Portland Mercury: Cyreena Boston for HD 45

The Portland Mercury
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Full Story Available Online

In District 45, Cyreena Boston is a self-styled fighter with a clear agenda for her first term in the house. After spending her teenage years as a political volunteer, knocking on doors in Northeast Portland, she got a job as constituency director for the Oregon Democratic Party by calling them up and telling them what a terrible job they were doing on public involvement. Asked what her first bill would be, she had a fresh answer: foster care reform that would allow a child to live with a cousin or other non-immediate relative, instead of with strangers (her opponents had ideas recycled from past legislative failures). It's this kind of creativity, coupled with the smarts and drive to deliver, that makes Boston stand out. Her opponents, Metro Councilor Jon Coney and Portland Community College (PCC) teacher and union representative Michael Dembrow, would both make solid candidates in other races—Dembrow's advocacy for PCC part-time teachers in particular has been impressive. But they lack Boston's spunk. She deserves your vote.