Just back from city club, where my rant was surprisingly well received. You can catch it tonight on OPB at 7 o’clock if you were too busy to tune in this afternoon. Or you can just read what I had to say, after the jump.
“Thank you.
First of all I’d like to thank city club for inviting me to speak. I’ve attended several of these forums as a reporter, but to be allowed to address this group is a surprising privilege. Not least because you are all so solidly within the Mercury’s 18-30 demographic.
When I was asked to speak here today, the theme I was given was to rant. Now, those of you who have read one of my weekly columns on city hall will know that ranting is something I can do, practically, to order. But what makes my rant today slightly different is that what I am calling for is really not so crazy.
In fact, to describe this as a “rant” will inevitably bolster those who would suggest that my concerns are aligned with a vocal minority, with a constituency that can be swept aside—the quarter of a million people who tend to read the Mercury’s website every month, for example. Or the hooded so-called anarchists who took to the streets on Monday night calling for police reform. Or the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Police Reform. Or the Mental Health Association of Portland. Or Portland Copwatch.
But my rant, I think you will agree, is not about reassuring a vocal minority. It is to the benefit of all of us here. To all of us who live and work in the City of Portland, in Multnomah County, in this great state of Oregon.
All I want. All I am asking, is that we, as a community, stop killing people who are suffering with mental illness. And that instead, we adequately fund treatment and prevention for those people so that our law enforcement officers are no longer the first responders in situations of mental health crisis. That is all.
Now if that simple, sane request qualifies as a rant, then I think that says all I need to know about our priorities as a community. Indeed the title of my rant, the theme I have chosen to give it, is “blood in the bike lanes.”
I first heard that phrase uttered by a protester outside Mayor Sam Adams’ office in February, following a visit by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who described the January police shooting of Aaron Campbell as an “execution”—Campbell was an unarmed, African American man who had been hospitalized a year earlier, following an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
The protestor shouted: “There is blood in your bike lanes, mayor!”
It seems we would rather ensure that our city has a network of bike lanes 600 miles long, than ensure that the least fortunate amongst us—those cursed with mental illness, for example—are adequately protected from death at the hands of our police officers.
Mayor Sam Adams, when he addressed City Club in early February, projected his vision of what he wanted Portland to look like up here on the wall. It showed a streetcar and a bike lane, rolling down 82nd Avenue.
Yet, Adams only mentioned the word “police” once in his entire speech. Later, in answer to a question on mental health, the mayor said funding shortages mean that problems will “show up on our streets.”
That’s a shrug statement from our mayor. He said problems will “show up on our streets.” Like a few unwelcome pimples, waiting to be squeezed.
Meanwhile, the mayor didn’t mention Aaron Campbell, who had been shot one week earlier. Not once. And his speech was 3500 words long. It managed to devote some time to talking about our city’s “values and our destiny.” But if the mayor didn’t have time to address police accountability and better funding for mental health issues in that arena, then our “values and our destiny” are not as aligned with basic human decency as I had thought.
It’s not that I begrudge bike riders, or those who support Mayor Adams’ vision of a sustainable city with a strong education system and a thriving economy. It’s just that I don’t see how our city can ever live up to its livable reputation when there is blood in the bike lanes.
The hypocrisy is that the bike paths and the Pearl District yoga classes you can bring your dog to, these are luxuries which, to newcomers, leave the assumption that other, more vital services have been provided for. When we have the luxuries but not the vital services underneath, then our leadership has misunderstood their role – as stewards of the city. Stewards – not salesmen.
Yes, it bothers me. It bothers me that Saks Fifth Avenue decided to close its downtown store last week, and that the news emerged on the same day that a homeless man, Jack Dale Collins was shot at the Hoyt Arboretum. But it would have been nice to see Mayor Adams devote a little more time to responding to Collins’ death on the record, and a little less time to essentially figuring out where his considerable staff is going to go to buy their next pair of beige slacks.
I was also perplexed at Portlantd Police Association boss Scott Westerman. He described the officer involved—Jason Walters—as “very Portland,” because he’s a vegan, and he rides a bike. Am I the only one who sees the unsettling dynamic at play in that statement?
There is blood in our bike lanes! And are we simply shrugging our shoulders about the lack of mental health funding at the city level, at the county level, at the state level, when we can find money, instantly, for any number of other priorities, here in town.
