This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, November 26, 2009
News Read The Goddamn News
Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Nov 26, 2009 at 6:31 AM
It's your extended Thanksgiving edition...
CRC IN THE CROSSHAIRS Quiet Metro idea could kill the big bridge.
- Illustration by Jon Sperry
FAT CHANCE When Laurelhurst neighbors protested "Fat Jack's" bar, owners respond by trying to open a strip club instead.
TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN? Portland mulls nonprofit media startup.
GROUNDBREAKER, LOVETAKER In which I express a desire for Nick Fish to impregnate me.
A LINE IN THE SAND Police Commissioner Suspends Cop, Union Goes Ape. Here's what a negotiation expert has to say:
"In this context, I'd say the actions on both sides are predictable," says Gina Rae Hendrickson, a federal and state mediator and negotiation coach specializing in workplace issues, based in Santa Barbara, California. "Any time you have an incident like this, people have to rally forth. For the police commissioner, it's public relations, and for the police union, they need to be seen as useful. Many negotiations are about playing to an audience that's not at the table."A collaboration isn't always appropriate," Hendrickson continues. "This might be a case of winning. Either the union wins or the commissioner wins. Or it might just be a necessary ruckus, with the way the entities are set up—each entity advocating for its own audience."
Also, former state senator Avel Gordly has submitted to an interview about the new recall effort in today's Tribune, effectively blaming the Breedlove scandal for the union's brazen outspokenness. “It’s a very dangerous situation right now,” Gordly says. “The council is very weak and has no leverage over the police.” She also comments—at last—on recent Mercury stories linking statewide conservatives to the new recall effort:
Gordly says that no decision has yet been made on who will be retained to handle the paid signature gatherers. One firm that has been contacted is Voice of the Electorate, which is owned by three longtime conservative political activists, Kevin Mannix, Ross Day and Russ Walker. Their firm recently gathered more than enough signatures to refer the two income tax increases approved by the 2009 Legislature to the Jan. 26 special election ballot.Gordly did not return the Mercury's repeated calls for comment on these questions, earlier this month—perhaps she thought she'd find a more sympathetic audience in the Tribune's more conservative readers. Who knows. But the Trib also has some context on the union's "no confidence" vote in the police commissioner and chief—it's worked before, in 1981. Meanwhile, there's still time for you to submit an entry into the Mercury's "pre-teen" . Send your entries to news@portlandmercury.com. Here's three received since yesterday:Gordly says that other options are under consideration, too. But she cautions against anyone concluding that the recall has been hijacked by conservatives if the campaign hires Voice of the Electorate.
“I am not a fool or anyone’s tool,” Gordly says. “This is not a conservative or liberal campaign. It is about restoring integrity to the elections process.”
The best received by Friday lunchtime wins a 12-year-old-sized "I am Chris Humphreys" t-shirt.
Read the goddamn news.
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