We’ve been covering the prostitution-on-82nd issue for quite some time, and it hit city council today. On the agenda? The creation of the 82nd Avenue Prostitution Advisory Committee, to oversee “City anti-prostitution efforts on 82nd Ave and to advise the Police Bureau and City Council.” Commander Mike Crebs of the Portland Police East Precinct is […]
City Hall
Posted inCity Hall
Thank You, Mayor Potter
Dr. Herman Frankel is at city council today, handing out homemade signs to thank Mayor Tom Potter. Why? Because Potter proclaimed today as Human Rights Day in Portland. From the back of Frankel’s signs: This formal proclamation provides us with an opportunity to honor Mayor Potter for his courage and actions during the past four […]
Posted inCity Hall
Holy Hell, What a Day
My day in a nutshell: The oatmeal cookie I just snagged at tonight’s Bicycle Advisory Committee/Pedestrian Advisory Committee joint meeting was lunch. Thankfully, it was a substantial cookie. Here’s a download of the action. First up, the council work session on the Portland Plan. As a work session, the council didn’t decide anything—they got a […]
Posted inPortland
Human Rights Commission ‘Hasn’t Decided How [it’s] Going To Decide Yet…’
Buried in the cavernous depths of the Portland Building on SW 5th, the human rights commission is meeting to agree on its bylaws this afternoon: Mayor-elect Sam Adams walked in at around 4:50, just as committee chair, Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen was asking members to take a quick vote on whether to remove the […]
Posted inCity Hall
Mayor-elect Sam Adams Names Dan Saltzman as Police Commissioner
UPDATE: Commissioner Dan Saltzman will be the next police commissioner. “I arrive at this decision after careful consideration and have determined this action to be in the best interest of the city,” Mayor-elect Sam Adams says. Letting Saltzman’s “steady hand” lead the police bureau will allow Adams to focus on high school drop outs and […]
Posted inPolitics
The Next Police Commissioner Is…
… “definitely” not going to be Amanda Fritz or Charles Lewis. That’s about all the news coming out of Mayor-elect Sam Adams’ office on the who’s-it-gonna-be drama. Which makes sense: With a decision on the matter expected by the 31st–but probably sooner–the outcome of the Fritz-Lewis runoff won’t even be known.
Posted inPolitics
Assigning the Police Bureau: What Sam Adams Should Do
Commissioner Randy Leonard took himself out of the running for Police Commissioner last night, citing the ongoing drama between himself and Police Chief Rosie Sizer. Now Mayor-elect Sam Adams has to figure out what to do. Who should head up the Police Bureau? Here’s my suggestion. Adams should watch the Parent Trap (1961 edition) and […]
Posted inPolitics
There’s Been ‘Ongoing Drama With No Seeming End,’ Around the Police Commissioner Appointment, Says Leonard.
I just spoke with Commissioner Randy Leonard, to get more detail about his decision to withdraw his name from consideration for the Commissioner-in-Charge of the Police Bureau. He says the past few months, since Mayor-Elect Adams asked him to prepare an assessment of the Police Bureau, and to consider whether he’d want to run the […]
Posted inPolitics
BREAKING NEWS: Commissioner Randy Leonard Takes His Name Off the Police Commissioner Short List
Commissioner Randy Leonard, widely expected to be named the next commissioner in charge of the police bureau by Mayor-Elect Sam Adams, has withdrawn himself from consideration, citing an “unfortunate dynamic”–his terse relationship with Police Chief Rosie Sizer, and the media “debate” over that relationship. There’s been no debate here at the Mercury. But the Oregonian’s […]
Posted inCity Hall
This is What Lurks on the Stairs in City Hall
He’s been there all month. And he scares me every time I turn the corner. (Meet “The Storyteller,” a piece by Carole Murphy. He could be yours for just $29K!)
Posted inPolitics
Fact Checking the Candidates–Exploding Parks Edition
City Commissioner candidate Charles Lewis made a claim at last night’s OLMV debate that really caught my attention–so much so that I went back to my tape this morning to be sure I heard him correctly. When talking about equity among neighborhoods, he discussed his own Cully neighborhood, which Lewis says does “not receive the […]
Posted inNews
Oregonian Reportedly Planning to Distribute Paid-Insert Anti-Muslim DVD, Say Local Peace Activists; Mayor Tom Potter Steps In
Local peace activists got word this week that the Oregonian was planning to distribute a DVD in the Sunday paper–a paid insert from a group called “The Clarion Fund,” according to emails zooming around among activists. The DVD, characterized as “incredibly biased,” and “highly inaccurate, biased and hateful” in an email from local peace activist […]