Drew Dakessian

The Multnomah County Commission unanimously voted to proclaim July to be Human Trafficking Awareness Month in Multnomah County.

Because I-5 runs through the city, Portland has emerged as a hub for human trafficking.

“We’re second in the country for youth victims [of human trafficking.] What an absolute shame,” said City Commissioner Amanda Fritz who was one of many politicians, law enforcement officials, and community leaders who gathered at the commission hearing room in southeast Portland to discuss the impacts of human trafficking on the city.

“For someone under 18, by definition [child prostitution] is statutory rape. It’s child abuse, and we need to recognize and address this,” she added.

Later, community organizer Jeri Sundvall-Williams testified about her experience as a victim of prostitution in the late 1980s. Sundvall-Williams described the problems that victims of domestic abuse and human trafficking face.

“There are so many victims out there. They’re gonna need to get GEDs…jobs…diagnoses for drug problems, maybe for mental problems,” she said.

Law enforcement and rehabilitation efforts are costly and challenging.

“At the end, if we can convict a pimp and get a girl off the streets, the struggle is worth it,” said Sgt. Jesse Luna.

Yesterday’s briefing was the first of several events taking place this month focusing on the issue of human trafficking. For more information, visit the county’s website.

Janice Thompson

In a special interest power grab by lobbyists, big businesses and downtown developers, the Portland Business Alliance tried to kill Voter-Owned Elections and deny Portland voters the right to vote on this important campaign reform.

Voter-Owned Elections is reducing campaign spending and special interest influence. Before Voter-Owned Elections, the Business Alliance and its corporate members made major campaign contributions – much larger than any regular Portland family could afford – to guarantee their access to City Hall.

The PBA has made their interests abundantly clear. In 2005, they opposed Voter-Owned Elections reform claiming that it should only be enacted with a vote of the people. The City Council adopted the reform and pledged a popular vote in five years. They honored that commitment last month by referring the reform program to a vote of the people in the upcoming November General Election.

Voter-Owned Elections gives everyday Portlanders a genuine voice in choosing their leaders in stark contrast to the past when campaign contributions were routinely $1,000 or even $10,000 or more. Because of the reform program, overall campaign spending is lower while voters benefit from increased discussion of city issues due to more candidates.
Special interest influence is reduced, even for nonparticipating candidates, because their contributions are now typically $500 or less.

Due to Voter-Owned Elections, we haven’t seen a repeat of the record spending such as the $1 million dollar mayoral race in 2004. Since the reform took effect, many of the city’s candidates and elected officials have agreed to cap their campaign spending and limit the size of the contributions they accept even if they didn’t participate in the reform program.

With Voter Voter-Owned Elections, candidates like Amanda Fritz can run and win with grassroots support from everyday Portlanders. Moving forward, Voter-Owned Elections will mean that the candidates with the best experience, values, and ideas can actually run and win. Before the way to win was to have access to deep-pocketed donors, and candidates had to spend more time courting large contributors than talking to actual voters.

As the opposite experiences of Amanda Fritz and Jesse Cornett demonstrate, Voter-Owned Elections doesn’t guarantee any outcome. It just frees candidates to make their case directly to real people instead of spending all their time courting powerful inside interests.

Democracy is better served when citizens have a voice in who can run and when candidates have the ability to spend their time talking directly with voters rather than raising money from big donors.

Janice Thompson is executive director of Common Cause Oregon.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

On Thursday afternoon, Police Chief Rosie Sizer and City Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Amanda Fritz outlined the plans the city has in the works to better equip officer for encounters with the mentally ill and people in crisis.

In response to several high-profile incidents that resulted in police officers killing mentally-unstable individuals, Sizer, Fritz, and Saltzman have held a series of meetings with mental health advocates and various individuals from city bureaus to craft a plan to enhance training for officers to better handle situations.

The plan calls for further efforts to increase officers’ understanding of people in crisis, strengthen and clarify the role of a council that advises the police bureau on such efforts, improve communication with mental health professionals and officers, assistance from the City of Portland to help the county government build a center aimed at helping people on the cusp of a breakdown, and change protocols on how emergency calls are responded to.

Ever since the 2006 death of James Chasse, a schizophrenic man who died in police custody after being beaten by officers, the Portland Police Bureau has taken steps to help officers better handle situations with people in crisis.

The bureau requires officers to undergo Crisis Intervention Training, which aims to help them better understand the mentally ill. Officers also have the direct line to Project Respond, a team of mobile mental health workers to assist them with such situations.

