Over the past sixteen months of posting my AmandaFritz.com blog, I've sometimes lauded, sometimes slammed editorials in the Oregonian.

I know the subject of yesterday's better than anyone. I found it entirely accurate, both in its assessment of my skills and cautions about lessons learned. Thank you, Oregonian Editorial Board! Here it is, in its entirety:

She has done her homework, immersed herself in service to the city, and would watchdog the city's dollars ~ Thursday, April 24, 2008

The race to replace City Commissioner Sam Adams on the Portland City Council suffers from a wealth of plausible candidates. It's such a crowded field, with six people running serious campaigns, that it's already flummoxed some debate organizers -- and it may stump a few Portland voters when the ballots start arriving soon.

But even in this intriguing race, one candidate stands out as the strongest, most polished and most prepared to be a city commissioner -- especially of a city heading into a recession. That candidate is Amanda Fritz, 49, a psychiatric nurse, former planning commissioner, neighborhood activist and longtime schools volunteer.

Fritz has promised to intensify scrutiny of city contracts and expenditures. She has an unusual breadth and depth of knowledge of issues facing both the entire city and its nearly 100 neighborhoods. Her acquaintance with planning, in particular, could be helpful as Portland takes the huge step of revising its comprehensive plan.

Fritz has a command of detail that could make her a formidable force on the council, both in framing fresh questions and in watchdogging the budget. Some of this expertise is already on display on her blog. In fact, since she lost her first try for a council seat in 2006, she has only strengthened her involvement in city issues.

It's true, of course, that a command of detail can work for or against a city, depending on whether a city commissioner becomes too enmeshed and enraptured by his or her own brilliant discovery of minutiae. As a former planning commissioner, though, Fritz has the advantage of having already made some mistakes along these lines. This could give her an invaluable head start in understanding what she needs to do to be effective at City Hall.

Fritz is running against:

Jeff Bissonnette, 41, a low-key consumer advocate from St. Johns with expertise on energy issues, thanks to his work with the Citizens' Utility Board; John Branam, 33, development director for the Portland Public Schools; Mike Fahey, 61, a salty former two-term legislator from North Portland; Charles Lewis, 36, fiery founder of the innovative nonprofit Ethos Music Center; and Chris Smith, 48, an expert on transit and transportation, known as "Citizen Smith" for his volunteer mastery of important city issues.

None of these five would be a pushover. The question for voters is: Who has the potential to be most effective right from the start in mustering votes at City Hall? Who could help close the gap between rich and poor Portland, without taking cheap shots at the city's urban renewal agency and its downtown?

There has never been any doubt that Fritz understood the small picture. As a longtime neighborhood activist from West Portland Park, she seemed in her last run for council too much in thrall to "neighborhood-think." Of the six running this time, though, it is Fritz who is the most articulate champion of Portland as a prosperous whole.

She's been acting almost as a shadow city commissioner. Voters should give Fritz the chance now to be the real thing.

(Emphasis added, as usual)