This week's Portland Mercury Blogtown question to candidates:

In areas such as transparency, accessibility, and constituent relations and involvement, what can Portlanders expect from you if elected? How have you demonstrated those values in past roles, or in your campaign?

Portlanders value ethical behavior, partnerships, and open communication. Furthering those virtues is one of the main reasons I want to serve on the City Council. I am a Queen's Guide, the equivalent of an Eagle Scout. The first Guide law is, "A Guide is honest, reliable, and can be trusted". That has been a fundamental principle in my life.

If you elect me, I will make our City government more transparent by providing you with:

* Easy to find, accurate information about project planning, funding, and implementation
* Explanations about what is being proposed, what was decided, and what happens next
* Evaluations on whether the outcome achieved the goals, or not
* Timely reports on what happens in my office, in City Hall, and in the community

If you elect me, I will make our City government more accessible by:

* Pushing the City Council to meet at different times and places so that all citizens have the ability to be part of our government. Current code allows one meeting per month to be held on Wednesday evening, yet the Council rarely chooses to implement even that minimal change, and hardly ever meets outside City Hall.

* Continuing to attend community meetings at times and places set by neighbors and business groups, as I have for over 15 years. I will visit each Neighborhood District/Coalition board at least once each year.

* Volunteering in neighborhoods all over Portland, at least once per month. In the past four years, I have helped with projects in 87 of Portland's 95 neighborhoods. It's good to sit and talk; sometimes it's even better to plant trees and talk, or clean up a school and talk.

* Holding Meet-and-Greet events at coffee houses, playgroups, senior centers, and community events such as Farmers Markets and cultural performances, at least once every month throughout my service on the Council.

* Providing convenient mechanisms for input on line, while making sure that citizens' questions and comments receive a personal response within 48 hours.

As a Registered Nurse, as a community volunteer, and as a parent, I hold myself and the people I work with accountable for achieving results by pursuing the best possible course of action. In my campaign, I don't just ask, "Is it legal?", I demand the highest ethical behavior from myself and people helping me. I will continue to do so if you vote to elect me. When I served on the Planning Commission for seven years, I didn't allow people who might benefit from my votes to give me even a cup of coffee or a parking pass. I made statements at the beginning of hearings, reporting who I talked to before the meeting. I met with everyone who asked to meet with me, on all sides of issues. When I needed more information, I called staff and citizens I knew to be knowledgeable on projects. I listened and responded to public testimony at hearings, and I never made up my mind before those open meetings. Those are behaviors you will see from me if I am elected to the City Council.

In my first campaign in 2006, I posted links on my website to my campaign financing reporting at the Auditor's Office. I will do so again. I am the only candidate in this race who posted frequently-updated information on how many $5 donations my team collected each week, starting with 71 in the first report. Citizens should not have to dig for information from candidates or elected officials. If you have questions about me or my campaign, please call my office at 503-235-2295.

When I am in City Hall, I will make it easy for you to find out what I know, who gave me information, who pays what, how money is spent, and how I make decisions. See my blog post here for my detailed plan. More information about my life experiences relevant to this question, including my donut story to complement Blogtown's coverage of Voodoo Donuts' mayoral candidate treat, follows after the break.

Blogtown recently posted a story on the custom snack created by Voodoo Donuts for a mayoral candidate, so I will tell you my donut story. When my oldest child was four years old, I took him with his younger brother and baby sister to a singing class at the Multnomah Arts Center. Picture a group of earnest mothers sitting on the floor with their little ones, as Eric the instructor played his guitar and taught us nursery rhymes. One went:

Cute, huh? So we reached the end of the song, and my older son piped up in delight, with that particularly piercing high-pitched young-boy voice, saying, "We had donuts for breakfast!"

Ooohhh! All the other mothers, some of whom I know fed their children homebaked organic bread and fresh homegrown fruit for breakfast, looked at me like I just crawled out from under a rock. At that moment, I realized that little eyes are watching me, and little ears are listening, all day every day, taking note of everything I do and say. I live my life knowing nothing is secret.

Since 1991, I have been active in community involvement processes in Portland. I have accomplished more as a volunteer leader than some people who have paid jobs. Motivating citizens to participate requires clear identification of the problem to be fixed; willingness to work alongside folks instead of giving orders from above; open, inclusive communication.; and making good use of volunteers' time by getting results. As I approach my 50th birthday, I am not going to change who I am when I am elected.

(My birthday is April 28, please save the date - I'm having a party and you're invited)

I grew up here in Portland. I was born and raised elsewhere, but for 22 years I have been part of the Portland community, and I am the Amanda Fritz of today because of the things I have learned through living in Portland.

I have been a Registered Nurse for almost 27 years. Nurses listen to the patient's perception of their problem, find out objective data about it (such as test results and the assessment of professionals), inform people about what needs to be done, and document both what we heard and what we did. If we make a mistake, we report that, too, because mistakes need to be corrected to prevent harm. There are strict laws about informed consent, high standards of practice, and confidentiality, but following the regulations is the minimum required. In practice, nurses reach for the highest ethics, because by considering the best thing to do instead of whether lesser levels of care are legal, we help promote health rather than absence of disease.

I said nothing is secret in my life, but in fact I do have one guilty confession to share. My family and I still enjoy donuts.