But despite these efforts, old wounds were opened back up when Aaron Campbell, a distraught and suicidal man, was slain by a police officer after a tense standoff in late January. Tensions between the community and the police were further exacerbated when a police officer shot and killed Jack Dale Collins, a transient man.

At the conference, Sizer proudly announced that Portland would be one of five cities for a national pilot project launched by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law that intends to develop best practices for when police interactions with the mentally fragile.

Sizer also outlined another pilot program that would pair police officers with mental health workers, a strategy that has been tried in other cities. However, no one was quite sure how the project would play out in real-life situations.

“That’s what we’re figuring out in a couple month period,” said Sizer.

Fritz- who heads the city’s office of Emergency Communications, which handles 911 calls- said that it’s currently standard practice to dispatch an officer to a situation involving a mentally ill person. She said that she would be looking into better integrating mental health services into the system.

A former psychiatric nurse, Fritz said that hospitals are often were mentally vulnerable people end up due to lack of services, and are often strained as a result.

“There isn’t a single problem we’re facing; there isn’t a single solution we’re facing,” she said.

Don Moore, of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said that these reforms were positive steps. He also stated that because of the fraying of mental health services people don’t get the help they need, and police become the first responders, which everyone agreed was a less-than-ideal situation.

“Clearly what we’re doing now doesn’t work for anybody,” he said.

Saltzman also mentioned that the Police Bureau was sponsoring Mental Health Day next month. He also hoped to see the police union present at the state capital asking for more money to fund mental health services.

In the back of the report is a list of people the city consulted, which includes many members of NAMI, but no one from the Mental Health Association of Portland, which has been highly critical of the Police Bureau and Saltzman’s handling of it.

A statement on their website states:

The newly proposed recommendations, as outlined, make no substantial changes by the police bureau, but instead ask for additional services from an underfunded mental health system, and for persons with a diagnosis of mental illness to show trust for officers and invite them to socialize.

Saltzman, Fritz and Sizer developed the proposed recommendations in a vacuum, behind closed doors, with selected friendly conversations, often with agencies and individuals who sought and gained financial favors. The closed-door decision-making shows the meek political softness of those who are making the proposal.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

During these hard times, it’s no secret that the City of Portland is strapped for cash as business license fees and other sources of revenue have steadily dried up.

But in doing research, for an article on Portland Community Media that will appear in tomorrow’s paper, we stumbled upon an interesting report from the Auditor from 2009 concerning the Office of Cable Communications and Franchise Management.

The OCCFM is essentially charged with squeezing money out of telecommunications companies, power companies, and basically any business enterprise that wants to use the public right-of-way.

The central thrust of the auditor’s report is that the OCCFM isn’t applying a consistent approach to getting money out of these companies:

At the Office of Cable Communication and Franchise Management,
we found that they have collected substantial compliance revenue
through payment monitoring, audit, and litigation. We also found
that the Office of Cable Communication and Franchise Management
staff negotiate each franchise agreement, payment, audit and settlement
on a case-by-case basis. The Office of Cable Communication
and Franchise Management staff told us this approach allows them
to maximize benefits to the City from each franchise or settlement.
However, we believe this has led to inconsistent application of some
utility and franchise requirements. For example, businesses such
as pipelines and power companies pay a fee to use the City rightof-
way, while other entities, such as railroads, do not. In addition,
while some underpayments discovered as the result of an audit are
paid in full, other similar audit findings may be significantly reduced.
The inconsistent application of franchise and utility fee requirements
creates an unclear regulatory environment and a potential loss of
revenue for the City.

We also found that the City Code has not kept pace with changes
in technology, and businesses providing similar services may pay
different taxes. For example, City Code requires a fee on telecommunications,
but does not explicitly address technology such as wireless
or internet service. As a result, traditional landline phone companies
pay a utility fee, but wireless phone companies do not.

So what’s being done to wring more money out of the companies who use the public right-of-way to make a buck?

Tim Crail- a policy adviser to Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who manages the OCCFM- told the Portland Observer Fritz’s office is taking steps to address the concerns brought up in the auditor’s report.

He said that the OCCFM is in the process of putting together administrative rules that will standardize how the city collects revenue from companies.

Crail also mentioned that all current franchises have been given an extension until there is a more standardized franchise process.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Commissioner Amanda Fritz has posted on her blog that she “applauds” the introduction of an ordinance to City Council meant to strengthen oversight of the Police Bureau, but isn’t quite ready to give it an up-or-down vote.

