Best Day Ever: Commissioner Rene Gonzalez
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Mayoral candidate Rene Gonzalez likes soccer and chilaquiles from The Daily Feast. Photo: Fletcher Wold Photography
Rene Gonzalez is one of three Portland city commissioners hoping to be elected mayor in November.
Zoom in: Gonzalez is a lawyer who founded a tech consulting company and a youth soccer club.
- He was elected a commissioner in 2022 and has since advocated for public safety and tougher public camping rules.
We asked about his best day ever in Portland.
🤑 "If it's Saturday and English Premier League season, I'd be up at 5:30am watching soccer at home with my son and my daughters," he tells Axios.
- Gonzalez started following Manchester United in his teens when they were a "redemption story," he said. "They hadn't won a trophy for a number of years."
⚽ Morning activity: He plays in a pick-up soccer game at the Salvation Army field on N Williams that has been going on for 20 years.
- "My 12-year-old son is at the age where he can play with us," he said.
🌮 Breakfast: They stop at The Daily Feast downtown and he orders the chilaquiles.
- Or he goes to Grand Central Bakery for pastries to bring home to the family.
🌳 Late morning activity: I'm likely doing yard work, mowing the lawn and weed whacking, which I find incredibly therapeutic."
- If not that, he's attending to city business. "I actually enjoy that stuff."
🍔 Lunch: They hit PDX Sliders, which has hamburgers named after Portland bridges. His go-to is the Fremont, which has bacon, cheese and jalapenos.
🥾 Afternoon: A family hike, "anything around Multnomah Falls."
- They stop for ice cream at Sugarpine Drive-In.
- A family stop might be made at Powell's bookstore on Burnside, although they used to live near the one on Hawthorne.
🍜 Dinner: Nama Ramen in Sellwood for the spicy pork belly ramen with veggies.
⚽ Evening fun: Take the family to a Thorns or Timbers game.
- "I watched the Timbers in 1999 when I was studying law in Salem, it's been a big part of growing up with the kids."
🚶Late night: A favorite ritual is a walk around his neighborhood.
- "My day is 'go, go, go,' and it's a nice time to catch up with the wife, see the big trees and chill out."