IS THIS REALLY happening? Three years after the city council smartly tossed them aside because of racial-profiling concerns, are drug-free zones (DFZs) really about to be back en vogue at Portland City Hall?
Here’s one telling response from Mayor Sam Adams’ office: “Maybe.” For the record, that’s not a “no.”
That “short answer,” as Adams’ spokesman candidly described it last week, came after I called with questions about a letter that a group of business owners in Chinatown and Old Town sent to Adams earlier this month.
In the letter, dated February 1, they made a short but plaintive demand for the reactivation of the city’s much-maligned DFZs, and they asked for Adams’ help in convening a “working group” of advocates whose work would smooth the way for what the businesses want.
But what was most interesting—and what really sparked my call to Adams’ office—was the business community’s vision for how the new DFZs ought to work. Hoping to sidestep some of the inevitable controversy over the revivification of a crime-fighting policy that disproportionately targeted—by far—Portland’s African American community, they stole a page from Adams’ own playbook.
Unlike the previous zones, in which a mere arrest could get someone booted, these would be based on actual convictions. And there would even be exemptions for people who need to visit clinics and case workers based in the area.
That ought to sound familiar. Because that’s exactly how Adams, last fall, persuaded a skeptical council to unanimously endorse his controversial plans for gun-crime exclusion zones.
And that’s where the “maybe” comes in. I had posed those similarities to Adams’ spokesman, Roy Kaufmann, and asked whether the mayor—who has signaled his willingness to examine the DFZ request—might look to the gun zones as a template for that conversation.
But then his short answer, of course, got a little bit longer. Yes, the council wound up liking the gun zones, he said, but noted that the zones “are still pretty much brand new.” The first look at racial data for the zones is due out soon.
“It’s too soon to assess whether they’re working the way we want them to work,” he says, “and whether there’s a template in practical terms rather than in philosophical terms.”
In addition, Adams’ office will also be looking at whether Multnomah County will rethink its decision last summer to cut costs by not prosecuting low-level drug crimes. A zone based on convictions wouldn’t be much good, after all, if there weren’t any convictions.
But it’s a conversation Adams will be having all the same. And if his colleagues liked what he had to say once, why wouldn’t they want to listen again?
Good Day Denis, Thanks for the article but you seem to make up the story as you go so let’s do some fact checks.
The letter you speak to was a resolution brought before the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood Association by me as Chair of the Public Safety/Livability Committee not business owners as our Board is made up of residents from low income to owner occupied housing, business owners and social service providers and those that have experienced homelessness. My phone and email have been humming from each of these constituency’s. After this resolution was passed by an overwhelming margin our chair sent off this letter to the Mayor
February 1, 2011
Dear Mayor Sam Adams,
The Old Town Chinatown Neighborhood Association Board supports the re-institution of the
drug free and prostitution free zones with the following conditions:
A. Only those convicted of the dealing of drugs will be excluded.
B. Anyone excluded may come into the area for health care, social services, or educational
purposes.
We ask the Mayors Office to convene a working group composed of each constituency that will
be impacted by this action to work on the details, and have a plan for an oversight committee
once this or any other zones are created.
Sincerely,
Alexander Mace
Chairman
Old Town/Chinatown Neighborhood Association
I crafted this resolution based on my experience with the DFZ and my desire to have a fair and balanced approach to the situation we live with 24 hours a day. We also want to see enhanced enforcement and cooperation from the county on prosecution of these individuals.
I want to be very clear that I and the better part of this community embrace those seeking treatment for addiction and mental health issues but we also want to be able to walk the streets without fear or intimidation.
So here is my challenge to you to come on down to the corner of N.W. 6th and Flanders around 6 am in the morning and then let me know your feelings of safety and livability, as I have spent the last 27 years in Old Town and this is the first time I have felt unsafe, Howard Weiner
Howard, that’s a fair point—I ought not have focused on the businesses in the group, and made mention of the fact that neighbors and others also were making the request. That’s an oversight. Also, I sympathize, and I get that you’re concerned and worried about your neighborhood.
My point in the piece, however, was to note that we still don’t know whether a refashioned DFZ, along the lines of the gun zones, will avoid the same racial-profiling trap the city fell into before. I’ve heard stories about Old Town; my wife worked around there back in the 1990s. But I’d also be more than happy to take you up on your offer of a guided tour. Email me at denis@portlandmercury.com.
Thanks Denis, I would be glad to spend some time with you, but as the resolution speaks to I’m asking for a working group to hammer out a fair ordinance with over-site and the other conditions spoken to.
I’m not familiar with the language used in the gun zone and don’t see that as a template. This question of racial profiling came out of a report by John Campbell that was done for then Mayor Potter and if all of the dfz zones were looked at t’s my understanding that many more white folks were excluded but we can ask for and see the data as i have not.
Thanks for addressing this issue and I look forwarded to meeting up, Howard