Three weeks ago, council voted to divert $20million from the city’s sewer budget to kickstart Mayor Adams’ bicycle master plan—which will build those 600 miles of bike lanes across Portland. City Commissioner Amanda Fritz said she thought it was a wonderful idea, yet when City Commissioner Randy Leonard brought forth police reform measures the following week, Fritz raised concerns about the reforms going through a thorough public process. What? Now you want public process?
James Chasse, junior was not afforded a thorough public process before being killed by our police more than three years ago. The citizens of the city have been calling for reform at every available forum for years. And the city is still fighting a lawsuit brought by Chasse’s family. In fact the insurance company for the city has just hired a very expensive lawyer to defend the city’s case in court.
So Commissioner Fritz: Your demands for a thorough public process around police reform represent the same type of fetishizing around process for process’s sake which have paralyzed this city on the vital issues for far too long. There is blood in your thorough public process. There is blood in our bike lanes.
Meanwhile, you will read in this week’s Mercury, Central City Concern is struggling to fund just $700,000 a year to fund 16 more beds at the Hooper Detox Center for homeless people struggling with addiction issues. Jack Dale Collins wasn’t drunk when he was shot last week. But he was a drinker. A heavy drinker, we know that. And a cutter, too. He felt compelled to cut himself. He even walked into Central Precinct 11 days before he was shot, begging for mental health treatment.
The officer shrugged, and sent him on his way. Because there’s no funding for mental health. And, to quote Mayor Adams, these problems will “show up on our streets.”
Well, the problem isn’t just in the mayor’s office. It’s also right here in this room. I am responsible for this. You are responsible for this— I’ll just be frank about it. You are the civic leaders that our politicians will listen to. A phone call from someone like you is the equivalent of 30 people protesting outside city hall, in terms of getting something done. In fact, the Portland Business Alliance is still the number one lobbying entity at city hall. All that is necessary for more blood to be spilled in the bike lanes is for good people like you to do nothing. To say: “This isn’t my problem. This isn’t the area I work on. Oh, I focus on something else.”
Well: You are not doing enough. If you care about this issue you can call Mayor Sam Adams’ office right now. Here’s the number, in case it isn’t already plugged into your cell phone: (503) 823-4120. Shoot him an email. Write him a letter. Harrass the man on Twitter.
If you won’t even do that, City Club, then there is blood on your hands. There is blood running through city hall. There is blood in our public process. And yes, there will be much more blood spilled in our bike lanes.”
Brav-OH! So what was the reaction from the crowd?
Thanks, boss. Well, they laughed in the right places, and clapped in the right places, and sat in surprisingly stunned silence in the surprising places. So I was pleased.
I think the most interesting part, for me, is that a lot of what I was saying appeared to be new to many in the audience. I think Portlanders tend to get focused so much on the day to day that they forget the big picture when it comes to our values as a city.
I just hope Sam Adams continues to return my phone calls!
Fantastic. As you may know Matt, I’m not the biggest fan of government “solutions” but you’ve really hit the nail here. Good job and I could not agree more.
Thank you, Matt. Well done.
Right on Matt. We have to keep the pressure up on this, and on the county as well.
Bravo, Mr. Davis. Great work, and well put.
Lots of hyperbole.. Tone it down or you come off sounding craaaaaaazy
Your logic boils down to: “It is a crime to fund bike lanes when “. If we followed that argument, we would never build bike lanes cuz, guess what, there is always gonna be some injustice to get riled up about.
Really, accusing people of having blood on their hands because they value one funding priority over another? Really now, leave that sort of drama to the teenagers..
@bloodonmytires
What are you even doing posting here?! Shouldn’t we all be trying to figure out how to end the war in Iraq, or busy curing cancer?
Cancer is the number one cause of death, yet what have you done to fight cancer today!?
Yet here we sit, reading an INTERNET BLOG!?
THERE IS BLOOD IN YOUR INTERNET BLOG!
The city spends money fixing potholes.. THERE IS BLOOD IN YOUR POTHOLES!
The city spends money landscaping parks and public spaces.. THERE IS BLOOD IN YOUR AZALEAS!
This argument can be applied to pretty much anything the city does that you consider trivial or “fluffy”. But you know what makes a city livable? The sum total of all these little expenditures that make it a pleasant place to be in. Why aren’t you arguing that we stop spending a single penny on any civic improvement until every single social justice is solved to your satisfaction? Why pick on bike lanes? What is it about bike lanes that is somehow synonymous with “waste of public money”?
