leaders, moreover, has gone beyond philosophy to expediency. One of the reasons that Portland has not pursued an alternative strategy, as Mike Lindberg sees it, is that “business recruitment is something you can get your hands on, you can understand it, you can say, ‘What we need to do is make sure there’s Portland now finds itself at a turning point in history: it can let time and events pass it by, or it can address the changing conditions of this new era with a spirited and innovative approach to meeting the needs of its citizens. land and other facilities available and go out and talk a company into moving here.' These other strategies are more difficult to implement, people have difficulty grasping the concept, they’re more experimental, there’s probably more risktaking involved, and public officials tend to shy away from a riskier venture.” Elected with the hopes of Portland's neighborhood associations and other progressive, localist factions, both Lindberg and Strachan have not been perceived as strong advocates of alternative development proposals. Although they have both worked behind the scenes to promote projects that would add another dimension to the traditional model rather than supplant it, they have had few notable effects. Strachan was able to establish (without the help of the Ivancie-controlled Bureau of Planning) the Central City Plan Committee, empowered to create a framework for the core area’s social, cultural and economic future, and Lindberg created a task force to gather and evaluate alternative development models from around the nation. While some feel that they have let down their progressive constituents, others concede that the political balance of power on the City Council, the prevailing mood of the times, and most recently Lindberg’s hotly contested and expensive re-election campaign probably prevented them from taking effective action on an alternative agenda. In addition, neither want to abandon the types of business recruitment efforts that result in expansion of the electronics and other so- called “clean” industries. Both Strachan and Lindberg are looking forward to the inauguration of Mayorelect Clark, an avowed partisan of small business who is expected to share some of their concerns and who repeatedly stressed the city's responsibility to better meet the needs of its citizens during his campaign. They obviously believe that the new mayor will alter the balance of power in a way that will enable them to take a more active role in leading the city. Commissioner Mildred Schwab has generally voted with Ivancie on these issues, and has never shown an interest in seeking out an alternative. Commissioner Charles Jordan, on the other hand, is certainly a potential member of this new progressive coalition, although he has to this point played no significant role in advancing development strategies and must remain a question mark. Opportunity Knocks t any rate, Portland now finds itself, along with many other cities across the country, at a turning point in history: it can let time and events pass it by, or it can address the changing conditions of this new era with a spirited and innovative approach to meeting the needs of its citizens. The potential for a progressive economic development policy does exist in Portland: our strong neighborhood associations and mature planning process are the envy of other municipalities, while the diversity of existing small and large businesses combines with a strong cultural base and a high standard of livability to give Portland the tools necessary to become the kind of self-reliant city that will restore it to a position of national leadership. This is our opportunity. Large corporate capital — in its latter-day, bureaucratic, multi-national form — has shown itself unable to respond in a flexible and immediate manner to unique local conditions. In most cases, it has also been unwilling to play a socially responsible role in the communities where its branches are located. But if locally based, smaller and more responsive public-private partnerships are to replace it, a bold new vision of a self-reliant city-state must provide the direction and the motivation. “Qnly through attracting people to a vision of how things can be different can they enter the long period of change with optimism and joy and camaraderie,” David Morris counsels. If the votes could be assembled to defeat Frank Ivancie and his approach to economic development, perhaps they can now be used to move Portland away from its colonial status toward some real economic independence. Quality of life has always been our strongest suit, and a self-reliant city would give citizens the control to keep it that way. Some people even believe we would thrive and prosper. The time is ripe. Lynn Darroch is a frequent contributor to the CSQ whose favorite diet is jazz. 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