The full council is expected to consider the ordinance this Thursday, however Fritz isn’t ready fully embrace it yet. Fritz wants to make sure that the public has adequate time to comment on it, and for any amendments to it to be fully considered. She also want to give the Human Rights Commission the chance to weigh in on it, as well as Police Chief Rosie Sizer, who is in London for a conference.

She writes:

In order to allow sufficient time for public review and comments on these important proposed changes to the Code and policies, Commissioner Fish and I will make a motion after testimony on Thursday that the Council continue the hearing until an evening hearing in April, after the April meeting of the Human Rights Commission on April 7. We will set the date in our motion after collaborating with our colleagues to ensure all can attend. Council will take more public comment that evening in April before voting on amendments to the current IPR process. Commissioner Saltzman has told me he will support the motion.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who heads the Office of Neighborhood involvement, issued a statement today on the course of action the city plans to take with Last Thursday, a monthly free-form arts event on Alberta Street that has drawn the ire of neighbors.

The event, which has been occurring for roughly 13 years in the gentrifying part of town, has been loosely organized and spontaneous, with no one overseeing it.

One of the biggest issues surrounding the event is the $10,000 the city shells out to close the streets, and provide extra security and logistical support. There have been calls for stakeholders of the event to take on a greater responsibility and shoulder some of these costs.

In a statement released this afternoon, Fritz points out that there is going to $33 million in unmet needs in this year’s annual city budget.

She also announced the formation of “Friends of Last Thursday.” The new group will be composed of stakeholders along Alberta and will have a role in organizing it.

From the statement:

It is clear that an event attracting thousands of people each month needs a formal organizing committee with the capacity and structure for non-profit fundraising. Several speakers at the Town Hall mentioned Burning Man – that event is very carefully planned for months, for a once-a-year festival, and it’s held in the desert where the only people affected are those who choose to be there. On Alberta, residents and businesses are involved whether they want to be or not. Each constituency should have a voice in governing Last Thursday. Thanks to neighborhood, business, and regional support, it has become bigger than any one interest.
The Mayor and I plan to convene a meeting in early March to discuss establishing a “Friends of Last Thursday” organizing group, with delegates invited from the four Neighborhood Associations, the Business Association, and other stakeholders. Stephanie Reynolds will be working us to set the date, and will send out invitations soon. Please reply to Stephanie if you are interested in participating in this organizing meeting, stating which stakeholder group you are most closely affiliated with (artist, business owner, participant, neighbor who likes it, neighbor who doesn’t, etc).
The Mayor and I are working on funding options and other support to ensure the ongoing success of Last Thursday, with fewer unintended adverse side-effects, which we will discuss with the group. We greatly appreciate your input on Last Thursday, and I hope you will work with us to define how the community and the City can work together to minimize problems and make the events self-sustaining.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Jesse Cornett, who is seeking to de-throne Commissioner Dan Saltzman in the upcoming election, has officially qualified for public financing of his campaign after convincing a thousand people to pony up $5 for effort.

Here’s the press release:

February 9, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Campaign Finance Fund Certification Determination 2/9/2010

This afternoon, the Auditor certified Jesse Cornett as eligible to participate in the Campaign Finance Fund for the May 18, 2010 Primary Election. Cornett achieved 1,127 verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions from Portland registered voters during the Qualifying Period. In addition, the Auditor has determined that Cornett complied with all applicable provisions of City Code Chapter 2.10, including filing a Filing of Candidacy. Cornett previously filed a Filing of Candidacy for Commissioner, Position No. 3.

A Campaign Finance Fund Certified Candidate may only make expenditures from $5.00 Qualifying Contributions, Seed Money Contributions and Campaign Finance Fund revenues (public funds) during the Primary Election Period. As a Campaign Finance Fund Certified Candidate for Commissioner, Cornett is limited to spending or receiving no more than $150,000 during the Primary Election Period, unless there are instances in which limited matching funds apply. In addition, Cornett is limited to receiving $9,000 in In-Kind Contributions during the Primary Election Period.

Cornett is eligible for $142,150 in public funds for the Primary Election Period. This calculation is made by subtracting the $5,635 Cornett collected in $5.00 Qualifying Contributions, and the $2,215 Cornett collected in Seed Money Contributions, from the $150,000 spending limit. The Auditor will issue $142,150 in public funds to Cornett not later than February 23, 2010.

