No one answers the door the first time city council candidate Jeff Bissonnette knocks. He tries the house’s dolphin-shaped knocker instead, hoping someone answers this door on N Edison, just a few blocks from his own St. Johns home. “I’m running on a platform of helping Portland to be a city that works better,” Bissonnette […]
Amy J. Ruiz
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Blind Spot of Justice?
Prosecutors Decline to Charge Driver Who Killed Cyclist Tracey
Tracey Sparling put herself in harm’s way last October 11, the day she hopped on her bicycle and rolled down SW 14th toward class at Pacific Northwest College of Art—at least according to some media accounts. The 19-year-old woman was obeying the law, riding in the bike lane, and stopping at a red light on […]
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Hall Monitor
Sho Time
Sho Dozono—downtown business owner and longtime civic activist—stopped by Portland City Hall on Monday morning, January 7, to pick up 2,000 public campaign finance forms. If he can convince 1,500 Portland voters to pony up $5 and their signature on those forms, he’ll qualify for $200,000 of public funds in a bid for mayor—making Dozono […]
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Marching Down the Aisle
Gay Rights Advocates Prepare for Domestic Partnership Hearing
On January 2—the day same-sex couples were supposed to be able to register as domestic partners at county offices across the state—Portland’s Q Center was overflowing with couples, their friends and family members, political leaders, and others who were outraged by a federal judge’s December 28 decision to temporarily halt the new law, at the […]
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Fritz Is First
Amanda Fritz Turns in 1,000 Contributions
This time around, Amanda Fritz beat her own record by three days, collecting over 1,000 signatures and contributions from supporters in hopes of qualifying for $150,000 in public campaign financing, in just two months and 18 days. And this time around, Fritz hardly needs an introduction: She’s the woman from SW Portland who ran against […]
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New Year’s Resolutions
The Year’s Top Issues, and How They’ll Play out in 2008
There was plenty of big news in 2007—but most of it can’t be wrapped up neatly, tied with a shiny bow, and archived as the year closes. From the end of Portland’s Drug-Free Zones to the reinstatement of the city’s sit-lie law, and from the attempted renaming of Interstate Avenue to Mayor Tom Potter’s announced […]
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Party Crashers
Anti-Gay Activists Seek Injunction
On Friday, December 28—less than a week before same-sex couples will be allowed to form domestic partnerships in Oregon—attorneys for anti-gay activists who tried to send the new law to the ballot will be in federal court, asking a judge for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop the new law from […]
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Hall Monitor
‘Tis the Season
It’s holiday party season at city hall—complete with white elephant gift exchanges, karaoke, and “Lyne’s famous chili.” The mayor’s staff headed to Public Safety and Security Staff Assistant Jared Spencer’s house for the aforementioned karaoke and gift exchange. “It’s potluck and BYOB because we respect and safeguard taxpayer dollars,” says spokesperson John Doussard. “Jared and […]
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The Kids Are Screwed
OLCC Votes Against Relaxing All-Ages Rules
Local music fans packed the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s (OLCC) drab meeting room last Thursday morning, December 13, in eager anticipation of the monthly commission meeting. The fire commissioners were slated to consider changes to the rule regarding minor postings—those signs in bars and venues that lay out the policy of when minors are or […]
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Hall Monitor
BORING!
Forget city hall: This week all the city council action took place across the river—or under it. On Monday morning, December 10, Commissioner Sam Adams showed off where the city’s put $1.4 billion: In a tunnel a hundred feet underneath the Central Eastside Industrial District, where a boring machine is carving out the Eastside Big […]
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Un-Fare
Will Fareless Square be Limited or Eliminated?
At Friday’s City Club luncheon, guest speaker Fred Hansen—general manager of TriMet—made a big announcement: In January, he plans to ask TriMet’s board of directors to limit Fareless Square’s hours. In a speech focused on safety and security issues on TriMet—largely in response to the early November beating of Laurie Chilcote, whom a suspected gang […]
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Hall Monitor
Counting the Cash
Late last week, the city council wrapped up negotiations over the fall budget surplus, and prepared to approve over $5.7 million in new general fund requests. The good news? Funding for bike safety improvements—proposed in the wake of two bike/truck collision deaths—made it through to the final package, as did special requests to fund things […]