91ÊÓƵ

Chris Smith had every intention of returning to the East Coast within a couple of years of moving to Oregon in 1988 to work for Tektronix. Now, more than two decades later, Smith is one of Oregon’s most vocal citizen activists.

Smith admits he was smitten by Oregon shortly after he moved here and easily became a permanent transplant, despite his affection for Boston. As the oldest of three kids growing up in Pittsfield, Mass., Smith excelled on his high school Quiz Team. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and a MBA with honors from Boston University.

Smith joined Tektronix while living in Boston and followed his career path west. He now works part time as the Internet technologist for Xerox Interactive Marketing in Wilsonville. His avocation revolves around transportation, neighborhood issues and civic engagement.

“I like to say I spend 30 hours a week earning a living and 30 hours a week trying to make a difference,” he said. “Community involvement has always been part of my life, and the ‘figure out how to make it work better’ thing definitely resonates with the systems engineering part of my brain.”

Smith, who credits his parents for instilling an ethic of community involvement, serves on the Portland Planning Commission and the Mayor’s Transportation Cabinet. Among a lengthy list of volunteer positions, Smith previously has chaired the Citizens Advisory Committee for Portland Streetcar Inc. and was a citizen representative on the Metro Policy Advisory Committee.

In addition, Smith is a former member of the Board of Governors of City Club of Portland, and for eight years served as a board member for the Northwest District Association and chaired its transportation committee. He recently campaigned for Portland City Council as a publicly financed candidate.

As founder of the PortlandTransport.com blog, Smith has drawn a sizeable following because of his willingness to tackle an array of transportation issues impacting the Portland/Vancouver region. When he launched the blog in 2005, his goal was to initiate a dialogue that didn’t appear to be happening at the time.

“I was trying to solve what I saw as a challenge – that advocates for different transportation modes tend to talk within their ‘modal groups,’ but not to each other. I was trying to create a venue where that could happen, and I think I’ve succeeded to some degree.”

Who was a mentor who helped shape you into the person you are today? What did that person teach you?

“From a public policy aspect, I would say Rick Gustafson (executive director of Portland Streetcar Inc.). Rick has an incredible record of successful leadership on transportation initiatives, from the Transit Mall to Streetcar, and he teaches the PSU/PBOT traffic and transportation class which as trained a couple of generations of transportation advocates. Working with him on the Portland Streetcar board has taught me an immense amount about how to successfully guide projects through political and financial hurdles.”

Tell us something about yourself that most people might not know.

“In college, I served in all three branches of student government.”