At a September 2 meeting, Portland City Council will decide if Zenith Energy, the notorious law-breaking corporate polluter based in the waterfront CEI hub, can skip town by selling assets and transferring its franchise agreement to I Squared Capital, a $60 billion Miami-based private equity firm. 

I Squared has a record of safety, employment, consumer protection, and environmental violations at least in the United Kingdom if not elsewhere. I Squared is also heavily invested in data centers, with a commitment to invest $2 billion in “digital infrastructure” in Saudi Arabia and $1 billion in US data centers. I Squared says it will expand the Portland terminal — already the largest fuel storage and transfer facility in Portland — into a regional fuel terminal. That means more oil trains, more risk of spills and explosions, more profits for giant corporations, and more risk for Portlanders and our environment.

Like Zenith, I Squared seems to have no compunction about subverting our own democratic norms, and they are enjoying support and collaboration from the preeminent PAC of Portland’s right-wing, the Portland Metro Chamber/Portland Business Alliance.

I Squared and Mayor Wilson are shoulder-to-shoulder with city administrators and conservative city councilors to ram through the transfer, over the objections of Portlanders.

Historic Corruption 

Zenith’s city council puppetry is well-documented. Freedom of information requests revealed a back-room deal with Zenith to reverse course on the city’s denial of Zenith’s bid to operate the waterfront oil-by-rail facility:

“Elected city officials who position themselves as climate champions defended the decision as a routine administrative matter, repeatedly claiming their hands were tied.   

But internal email communications and documents obtained by DeSmog suggest that the process was heavily influenced by two city commissioners and their staff, who met with the oil company on multiple occasions — including at a private in-person meeting at the rail site — and seem to have helped usher the company’s land use permit through the regulatory process.”

Cunningham, N. (2023, August 23). DeSmog. Portland City Government Compromised with Oil Industry in Private, Documents Suggest.

The City Auditor found that Zenith violated local laws during that period and advocates allege that city officials broke city rules.

Two of the main architects of the dirty deal are still at the city: Dan Ryan (Councilor, District 2) and Deputy City Administrator Donnie Oliveira, whose demonstration of corporate fealty launched  meteoric rise from a Bureau of Planning and Sustainability communications staffer to the Deputy City Administrator for Community & Economic Development.

The public pays Olivera more than $250,000 per year for the pleasure of his “service” as ombudsman for the city’s largest corporations and the Portland Metro Chamber.

Street Roots reporting last year demonstrates that Olivera isn’t bashful about his role as liaison to the city’s capitalist class:

“Get in there and get me a sazerac!”

That’s the opening salvo from Donnie Oliveira, deputy city administrator, in a text message to Jon Isaacs, Portland Metro Chamber executive vice president of public affairs, just before the two met and talked about Zenith Energy on Jan. 22. 

The meeting took place at Paddy’s Bar the day after a City Council work session on Zenith’s need for a city land use compatibility statement, or LUCS, thanks to a penalty DEQ imposed on the Houston-based fossil fuel company for illegally modifying and operating pipes at its facilities for over three years.”

Hayden, J. (2025, February 26). Street Roots. Metro Chamber privately discussed Zenith with Wilson admin staff before sending letter supporting LUCS.

Despite efforts by the DSA-affiliated City Council minority to curtail corrupt practices around the Zenith transfer, it’s clear the Mayor and his staff are emboldened. They are now going all out to facilitate a seamless transfer for I Squared Capital, by blocking public access to key information about the franchise transfer, running interference on behalf of Zenith and I Squared Capital, and changing the rules of procedure during the process.

Rigging the Game

The Portland Mercury recently reported that I Squared’s lawyers have been working with City Attorneys to “manage potential public opposition” to the franchise transfer since early 2026. This has meant hiding key documents from the public, conducting a pathetically inadequate review of I Squared Capital’s qualifications, inaccurately telling city councilors behind the scenes that they have no choice but to approve the franchise transfer without modification, and otherwise trying to frustrate public involvement in the process.

On July 23, the city held its first hearing on the franchise transfer at the Committee of the Whole. After over 50 Portlanders signed up to testify and dozens of organizations sent letters to complain about the process, Zenith Energy sued the City in an effort to pressure them to move faster. On August 6th, dozens of Portlanders testified that they still hadn’t received documents about the city’s review of I Squared’s qualifications. Incredibly, even with the community up in arms about these dirty tactics, 7 City Councilors voted the franchise transfer through committee.