I think Portland does much more for the good for the world by being a model for non-automobile-centric urban planning than it could ever accomplish focusing on mental health issues..
Yep, bravo for promoting solutions that might have prevented these tragic and horrible deaths. Really well done on that front.
But making bike infrastructure out to be the bad guy, and in the process giving more ammunition to those who already piss all over bike transport? A means of transportation that can actually be seen as a net positive for communities that support it? Not all that helpful.
And describing bike infrastructure as a luxury? Like yoga classes you can take your dog to? Not based in reality.
Bike infrastructure is just trying to catch up to what’s available for cars; or even just some fraction of that. Get around exclusively by bike one week, and then hop back in your car, and tell me in which mode is your convenience and safety best served. Do it outside of SE Portland for a real dose of reality.
And what about the other dead? The ones killed because they chose not to haul several thousand pounds of armor out on what should be public thoroughfares, and then found themselves pinched to death in some pretty crappy bike infrastructure.
And how about the people who get run down intentionally?
http://bikeportland.org/2010/04/01/family-…
I really do support the positive side of your message, but did you have to make bad guys out of people who promote the use of bikes as transportation? We get enough of that crap already.
But of course, if you want to get your City Clubbers all riled up, that’s the path of least resistance. So yeah, real nice job there.
But how will Mirk get to work? (gentle ribbing voice)
riding on the back of a crazy dude?
riding on the back of a crazy dude?
Comparing mental health budgets with the city’s paltry investment in bike infrastructure is at best, ignorant, and at worst, contrived.
Many folks support increased funding of mental health services, AND the increased funding for safer, people-friendly streets. You don’t have to ride a bike or suffer from mental illness to benefit from adequately funding either department. It is NOT one over the other, and putting that idea forward is intently divisive. I think many of us stand on the same side of both issues, and I don’t think that sort of messaging helps either movement.
The real shame is that we’ve been made to believe we have to choose one over the other. We have to be grown ups and do big adult things like raise taxes and create new revenue streams to support all of the programs we critically need.
@anylandingisagoodlanding – To say he made bicycle infrastructure the bad guy is missing the point and reading over the explicit disclaimer – “It’s not that I begrudge bike riders…”
Matt has said out loud what many of us have felt to be the self-aggrandizing ribbon-cutting priorities our city government has had for 15 years. And it’s not getting any better. As for the hyperbole, IT WAS CALLED THE CITY CLUB RANT! It’s a RANT! It’s SUPPOSED to be hyperbolic.
Really great speech, Matt. And you put a succinct statement to something that has been bugging me about Portland for years:
“The hypocrisy is that the bike paths and the Pearl District yoga classes you can bring your dog to, these are luxuries which, to newcomers, leave the assumption that other, more vital services have been provided for. When we have the luxuries but not the vital services underneath, then our leadership has misunderstood their role – as stewards of the city. Stewards – not salesmen.”
One of the little things that has always epitomized Portland’s approach to me is the fact that many streets in Portland are still unpaved. Unpaved streets in a semi-major American city in 2010! Before the city managed to finish that basic foundational task (rich with metaphor), they decided to build a flashy and almost useless aerial tram. I’m not saying that paving streets is near as important as ensuring the safety of our most vulnerable residents, but if we can’t do the former, how could we possibly be capable of addressing the latter?
And it shocks me that people don’t seem to have very much interest in what goes on in city hall, despite the fact that we have a relatively transparent and accessible government.
Also, bloodonmytires is a buttlicker.
@Ted
That’s Forest Park. You should stop driving there.
maybe the streets are unpaved because the last time someone tried to line up funding to pave them someone accused the public of having “blood in the streets” because, I dunno, some dogs weren’t properly spayed and neutered..
Sign the recall petiton, Matt. Isn’t it obvious, after a year, that all Sam cares about is saving his political ass?
He’s a lying, unethical moron.
^^^ This old canard? There’s still a Recall² effort?
Matt, it would be interesting to research and report back on other cities, even outside the US, that have a more effective mental health system. Pretty dramatic speech, are you running for office?
BackToBasics,
“To say he made bicycle infrastructure the bad guy is missing the point and reading over the explicit disclaimer – “It’s not that I begrudge bike riders…””
Yeah, I caught that. When does a disclaimer like that ever end well? “It’s not that I’ve got anything against (insert social group here), but…” That kind of disclaimer just doesn’t do much in the midst of a rant that’s just brimming with begrudging.
