News: Blogtown, PDX, Portland Mercury

Oregonian: "Nazi" Cop, Cleared of Harassment, Calls Out Complainant—Which Might Actually Be Harassment

Denis C. Theriault — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:35:00 -0700

Captain Mark Kruger, the Portland cop who confessed to curating a shrine to Nazi-era German soldiers, is very effective at making a statement. A big, bold, intimidating statement.

The Oregonian just reported that Kruger, who works in East Precinct, is under investigation for publicly posting a city letter that cleared him of harassing a former underling and—this is important—writing the otherwise anonymous complainant's last name on the letter in big red marker lettering despite an admonition to not retaliate.

Posting the letter and outing the employee so publicly could very well be seen as intimidation—and qualify, for real this time, as harassment. The O got hold of photos that reportedly were passed around by concerned workers a couple of weeks ago and made their way into the hands of the chief's office and the employee outed, former Lieutenant Kristy Galvan.

It's just the latest swirl in a soap opera that's been bubbling for months while raising questions about sexism and favoritism while reminding everyone that the upper echelons of the police bureau can be a weird, and weirdly political, place to work.

Galvan, who filed a tort claim notice with the city this year, has already announced plans to sue Kruger, complaining that he was sexist in his treatment of her when he was her boss. Galvan, who was a probationary lieutenant, is on sick leave and has since been demoted by Chief Mike Reese back down to a sergeant, as the O has reported.

The drama first came to light after it claimed the job of Mike Kuykendall, Reese's right-hand man and bureau's civilian director of financial services. Kuykendall resigned after he was caught exchanging joky text messages with Galvan that called Kruger a Nazi and tried to console her about her issues with Kruger. The text messages were never meant for Kruger's eyes, but he was the one who made them public—his lawyer included them in a tort claim notice warning the bureau he'd sue for slander.

Oh, and how did Kruger's lawyer get those text messages? That's a good question. Attorney Sean Riddell says he obtained them from the Portland Police Commanding Officers Association. But Galvan's lawyer, Charese Rohny, told me she gave them to internal affairs investigators. Did IA give them to the union? Or did the union have another source?

More drama. And none of it good for Reese or the PPCOA, which the mayor is trying to get rid of.

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Solidarity Against Mayor's Bid to Kill Union for Police Brass: "We Are Not Wisconsin"

Denis C. Theriault — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:44:33 -0700

Mayor Charlie Hales hasn't been especially cozy with the city's big three public safety unions since taking office. He's lined up political support for major cuts in the city's police and fire bureaus while, at the same time, making a play to de-certify the union representing police lieutenants, captains, and commanders.

Muttering about the budget cuts has been mostly quiet and behind the scenes. (Mostly.) But Hales' move against the Portland Police Commanding Officers Association (PPCOA)—claiming that police supervisors are, well, supervisors and shouldn't be allowed to unionize under state law—is attracting some serious heat. Never mind that the PPCOA has been in some awkward spots over the past few months.

In a rare show of solidarity (not really seen since a group of unions all got together and pointedly decided, in December 2011, not to endorse Hales or his two rivals for mayor), six union leaders sent a letter to city council urging city commissioners to publicly challenge the mayor and not let him take down the PPCOA without a fight. It helps that there are rumblings Hales might look to do the same to Portland Fire Fighters Association—which has nominally supervisory employees in its ranks.

The letter (pdf), obtained by the Mercury and signed by the fire union, the District Council of Trade Unions, AFSCME, COPPEA, and both city police unions, PPCOA and the Portland Police Association, (PPA) spares no feelings by comparing Hales directly with union-busting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

The decision on the PPCOA is up to the state Employment Relations Board and could easily result in a court challenge. The city also is lobbying against a bill, HB 2418, that would explicitly let police supervisors join unions.

Stripping bargaining rights from supervisors comes down to a couple of things. One of them is money. They tend to have bigger salaries and often earn big payouts in overtime. Hales wants the right to clamp down on those costs without having to bargain. The other issue is discipline. Supervisors working without a contract backing them up could be fired or demoted or suspended more easily when the chief or police commissioner decide they've been guilty of misconduct. Because no more binding arbitration—where discipline decisions, in use of force cases, often go to die.

Discipline already is seen by many cops as a political tool—something Chief Mike Reese hasn't helped ameliorate with discipline that some observers see as inconsistent. Add in the potential restrictions on pay and the ability to bargain over working conditions, and a lot of cops privately will say there's absolutely no reason why any top-flight sergeant would ever risk trying to climb the ladder further. Cops with stripes also argue that the chief and assistant chiefs make all the real decisions, downplaying to some degree their role in advising and reviewing the cops they supervise. Union reps also argue the PPCOA has been easy to work with.

Legal questions aside, it's been endlessly fascinating to see Hales go at not just public safety unions, but labor as a whole. He was proudly out front when SEIU's private security guards, some who work for the company that holds the city contract, battled over their last contract. AFSCME sources say Hales has been decent—even though they backed Jefferson Smith until the end.

But the police unions and the fire union not only didn't back Hales, but they also didn't back Amanda Fritz for re-election and have picked a fight with Commissioner Dan Saltzman over fire and police pension reforms that he put to a public vote over their outcry. On a council where three votes achieves much,
those unions are starting out in a hole.

That hole is even deeper given, what I'm told, about Hales' favorability ratings and the city's overall.

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Portlanders Are Being Sued for Stealing a Terrible Movie

Dirk VanderHart — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:14:52 -0700

Heads up: If any of you have an insatiable need to see the 2012 Steven Segal, Steve Austin picture Maximum Conviction (and the enormous Stone Cold cookie jar on his desk leads me to believe our own Denis Theriault might be among your number), for the love of god get a legal copy.

Top-flight talent is not cheap, nor are compelling scripts. So it’s only logical the company that made the film—not unlike Seagal and Austin in the picture itself—isn't playing the fool on this one. Voltage Pictures in recent months has filed a barrage of lawsuits in Oregon federal courthouses (and elsewhere) targeting folks they suspect are getting their primo action for free through torrent applications.

