I missed the Jerry Deal and Terry Nagel campaign kick-off parties.  I was out of town for Jerry's and Terry's invite got lost in the mail.  But I was back for Ricardo Ortiz' kick-off which he held at his parents' house on Vancouver yesterday.  Today, Labor Day, is the traditional start of the Council campaigning and you should expect to see more lawn signs, door hangers, precinct walkers, mass mailings, etc from now to November 8th.  It's a three-way race since the fourth guy never actually filed to run.

Ricardo Ortiz' kick-off speech was set up like a business person would report their results for the quarter:  what does the City need to do to increase revenue and what does it need to do to contain costs?  It's a nice approach that will play well in this economic environment.  Ortiz endorsed Measure E for school funding and the talk around the event was how Terry Nagel has alienated the school parents that used to support her.  Will that be enough of an opening to beat a candidate who has run strong before?  We'll see.  Here is Ortiz (on the right) delivering the opening salvo.