Lee Perlman, the man accused of defacing a Recall Sam Adams petition, was arrested today on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief in the third degree.
Volunteers Gaye Harris and Joe Favata were getting signatures in the parking lot of the Albina Community Bank in northeast Portland on August 6 when Perlman approached them and asked to sign. He then scribbled across the petition, which already had eight valid signatures, and returned it to the volunteers, saying “here’s my signature,” according to Jasun Wurster, head of campaign to recall the mayor.
The volunteers got a picture of his license plate as he drove away and then called the police, says Wurster.
- Perlman in custody
“We’re deeply disturbed that he thought he could silence eight citizens,” Wurster told the Mercury. “We’re going to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Our attorneys are in contact with the DA’s office and the Secretary of State elections division to see if any [more serious] crimes have been perpetrated by Mr. Perlman.”
Perlman is a writer for the Hollywood Star News and other local publications. When contacted Monday for his comment regarding the incident, he said, “I think it best I don’t talk about it.”
Perlman is still in custody on $1,000 bail. The jail only allows visitors on the weekends.
Update, 3:49pm
District Attorney Mike Schrunk says he is yet to reach a charging decision in the case.
“We’ll figure it out and file the appropriate charge, if there is one,” he says. “And if we don’t, then we’ll come up with a written reason why we haven’t charged him.”
Schrunk said as far as he knew, there was no conferring between the DA’s office and the cops before arresting Perlman. Police spokeswoman Mary Wheat concurred. “We don’t make decisions based on politics,” she says.
City Auditor Andrew Carlstrom says the eight signatures defaced by Perlman are still valid, because everything is still legible on the petition.
“I’d much rather be thinking about some of the other crimes that happen in this town,” says Schrunk. “It’s not like it’s armed robbery, but it seems to be interfering with the process and there should be a consequence for doing that.”
Asked whether he would be pursuing the death penalty in this case, Schrunk declined comment.
-Rachael Marcus
This man is in jail for that? Oh my god.
Maybe he just has a really giant signature. Is that a crime?!
Wait.. The recall campaign has lawyers on retainer? They’ve got enough budget for that?
Also, the recall campaign is going to fail horribly regardless of this dumbass acting out.
Haha – you beat me to it, ROM.
$1000 bail? And still in jail?
I hope they give the son of a bitch the gas chamber.
I’m sure the Merc will be investigating and publishing Mr. Perlman’s full criminal history, right?
So according to the Merc, vandalizing vegetables is bad, vandalizing recall signatures is meh.
The good news is that if he’s still in jail, overcrowding must no longer be an issue!
Man, if being a jerk is a crime then we are all in a heap of trouble.
Although I guess that’s sort of the premise of the recall to begin with.
Hahaha. He “silenced” 8 people. Sam Adams “stole” the election. Wurster, quit being such a gasbag.
@CH You’ve got some shit reading comprehension skills.
“City Auditor Andrew Carlstrom says the eight signatures defaced by Perlman are still valid, because everything is still legible on the petition.”
No signatures were vandalized. And also, show where place the Merc staff did anything other than report this factually. There was no editorialzing on this one.
I’m not in favor of the recall campaign but if this were a petition to recall a ban on gay marriage or something of that nature, and someone pulled a stunt like that, I think most of the commenters here would be up in arms about it.
They’re going to recog him and he will be released without bail in a few minutes.
Help bail out Lee Perlman:
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/Blogto…
Bingo Jim.
Writing graffiti on a wall is still vandalism, even if the wall is still functional. Something doesn’t have to be destroyed to be vandalized. I think my reading comp skills are up to snuff, smartass.
And the death penalty remark is plenty editorializing for me, especially given the context of the Mercs coverage of the recall.
This is hardly the issue Wurster would like to make it out as, but it’s still plenty bullshit. Not being able to admit that is pathetic, regardless of your opinion of Sam or the recall.
I think we can all agree that:
A) It was a dickish thing to do.
B) It’s not really that big a deal, and didn’t do any serious damage, but it was still dickish.
C) The anti-Sam crowd are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill about it because it might help them achieve their aims.
Hang on, I’ve forgotten whether I was talking about the signatures or the recall’s premise…
So if the eight signatures are still valid, is this a victimless crime?
Congrats to Lee Perlman for showing us how to deal with signature gatherers for issues we don’t agree with. I’m a little surprised that The Mercury is supportive of dealing with the political process in Oregon in this way though.
I’m very worried about legal fees diverting anti-Sam funds away from floor balloons.
Really give these charges some thought, J’ai sin.
“Asked whether he would be pursuing the death penalty in this case, Schrunk declined comment.
-Rachael Marcus”
Good bye Mercury. This is not reporting.
shrunk should enforce some child support orders and let this dude out of jail.
Although Wurster’s Recall Campaign bears all the likelihood of success as the Hindenberg, equally tiresome is the perpetual brown nosing of Adams on the part of the Merc.
“We don’t make decisions based on politics,” she says.
That’s the high point here.
At first I respected Wurster a little bit. With statements like, “We’re going to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Our attorneys are in contact with the DA’s office and the Secretary of State elections division to see if any [more serious] crimes have been perpetrated by Mr. Perlman.”
Grow up doofus. Quit grandstanding.
Perlman is a HERO! No wait, he’s a dumbass.
I really don’t see that much “perpetual brown nosing of Adams on the part of the Merc” going on. The focus seems to be more on reporting/making fun of of Wurster/the recall. The angle of these posts is not that Adams is super awesome. Some examples of posts:
-They’re probably not going to get the signatures.
-They are getting super cheap rent for their offices.
-Their signature form has been defaced.
-Wurster is finally wearing a suit.
sorry, pro-recallers, the Sam part of this isn’t very interesting to most of us anymore.