At least one of those suits has been tossed, but Voltage is not dissuaded. In the last week or so, the company’s filed four fresh suits in the US District Court in Portland, three against as-yet unnamed defendants only identified by their IP address, one against a Portland bankruptcy attorney.

In Maximum Conviction, as best I can tell from the trailer, Seagal and Austin play a pair of hot-shot agents who must protect two comely criminals from—get this—the US government. It does not look like a "good" film, per se, but everyone has their areas of interest. And Voltage is no slouch. It made the Academy Award-winning Hurt Locker

The proposed damages for illegally watching a Steven Seagal/Steve Austin vehicle released in 2012? I'll write it out long-hand for effect: One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

For a little context of how grossly overpriced that is, I just asked Denis (who, remember: Stone Cold Steve Austin cookie jar) how much he'd pay to see the film. His bewildered reply: "I don't know, like ten bucks? Whatever a movie costs."

And there you have it.

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Good Morning, News!

Denis C. Theriault — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:29:34 -0700

A bridge on Interstate 5 collapsed into the Skagit River north of Seattle, sending cars into the cold water but somehow managing not to kill anyone. The early theory is that a truck with an oversize load hit a steel beam on its way through. Is it too soon to talk about infrastructure and decay and austerity? It's apparently not too soon to stump, up in Washington, for the troubled Columbia River Crossing project much closer to home.

Crap your pants! It's okay! Researchers are pretty sure a new bird flu strain that's killed 36 people in China spreads from human to human, and through the air, not just via direct contact.

The Boy Scouts took their half-step against homophobia by voting to let in gay kids. Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, reacts with predictable contempt and uses phrases like "flavor of the month" and "political correctness."

Anthony Weiner—hoping to move past his Twitter sexting legacy with a run for New York City mayor—still isn't so good at the internet. His campaign website, until it was fixed, prominently featured a picture of Pittsburgh.

A pilot was worried enough about a passenger at a Pakistani Airlines jet over Britain that the Royal Air Force was called out to escort it on an emergency landing. Everything was fine, though.

Who's helping Congress write financial ~~de-~~regulation bills these days? Bank lobbyists! Because they know better, don't they?

Citigroup’s recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the House committee’s 85-line bill. Two crucial paragraphs, prepared by Citigroup in conjunction with other Wall Street banks, were copied nearly word for word. (Lawmakers changed two words to make them plural.)

China, displeased over the prospect of war at its doorstep, has gently persuaded North Korea to return to nuclear armistice talks.

China's politburo also is maybe promising to loosen its tight hold on the country's economic reins.

The Russians have done some similar persuading in civil-war-torn Syria. Technical Bashar al-Assad reportedly will join peace talks in Switzerland.

"By the way," an Israeli general says, "if all that 'peace' business goes south, our tanks are standing by."

The CIA used to be an espionage outfit. Then, after the World Trade Center fell down, it flirted with a makeover as a paramilitary agency. Maybe it's time to get back to feeling more like its old self.

Pot smoking? Who cares. But throwing a bong out the window? That's legitimately dangerous. Amanda Bynes was rapped by New York cops for both.

The sad suburban drunks who haunt TGI Fridays get what they deserve: dyed rubbing alcohol passed off as top-shelf scotch.

ONLY ONE OTHER PERSON HAS EVER VIEWED THE FOLLOWING. THAT'S OKAY. THE SENTIMENT IS SWEET AND PURE. A LONG WEEK IS OVER. AND THE END IS NEAR. SMILE.

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"Tin-Foil Hat Parade," at City Hall Tonight, Celebrates Fluoride Defeat

Denis C. Theriault — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:14:16 -0700

One of the organizers of Portland City Hall's nearly 18-month-old camping-ban protest, poet and activist Kernel Loose-Nut, is looking to mark Tuesday's fluoride shellacking with a themed party meant to tweak fluoride supporters here and across the country who made it clear they considered (victorious) fluoride foes a bunch of conspiratorial kooks and science deniers.

Starting at 6 tonight, outside city hall, the Kernel is throwing what he's calling a "Tin-Foil Hat Parade." I received an invite on Facebook, along with a few hundred other people. And as for what the "parade" entails? It's exactly that, with a fashion show and craft party thrown in.

Here's the Kernel's rough itinerary:

6-7 design and build
7-8 foil fashion show
8-9 parade and libations

bring ideas, supplies, sharables

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Mayor Hales Will Re-Tool His Proposed Entertainment District Extension

Dirk VanderHart — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:14:01 -0700

Old Town's controversial "entertainment district" will likely live on past its slated termination this month, but not precisely as Mayor Charlie Hales envisioned.

The mayor is going back to the ~~drawing board~~ revision table on his proposal to extend the neighborhood's weekend street closures after concerns from Old Town residents and business owners—and questions from colleagues—at a city council hearing yesterday.

He’ll bring an amended version of the proposal back before council next week.

Just what alterations Hales will make aren't clear (I have a message into his office) but it's unlikely they'll be substantive enough to assuage concerned bar and restaurant owners, who argue the closures are hampering their businesses.

The issues aired at yesterday's hearing were substantially the same ones Hales’ heard at a “town hall”-style meeting on May 7. And, as at the earlier hearing, much of the public testimony was critical of the program.

"Barricades create the perception of a war zone," said Dan Lenzen, a principle at Concept Entertainment, which owns the Dixie Tavern at NW Couch and 3rd. Lenzen, like owners at several other Old Town restaurants, says the street closures intimidate potential customers who might be confused by street barricades or unwilling to park blocks away.

"Before you extend the closure, consider the majority of the community opposes the street closure as it is," said Anne Naito Campbell, a board member of the Bill Naito Company, which owns property in Old Town.

Naito Campbell's testimony sparked more reaction among council members than the rest, and ran contrary to the mayor's ordinance. The proposal says the "general consensus of feedback" showed "the majority of stakeholders are in favor of continuing the experiment with new ideas to improve the quality of life in the Oldtown/Chinatown Neighborhood, both in and around the entertainment district."

Naito Campbell asked commissioners to consider a shorter extension—two months rather than six—to allow neighborhood folks to put together an alternate proposal to fix what police say was an untenable situation around Old Town's night clubs.