Then, after the committee, the City Attorney announced that although they had previously said the franchise transfer would need 9 votes to pass at City Council, now it would only need 7, meaning that the moderates and the Mayor could just force the transfer through. In other words, the City Attorney (at the behest of the Mayor and Oliveira) changed the rules mid game to make it easier for I Squared Capital to get their transfer.

What explains these dirty tactics and a majority of city councilors ignoring community outrage? Corporate machine politics and straightforward corruption.

The Fossil Fuel Money Machine

Like with most corporate corruption in Portland, the Portland Metro Chamber is right at the center of this effort to grease the wheels for a fossil fuel company. Not only are they directly lobbying for I Squared (and have heavily lobbied for Zenith in the past), their Board Member William Rasmussen (notorious for representing the fossil fuel industry in lawsuits against the city) is also I Squared’s attorney. TJ McHugh, the PMC’s Director of Government Relations, is a former Dan Ryan staffer. The PMC’s Executive Vice President Jon Isaacs (a notable public critic of DSA and purveyor of red scare push polls) has a close personal relationship with Donnie Oliveira that he has leveraged in the past for $20 million of Portland Clean Energy Fund money to go to a “Clean Industry Hub” that includes the Chamber, and, as mentioned above, to secure land use permissions for Zenith in 2025.

On July 1, the Working Waterfront Coalition entered into formal partnership with the Portland Metro Chamber. Although many of the companies represented in the Working Waterfront Coalition are members of the Portland Metro Chamber, this merger signals that advocating for polluting industry is an even greater priority for the PMC. 

The Port of Portland is also important in this advocacy. The Port — a public agency with its commissioners appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Oregon Senate — manages three airports, three marine terminals, and six business parks. The Port Commission is haunted by local power players who use their power to make profits for business and industry. Michael Jordan, who until last year was the City Administrator at the City of Portland, was just appointed to the Port Commission. Rukaiyah Adams of Albina Vision Trust is another member. The Port, a member of the Working Waterfront Coalition, is supportive of Zenith and now I Squared because they are engaged in a large-scale greenwashing effort to promote “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” which they use to justify continued expansion of jet flights during a climate crisis.

Another important player is Jules Bailey, former legislator, mayoral candidate, and board president of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV). Bailey now works as a consultant for Skyline Renewables, and is lobbying heavily for I Squared’s acquisition of the Zenith facility. Like Doug Moore — who formerly was the Executive Director at OLCV and now runs United for Portland, the Metro Chamber’s PAC — Bailey is apparently cashing in on his former environmental credentials and access to power in order to greenwash for polluting industry. Jules Bailey also gave the maximum campaign donation to Councilor Eric Zimmerman on May 7, 2026 while lobbying for I Squared’s franchise transfer.

Aside from lobbying, United for Portland, the PMC’s Political Action Committee, endorses candidates including six of the seven councilors who voted to advance the franchise transfer out of committee. Three of these candidates (Eric Zimmerman, Olivia Clark, and Steve Novick) are up for re-election and angling for another endorsement from United for Portland.

This ongoing debacle at the City has been a source of extreme frustration for Portlanders for many years now. Despite Mayor Wilson’s assurances on the campaign trail, he and his city administrators have only given us more of that same frustration.

But we have allies on City Council in our DSA Councilors. Help them hold Zenith, the Mayor, and I Squared accountable by sending a letter before Wednesday.

Take action now! Send letters to city council here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/voice-your-concern-on-zenith-energys-franchise-agreement-transfer-to-i-squared-capital

DSA should use media to promote its socialist vision and counter corporate media’s distortions.

The post Telling Our Story appeared first on Democratic Left.

A BRDSA member reflects on the relationship between motherhood, the construction of local concentration camps for children, and the ongoing struggle for worldwide liberation.

Date: Wednesday, September 2 2026 at 6pm PST

Monthly Steering Committee Meetings are open to members to observe but, generally, only Steering Committee members may vote and participate.

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By Tony A.

AIPAC-Linked PACs and Big Tech Cash Flood MA-6 as Spending Tops $10M; Nguyen’s Gaza Flip-Flop Draws Scrutiny

ANDOVER, MA – Democratic voters inundated with mailers and advertisements for the race to replace Seth Moulton in Massachusetts 6th District primary this Tuesday could easily be confused by the array of inconspicuously named Super PACs listed in the ads’ tiny “Paid for By” disclaimers.

The race is now the most expensive House race in Massachusetts history, blowing past the previous record set in the 4th District in 2020, which saw genocide enthusiast Rep. Jake Auchincloss elected with over $10,000,000 spent. The record was surpassed by June 30, according to the last FEC data, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions more have been spent since in July and August.

