Mayoral candidate Sho Dozono landed in hot water during an
April 21 KGW-Oregonian televised debate, when opponent Sam Adams
pointed out that Dozono “would have the city join the Joint Terrorism
Task Force [JTTF].”

If you weren’t paying attention when Mayor Tom Potter led the
ballsy 2005 effort to yank Portland cops from the anti-terrorism
group—citing concerns about police oversight—the JTTF is a
“multi-agency effort led by the Justice Department and FBI,” according
to the US Department of Justice, that does things like enforce the
controversial Patriot Act.

During the debate, Dozono initially balked at Adams’ assertion,
saying, “I’m not clear as to where Commissioner Adams got that
information about my position… I would clearly negotiate with the
anti-terrorist organization to talk about my involvement as a
mayor, as a commissioner in charge of the police bureau, to make sure
we are part of that process, to make sure that we are not excluded from
that process.”

Adams shot back: “The conversation took place at 2 pm last Friday in
the Mercury offices as part of their endorsement interview. My
opponent was asked if there was anything he disagreed with Mayor Potter
about. Luckily the conversation was recorded.”

Indeed it was—audio of the endorsement interview exchange is
posted at blogtown.portlandmercury.com.
As Adams accurately framed it, our question for Dozono was which issues
he and Potter disagree on.

“I think I would have dealt with the anti-terrorist situation
differently,” Dozono said. Hold up! Would he not have pulled out
of the JTTF, we asked? “I wasn’t in the conversation, but I think
that’s one thing people have criticized [Potter] for. But I don’t
really know exactly what his stand was.” Well that clears that up… or
doesn’t, at all. When asked Tuesday morning, April 22, Dozono
declined to clarify his JTTF position.

Speaking of mayoral decisions people disagree with: Potter opted not
to include $150,000 for the Arts Partners regional program, an upstart
that will eventually plug artists “into the education of every K-8
student in the region’s school districts” by 2012, according to Project
Manager Marna Stalcup.

“Kids don’t get enough art these days,” according to the colorful
postcards landing at city hall in support of funding for the Arts
Partners program. Stalcup explains that the requested city
funding—just .6 percent of the city’s $33 million surplus,
as the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) points out in an action
alert sent out to arts supporters—along with pending funding from
Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah Counties, would help the program
leverage private sector funds.

“The City of Portland should be on the record as supporting arts
education, to help us unlock potentially millions of dollars from
the private sector,” says Jeff Hawthorne, RACC’s director of community
affairs. If the postcards and emails don’t sway Potter, Arts Partners
supports will turn their attention to Commissioners Randy Leonard and
Dan Saltzman.