That idea had traction with Commissioner Nick Fish, who noted: "I want to ponder some of the testimony we’ve had today about a shorter window."

Commissioner Amanda Fritz, too, had questions about the plan. " I would feel more comfortable supporting this if I have more understanding from the mayor's office and from the Office of Neighborhood Involvement what this looks like," she said.

The debate has also given voice to people who believe Old Town is overrun with bars and nightclubs, and that the businesses are a nuisance. These include residents and social services agencies like Central City Concern, which fears its Old Town residents, many of them in recovery, are being confronted with debauchery on a weekly basis.

“The 'entertainment district,' in my opinion, is a euphemism,” one property owner told council. “It’s the 'get-messed-up district.'”

The continuation of program, of course, is contingent upon funding. Hales has suggested establishing an assessment zone, where Old Town occupants would kick in to pay for the closures and any improvements. But it seems the mayor will see push back on that front.

The city has also discussed extending parking meter hours to 10 pm in the area, which the Portland Bureau of Transportation says could cover closure costs.

"Parking is definitely a potential revenue source, but I think we need to dig a little deeper," said Sara Schooley, PBOT's parking policy coordinator.

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Good Morning, News!

Denis C. Theriault — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:29:27 -0700

Hey, gang. Barack here. Look. It seems our drones have actually killed four Americans without due process. And, well, we're now going to limit who we kill with aerial drones and let the military run the program instead of the CIA. And maybe we will envision a real end to the war on terrorism. Oh... and closing Gitmo! Do you remember closing Gitmo? Because I still do. Yeah, and we're going to try that again, too.... Like me again, you guys? Guys?...

Remember when the CIA used to take VIPs on foreign trips for "enhanced" interrogation? This is what that looked like.

Pious business owners really don't like the government making their insurance plans pay for workers' condoms and birth-control pills.

You don't have to believe in god to hang out in heaven. You just have to not be an asshole. New pope says!

A soldier's beheading in London, ruled an act of terror, could have been far worse if not for the fearlessness of a bus-riding nurse who bounded over and patiently tried to calm down the attackers until police arrived.

Watch your back, 80-year-old man who's now the oldest person to summit Mount Everest. An 81-year-old wants your record and he might just take it.

The Boy Scouts' vote on whether to be a bit less homophobic—allowing openly gay scouts, if not leaders—will be announced later this afternoon.

The FBI shot and killed a Florida man tied to Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, allegedly after the man told investigators he was involved in a 2011 slaying also apparently linked to Tsarnaev.

Angry young Swedes, despondent over high unemployment and nursing nativist grudges, have spent the past four days marching around Stockholm—breaking windows, throwing rocks, burning things down, and, most importantly, poking holes in the myth of the Scandinavian miracle state.

Cool kids whose taste buds should know better are messing with hard-core, low-income alcoholics by driving up the price of low-quality beer.

Pussy Riot's Maria Alekhina, now waging a hunger strike, was denied parole by Russian authorities for her failure to "repent" for helping stage an anti-government musical protest inside an Orthodox church.

How did John F. Kennedy tie his shoes? In Nazis!

THIS IS A NOD TO THE PEOPLE WHO WORKED HARD TO VOTE DOWN FLUORIDE AND HOW THEY FEEL WHEN THEY SEE A LONELY "YES" YARD SIGN THAT'S YET TO BE TAKEN DOWN. IT MIGHT ALSO BE SEATTLE.

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Hey, Slackers! Your New Arts Tax Deadline is Monday, June 10

Denis C. Theriault — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:29:37 -0700

The technical glitch that snarled last week's arts tax payment deadline has been fixed, the city just reported, and the deadline for paying the arts tax (remember, $35 for most income earners) has now been extended to June 10.

That's almost two months, let's note, after the original April 15 deadline.

It's been a long couple of days, so I'll be pasting in the press release that everyone else will mostly just be rewriting anyway. Just remember two things: Monday, June 10. And www.PortlandOregon.gov/artstax.

Oh, and the city told me last week that it's unclear how all this is affecting the cap on how much revenue can be devoted to administrative costs.

On May 15, 2013, the City’s website experienced a problem related to the overwhelming response of Portlanders paying their Arts Tax on the deadline. As a result, people were not able to pay their tax late that afternoon and evening.

To prevent the online payment system from overloading, City technical personnel implemented measures to limit the number of concurrent filers on the site at any one time.

These new measures will monitor payment processing capacity. If higher than manageable capacity is reached, then users will get a message asking them to submit their payment in a few minutes. This message will come up when the user selects the button to submit the payment. Users have the option to wait a few minutes and try again or send in their payment by mail. Having this system in place will ensure that usage does not exceed the system capacity and allow payments to continue to be processed online.

Technical staff are also working on increasing the overall capacity of the payment site.

City staff are validating payments that happened on Wednesday, May 15 when the system became overloaded. If there are discrepancies, filers will be contacted and adjustments made as necessary.

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Council Approves $35,000 for Man Claiming Police Beating at Police Brutality March

Denis C. Theriault — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:59:30 -0700

Clifford Richardson was among the multitudes who joined a 2010 march against two recent police shootings that wound its way around downtown and past the Portland Police Association headquarters in Northwest—and saw a bunch of windows smashed out and other reported acts of occasionally violent disobedience.

Richardson, 24 at the time, also was among a handful of protesters arrested on charges including disorderly conduct. But a funny thing happened (not really). Richardson was cleared of all criminal charges at trial. And his arrest—which led to facial injuries severe enough that Richardson had to be treated at OHSU—is now costing the city $35,000 in a settlement approved this afternoon by the Portland City Council.

A report filed by the city's risk management office describes the arrest and what happened. It doesn't make Richardson out like a saint—the city rarely apologizes or admits wrongdoing in a police settlement—but it does acknowledge the likelihood that a jury award might have cost it even more. It also notes that the arrest just so happened to be captured by a TV news camera operator.

The city report doesn't identify the officers involved or hint at whether any internal affairs investigation or even discipline might have been imposed.

Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch warned against "pernicious political profiling" of people dressed in black, like anarchists, and asked the city council why the report didn't ID the cops involved (after making the wry comment that Richardson was "brutalized by the police at an anti-police-brutality march).

