Former City Commissioner Steve Novick Endorses Chloe Eudaly for Portland City Council

Steve Novick Felicity J. Mackay / Portland Bureau of Transportation

Former Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick wants Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, the very person who ousted him from office in 2016, to remain on Portland City Council.

"I tend to think that politicians who deliver on what they campaigned on, if they're not bad things, deserve to be reelected," wrote Novick, in an email to the Mercury. "Chloe ran as a tenants' rights activist, and she's delivered more tenants' rights than you can shake a stick at. She's done what she was elected to do."

Novick, who—like Eudaly—served as transportation commissioner while on council said that Eudaly shares his values on transportation. He's particularly supportive of Eudaly's Rose Lane project, which aims to create bus-only lanes across the city to speed up public transit commute times.

Eudaly was a political newcomer when she beat incumbent commissioner Novick in 2016 by more than 24,000 votes. Novick, a former Department of Justice lawyer, now works for Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum as an environmental law fellow. Novick was on City Council for a four-year term that didn't overlap with former Mayor Sam Adams' tenure. Adams is one of Eudaly's top challengers in the May 2020 election for her seat. Novick's not a fan.

"Sam Adams' biggest accomplishment was passing an extremely regressive tax with high administrative costs," wrote Novick, referencing the Arts Tax. "Adams as Transportation Commissioner let the streets rot for eight years. I probably have an unusually negative perspective on Sam because of specific issues I cared about and worked on. While I was in office I often thought of myself as the anti-Sam Adams."

Eudaly also has garnered the support of several sitting elected officials, including City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, Metro Regional Government President Lynn Peterson, US Senator Jeff Merkley, and US Congressman Earl Blumenauer.