Armchair Mayor

This month’s Armchair Mayor is Sarah Shaoul, owner of Black Wagon on Mississippi Avenue, which sells items for babies and kids. The boutique has been quite a success, but the selection committee has another reason for choosing Shaoul: her expertise on small businesses and the economic climate in Portland. One of the most volatile debates raging in the blogosphere and on local talk radio is just how friendly more...

It’s true: Our group of Armchair Mayors is rapidly approaching pantheon status. So, how does the Selection Committee do it? By surveying the vast human panorama that is Portland and mixing it up as much as possible. For example, last month we had the enduring tradition of folk music with Richard Colombo, the owner of Artichoke Music, so this time we’re going right into the digital age. Let’s have more...

Are you still worn down from all those scintillating political ads on TV? How about those political phone calls and surveys? Well, you can relax. Neighborhood Notes has factored all that in with this month’s Armchair Mayor selection. After two mayoral candidates in a row, we’ve decided to turn to the arts with folk musician and business owner Richard Colombo of Artichoke Music. Has it really been more more...

Are you feeling underwhelmed by the current frontrunners in the mayor’s race? If so, you are not alone. The Big Three are giving a lot of Portlanders a precognitive case of voters’ remorse. Normally, the Armchair Mayor Selection Committee would stay out of the fray, in favor of a regular citizen, but mayoral candidate Cameron Whitten delivered big time as last month’s selection, so it’s back more...

This month, the Armchair Mayor Selection Committee poses a deeply philosophical question: Can you be an Armchair Mayor while being an actual candidate for the office? The answer turns out to be yes, but there has to be a good reason. Fortunately, with March’s Armchair Mayor, Cameron Whitten, there is. Whitten recently arrived in Portland after fleeing an abusive upbringing in Virginia marked by violence from more...

This month’s Armchair Mayor is Tony Fuentes—also our first honoree to go by the title “Chief Executive Papa.” This is in reference to the Milagros Boutique that he runs with his wife Jennifer in the Concordia neighborhood, providing baby supplies for “little miracles and their mamas.” If your child is not feeling all that miraculous that day, there is also a play area and a rocking more...

This year marks a renewed examination of the East Portland-West Portland divide so what better way to start than with Cora Lee Potter, a community leader from Lents. She has chaired the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Advisory Committee (LTCURAC) and continues to advocate for the neighborhood she loves while working as a planner in regional community transportation. However, it is her other titles on LinkedIn that more...

This month’s Armchair Mayor is author Phil Stanford, who spent more than 20 years as a columnist for The Oregonian and The Portland Tribune. Stanford lives in the Ardenwald-Johnson Creek neighborhood, where he now spends his days researching and writing books. He is two-thirds of the way through a Rose City Trilogy about the history of Portland in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ’70, and the first two, more...