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
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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:
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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
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Zone Torelle, LMT
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234-3962
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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