Politics Portland Moguls Fund Poll to Test Repeal of Preschool for All

Some of the city’s wealthiest men are testing voters’ appetite for repealing a tax on high-income earners.

A group of Portland business owners have funded a poll to test voter appetite for repealing Multnomah County’s Preschool for All tax, among other potential ballot measures.

Real estate mogul Greg Goodman sent an email March 27 to 10 other Portland businessmen asking them to chip in $5,000 each for the poll. The poll, Goodman wrote, would ask respondents about six potential ballot initiatives. Four out of the six take aim at Multnomah County, one is specific to the city of Portland, and another relates to both governments.

WW has received screenshots of the poll, and confirmed it’s in circulation.

The six ballot initiatives the poll tests: requiring a minimum number of police officers for the city; requiring Multnomah County to fund 700 jail beds, which Goodman says are currently sitting vacant; requiring third-party audits of Multnomah County programs; an in-person work mandate for city and county employees; restricting where “tents, tarps and sleeping bags can be distributed and used”; and repealing Multnomah County’s Preschool for All tax.

Reached by text, Goodman tells WW: “We have loads of challenges and want to see what voters think about any number [of] issues that affect them, and framing some like a ballot measure is how the pollster thought would be most illuminating.”

The 600-voter survey also gauges their mood as it relates to local elected officials, including Mayor Keith Wilson, the Portland City Council, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, and the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners.


All but three of the elected officials in the two governments (City Councilor Dan Ryan, County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards and Chair Vega Pederson) are newly seated as of Jan. 1, 2025. That means public sentiment about their performance is likely malleable.

In his email, Goodman wrote to his fellow businessmen that the poll’s price tag is $44,000. The two longtime political consultants that created the poll, Goodman wrote, are Rich Schlackman and Paige Richardson.

Both Richardson and Schlackman launched separate independent expenditure campaigns for two mayoral candidates last year. Richardson spearheaded what was largely a nonexistent independent expenditure campaign for mayoral candidate Carmen Rubio last year. Shlackman ran a similarly unfruitful independent expenditure campaign for current Mayor Keith Wilson, who pulled out a surprising victory over Rubio and another city commissioner at the time, Rene Gonzalez.

Richardson previously worked last year in conjunction with a similar group of businessmen to successfully convince the Legislature to undo much of Measure 110, the 2020 ballot measure that decriminalized small amounts of hard drugs. Richardson has worked on dozens of campaigns and ballot measures over the past two decades in Portland and in Oregon, often for progressives.

The pollster is John Horvick of DHM Research—a local go-to pollster trusted by business groups.

Goodman wrote that he and Warren Rosenfeld, the president of Calbag Metals, had worked with Richardson and Schlackman to brainstorm the poll questions. Rosenfeld is a board member of the Oregon Journalism Project, a news nonprofit founded by WW’s co-owner. (Another recipient of the email is also on OJP’s board: John von Schlegell of Endeavour Capital.)

“It is our preference to tell you the issues that we are polling are as opposed to sending the poll out, as we can’t afford to have the poll made public,” Goodman wrote. “That said, as we are asking each of you to ‘kick in’ 5k, so if you want to see it, we would be happy to share if you promise not to show anyone. Obviously, all the results will be provided by a ZOOM call as soon as we get them.”

The Preschool for All Tax is a marginal tax on high-income earners to fund preschool placements for all 3- and 4-year-olds in the county. The tax has brought in higher-than-expected revenues since its inception, and though the county has regularly insisted it is meeting, and even exceeding, its program targets, WW’s past reporting shows the implementation has been shaky.

The county says it funded over 2,200 preschool seats across 130 different facilities in school year 2023-24, through the program. The program aims to fund 11,000 seats total by 2030.

The tax is set to increase by 0.8% in 2027. County commissioners voted last year to delay the tax increase by one year, as it was originally set to increase at the start of 2026.

One question, according to screenshots of the poll obtained by WW, asked respondents how they felt about the following statement in relation to a return-to-office measure: “The City of Portland has more than 8,000 employees. This measure will bring these people out of their homes and back into the community, helping to revitalize the city’s downtown and neighborhoods.”

Another question asked how respondents felt about the statement: “Portlanders deserve high-quality services for the taxes they pay. Employees who work in person are more effective. This measure will help ensure that city employees are productive and deliver results for the community.”

And yet another statement the pollsters asked respondents about: “Require Multnomah County to establish minimum funding and staffing levels to ensure all jail beds remain operational, preventing the early release of inmates due to insufficient staff or resources.”

Other recipients of Goodman’s email include Tim Boyle, the CEO of Columbia Sportswear; Ed Maletis, owner of Portland Bottling and Recycling; real estate tycoon Jordan Schnitzer; and commercial real estate investor Robert Ames.

Goodman wrote that he and Rosenfeld would cover the remaining cost of the poll should they not raise enough money.

“After we see the results,” Goodman wrote, “we will hire Paige and Richard to formulate concepts of initiatives or other strategies.”

When reached by phone, Richardson said to WW: “These are folks that care deeply about our city. They’ve asked for my advice. I often don’t agree with them on policy issues, but I’d rather be in the conversation than out of it. But to my progressive friends: Don’t worry, I’ve not lost my mind.”

https://www.wweek.com/news/city/202...uss-poll-to-test-repeal-of-preschool-for-all/

 

I wonder if the extra money can be used for the Head Start Program since the Feds cut their funding?

 

Yes.

 

Pretty shitty to do that on the back of Trump closing down the headstart regional office here.

 

I suggest we poll the popularity of levying a massive tax on parking lots.

barfo

 

That would poll high