"Our tax money is being paid out in these incidents," he said. "Sadly there's no way to tell if the officer involved was disciplined."

Of note? For the first time that I can remember, likely owing to the arrival of Mayor Charlie Hales, an item of this type was placed from the start on the council's regular agenda. Typically police use-of-force settlements are placed on the council's consent agenda. Unless someone like Handelman flags them, consent items aren't highlighted and are passed unanimously and with no discussion.

"I think all of the council is happy with these items not being buried," Dana Haynes, Hales' spokesman, emailed when I inquired. "I don’t know who initiated it, so I don’t think we should take credit for it. I know the mayor has said he prefers stuff like this being out there in the light of day."

Only one city commissioner gave substantial remarks during the vote to accept the settlement. Commissioner Nick Fish tried to focus on the fact that Richardson had sought more than $500,000 in the lawsuit he filed before agreeing to the much smaller settlement figure.

"It gives us no pleasure to pass on these pay claims," Fish said. "I look forward to the day when we don't have claims of this nature that we pay out.... Is this a prudent settlement in light of our risk? It seems to me it is on its face."

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If You Missed KBOO's Election Roundup (with Yours Truly as a Guest), Listen Here

Denis C. Theriault — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:29:48 -0700

It was pretty early, this post telling you to put on KBOO this morning and listen to host Joe Meyer talk with little old me about last night's ~~full measure of election results~~ thorough flogging of water fluoridation. So maybe you missed it. I get it. Wednesday mornings are tough.

But it's online now—and it makes for a nice, punchy back-and-forth. Just in time for your lunch hour!

Oh, and for the record, not a single fluoridation supporter called in. Like, zero. I figured maybe one of you 40 percenters might. But nope. You did not. We did hear a lot from people who think I'm corrupt/lazy/naive/stupid. And also from some people who pointed out that eating fluoridated toothpaste in great quantities is ill-advised.

(I confessed that as a kid I ate far more than a "pea-size" daub of the stuff on more than one occasion, because I liked Aqua Fresh, and never once had to call the poison hotline; maybe you'll say that's why I joined our endorsement of fluoridation.)

Anyway. Thanks! I had fun! And it wasn't nearly as awful as this commenter earlier today made it out to be.

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Old Town's "Entertainment District" Comes Before City Council Today!

Dirk VanderHart — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:59:24 -0700

Mayor Charlie Hales' plan to extend—over substantial neighborhood concern—Old Town's five-month-old "entertainment district" will come before council this afternoon, in what could prove a lengthy, testy hearing.

City commissioners will take their first crack at an ordinance [PDF] prepared at the direction of Hales earlier this month, authorizing cops and the city's Bureau of Transportation to extend the district through October.

The zone—a collection of streets in Old Town's nightclub district closed off on Friday and Saturday nights—has proven controversial since its inception in December. Some bar and restaurant owners in the area, initially supportive, now say the district is hampering business. And there are concerns the street closures to-date have made the area look like a ghostly police state—a far cry from the "street festival" atmosphere Hales' says he'd like to create.

Police, meanwhile, love the street closures, and contend crime is down since they began.

"The Old Town Neighborhood generates a high volume of calls for police service within the area between W Burnside and NW Everett on certain days and during certain hours, as well as the surrounding areas of this zone," Hales' ordinance reads. "Prior to the pilot street closure, police response to many of these calls was delayed by conflicts with vehicles."

Hales announced a couple weeks ago his intent to push an ordinance at a "town hall"-style meeting of business and neighborhood interests.

That meeting, the mayor said, was an opportunity for him to address concerns. But Hales' proposal for the district—he wants more food options and outdoor seating—did not appear to budge in the face of criticisms from neighbors and businesses.

That those criticisms dominated that discussion is not reflected in the ordinance, which reads: "The general consensus of feedback from the neighbors, community associations, businesses, and bar owners indicated that the majority of stakeholders are in favor of continuing the experiment with new ideas to improve the quality of life in the Oldtown/Chinatown Neighborhood, both in and around the entertainment district."

If the district extension is approved—and at least one commissioner has indicated to the Mercury a plan to go along with Hales' proposal—the notion of cost might be a flashpoint. The mayor has floated the idea of creating an assessment district, where Old Town neighbors would be taxed to help pay for upkeep. There's no indication, however, neighbors are amenable to that notion.

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Memo Sheds Light on Touchy Budget Talks Between Fire Union, Mayor's Office

Denis C. Theriault — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:29:59 -0700

Peace has largely reigned over Portland's budget process this year. Despite filling a $21.5 million budget gap, Mayor Charlie Hales has tried to deliver what good news he could to safety net advocates and parks boosters and others, even as he's proposed big cuts to the police and fire bureaus.

And there has been curiously little public pushback against those public safety cuts. Neither residents nor groups like the Portland Business Alliance have lined up to decry the pending loss of 50-plus sworn police positions and ~~26 firefighters.~~ 38 fire bureau workers, including 26 from the bureau's battalions.

Behind the scenes, that's not quite the case—especially when it comes to the fire bureau. A memo (pdf) obtained by the Mercury—essentially a script for Hales to follow during a meeting Tuesday morning with the Portland Fire Fighters Association—reveals intense deliberations in private over the best way to meet Hales' goal of saving money without maybe having to lay off so many firefighters.

The memo also expands on simmering discontent with managing another of Hales' main goals: swapping in two-person rapid response vehicles, designed to handle medical calls, in place of four-person fire engines and ladder trucks. PFFA President Alan Ferschweiler wrote a stinging op-ed in the Oregonian on Monday criticizing the mayor's initial attempt at the change. Later that day, Fire Chief Erin Janssens leaked to the O a plan that would ameliorate some of the fire union's concerns, something that came up in the meeting.

I've left a message for Ferschweiler, and I'll update with his comments when they come.

Labor negotiations also appear to be on the table. Though the firefighters agreed on a new contract last year, Hales' office has suggested the union could avoid some layoffs by reopening the deal and agreeing to forgo some cost-of-living increases. The memo claims Ferschweiler personally supports the idea but doesn't think his members will go along.

