Portland is in desperate need of focused and courageous leadership. Homelessness -- a crisis for those without roofs, for homeowners and renters, for businesses and their patrons -- threatens to become the city's defining feature. Close on its heels is the steeply rising cost of housing and its consequences, from the pricing out of low- and middle-income residents to the demolition of older homes and the alteration of longstanding neighborhoods. Leading Portland amid these and other bedeviling challenges will require a mayor to learn quickly, to collaborate effectively with colleagues and others, to encourage discipline in both policymaking and spending and, perhaps most importantly, to have the courage to say "no" in the face of popular opinion. Ted Wheeler is the right person for the job.

Wheeler's political ascent began a decade ago, when he defeated Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn and brought a steady hand to the county commission following a period of dysfunction. Four years later, then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski appointed him to succeed state Treasurer Ben Westlund, who died in office. Wheeler was elected to the position in 2012. His experience as both a commission member and an elected executive will serve him well as Portland's mayor, a role that demands a balance of leadership and assiduous collaboration.

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And, boy, could Portland use some leadership and collaboration now.

Homelessness has long been a problem in the city, but the current crisis is far beyond the well-intentioned flailing of Mayor Charlie Hales, whose most notable response has been to permit tent camping and sidewalk sleeping pending the development of additional shelter space. Things haven't gone so well. Last month, a homeless man was shot at a camp near a school. More recently, the organizer of a bike-based camp for children canceled this summer's program in response to unruly behavior by campers along the Springwater Corridor. And just days ago, a coalition of businesses and neighborhood organizations sued Hales and the city over his camping policy.

Both Wheeler and his only qualified opponent, Jules Bailey, speak authoritatively about the humanitarian component of the city's homeless crisis. Any solution, both agree, must include the provision of adequate services, including those that focus on mental health and substance abuse, and the creation of sufficient shelter space and housing. But Wheeler speaks more forcefully and credibly about the need for law and order, acknowledging without prompting the detrimental effect rampant homelessness has not only on Portland residents, but also on local businesses and those who visit the city.

"City government can't look the other way," he told The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, emphasizing the need to "uphold community standards." That sentiment is something many Portland residents and businesses are eager to hear -- especially those near the North Park Blocks, which were occupied by transients for much of last summer while city officials all but looked the other way.

Housing is also a significant concern to those who have it, but struggle to pay for it. Both Bailey and Wheeler are thoroughly informed about the basic problem, and they agree on many of the same responses, from speeding up the city's approval process to increasing density in residential areas. And while both support the city's recent efforts to protect renters, both are appropriately wary of such extreme measures as rent control. Bailey says it's "not some silver bullet," and Wheeler openly opposes "flat-out rent control" as it exists in New York City, for instance.

Wheeler and Bailey are largely aligned on various other matters, too, including their support of the local gas tax, their concerns about Portland State University's proposed payroll tax and their shared commitment to oversee the city's police bureau if elected. Both, meanwhile, say the bureau's notorious "48-hour rule" should be ended, though here Wheeler's opposition is far less qualified. The rule gives officers involved in fatal shootings and similar events 48 hours before submitting to departmental questioning.

The quality of leadership in the mayor's office will improve if Bailey is elected, but it will improve dramatically if voters choose Wheeler. An effective leader isn't merely someone who can master complex material, recognize colleagues' strengths and weaknesses and forge the relationships needed to get things done -- skills voters can expect both Wheeler and Bailey to demonstrate. Effective leaders also -- and crucially -- know when to say "no" and have the courage to do it. Here, Wheeler stands out.

For all of Bailey's smarts, there is a quality of desperate pandering to his campaign. Notwithstanding the city's constrained budget outlook, Bailey has pledged to spend more money on the city's crowd-pleasing mounted patrol and expressed interest in further supplementing arts tax funding for regional arts organizations (Wheeler is far more equivocal here). In an effort to gain the support of one city union, Bailey even made a stunning pledge to replace the city's human resources director if elected. Wheeler has characterized this pledge correctly as inappropriate.

Wheeler is far more comfortable talking openly about the need for fiscal discipline. Portland, he says, has "a cost control problem as well as a revenue problem," the latter, he notes, primarily affecting transportation. With respect to spending, Wheeler also acknowledges that the city has suffered from "progressive mission creep for 25 years" and argues that Portland should "focus on things the city government can do, and only on things that work."

Wheeler also says he has problems with Initiative Petition 28, the enormous gross-receipts tax that may appear on November's ballot. Wheeler knows his reservations may not be shared by most Portlanders, but he's OK with that. Challenging the conventional wisdom may not be comfortable, but doing so when necessary is what leaders do. Bailey, by the way, supports IP28.

Wheeler and Bailey are smart, well-informed and well-intentioned. But only Wheeler possesses the leadership qualities Portland needs now so desperately. City voters should elect him.