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One thing at a time YOUR ONLINE LOCAL 40th fete Coach next move on Trail Blazers’ list Forest Grove show attracts — See SPORTS, B10 DAILY NNEEWS valuable Model A, Mercedes-Benz www.portlandtribune.com — See LIFE, B1 PortlandTHURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILYd PAPERTTribune • WWW.PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COMrib •u PUBLISHEDn THURSDAYe TRIBUNE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT Daniel Coppedge, 10, stopped for a free lunch at Lane Middle School through Portland Parks & Recreation’s free meals program. Summer meals are lifesaver for many Annual PPS, parks food program focuses #HELPING CHARLIE WIN on neighbors in need By JENNIFER ANDERSON The Tribune Eli Jah Montalvo runs into ■ Mary Nichols wants to turn tweets into votes for mayoral candidate the Lane Middle School cafe- teria and immediately spots t’s a typical day as Mary Nichols takes With kids ranging in age from 3 to 13 (fi ve what he’d been hoping for. in a campaign strategy meeting, heads boys and the oldest a girl), Nichols says she’s “Kiwis, kiwis!” he shouts, to Costco for groceries, catches up on barely had enough time to vote, much less be grabbing the two fruits from a Imarketing jobs for part of the city’s most small table near the serving her half-dozen clients, critical race. line. hangs out with Charlie Story by Jennifer Anderson “I’ve either been birth- “I eat the entire thing, fur Hales on the campaign Photos by Christopher Onstott ing, nursing or raising and everything. I love it.” trail, and blasts off a kids,” she says. “I’m pret- The 10-year-old, who attends round of Tweets and ty much one of the most school in Florida but is staying Facebook posts. unpolitical people you’ll ever meet.” with his grandma in Southeast Oh, and in between it all she takes care of So how did she land smack-dab in the mid- Portland this summer, quickly her six — yes, six — children. dle of Portland’s biggest election? stashes the kiwis in his bag to “Working is good for my soul,” says the She blames it on Hales’ “awesomeness” — take home. 43-year-old Eastmoreland marketing guru. “I He’ll share them with his need a break from my mama drama.” See NICHOLS / Page 2 friends and neighbors at his apartment complex. “I take celery home, put pea- “(Social media) is just another tool in my arsenal. I’m able to engage nut butter and raisins on it, and Mary Nichols (top), a Southeast Portland mom of six and social media call it ants on a log,” he says. guru, is one of mayoral candidate Charlie Hales’ behind-the-scenes directly with consumers and followers, nd what they like, want, need, “It’s a very healthy snack. My strategists. build relationships that weren’t there before.” — MARY NICHOLS friend never heard of it. Now he thinks it’s awesome.” See FOOD / Page 5 ThisWeek Report: Nurture rms to boost pay Online ■ Region needs By JIM REDDEN Traded Sector: A source of good But the report found that many tive to some metro areas is the re- The Tribune jobs, higher wages and small busi- Portland professionals who could sult of lagging wage growth in the Local stories that you to do a better ness growth,” commissioned by a sell their services outside the region traded-services sector,” according read about first at job attracting The average Portland-area in- local business consortium, focuses earn far less than their counterparts to the report. high-salary comes lag behind other metro- on jobs in the “traded sector,” where in the other cities. They include law- The report does not speculate on www.portlandtribune.com politan areas, including Seattle, goods and services are sold outside yers, architects, accountants and fi - reasons for the differences. One of traded-sector Denver and Minneapolis. A new the region. Such jobs traditionally nancial managers. the economists who worked on the ■ NEWS — Sex offender fi rms, business report is shedding some light on pay more than local jobs, bringing “This traded-sector study reveals report, however, has some theories. tells cops: ‘I hurt the kid’ group says why. new money into communities and that a signifi cant portion of the Port- — Af davit provides more The report, “Portland-Metro’s creating even more local jobs. land region’s declining income rela- See EARNINGS / Page 9 details about July 1 assault at Wendy’s restaurant. (Posted Tues., July 10) Search: Wendy’s. ■ Metro’s Opt In wins in- ternational praise — On- line survey program includ- This time, Big Floaters Marisa Frieder ed in report on innovating swims across public involvement pro- the Willamette grams around the world. River toward the (Posted Mon., July 9) Search: Hawthorne Bowl. Opt In. plan to hit the beach Volunteers hope to convert the ■ FEATURES — 2012 Kia To be successful, a