"We should respond that the COLA is a one-time thing to get us to a new normal, and it is up to them," Hales' talking points say. "You are dead serious about the RRVs and overall savings. They can either choose jobs or trucks."

Members, according to the memo, want the city to apply for grant money that would help mitigate layoffs in the short term while waiting for better economic times. But Hales' office tells me there's still "a gap," because that grant money would only be a "band-aid"—although, "who doesn't like free money?"—and wouldn't help the city get even over the course of it's five-year budget.

"We've been flexible," says Noah Siegel, a policy adviser for Hales. "The goal is hitting the savings number and introducing innovations."

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This Week in Sex

Rose Finn — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:14:56 -0700

French president Francois Hollande legalized gay marriage on Saturday, after years of French polls being in favor of gay marriage. Though there have still been oppositional protests, Hollande maintains that he “wouldn't accept any disruption of France's first gay marriages.” Said Disney princess Belle, "Finally—we can stop pretending 'The Beast' is a dude."

Kaitlyn Hunt, An 18-year-old high school student in Florida, was recently charged two felony counts of “lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 to 16” for dating her 15-year-old high school girlfriend for several months. According to Huff Post, in addition to the girlfriend’s parents getting Hunt arrested in her own home, “the 15-year-old's parents successfully petitioned the school board to have Hunt removed from school weeks prior to graduation.” Both girls had started dating before Hunt turned 18, and both sets of parents knew about it months before Hunt was arrested. Said the 15-year-old, "I am so moving to France."

Meanwhile, in a custody hearing between Carolyn Compton and her ex-husband in Texas, Judge John R. Roach declared under a "morality clause" that Compton and her lesbian partner can no longer live together. The morality clause states that it's illegal for Compton to have anyone over that she's "not related to by blood or marriage" in the house with her two children after 9pm, even though they have been raising them for nearly three years, and the children are clearly happy and healthy. Though the two would like to marry, because gay marriage is still illegal in Texas, Compton's partner must move out of the house. In related news, Texas is now changing their license plates to say "The Lone Gay Parent State."

In boring, usual news: “Tea Partiers” (not to be confused with “Spring Breakers”) accuse Obama of being a closeted gay, and being a frequenter of the Chicago gay bathhouse scene. Said one tea party member, gossip columnist, and someone who may be closeted himself for all we know, Jerome Corsi, "Obama used to go to the gay bars during the week, most often on Wednesday, and they said he was very much into older white guys.” Said most members of the Supreme Court, "Um, really?"

In non-depressing news (I know, what?) cool New York city hairdresser Michael Angelo has paired up with the Somaly Mam foundation, a foundation seeking to eradicate sex trafficking, to start a beauty school for ex-sex trade victims in Cambodia. Teaching victims provides them with a marketable skill, and the tools to become self-sustaining; unlike the hairdressers on Jerseylicious.

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Good Morning, News!

Wm.™ Steven Humphrey — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:31:26 -0700

GOOD MORNING, BLOGTOWN! Girl, I'm feelin what you feelin'. No more hopin' and wishin'. I'm 'bout to take my key and stick it in the ignition. LET'S GO TO PRESS.

As predicted, in last night's election fluoride went down in poisonous flames. (Did you know that fluoride is so poisonous it can actually kill fire? A DOCTOR IN EUROPE TOLD ME THAT.) The latest tally was 60 percent anti to 40 percent pro. I'll try not to be too sour grapes-y about it... but can you guys keep on spamming our comments section with unsubstantiated anti-fluoride links? You know... just for old times sake? (Read our election night party updates here.)

And right on cue, Portland is being made fun of by out-of-towners for their anti-fluoride vote. Here's my fave line from the story:

How can you tell someone is from Portland?

The backyard chickens, the beard, the inability to pump gasoline. And perhaps we should add a lack of a full set of teeth.

Hey, they said it, I didn't! (Someone else also said this.)

A Florida man (not that Florida Man) was killed by feds and cops last night after he attacked them with a knife while being questioned about his potential role in the Boston bombing.

In a video, Anthony Weiner keeps his shirt on and announces his bid to run for mayor of NYC. Impossible? Hey, not with the anti-fluoride people behind him! (By the way, anti-fluorides—I expect to see your plans for providing dental health to underprivileged kids on my desk by tomorrow morning. Sorry, too sour grapes-y.)

To put things in proper perspective, here are some more terrible, terrifying stories from the aftermath of the Oklahoma monster tornado.

The IRS official in charge of the division which targeted conservative groups stands before a congressional committee aaaaaand... pleads the fifth. I should do that more often.

In China, an extract from the gall bladders of captive bears is said to have medicinal benefits. So can we put THAT in our water?

Now here's what's going on in your neck of the woods: Chilly and wet for the next three days with a drying trend over the weekend!

And finally, let's face it. While you may find my sour grapes annoying... I think we can all agree that the Sour Grapes from the Banana Splits Show are the greatest thing EVARRRRR!

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If You're Awake (and You Should Be), Turn on KBOO

Denis C. Theriault — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:44:04 -0700

Good morning. So you're awake and looking at Blogtown at 7:45 in the morning. Good for you!

Now do me a GIANT FAVOR and put on KBOO (90.7 FM) or stream it here. Why? Because at 8 this morning, I'll be on with Joe Meyer for an hour talking about last night's election results.

Because weren't they a hoot? Keep smiling. Keep shining. Knowing you can always count one me...

Bye!

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Scenes from the the No on Fluoride Party. Which Is Winning

Denis C. Theriault — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:06:27 -0700

9:42 PM: A very excited fellow in a baseball hat is saying "this is what it sounds like when an avalanche rains down on city hall." He's a self described "anti-fluoride nerd." And a "socialist." And he can't believe he's been working side by side with conservatives.

"This is how Portland comes together."

He's leading a chant about water. He's also reminding people to tip their servers and bartenders even though they're paying with drink tokens.

No one's pushed any drink tokens into my hands. So maybe that's not a victory after all. It's all over but for the shouting. And the second-hand pot smoking.

9:36 PM: An impossible applause just went up at the news that Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland conceded, announced by KC Hanson.

