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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1987)
Koch on Koch Tyro city commissioner speaks out on the homeless, gay rights, anti-gay violence, and his agenda priorities. B Y W. C. M c R A E ob Koch will replace Margaret Strachan on the Portland City Com mission on January 12. Koch, a former police lieutenant with the Portland Police Bureau, defeated neighborhood activist Strachan in a race not determined until absentee ballots were counted. McRae interviewed Commissioner-elect Koch last month in his new City Hall office. B You have been described by an insider as ‘ ‘a wild c a rd !' What does this mean to you? No body knows where you will fit in the traditional alliances o f city government. I think that we are going to surprise a lot of people. In every day and in every way, I am going to seek to bring people in together in cooperation; people who have been separated by barriers. I will constantly seek to overcome those barriers and try to bring together people who might not have worked together coopera tively in the past. What will happen to Margaret Strachan s Central City Plan? That will be determined at budget time. I don’t give it a great deal of hope. Primarily because there is no plan. We also have to face up to reality about budget resources. In 1987 we are going to go through a comprehensive land use review. That in essence is gong to shape our future, and take the place of the Central City Plan. During the election you were widely seen as ' ‘anti-downtown! ’ What do you say to those people who live downtown, or who have an interest in keeping downtown a priority? We have had a dynamic downtown plan, which generated tremendous input, and it was badly needed. But it has been essentially com pleted. Some felt that we had to make a good thing better. But when you make profound changes, you have to have a resting time to shore up loose blocks in the foundation. Policies were adopted that are destroying the first pol icy, what we have gained. By this, I mean the centralization of social services downtown. We are dealing with certain kinds of social services downtown which have unfortunately been de structive of the economic and living environ ment. We need to review the social services program we’ve got. We need to develop a social services plan that will protect the development o f downtown. What aspect o f social services are you refer ring to? The centralization of social services down town. We allowed to stay in that place [down town], the area of profound economic develop ment, something that contradicts our previous investment. That is [programs that have] a magnetic attraction to alcoholics, the skid row kind of thing. We still maintain a magnetic attraction to transients, the economically dis placed, the mentally disenfranchised. Because o f that, we have certain kinds o f establishments downtown which then provide kinds o f victims, and crime follows victims. The atmosphere is conducive to that kind of thing. Where do you propose to move those social services? I’m not advocating specifically where to move them. The vast majority of our commun ity does not support what is going on. And it has a very strong destructive impact on people and neighborhoods. Instead of force-feeding a plan down the throats of a community, we need as a community to say, ‘We have social services problems, there are certain social services needs. We are a loving community What is the best way to address the needs of those people. which we can all support.” As a result, we will see more caring and sharing than ever before. There has been an increase in anti-gay vio lence nationwide. Do you think violence against gays is a problem in Portland? Assaultive behavior should not be tolerated for any citizen. As a policeman. I have found that certain groups of people tend not to report as much as others. I have worked in black communities and poor white communities and they tend not to report crime as much as an upper middle class community. The gay com munity also under-reports. It is an unfortunate fact that many gay people live a duality of lives. They feel a need to keep the straight world and the gay world separate. If they become vic timized, then by reporting the crime, they are revealing a world that they don’t want a lot of people to know about. That is an unfortunate thing. And police records are. not a terribly confidential thing. It’s also fea r o f police, isn’t it? Anti-gay violence has often been overlooked, or con doned, by the police. There’s truth in that. I would work in every way to deal with it. I have taught sensitivity training, to teach the uniqueness of every indi vidual. You need to be sensitive to do good cop work. You don’t have to completely em brace lifestyles to be sensitive to what those people are going through. The police should treat them as unique human beings who have made choices, whether they’re free to make them or whether they’re compelled to make them. Police officers should be truly profes sional. and must serve all the people without value judgements. serve all the people, regardless of who voted for me. I don’t want to give anyone false hopes that I ’m going to be spending my time on secular issues. There are commonly shared value needs o f our community that have to be addressed. I’d rather solve a problem that impacts on everyone in the community, than spend a great deal of time chasing secular issues down the path and CUSTOM FRAMING We Pride Ourselves On Creating Framing Treatments That Surpass The Products Of The Usual Frame Shop - At Competitive Prices. You would fe el the same way if it were a city wide gay rights bill? I’d have to look at the bill and ask, ‘What is it that w e’re trying to legislate?’ I don’t take legis lation lightly. Margaret Strachan was widely seen as a frien d to gays and minorities, and represented a women’s agenda on the commission. The first reaction to your election is that you represent a disenfranchisement o f concern about these is sues. Do you offer any assurances to gay and lesbian voters, or to fem inist voters? It depends what the issues are. My wife is a professional, I was raised in a single parent family where my mother worked and struggled. I ’m very strong on supporting equal pay for equal work. I’m very strong on supporting equal pay for equal work. I’m supportive of a lot o f issues that would appeal to most people, whether they’re gays or feminists or not. I can’t support the entire feminist agenda. But there are many parts of the feminist agenda I can support, but we have to take the issues one by one. I want everyone to feel free in terms of access. That door will never be closed to anybody, period. There will always be respect, and accountabil ity. You’ll never find me talking out of one side o f my mouth and doing another. I’ll take things issue by issue. I’ll always explain my decision. I won’t make a decision in a knee-jerk kind of way. I need all the help in arriving at those decisions as possible. That’s why the door is always open. I'm a public servant, elected to Member: Professional Picture Framers Association Oak Street Station PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE GALLERY 208 S.W 1st • 224-3543 • 11-6 Mon.-Fri., 12-5 Sat SANDRA K. PINCHES, Ph.D. Counseling and Psychotherapy Specializing in issues of: > Lesbian and Gay Couples > Intimate Relationships > Sustaining Relationships Co-dependency Partners of Alcoholics Adult Children of Alcoholics 1809 N.W. Johnson, Ste. 7« Portland, OR 97209* (503) 227-7558 The ACLU will sponsor a statewide gay rights bill in 1987. The City Commission will be asked fo r a vote o f support fo r the bill. Would you vote in favor o f supporting the bill? When I see a bill, I’ll decide if I can support it. Do you have theoretical or practical prob lems supporting gay rights? I ’d have to look at the content of a bill. I feel akin to the ACLU because I’m a strong con stitutionalist. I’d have to balance it against my elected charge and responsibility. not solve anything. It’s a matter o f how you devote your time and resources effectively to support that widespread people’s agenda. You can ’t accomplish everything for everybody. The shared needs are the priority. I’d like to think that a measure of our success in the future would be that the single largest issue facing us, is where to put bike paths. We’re a long way from that. • CIRCLE CHIROPRACTIC Kip Hard, DC Jan Corwin. DC SUZANNE SCOPES. ND Naturopathic Physician 230-0812 THE NEIGHBORHOOD MASSAGE CLINIC Valerie Lyon, MS, LMT Zone Torelle, LMT Leanne Lo g a n, l m t 234-3962 * A COMPREHENSIVE WELLNESS CLINIC * 423 S.E. 15th (comer of 15th and Stark) Circle Chiropractic is pleased to announce its 5th Anniversary serving the community. We warmly welcome Suzanne Scopes, Naturopathic Physician. She offers complete naturopathic and gynecological health services and specializes in nutrition, botanical, and homeopathic medicine. Together, we wish you peace and health in the coming year. Just Out 9 January, 1987