” or “co-endorsed” because I found the language to be awkward and unwieldy. And I simply assumed that most people are smart enough to figure out that if three candidates recieve an endorsement from the same organization, then that three-way endorsement constitutes a “co-endorsement.” While I did not write the previous version of this post with the intent of tricking or misleading readers, Mike received a request to revise this post to more clearly state right up front that Mike received a “co-endorsement.” If you have any questions about this news blurb — or any other portion of Mike’s website — please email me at joel@mikedelman.com or call me at 503-381-5251. (Joel Corcoran)]

Oregon Nurses Association Endorses Mike!

April 21, 2008 on 11:38 pm | In News | No Comments

Mike Delman is very proud to announce that he received the endorsement of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) last week. The ONA was founded over a hundred years ago as Oregon’s professional association for nurses, and Mike was the only candidate in the race for Multnomah County Commission District 3 to receive their endorsement. “I’m honored that the ONA has favored me over my opponents in this very crowded race, and I look forward to working with the ONA on health care reform in Multnomah County if I’m elected.”

One of Mike’s most important projects as Multnomah County Commissioner will be re-opening a full-service public-health clinic in Southeast Portland. Even in the face of continuing county budget cuts, Mike knows that health care is one of the fundamental services the county provides, and Southeast Portland sorely lacks facilities to provide health services to uninsured or under-insured residents in the area. If he’s elected, Mike will work with local health service providers — like Providence Health System and Portland Adventist Health Services — to create a public-private partnership supporting the re-established health clinic in Southeast Portland.

Stand for Children Endorses Mike!

March 5, 2008 on 9:44 pm | In News | No Comments

Yesterday, Colleen Davis announced that Mike Delman had received Stand for Children’s official endorsement in the race for Multnomah County Commissioner (District 3). In announcing the endorsement, Ms. Davis said that the Stand for Children members “were so impressed with the quality of caring, knowledgeable citizens wanting to work to improve important issues in Portland.” Mike is thrilled with the endorsement and looks forward to working with Stand for Children on a range of issues in the future.

Stand for Children is a national, grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to promoting programs that invest in children — in their education and enrichment from pre-school through high school. You can learn more about Stand for Children through their website. For more information on Mike’s position on education and other issues important to children, please take a look at the On the Issues section of our website.

Mike Houck likes Mike

February 15, 2008 on 5:32 pm | In News | No Comments

Mike Houck, urban park and greenspace advocate, has endorsed Mike Delman for Multnomah County Commissioner

Steve Rudman likes Mike

February 4, 2008 on 8:06 am | In News | No Comments

Steve Rudman, Director of the Housing Authority of Portland has endorsed Mike’s campaign for Multnomah County Commissioner.

Annette Mattson likes Mike

December 19, 2007 on 3:41 am | In News | No Comments

Annette Mattson, David Douglas School Board Chair, has endorsed Mike Delman for Multnomah County Commissioner

Open Wapato Jail to Make Our Communities Safer

December 14, 2007 on 1:19 am | In News | No Comments

Open Wapato Jail to Fight Statewide Drug War

If classical economists are correct that an “invisible hand” guides our economy, then the hand of the methamphetamine epidemic has smashed us in the face.

Meth costs Oregonians more $400 million annually in property crimes, fires, environmental cleanup, health bills and foster care.

The average meth addict commits 200 burglaries a year. The cost to Department of Human Services case-loads, grossly abused children and their crippled performance in school is incalculable.
Unfortunately, the state corrections system is merely charged with warehousing most drug-addicted inmates without alcohol & drug treatment, dooming them commit more crimes upon their release from custody. (recidivism) to costly recidivism upon their release.
This is statewide problem, but inside the empty Wapato jail in North Portland is a statewide opportunity for attacking meth.
Here’s how the pilot program would work:

Rather than have the Oregon Department of Corrections merely warehouse criminals without giving them alcohol & drug treatment, the DOC should release select drug offenders to the county where we can place in the Wapato jail and begin mandatory alcohol & drug treatment.
Every time the DOC would divert an inmate to Wapato, the DOC would save between $28,000 and $40,000, or $4.2 million to $6.0 million biennially for Wapato’s 150-drug treatment beds. This includes housing, security health care programming, facility operations and facility administration. It does not include central administration costs and debt service.
The DOC could take those savings, and annually lease some Wapato A&D space for $2 million to $3 million.. This state revenue stream could provide the gap financing necessary for the county to open part of Wapato.
Existing Drug Courts could provide the judicial mechanism for moving offenders from expensive incarceration – into mandatory alcohol & drug treatment.
The DOC savings could also provide staff analysis to confirm that inmates receiving shorter sentences – with drug treatment – are less likely to become chronic repeat offenders, than if they served more longer sentences without drug treatment.
A fraction of the DOC savings could provide post-release treatment to ensure recidivism success.

We realize that advocating for drug treatment beds does not pack the emotional wallop of hurling convicts into dungeons.   Yet we should deplore how the 2007 Legislature swallowed a $1.1 billion state corrections budget, but choked on a mere $2 million to restore lost A &D beds.
The evidence is getting harder to ignore. Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Eric Bloch runs the DUIL Court with an impressive 3.7 percent recidivism rate.   Other counties report similar successes. On the federal level, President George Bush now calls alcohol and drug courts one of our wisest investments and advocates their local expansion.
The DOC and Multnomah County Justice Services need to look at partnerships with private, non-profits like the Oregon Partnership to further leverage and expand resources in prevention.
A state strategy for Wapato drug treatment would reduce pressure on the Department of Corrections’ need to propose $400 million for construction of new prisons in the 2009 Legislature. The strategy could also become a model for other counties.
We think the Legislature is ready to listen.

###
Mike Delman is the Director of Public Affairs for the Portland Habilitation Center and a candidate for the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. Patrick Donaldson is an original co-founder of the Citizens Crime Commission and Immediate Past President of the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations (APNBA)

— Next Page »