"I love you guys," she says.

People have talking about text messages of congratulations and love coming from relatives all around the country. That affection went on display on stage right after Kristen Robison, campaign manager, got on stage.

"Portland has spoken and sent a message," said Robison, basking after a victory over some of the most high-powered Democratic campaign consultants in the state. "Thank you, every last one of you."

Kim Kaminski, director of Clean Water Portland, then got up to offer thanks and to bask in the crowd's adoration.

"I'm so grateful to everyone who came forward," she said, "and did this and helped to protect our water."

Clifford Walker of the NAACP and former city commissioner Mike Lindberg also took their bows. Lindberg, who wrote an Oregonian op-ed about his health problems and doctor's urging not to drink fluoridation, called our water "sacred."

"No victory has been as sweet as this one," he said. "We also feel a good public process should be just."

Rick North, another fluoride fighter, actually compared this to the United States beating the Russians in hockey in 1980. Soviet Russia. He called tonight "the biggest upset" since then, never mind Portland's predilection for voting against fluoride. Hell, Oregon couldn't even fluoridate water, losing the battle in the Legislature 40 years ago.

AND BONUS! I've only been mocked once by someone over the paper's fluoride endorsement. So that's also a victory.

9:07 PM: Fluoridation did a little bit worse with the next round of updates, trailing 61 percent to 39 percent.

"61 percent," KC Hanson shouted. "You do the math." The PA system still isn't working so well.

The crowd here has swollen up a bit. And we've just been treated to our first musical interlude. Rick North, a longtime fluoride fighter, earlier told TV cameras that he thought the message that real people would be harmed by fluoride, the stuff of testimonials shown by opponents, was what put things over the top.

It's been festive. What I thought was a skunk out on NW 14th might not actually be. But there's still some anger. When the TV cameras showed the other party, people booed. And when the results at 9 were shouted out, one guy replied with: "Get the fuckers out of office."

Original post: "What do you think? Is it going to be a close vote?"

This is the question I get from Mike Bluehair, devoted fluoridation foe and Occupy Portland mainstay, at the Clean Water Portland party over at On Deck Sports Bar. He's being rather gracious, remembering that the Mercury has endorsed in favor of fluoridation.

I confess that, no, I don't think it will be close. He laughs. "We'll kill them, right?" I nod. We're waiting for the first wave of results to spill in from Multnomah County, in a crowd of maybe 75 or so supporters. He's telling me about the volunteers who've been coming out of the woodwork. And he says he'll be glad when he doesn't have to talk about it anymore.

"I'm gonna look forward to not having to argue," says Mike. "It's been stressful."

The PA system isn't so good here. They've abandoned it.

It doesn't matter. Fluoride is ahead 60 percent to 40 percent in early returns. And the crowd erupts with hoot and claps.

"We are proud. We are Portland. We care about our community," says one woman, shouting over the din. "We are here tonight to celebrate with one another."

She went on to mention the rapprochement that's due next after months of heated infighting and odd political bedfellows. She wants people to be magnanimous. It's easier to say this because they're winning.

"There are good people who believe perfectly the opposite of what we did," she says. "As a community, as Portland, we need to come together. I know you guys will."

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Bunkered Down: Pro-fluoride Edition

Dirk VanderHart — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:00:17 -0700

7:51 pm - The party for Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland and their affiliated fluoride supporters is slowly building to a buzz here at Curious Comedy Theater. The bar is well-patronized, the hors d'oeuvres look delightful, and everyone I've spoken with is holding out hope for a positive result, despite bleak polling data.

The polls could be wrong, they say. And who knows who will turn out for the election?

One sizable critique: No music! We're listening to the tabloid show Extra, which is playing on a large screen. The bustle of the fast-filling room is drowning it out now, thank god.

8:02 pm - Sounds of concern, as the first glimpse we get at the results shows fluoride opponents with a sizable lead—more than 20,000 votes at the moment.

"Not as bad as they thought," one woman says, referring to polls.

8:10 pm - The line for the bar is running deep, most of the snacks have been devoured and the effort is well-behind, but there's an air of joviality, still, among pro-fluoride folks.

I'm talking with Alejandro Queral, a program officer with major fluoride supporter Northwest Health Foundation, about a hypothetical loss. "If fluoride loses tonight," I ask, "is it a lost cause in Portland?"

Queral says no. Even if Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland, with it's sizable war chest, loses, Queral tells me it's only a matter of time before Portlanders approve fluoridation.

Some potential factors he offers for fluoride's underdog status: He says voters might have been put off by the way a fluoride ordinance came before council without much discussion. And fluoride opponents, Queral says, had an easy message to get across: "Don't mess it our water."

"They did a good job," he says.

Commissioner Steve Novick is in the house!

8:29 pm - Novick, sipping on a cocktail, blames fluoride's potential downfall on Lyndon Johnson.

Since the Vietnam War, he says, public trust of experts and government has waned considerably. And, he notes, "I don't think it's all that hard to get people to doubt. People got the idea that this was an assault on their way of life."

Novick, who was not yet a commissioner when the fight over fluoride began, appears to be the only denizen of city hall here. And there's no sign of former Commissioner Randy Leonard, who helped begin the fluoride push. Sam Adams, too, is missing.

Novick's got enough wry quotes to go around, though.

"I want this to make me realize that Republicans are not bad people," he says, noting that many friends disagreed with him on the fluoride issue. "That people who don't believe in global warming aren't bad people."

8:57 pm - The stage lights go up, and Queral addresses a cheering crowd.

“We really took it to them,” he says. “Obviously we will leave here a bit dissatisfied, and I hope we do. Because the work is not done yet.”

The event is clearly winding down, and NOW they turn on the music?! Shaking. My. Head.

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City Finds Extra Money; Hales Saves Mounted Patrol, Buckman Pool

Denis C. Theriault — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:07:00 -0700

Portland's still closing a $21.5 million budget hole. But Mayor Charlie Hales has found a way to take the sting out of some of the more unpopular cuts he'd put on the table when he unveiled his budget late last month.

