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Michael Sands

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Michael Sands

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Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Arizona, 1959

Law

Stanford Law School, 1962

Personal
Birthplace
New York, N.Y.
Religion
None
Profession
Attorney and Professor

Michael Sands ran for election to the Portland City Council to represent District 1 in Oregon. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Sands completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Michael Sands was born in New York, New York. Sands' career experience includes working as an attorney, professor, and judge. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona in 1959 and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1962. Sands has been affiliated with Planned Parenthood, Basic Rights Oregon, and ACLU.[1]

Elections

2024

See also: City elections in Portland, Oregon (2024)

General election

General election for Portland City Council District 1

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Candace Avalos in round 13 , Jamie Dunphy in round 16 , and Loretta Smith in round 16 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 42,871
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Sands in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Michael Sands completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Sands' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a retired trial attorney, las professor and Superior Court Judge pro tem. I previously served for eight years on the Sacramento City Council. In four of this years my fellow council members elected me to serve as Vice Mayor, at the end of which I became the acting Mayor. During my time in office I designed the ballot measure that allowed the city to convert from city-wide elections to districts. I also implemented a new system of making appointments to boards and commissions that opened those positions to more women and people of color.
  • I am running to restore democracy to the city council elections by requiring city council members to achieve a majority vote to be elected. At the present time 75% of the voters can be opposed to a candidate and that candidate can still be elected. This is because in 2022 a small number of people rigged the election so that the voting public that wanted to reform the city government had no choice by to select this minority control system. If elected I will make every effort to place on the ballot a measure to require every elected city official to receive a majority vote (50% + 1).
  • My second priority will be to decrease the wealth gap between the richest and poorest Portlanders. My district has the highest poverty rate in the city. Over the years city policies have widened the wealth gap. I intend to reduce this, using innovative programs such as child care programs and providing free contraception to all women living below the poverty line who request it.
  • I am generally opposed to using the criminal law to enforce camping bans in the city, except where the camping blocks rights of way or violate the American with Disabilities Act.
I am most passionate about guaranteeing that the city's criminal enforcement truly promotes justice. I am also passionate about supporting the arts, an important component of a livable city.
To Kill a Mockingbird. This book emphasizes private sacrifice for the greater good.
The highest, overriding characteristic of an elected official must be integrity. The official must always act in the best interest of the constituents being served, and not the interests of the official or his/her supporters.
I am an excellent listener and work together with others. On the Sacramento City Council I used the position of Vice Mayor to reorganize our committee system so that each council members had an opportunity for leadership. This worked so well that I was reelected to that position for three additional years.
On December 7, 1941, I was four years old and helping my father rake leaves in our front yard when a neighbor came out of his house and yelled to my father that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. We immediately went inside and my father turned on the radio. I didn't understand what it was all about, but I knew it was very important because my parents were so upset.
My first job was as a Ford Foundation Legislative Intern with the California Assembly. In this position I served as committee counsel to the Criminal Procedure Committee. One of my duties was to help develop an bill to allow abortions to preserve the life or health of the mother, or in the case of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. After several years this bill was signed into law by Governor Ronald Reagan.
Atticus Finch
An Englishman, an Irish man and a Scot go into a bar, and each orders a beer. A fly falls into each beer. The Englishman immediately calls out "Barkeep, there's a fly in my beer. Give me another." The bartender then gives him another beer.

The Irish man looks around, and when be believes that no one is looking, he picks up the fly, throws it on the floor and drinks the beer.

The Scot doesn't care who is looking. He grabs the fly, holds it against the inside of the glass and says "Spit it out. Spit out every drop."
A public official must always act as if there is a disinterested person sitting there observing every act of the official.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 28, 2024
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