Mayor Sam Adams provided the crucial swing vote on a resolution this morning introduced by Commissioner Dan Saltzman to lower the city’s flag once a month in memory of abused children who have died. 
ADAMS: VOTED TO REMEMBER ABUSED CHILDREN WHO HAVE DIED…
Last week, City Commissioners Nick Fish and Randy Leonard indicated that they would not support Saltzman’s idea, in advance of discussion of Leonard’s plan to condemn the Made In Oregon sign. I’m going to include what I wrote about it last week as a way of giving Adams’ vote some context:
An ugly mood was set for the debate on the sign issue this morning when Nick Fish and Randy Leonard voted against a proposal by Commissioner Dan Saltzman to lower the City Of Portland flag once a month on the date that corresponds to the number of abused children who have died in the city the previous month. Both Leonard and Fish said they thought that Saltzman’s idea might confuse Portlanders, and that they were concerned that lowering the flag for abused children might mean that other groups would come forward, seeking to have the flag lowered in their cause. Amanda Fritz said she had process concerns—how, for example, would the number of dead children be counted, she wondered—but she didn’t see any reason not to go ahead with the idea. It went 2-2, and Saltzman plans to push for the ordinance again, once Mayor Sam Adams is back in the chamber, next week.
Why would Leonard and Fish have concerns about a resolution to recognize abused kids, I wonder? It’s not that their concerns aren’t arguable here at city hall. But Saltzman is the commissioner who accused Leonard of trying to “bully a process” with his sign resolution, on Tuesday. And this reporter couldn’t help wondering whether Leonard and Fish might be making some kind of point with their votes. They’ll both be mortally offended by the suggestion, I’m sure. So I’m sorry, in advance.
Adams was absent from council last week. He said he was voting yes this morning because this is an “important opportunity.” But his vote, siding with Commissioner Saltzman and Commissioner Fritz over his usual allies, Commissioners Fish and Leonard, is interesting.
Saltzman essentially bought the same motion back to council today that he proposed last week, except for a couple of minor amendments—including that the idea would be reviewed in a year. But by bringing the same resolution a second time, Saltzman effectively challenged Adams to show which side of the rift he was going to sit on. Evidently Adams decided to try to heal that rift, rather than further deepen it, this morning.
How are they planning on lowering the City of Portland flag without lowering the State of Oregon flag or the American flag?
Also the bill as written doesn’t actually honor or remember children who die due to neglect or abuse. It actually just counts the TOTAL number of children who die in the previous month. So if some kid dies of pneumonia, they get lumped in with A Boy Called It-esque cases.
Really, the bill is good intentioned, but horribly written. Good job City of Portland.
And let the games now begin. Should we start a betting pool on which troubled groups will now demand similar treatment by the city? When’s the first lawsuit?
Saltzman clearly has good intentions, but the slippery slope is there. People killed by drunken drivers, other victims of domestic violence, victims of rape, assault, other violent crimes, people who die due to unsafe working conditions, people accidentally shot by gun wielders who were sure it wasn’t loaded, wrongfully convicted prisoners who are beaten to death in prison, those who perish in fires caused by faulty wiring, people attacked by pit bulls, deaths due to food poisoning, the flu, medical malpractice ….
> the number of abused children who have died in the city the previous month.
Isn’t that going to be zero, most months?
For clarification:
Saltzman wants the motion to stimulate discussion in the community, he says.
“When I watch the news,” Saltzman said to council, “I see that the top story is that we’re killing sealions. Whenever something happens to an animal it’s the top story, but when a one month old is strangled by its mother’s abusive boyfriend, that tends not to get reported.”
He says if other affected groups do come forward asking for the flag to be lowered, then council can address their petitions one by one.
It’s only the city flag because the city doesn’t have jurisdiction over the others.
Matt, if you’re still at City Hall, could you go outside and look at the flag pole and see if it’s actually feasible to lower only ONE flag. Usually all the flags are going to be on the same line.
I don’t think they’re able to just lower the City Flag.
I’m not the only one that sees no point in this flag lowering? How about actually DOING SOMETHING to stop child abuse? This is such a hollow gesture.
This is very interesting to me because there are good points on both sides and I find it hard to form an opinion.
I will say, however, that we focus far too much on the dead at the expense of the living. The dead needed our observance when they were alive.