The day after Thanksgiving, Howard Weiner got the thumbs up
from the city’s elections office: He could start collecting signatures
and $5 contributions in his bid to secure public financing for his
fledging city council run.
Weiner—owner of Cal Skate Skateboards on NW 6th in Old Town,
and a long-time community activist—has plenty of catching up to
do. He has to collect 1,000 qualifying contributions before January 31,
while several of his competitors have surpassed the 300—and even
600—signatures mark.
“I have 73 days,” Weiner said on Monday, November 26, in his Cal
Skate office, his dog Annie napping under his chair. “It’s going to
take all of my effort.” He’s transformed a corner of his shop into a
signature-gathering station.
Weiner certainly has a wealth of people to solicit, thanks to his
long resume of volunteer work—a civic career that began with
anti-war protesting at PSU in the ’70s, continued with skatepark
activism, and is currently focused on community and livability issues.
If there’s been a committee in Old Town/Chinatown, chances are Weiner’s
served on it. He’s chaired the neighborhood association, and currently
heads up the neighborhood’s public safety committee. He’s on the
Citizens’ Commission to End Homelessness, and the Transit Mall
Revitalization committee.
He also spent most of 2004 volunteering on Tom Potter’s mayoral
campaign; an experience that he says was inspiring—until Potter
took office.
“I and a number of folks did feel left out when Potter became
mayor.” Potter’s vision of increased community engagement hasn’t been
fully realized, and that’s one reason Weiner’s running.
“City hall is missing a voice from the community,” says Weiner, a
resident of the Multnomah neighborhood. “My voice will speak to issues
that aren’t being addressed.”
One issue Weiner would tackle is the relationship between the city
and the county governments. He sees a disconnect between Portland
police arresting a suspect, for example, and the county jail not
holding that person. “You can steal a car in this city and not spend an
hour in jail,” he says. He’d like to broach the idea of merging the two
governments.
On public safety, Weiner supports “getting police out of cars” and
giving Chief Rosie Sizer the “resources that are necessary” to increase
community policing. As for addressing homelessness, Weiner says some of
the recommendations from the mayor’s SAFE committee—like the
sit-lie law—”haven’t been effective… We can move people along
all day, but where are they going to go?” Instead, the focus should be
on moving “people out of homelessness and into housing.”
He’d also like to see the Office of Neighborhood Involvement
renamed—to the Office of Community Engagement—and expanded
to bring in groups beyond neighborhood and business associations. And
more city money should head directly to neighborhoods, he says. “Let
them decide how it’s spent.”