Under a revised plan previewed for a "scrum" of reporters and city hall staffers this afternoon, Hales announced he'd be keeping around a smaller police Mounted Patrol Unit, using unspent levy money to keep alive Buckman Pool and the Sellwood Community Center, partially funding human trafficking and youth shelter services, and finding new money for parks maintenance. He's also keeping tree planting inside the Bureau of Environmental Services, a nod to environmentalists worried BES was backtracking into a mere sewers bureau.

Hales said he's been listening at public hearings, where residents have lined up to demand reprieves for their favored programs. He's taking advantage of new money scared up after the city won a lawsuit over its landline phone tax last year and new savings captured from state pension reform and a reduction in planned raises for some city employees. And, also important, he's relying on heavy offers of community donations and reserves from funds outside the city's operating budget.

"Public hearings matter," Hales said. "And when people show up in the city of Portland and have something to say about the community, this city council listens. And we endeavor to take that into account."

Hales has been entertaining a series of changes in the days before his revised proposal becomes official. He struck a deal with Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen last Thursday that preserves other safety net programs meant for the chopping block, including the county's Crisis Assessment and Treatment Center.

And Monday, the fire bureau announced a deal with Hales that will tweak his plan to swap out engines and/or trucks at four stations with lighter-staffed rapid-response vehicles. Hales says the bureau will use the RRVs to augment staffing at busy bureaus and achieve cuts by deploying hybrid firetrucks called "quints." Hales said the city will mothball old trucks in case of an emergency.

The deal for the mounted patrol, though, was perhaps the most perplexing in city hall. Friends of Portland's Mounted Patrol have led a full-court press to save the unit, but even with that pressure, sources say Hales had more than enough votes in hand to do away with the unit. Instead, he's embracing an offer by the Friends boosters to raise $200,000 this year and next to pay for upkeep.

"We're gonna make a little hay here," Hales joked.

The unit's hay provider, Maxson, will pay for a year of hay (the source of Hales' joke). And Chief Mike Reese, despite putting the horse unit on his cut list, is shifting officers around to keep it staffed, but with two fewer riders. Curiously, the bureau will take someone from the training division, even though the bureau is in the midst of teaching to new use of force standards mandated by a federal settlement.

• Two officer positions are eliminated
• One sergeant position is transferred from property crimes to the Mounted Patrol Unit, or MPU
• Two officer positions transferred from personnel division to MPU
• One officer position transferred from training division to MPU
• One officer position transferred from complaint signer/detectives division to MPU
• 2.5 non-sworn positions transferred from non-sworn positions currently vacant to MPU

Other clever money is keeping alive Buckman Pool, a perennial target. Hales is tapping unspent revenue from a parks levy to keep the pool open until the city figures out how to build a community center at Washington High School. He's using the same source to keep Sellwood's community center open for another year. Grant money, meanwhile, is also being diverted to trafficking services.

Hales also announced that the city's voluntary retirement program has been successful, encouraging 73 city workers to leave early in exchange for health care payments. Seventeen of those seeking the package are from the police bureau, the most of any city bureau.

And he signaled that his deal with the county was only the start of a restructuring that's far more substantial. He held firm in not paying for a district attorney's post when the county is adding one, too.

"They're adding positions. We're subtracting them. We're not gonna pay for them."

He said there was a bigger picture in play.

"The negotiation over the budget emergences of the moment just highlight what a patchwork of shared funding we have between the city and the county," he said. "We're really interested in digging into those questions, who does what. Let's figure out what our lanes are and how to stay in them."

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Good Morning, News!

Dirk VanderHart — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:31:00 -0700

IT'S ELECTION DAY, PORTLAND! Vote, if you haven't, damn your eyes.

Emergency workers are searching this morning through the rubble that was once an Oklahoma City suburb, after a powerful tornado struck the area Monday afternoon. The damage is vast, and the toll is unclear, but dozens are dead and many more injured.

And, yikes. More rough weather looks likely.

A new Xbox is being revealed today, which at my current rate of adopting video game consoles means I can look forward to owning one in nine years or so. Exciting!

Still almost 12 hours left to VOTE! Why not?

I know very little about golf, but I do know that—to the extent the playing of the sport itself can be said to look normal—those very-long putters some players use are ridiculous. And now they're outlawed.

Former Internal Revenue Service heads are appearing before a Senate committee this morning. It's continued fallout over recent revelations the agency improperly targeted conservative groups.

And look who else is in a Senate committee hot seat!. Apple CEO Tim Cook is testifying today, following revelations the enormous company employed elaborate schemes to shield international earnings from the US' greedy and nebbish tax collectors. One thing: According to the Washington Post "using foreign operations to avoid U.S. taxes is legal and common among multinationals."

The sun, long a provider and sustainer of life for those of us here on Earth, is considering taking out our electric grids.

Instead of grumbling about the tepid, gray drizzle the Weather Widget has in store this week, let's be thankful Portland never gets anything more serious than a light snow, weather-wise. Some thunder would be nice once in a while, though.

Vote.

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Fluoride 2013: Let's Just Start Drinking a Poison We All Agree On (Hint: It's Alcohol)

Denis C. Theriault — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:08:00 -0700

Portland's fluoride fight, presumably settled tomorrow, is drawing bemused headshaking from all around the country—even up north in Seattle, where I spent a few minutes this morning talking about fluoride on KIRO-AM (710).

But let's be honest here. The polling is looking terrible for fluoride. And despite our own personal best attempts to fire people up about why fluoridation makes sense, the "anti" side has always been able to draw on a far deeper reserve of passion and vigor. (And if your mind isn't made up by now, it's probably too late. So don't worry.) So what's left to discuss? At this point, pretty much the two camps' respective ELECTION NIGHT parties.

For those who enjoy crashing such things:

CLEAN WATER PORTLAND
On Deck Sports Bar (trivia: where mayoral candidate Max Brumm once toasted his friends and loved ones)
910 NW 14th
Doors open at 7:30

and

HEALTHY KIDS HEALTHY PORTLAND
Curious Comedy Theater (because of the past nine months?)
5225 NE MLK
Doors open at 7

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"Sit-Lie" Bill, Backed by Portland Business Alliance, Clears Another Hurdle

Denis C. Theriault — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:44:49 -0700

The Portland Business Alliance's request for a loosening of sidewalk rules, in hopes of reviving something like Portland's old (and unconstitutional) "sit-lie" law, is still alive. Today, on the last day this session for bills stuck in committee to be scheduled for a vote lest they die, HB 2963 was placed on the Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee's May 30 agenda. It lives another day.