As a Campaign Finance Fund Certified Candidate, Cornett is subject to limitations on the use of Campaign Finance Fund revenues in City Code Section 2.10.090 as well as all State campaign finance provisions.

Seven people have come forth to challenge Saltzman’s re-election bid, but only Cornett qualified for public financing.

The only person to successfully use the system to successfully get elected is neighborhood activist Amanda Fritz.

Without a hefty sum of money, it will be very hard to challenge an incumbent commissioner, and it’s not clear who will stay in the race.

Jason Renaud, a harsh critic of Saltzman’s handling of the police bureau, told the Portland Observer this afternoon that he’s done.

A local artist, shows off her wares during Last Thursday. Photo by Jake Thomas.

Rebekah Belle
503-288-0033

Over 300 people crowded into the Arcadian Ballroom on Alberta Street last night at a forum set up by Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Amanda Fritz to gather residents’ thoughts on Last Thursday- a free form alternative monthly arts event that has become increasingly controversial.

Many homeowners and businesses owners gave testimony about their feelings on how Alberta Street has changed over the years and that Last Thursday is one of the driving factors behind it, creating business opportunities and increasing the value of homes.

The majority of people who testified want Last Thursday to stay in the neighborhood with very few saying it should go. Everyone agreed there needs to be changes in how the event is organized and handled. Many of the business owners said they really didn’t make that much money during the event, but it gave them exposure and a feeling of belonging to a special community.

A few that said they depend on Last Thursday for staying in business.

“Eighty percent of our business comes on Last Thursday,” said Bill Rowlins, an art gallery owner.

A woman representing herself and her elderly neighbors who couldn’t make it, complained about the trash, public urination, and unruly behavior. Others described how their families were kept up by the noise from the event and how that might affect their jobs or attending school.

Almost everyone agreed that alcohol was a really big problem for the event. Not so much from the businesses located there, but from people bringing in their own.

Donna Guardino of Guardino Gallery who has a love-hate relationship with the event says “there needs to be a zero tolerance for alcohol and that people need to be ticketed for alcohol on the street.”

“Drunk people don’t buy art,” quipped one artist.

The city presented a list of monthly costs of Last Thursday. Controlling an estimated 10,000 people at this event is costing about $12,000.00 per month for the city. Amanda Fritz explained the city’s’ budget shortfall was a cause of concern saying, “for every $1,000 they can save, that’s another homeless family that can be put into a home.”

Last Thursday’s financial burden is clearly an issue. Some suggested that a dedicated group of volunteers could work to offset those costs. Over 70 people signed up to be volunteers with a grass roots organization called Team Last Thursday, which came up with a plan described in a flier that was handed out for the event. The plan addressed street closure, parking, music, fees, open containers and trash issues being handled by a volunteer staff.

Whether or not Last Thursday will exist is still undetermined and will take many more meetings to determine its fate. The large and rowdy crowds – plus the expense – have put the future of the festival in doubt. A big issue is how to preserve the organic nature of the event while keeping it under control. Other public forums will be scheduled to continue the discussion.

All the Apparatus, a band composed of recent transplants from Hawaii, plays to passersby on the sidewalk of Northeast Alberta Street during last week’s Last Thursday. Photo by Jake Thomas.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

When the nights are warm and the sun lingers late into the evening the crowds come to the Alberta Arts District on the last Thursday of the month.

Artists lug wooden crates brimming with their work to sell. Musicians set up on street corners, as the streetscape as happy crowds converge on Alberta.

Last Thursday, an arts celebration that has been occurring in a gentrifying part of town for roughly 13 years, has embodied the spontaneity and innovation of a city that sees hordes of young creative types flock to it every year.

But City Hall seems poised to impose more structure on the freeform event that has drawn the ire of residents who’ve had to endure the noise and congestion from the crowds, as well as the remnants of the night’s revelry in their yards.

The monthly event, as its name implies, has been the polar opposite, in substance and style, of First Thursday, a night when the upscale galleries downtown and in the Pearl District open up their doors.

Last Thursday- which is part street fair, part carnival, and part art walk- has uncertain origins in a part of town that was once a hub of gang violence, but also an incubator for a robust art scene provided by the area’s cheap rents.

Donna Gaurdino, the owner of Gaurdino Gallery on Alberta, said that the event began as an attempt to get Portlanders to take a second glance at the area.

