The effort to recall Mayor Sam Adams fell flat on deadline day,
Monday, October 5, not turning in any signatures. Instead, recall
spokesman Jasun Wurster told Willamette Week reporter Nigel
Jaquiss on Sunday night about a second, privately funded
effort—but others are starting to wonder if it might be a figment
of Wurster’s imagination.
“We’ve definitely got commitments from 15 to 25 business owners,”
Wurster told the Mercury on Tuesday, October 6. “This campaign
is going to raise $250,000, use paid signature gatherers, and our list
of 30,000 signatures.” So, who are these business owners, we asked.
“You can’t talk to them,” said Wurster. Well, how much are they willing
to donate? “We’ve had everything from $5,000 to $100,000, to one guy
who said he was willing to finance the whole campaign himself,” said
Wurster, adding that there’ll be a press release going out in the next
couple of weeks. “That’s all I can tell you,” he said, adding that he
had another call to take, as he signed off. MATT DAVIS
***
On Thursday, October 8, an alliance of four mental health groups
plans to call for the resignation of the three Portland police officers
involved in the 2006 death in custody of James Chasse, a man with
schizophrenia.
“We really want people to come out and say their piece,” says Jason
Renaud with the Mental Health Association of Portland, who last week
accused the city of “impunity” in its inquiry into Chasse’s death.
“This is not about police officers in general, it is about three
specific people who are really in the middle of a tussle. Their
continuing to serve as officers is what’s causing this friction, and if
they resign, then the friction goes away.”
Portland Police Association President Scott Westerman responds:
“These people are so focused on these three officers that they’re
ignoring the fact that this is how the bureau has trained its officers.
If they want to affect something, they should change the training
around mental health issues, and in fact, the chief has done that.”
MD