“…the self-aggrandizing ribbon-cutting priorities our city government has had for 15 years.”
I get what you mean by that, and kind of agree. But when I think, “self-aggrandizing ribbon-cutting priorities,” the first thing that pops into my head is the South Waterfront. How about playing the cost of that mess against that of mental-health funding?
But something as pragmatic as bike infrastructure? Not a worthy target.
Good job Matt. Good job.
Thank you. I caught just a few minutes of this and rushed home to find it on the computer– it took some doing since I didn’t know what I was listening to, or who said it. Your words were powerful, and I hope they get much attention. We have had similar shootings here in Corvallis, OR. It’s shameful, tragic and avoidable.
Great speech, Matt. I’ve been reading your stuff for a while now, and you do a great job of working the city beat. I grew up in New York City, and you remind me of the newspaper greats I used to read (and hear stories about). Keep up the good work.
Great job, Davis. You knew exactly what you were doing.
I’m offended, though, at pitting mental health against bringing dogs to yoga. Scruffy’s vinyasa work has really opened up her heart and helped root her consciousness to the earth, thank you very much.
Generally, I think Matt makes pretty well reasoned arguments but when I gotta call shenanigans, I gotta call shenanigans. Question 1: How many of the mentally ill were killed by cops last year? ____ Question 2: How many bicyclists were killed in the road last year? ____
Now notice a total lack of statistics in Matt’s argument. Transportation safety isn’t a luxury. We’ll have safer streets by working on both issues. The either-or argument is total, fact-less junk. I can’t believe anyone buys it.
As expected – self congratulatory claptrap. What’s much more troubling are the ditto-heads. Don’t the facts matter any more?
“The hypocrisy is that the bike paths and the Pearl District yoga classes you can bring your dog to, these are luxuries which, to newcomers, leave the assumption that other, more vital services have been provided for…”
Matt…you know I like you, but COME ON!!! There is blood in your hyperbole. Sometimes, I can’t tell if you are serious or just trying to stir up shit. I mean…you ride a bike, you know people get hit on their bikes. There are probably 4 ghost bikes w/in a mile of my house. People are dying yearly here on bikes and many people getting seriously injured as well.
On the other hand, when I lived in Holland and Belgium, where bike lanes were similar to what is proposed here, I knew no one who had been hit (including myself). Creating good bike lanes in a city with tight streets and tens of thousands of bike commuters is not a luxury, it is a safety issue. Are stop signs and left-turning lanes “luxuries” to you as well?
This speech is a big FU to people who have been injured (and their families/friends) due to lack of a bike-safety infrastructure and there was NO REASON at all to tie it to the issues b/w police and mentally ill. The only reason is for shock, which is why you heard it from someone yelling rather than from a serious conversation about problems.
I know you are aware of the dangers of bicycling and so I can only conclude you are just trying to use this issue to insert yourself in the fight b/w bike riders and cars. The reason why you want to do that is unclear, but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt to get all that traffic from young, internet-using bike riders & tax payers who don’t use bikes and are angry about the funding.
Lastly, the under-funding of mental-health in this country is quite sad and a serious issue. I wish we didn’t have to go all “BLOOD IN BIKE LANES” to have a serious conversation about it. In fact, I think this hyperbole adds to why we are not having one.
All You need is a T-shirt that says,
“I’M NOT CRAZY! PLEASE DON”T SHOOT”
That was spot on Matt. This was a moving piece and a good reality check. I like the luxury vs. critical necessity argument, but how do you compel people to act? Our generation has a serious case of lack-tivism.
Very good. Brilliant. The Northwest is watching.
There’s a glaring factual mistake in your speech: NONE of the $20 million dollars in BES spending is paying for bike lanes. The money is going to be spent on bioswales for water runoff treatment. Bioswales also apparently slow traffic, which is what makes the budgetary move a “win-win.” Also, describing bike lanes as a luxury really misses the point. If you ride regularly, you would find that the lanes are a lot safer than sharing a lane with fast moving cars. So, if we’re willing to “sacrifice” a few more bike riders (remember that cycling deaths have gone DOWN in the years since Portland has focused on rider safety), then maybe we could “save” a few homeless persons with mental illnesses. Your zero sum approach on this issue basically would have us do such. I ride a bike, please don’t kill me!