One PAC is drawing significant scrutiny: Pro-Choice Majority Action (PCMA), dropping $500,000 for self-styled progressive State Representative Tram Nguyen in recent weeks..

As reported by Sludge, SunlightHub, and Drop Site’s Ryan Grim on Breaking Points, the PAC is funded largely by its affiliate PAC Elect Democratic Women Action Fund, which in turn receives most of its backing from AIPAC’s PAC, which it calls United Democracy Project.

The previously reported $450,000 has been supplanted with another $50,000 donation on Friday, bringing the total to half a million dollars.

Many commenters have questioned why AIPAC would support Nguyen, who recently reversed course and acknowledged Israel’s genocide in Gaza and backed an arms embargo. Pro-Choice Majority Action’s unsuccessful contributions against DSA-backed Democratic nominee Melat Kiros in Colorado had a more straightforward goal: retaining pro-Israel incumbent Dianna DeGette.

Some point to Tram’s previous ducking on the issue, and a jaw-dropping statement on Massachusetts Peace Action’s candidate questionnaire, claiming in January of 2026, “An arms embargo on Israel could result in genocide… [Hamas and Hezbollah’s] leaders have been upfront in their intention to remove all Jewish Israelis from the land.”

Others have speculated in similar races across the country that AIPAC could have subversive aims to divide progressives in a crowded field, clearing the way for the establishment pick to succeed. That could be at play here, with longtime pro-Palestine candidate Jamie Belsito, Massachusetts’ first Arabic state representative, being an early top contender in the race.

It was in Breaking Points’ August 25 interview with Jamie Belsito that questions of AIPAC’s influence in the race reached a national audience, after Working Mass’s August 19 reporting on Dan Koh’s $180,000k received from overlapping donors with AIPAC.

Belsito told Grim she met with a representative of Elect Democratic Women (EDW) in DC early in her campaign and was told to take AI- and AIPAC-linked Super PAC funding to win the race. Belsito refused, and lo and behold, last month EDW endorsed Nguyen.

The district is now flooded with PAC-funded advertisements, with this reporter based in Andover receiving a mailer every day for the past week in support of Dan Koh—from AI-aligned Think Big PAC and DraftKings-buoyed New Leadership PAC—and ads for Koh and Nguyen regularly served on social media.

While the race is setting the record for most expensive U.S. House race in Massachusetts history, there has been an almost complete media blackout on the race former Biden/Marty Walsh assistant Dan Koh is the presumed frontrunner, no independent polling has been done in the district, despite the record spending. Koh staffers could get a handsome payout on Kalshi or Polymarket with consistently probable odds on this race, now at 90%, Nguyen having tanked there in recent weeks and the lights dimming for self-funded corporate exec bobblehead John Beccia as well.

Recent polls paid for by PR consultanting firms on behalf of Koh, Nguyen, and progressive challenger Beth Andres-Beck have all shown their candidate in the lead.

Koh, Nguyen, Belsito, and “You ‘Beccia have consistently taken top spots in those the polls.

With pressure to rally the progressive vote around a single acceptable candidate, Nguyen was boosted by endorsements from Squad member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, AIPAC-backed Lori Trahan and the pro-Moulton Boston Globe Editorial Board in the last week, giving them a big boost from their previous number one endorser, Massachusetts Speaker of the House, progressive champion, Ronald Mariano.

Onlookers were then baffled by an unusual endorsement of Nguyen by watchdog platform TrackAIPAC on August 26, after TrackAIPAC had just endorsed Belsito on August 19, and just one day after TrackAIPAC posted on Instagram Sludge’s reporting on Nguyen’s $450,000 in AIPAC-linked PAC backing. The post has since been deleted.

TrackAIPAC shenanigans

Commenters on TrackAIPAC’s endorsement of Nguyen on Instagram ratioed the Nguyen’s campaign’s comments on the post. 

One commented: “This endorsement is being thrown in the face of pro-Palestine organizers in the district by the supporters of the Nguyen campaign, which was explicitly pro-Israel just a few weeks ago.” 

Others noted that the endorsement graphic lacked the “$0.00 from pro-Israel PACs” graphic that typically appears on TrackAIPAC’s endorsements.

Nathan Story, an independent journalist with Sunlight Hub who, through prolific public records requests, has tracked pro-Israel outside spending in elections throughout Massachusetts, said, “[TrackAIPAC] spoke with her; she pledged to support the positions they care about. My concern is whether she is being sincere in those positions, given how long it has taken her to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza.”