has a partly sandy beach on the clear rocks from the sand, post area north of Rio SX — Revamped sub- Willamete River, but swimmers signs that warn people to swim RiverPlace into a compact impresses with sandy idea must slide and sunbathers rarely use it. at their own risk, and install more swimmer- styling, features, ride. (Post- Will Levenson wants to buoys in the summer to keep friendly beach, ed Wed., July 4) Search: Kia. past regulatory muck change that. swimmers safely away from by removing the Levenson, co-owner of Popina barges and motorboats. rocks and ■ SPORTS — Blazers’ Ol- By STEVE LAW Swimwear and organizer of The Portlanders are poised to start installing buoys shey: I didn’t come here The Tribune Big Float event on the Willa- swimming in the river anyway, to keep people for quick xes — General mette River, recently fi led an ap- Levenson reasons, since the away from manager Neil Olshey talks Paris and London haul in plication with Portland Parks & city’s $1.4 billion Big Pipe project about his plan of attack. sand each summer to create Recreation to turn the Haw- has eliminated most summer- motorized (Posted Monday, July 9) fake beaches in the heart of thorne Bowl north of RiverPlace time discharges of untreated vessels. Search: Olshey. their cities. into a user-friendly beach. He TRIBUNE PHOTO: Downtown Portland already proposes a volunteer effort to See BEACH / Page 4 CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT MARITIME JULY 13-15 HERITAGE CITY DOCKS FESTIVAL ST HELENS MaritimeHeritageFestival.org Free to the Public A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, July 12, 2012 Nichols: Tech-savvy voters may decide race ■ From page 1 his campaign platform that in- spired her to jump into volun- teer mode this spring. After hearing Hales in a radio interview in the months before the May primary election, Nich- ols says she loved how he seemed like a “regular guy” with city leadership already un- der his belt. She put in several hours of research on all three candi- dates, confirming her convic- tions. But she found Hales’ cam- paign lacking in one depart- ment: its use of social media left something to be desired. So she contacted Hales, offer- ing her professional marketing expertise. “I thought it needed help,” Nichols says diplomatically. “(The campaign) had a pres- ence but wasn’t truly engaging people and providing engaging content. I knew I had my work cut out for me.” After Hales’ 6,678-vote victo- ry over rival mayoral candidate, state Rep. Jefferson Smith, in the primary (Nichols tweeted live from the corner of the room on election night), the campaign hired her on as a part-time mar- keting consultant to lead its so- cial media efforts. She got off to a running start. Last week, Hales’ campaign logged his 2,000th Facebook friend; he has about 900 Twitter followers. Smith’s campaign has trIBUNe PHoto: CHrIstoPHer oNstott amassed 6,200 Facebook fans Mary Nichols works from home with her son, river, 3, nearby. He’s a big fan of Charlie Hales. the political novice is using the campaign as a civics lesson for her family. they discuss and 934 Twitter followers. An- city issues at home, help canvass and wave signs. other 300 Facebook friends and 2,655 Twitter followers are signed on to Smith’s personal or 44, Hibbitts says. in the TV spots in which she tes- accounts, which he regularly Smith, the 38-year-old found- tified to Hales’ support of educa- uses to communicate with his er of the get-out-the-youth-vote tion; the whole clan also helped supporters. Bus Project, probably has a bit with house parties and canvass- of a head start with most if not ing and waved signs for Hales on the youth vote all of these voters, Hibbitts says, the Hawthorne Bridge. If cyber numbers alone told but that doesn’t directly trans- “We talked about garbage and the story, one might predict that late to votes. recycling and the schedule Smith would have the edge go- “They’re still being intro- change,” Nichols says. “I was ex- ing into the November election. duced to both candidates,” he plaining to them those are types Local elections pollster Tim says. “Just because Smith might of things we can all have a say Hibbitts, of DHM Research, says appeal to them generally — in.” more Facebook and Twitter ‘Hey, you’re close to my age’ — In the four months until the friends does not equate to win- that doesn’t mean he has their general election, both Hales and ning the race. vote.” Smith will spread their grass- “It is a factor, yes, but I don’t roots base through social media overplay it,” he says, noting that Inspiring people as well as old-fashioned door- voters will consider advertising Portland residents already knocking, coffees, public forums and the candidates’ statements have a mayor who is no stranger and television ads.