“There never really was an infrastructure,” said Magnus Johannesson, the owner of the real estate company Urban Focus, who was involved with the event early on.

Johannesson, whose office on Alberta and 24th Avenue was had bullet holes from gang battles, explained that because the event lacked and top-down structure it was seen as “authentic” gathering where people could showcase their art.

“It wasn’t at all hard to find artists,” said Johannesson.

But as the event grew, it’s become increasingly unpredictable and rowdy. Some are worried that the celebratory nature of the event has eclipsed its original goal.

Neighbors began complaining about the noise from amplified instruments on Alberta, the lack of parking, loud partiers making their way home, and deposits of vomit, garbage, and feces on their lawn. Others, like Johannesson, felt Last Thursday had become more of a” frat party.”

“I do feel Last Thursday has developed into something different,” said Gaurdino. “When people show up at the door to my gallery, they’re already drunk.”

Allan Oliver, the manager of Onda Gallery on Northeast Alberta Street, chats with customers who wandered in during Last Thursday. Photo by Jake Thomas.

Allan Oliver, the manager of Onda Gallery on Alberta, isn’t sure the event even helps his business since people are so overwhelmed by the event before they even walk in his door.

“I sort of have a love-hate thing with this,” said Oliver. “Spontaneity is very overrated.”

Larry Holmes, the chair of the nearby Vernon Neighborhood Association, said that resident’s feelings on the event are a “mixed bag.” Some despise it. Others think it’s cool, he said.

Things reached a fever pitch in April 2007, when a riot nearly erupted outside The Nest, a bar on Alberta.

According to Oregon Liquor Control Commission records, police officers were trying to clear the street that was filled with people dancing and reveling when they encountered a group who resisted. One of them grabbed an officer’s Taser.

The incident quickly escalated with patrons at The Nest making lewd hand gestures and hurling beer bottles at the officers.

Since then, the street has been closed off during the festival. Last year, the city also stepped up its involvement, adding a greater police presence, garbage cans, and port-a-potties.

But it costs the city $10,000 a month to offer these services from May through October, which is prompting city officials to look into imposing some sort of formal structure on the event to recoup costs.

Both First Thursday and Saturday Market have point persons that the city can contact to resolve issues- something Last Thursday lacks.

Next week Mayor Sam Adams and Amanda Fritz will be holding an open meeting to get feedback on what should change. The session will take place on Monday, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Acadian Ballroom, 1829 Northeast Alberta Street.

Roy Kaufman, spokesperson for Adams, said that the City Hall doesn’t want to use a heavy hand to shut down Last Thursday.

“That’s not at all the goal,” he said, pointing out that events like Last Thursday keep Portland unique.

But he did note that there needs to be some sort of shared responsibility, maybe with Alberta Street Business Association or Art on Alberta.

Fritz, a former neighborhood activist, said that the meeting is being held so that she and Adams can get a sense of peoples’ thoughts on the event. She said that it’s a “huge problem” that there is no person or group in charge of the event to take responsibility. All options are on the table, including shutting it down, said Fritz, which she isn’t sure how that would happen.

Becky Guest, a local artist, shows off her wares during Last Thursday. Photo by Jake Thomas.

But Becky Guest, an artist who braved the cold last month to showcase her handmade copper bracelets, said she loves how the event brings people together, and hopes the city will think twice before it imposes any sort of structure that stifles the event.

“Why would they do that?” she said. “What’s the problem?”

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

With Congress being within striking distance of passing an overhaul of the nation’s health care system, National Nurses United, the largest nurses’ union in the country, has come out against the bill.

They’re calling it a giveaway to the “callous” health insurance industry, and claim we will see their control over the system cemented, making future reform efforts more daunting.

The progressive blog Loaded Orygun, asked Portland City Council’s only registered nurse, Amanda Fritz, what she thought of the reform effort and of NNU’s opposition to it.

Here’s what she told them:

I am not a member of NNU. I don’t support their position. Any of the versions of national health care reform currently under consideration is not all I hope for, however I believe any improvement is better than no improvement. Both ONA and the Portland City Council passed resolutions supporting single payer health care in 2009. I believe our nation must continue to work towards the goal of universal coverage with adequate controls on costs and profits.

I am still a member of the Oregon Nurses Association. ONA is not a member of National Nurses United – the latter is California, Massachusetts, and United American Nurses. ONA left UAN a year or so ago and with five other state organizations formed the National Federation of Nurses.