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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Politics Update on Homeless Protesters’ Meeting with Potter
Posted by on Tue, May 13 at 3:06 PM
Representatives of the homeless protest just headed into Mayor Tom Potter’s office. Several of the de facto leaders of the protest, meanwhile, stayed outside, where protesters fear the cops will sweep during the meeting.
Though the meeting wasn’t open to the public, we sent our tape recorders in with two of the protesters to get the conversation on the record—after agreeing to release the entire tape for the public to use freely. Apparently, according to protester Katie Nilson—who just walked out of the meeting, angry—Potter’s staff said they couldn’t record the conversation.
“It’s ridiculous,” says Nilson.
I spoke with Potter’s spokesperson John Doussard just before the meeting started, to try to get some clarity on what happens when the campsite becomes illegal today.
Apparently, all of the city’s ordinances will be fully enforced. What’s unclear is how they overlap. For example, the sit-lie ordinance allows for an 8-hour protest during the sit-lie hours of 7 am to 9 pm; After that, people can sit or lie on the sidewalk. But then they can’t camp, per the illegal campsite notice. But maybe they can sit? It’s all unclear—Doussard says deputy city attorney David Woboril will explain it all at the Mayor’s 3:30 pm press conference.
Comments
they should have walked when the mayor said no. walked right outside and had a press conference around how the mayor was not willing to deal in good faith. why not have a tape recorder there? because they are worried about being held accountable.
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No taping the meeting? Damn. I thought I had the right in Oregon to tape any conversation I was a party to. I'm not a lawyer, but...
...maybe I'll just stop there.
Any actual lawyers want to chime in on whether the Mayor has the right to refuse to allow the meeting to be taped?