A campaign source told Working Mass that Rep. Ayanna Pressley personally got in touch with TrackAIPAC to push for a Nguyen endorsement.

TrackAIPAC, after all, isn’t merely a watchdog, but a coveted endorsing organization this election cycle.

DSA, working class and grassroots scrambling

Progressives and labor unions are, as often the case, split in this race.

With the urging of former Boston mayor and U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a one-time Laborers’ Union 223 business representative, Dan Koh—Walsh’s chief of staff at City Hall and the Department of Labor—has amassed endorsements from nearly all area labor unions. This, even as Koh gets millions in PAC support from Big Tech, AIPAC donors, and private equity managers.

DSA is also split. Boston DSA, which includes district neighborhood groups North Shore DSA and parts of Merrimack Valley DSA, did not endorse in the race, but issued a voter guide recommending against Koh and Nguyen and third moderate candidate John Beccia.

The race included three progressive candidates: Beth Andres-Beck, Jamie Belsito, and Mariah Lancaster. The local DSA support had been split among the three, with calls to consolidate behind one progressive gone unheeded.

On August 29, Lancaster dropped out of the race and endorsed Rep. Tram Nguyen, against Boston DSA’s voter guide recommendation.

In many parts of DSA (think NYC-AOC, LA, Denver-Kiros, Michigan-McKinney), a candidate like Belsito with electoral experience joining and aligning with DSA would likely receive DSA’s backing.

The Boston chapter declined to endorse a progressive candidate, perhaps due to a historical skepticism of non-cadre candidates.

Cluster**** or tossup coalitional test?

The North Shore and the inland Merrimack Valley, which make up the 6th District (some of the Merrimack Valley being in District 3), are prime organizing terrain for DSA in the region as the organization grows. The North Shore Neighborhood Group is the largest in the Boston chapter behind Cambridge, Somerville, and Allston/Brighton, all in the city center. The region has a significant working-class base and history, and its largest city, Lynn, has the highest proportion of Black residents north of Boston and one of the highest proportions of immigrants in Massachusetts.

With the split field, the DSA disorganized, and the tremendous outside spending flowing into the race, many will be happy simply that corporate “moderate” ghoul Seth Moulton will be ousted. But the district faces the specter of electing Genocide Joe Koh, or, in Nguyen, a career progressive-label politician with a knack for cozying up to power — either of which could become significantly harder to unseat as incumbents.

Races like these show the tremendous obstacles the disorganized left faces, with corrupt Beacon Hill leadership-backed “progressives”, the labor bureaucracy, big money, and big egos all going to bat.

Meanwhile, the North Shore’s working class and poor keep getting poorer, yacht club members in Manchester-By-The-Sea and Marblehead grow richer, and ICE family separations continue daily.

Tony A is a contributing writer to Working Mass and a resident of Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District.

The post Tram Nguyen Gets $500K in AIPAC-Linked Ad Money as TrackAIPAC Faces Scrutiny in Record MA-6 Race appeared first on Working Mass.

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DSA members have put together campaigns that have won hundreds of seats for socialists, at all levels of government. We’re excited to grow that number, but we need the skills and strategy to do it.

Included in this series are Electoral 101, 201, and 202. Join us with comrades from your chapter to get your electoral program started on the path to victory!

Sept 19 – Electoral 101

The DSA Difference

The Electoral 101 is a great workshop for any chapter! With so many new members joining for the first time and so many coming back into the fold following our historic wins across the country this year, it’s a great time to learn about what the DSA Difference is! What separates DSA from other organizations in the left who engage in electoral politics? What makes for a good candidate? What is socialist electoral strategy? Answers to these questions and more await!

Electoral 101: The DSA Difference – Sept 19th 3pm ET

Oct 3 – Electoral 201

The Path to Victory

The Electoral 201 is all about the strategy! We know that it takes good planning to run a class struggle electoral campaign and win! But what steps are necessary to make informed decisions as a chapter? What makes for a good goal? What are the most important tactics? What is the path to victory? Join us on Oct 3rd at 3pm ET to find out!

Electoral 201: The Path To Victory – Oct 3rd 3pm ET

Oct 17 – Electoral 202

Building a Field Program

The Electoral 202 is about putting our plans into action! Launching and building an electoral campaign can be a daunting task! Luckily we have a ton of resources and advice to share! What are the most important tactics to focus on when building a field program? How do we shape the volunteer and member experience to build a DSA Difference campaign? Hope you’re ready to get in the weeds with a ton of information and skill sharing!

Electoral 202: Building a Field Program – Oct 17th 3pm ET

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