Oregon Public Broadcasting

The two leading contenders for Portland mayor squared off Friday at the City Club of Portland. And they gave some clear indications of their differences.

Sam Adams is a sitting city commissioner who has spent his entire professional life either in office, or helping elected officials, like former Mayor Vera Katz and Congressman Peter DiFazio.

Sho Dozono is a businessman who has helped sponsor major civic efforts. He organized the “Flight for Freedom” which sent hundreds of Portlanders to New York after the 911 attacks.

He also founded the Portland Schools’ Foundation and helped raise significant money for public  schools.  Dozono says his experience as a business owner and civic leader have taught him to lead by consensus.

Sho Dozono: “Running a business as CEO, is challenging at times, but working in the community, bringing  people of different, diverse backgrounds, to solve issues on behalf of our community, has been a hallmark of my leadership style. Collaboration is so important in this community, bringing people together, to unify people, to solve common issues, to make sure we’re moving forward as a community, not because I have a personal agenda.”

Dozono has accused Sam Adams of pursuing a political agenda as "transportation commissioner",  and that he’s favored “pet projects” over core services.

It’s a charge Adams dismisses, saying that the current city council has sometimes had to prioritize spending on certain projects, because of outside matching funds, for instance.

Adams emphasized his policy ideas, and the importance of being able to move  decisively when necessary. He made that point by arguing that sometimes working with people who aren’t interested in cooperating can slow things down.

The example Adams gave involved the Portland Development Commission, which had tangled with city commissioners frequently in the recent past.

Sam Adams: “I’m for growing Portland’s sustainable and green industries. Vera Katz and Erik Sten tried to make this a priority with PDC, six or seven years ago. They resisted.  And in the meantime, we’ve lost a lot of our leadership position in an industry that we should own in reality and own in perception. When you think of movies, you think of Hollywood, when you think of green industries, I want folks you should think of Portland. Why PDC should exist is to implement the council’s directions. That’s the reforms that we’ve made is that they are there to implement the council’s directions. We don’t do development – that’s their job. We do policy, they implement it.”

Dozono called the changes to the Portland Development Commission, “meddling” by the Portland city council.

The two candidates also differed over WalMart -- with Adams wanting to keep the multi-national at bay, and Dozono being reluctant to send an “anti-business” message.

They also differed on how to fund the billions of dollars in deferred road maintenance in the city.

Dozono and Adams will meet again Monday night, for a televised debate on KGW, Channel 8.