That hearing now looms as the next make-or-break point for the legislation. A vote of assent by the committee would send the bill to the Senate floor. And state senators would then seem likely to approve it, just as their counterparts in the House did late last month.

It'll be interesting to hear what Judiciary Chairman Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, has to say about the bill's chances. I've left a message with his office seeking comment. As I wrote in Hall Monitor this week, it was by his urging early this month that the bill was even placed in limbo in the first place. He offered some tart words for the PBA and demanded court files related to the sit-lie constitutional fight—a request that would days to fulfill, even as today's deadline for action loomed.

Prozanski, from famously tolerant Eugene, sounded a lot like the advocates battling the bill when he made the point that if all the PBA wants is a conversation about sidewalk rules that aren't working, then nothing is stopping them.

"It doesn't seem like the bill addressed [the desire for] a discussion," he said at the hearing. "It's giving a sanction based on whatever might come out of those discussions."

Critics of the bill have liked what they've heard, so far, from Prozanski. Will that continue?

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Good Morning, News!

Wm.™ Steven Humphrey — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:29:00 -0700

GOOD MORNING, BLOGTOWN! You could plan a pretty picnic (you could plan a pretty picnic), but you can't predict the weather, Ms. Jackson. LET'S GO TO PRESS.

Three months after we caught 'em hacking, the Chinese hackers have resumed attacking American targets—this time employing different tactics. Sounds like someone is challenging us to a... hack war!!

The Washington Post is reporting that the Obama administration spied on Fox reporter James Rosen, collecting phone records, tracking his movement in and out of the state department, and seizing two days worth of emails. Gaaaaaaaaaahhh.

Britain is experiencing a measles epidemic, reportedly because of the millions of parents who refused to give their babies vaccines, due to fears of autism. Thanks again, Jenny McCarthy!

Tornadoes creamed Oklahoma and the midwest yesterday, and more trouble is on the way.

Yahoo buys Tumblr, but promises "not to screw it up." Why does that make me more nervous than ever?

According to news sources there, two CIA agents allegedly working for us and Israel were hanged in Iran on Sunday.

A hero cop—who sat next to Michelle Obama four years ago during a presidential speech—has now been accused of rape.

A masked assailant uses a girl as a human shield, then points his gun at the cop. What happens next is incredibly sad.

Pastor E.W. Johnson, a candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia, compared Planned Parenthood to the KKK. You know... I'm sorry, I just don't see the connection!

Here's more info on.... MOON BLAST 2013!

The honeymoon's over... Justin Bieber is BOOOOOOOED at the Billboard Music Awards.

Now here's what's going on in your neck of the woods: Mostly sunny today with a high of 74, but tomorrow? Wear your galoshes!

And finally, would you like to be "Reg Rolled" by Reggie Watts? The answer to this question, is yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

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Good Morning, News!

Dirk VanderHart — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:35:00 -0700

We don't have a lot of time with each other in this life, everybody. Let's keep it brief today.

Powerball. You're not going to win, but it will be thrilling for a minute (if you win, e-mail me!).

Sometimes trains collide head-on. It happened in Connecticut yesterday. It makes no sense.

North Korea's firing missiles again. But it's not a big deal.

MOON EXPLOSION.

France is cool with gay marriage. Oregon still is not.

Uh oh. Crazy ants trump fire ants every time.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has yet to address allegations he smoked crack on camera.

The Weather Widget tells is like it is. No two ways about it.

Also, you'd think astronauts would be dismissive of Bowie's "Space Oddity," detailing, as it does, astronaut death. Not the case.

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Are Voter Owned Elections Mounting a Comeback?

Dirk VanderHart — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:07:00 -0700

Portland's voter owned elections ~~died a convincing death~~ saw narrow defeat at the hands of the people in 2010, when Portlanders ~~roundly~~ rejected the system by a slim margin. But there are tenuous signs of life in the old girl yet.

This sign was posted on the ground floor of the Board of Trade Building (310 SW 4th) this afternoon.

The meeting was closed off to the public, but revolved around how supporters might revive publicly financed elections, an attendee said. As killed by voters, the system allowed candidates for city council and mayor to gather 1,000-1,500 $5 contributions to receive $150,000 in public funding from the city.

The process was enacted in 2005, and has a bit of a spotty past. Former council candidate Emilie Boyles ran off with the public money in 2006, for example. But City Commissioner Amanda Fritz won election to council her first time around using public funds. It's been a pet issue of hers ever since.

Fritz' office confirmed she attended today's meeting, calling it a "brainstorming session." The meeting was arranged by Common Cause Oregon.

Reviving voter owned elections, by the way, has been oft-discussed since its demise. Whether this nascent push has legs remains to be seen.

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Slate: What's the Matter with Portland?

Dirk VanderHart — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:44:01 -0700

No that anyone's paying attention to the growing body of cogent arguments for water fluoridation in Portland, but here's another.

Slate writer Jake Blumgart's piece takes a long look at the fight over fluoride here in town. If you've spent the last several months debating this issue (or vandalizing your neighbors' yards for their stand on the issue), not much will come as a surprise. If you've been meaning to learn about the fluoride debate but haven't gotten around to it, first read our story. Then read Slate's.

Oh, and if you haven't voted, VOTE! Ballots are due next Tuesday.

From the piece:

America is a fluoride nation. Beginning in 1945, when Grand Rapids, Mich., became the first city in the world to add the stuff to its water supply, the practice has spread across the United States. In most areas it is simply understood that ingesting minuscule levels of fluoride is good for dental health. As of 2010, almost three-quarters of Americans drink fluoridated water from community water systems, and the nation’s 30 most populous cities consume it.

With one weird exception: Portland, Ore., whose water system, sourced from the Bull Run River, serves 900,000 people.

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