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n this, our political issue, Just Out focuses
on several candidates who deserve special
attention. We spotlight Mary Wendy Rob
erts, because Rena Cusma has been run
ning an especially hateful campaign against her,
and we wanted to refresh your memory about
what Roberts has done for the sexual minority
community.
In the Multnomah County sheriffs race, can
didate Vera Pool is profiled because she’s a new
comer to politics. We worried that if you didn’t
meet her, you might accidentally vote for Bob
Skipper because of name familiarity. (Just kid
ding, we know you know better than that.)
The race between Earl Blumenauer and Fred
Neal had us pulling our hair out. We were curious
to know why Neal chose to run against
Blumenauer, who is a staunch supporter of our
community. This race left us with one of the most
difficult endorsement choices to make since
Norma Paulus ran against Neil Goldschmidt for
governor in 1986.
I
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E L E C T I O N
She traveled around the state, giving speeches in
support of the bill and visiting the editorial boards
of local newspapers. As a result of Roberts’ ef
forts, nearly every major newspaper solidly sup
ported the bill.
The Republican-controlled House, however,
did not. The bill passed the Senate and was mired
in a House committee. As a compromise, the
House passed a bill that blocks the effect of com
munity measures denying equal rights. Roberts
sees Senate Bill 34— which she believes would
have passed if it had been put to a House vote—as
one step closer to equal protection for sexual
minorities.
Roberts believes efforts by the Oregon Citi
zens Alliance to derail civil rights protection will
backfire. ‘The OCA’s efforts have done more to
make people pay attention to the civil rights issue
than anything,” she said. "Before, people didn’t
think this had a thing to do with them. Now they
recognize that they have to stand up and be
counted.”
LONGTIME CHAMPION OF CIVIL RIGHTS
M
ary Wendy Roberts is seeking her fifth
term as commissioner of the Bureau of
Labor and Industries, the office that over
sees the implementation of civil rights protec
tions for workers. A longtime champion of civil
rights for all people, Roberts won the Right to
Privacy’s Lucille Hart Award in 1993, along with
her father, former state Sen. Frank Roberts, and
his wife, Gov. Barbara Roberts, to honor her work
on behalf of sexual minorities.
Roberts has a long history of supporting the
rights of gay men and lesbians. As a state repre
sentative in 1973, she co-sponsored the first bill to
prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation. She has co-sponsored or supported
every anti-discrimination bill in Oregon since.
Last legislative session, Roberts sponsored
Senate Bill 34, which would have protected gay
men, lesbians and bisexuals from discrimination.
WE TRIED BUT WE JUST COULDN'T DO IT
I
t’s impossible to miss the plethora of yellow
and blue lawn signs, bus benches and buttons
that have overtaken Portland during Fred Neal’s
campaign for Portland City Commissioner. Neal’s
highly visible campaign may be indicative of his
personal style: energetic, up front and outspoken
in his opinions and criticisms.
Neal is challen g in g incum bent Earl
Blumenauer for his seat on the City Council. He
is frank about why he chose to run against
Blumenauer rather than Gretchen Kafoury, who
is also running on the May ballot. Beside the fact
that Kafoury is a personal friend of his, he says he
is dissatisfied with Blumenauer’s vision and per
sonality. “I find Commissioner Blumenauer’s
vision of this city to be incompatible with mine,”
he said. "It’s short-sighted, it buys into the expe
dient quick-fix, rather than the long-range invest
ment in the future.”
If elected, Fred Neal would be the first openly
gay man to serve on the Portland City Council,
and the first person to serve who is open about his
HIV-positive status. He has garnered support
from the gay, lesbian and bisexual community.
The Right to Privacy, for example, endorsed both
Blumenauer and Neal, but gave Neal $2,500—
one of the highest contributions it gave to any
candidate in the May primary.
In fact, Neal served on the RTP board of
directors for four years and recently served as co
chair. He has served for seven years on the board
of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union. He was treasurer and a major
spokesman for the statewide No on 9 campaign.
“One of the reasons I am running.. .is to empower
a community that I feel has been disenfranchised,”
he said. “ I will bring a voice to the city council
that has not been there before.”
While bringing issues of the sexual minority
community to the forefront is important to Neal,
he says it is not the only topic that is driving him
in his campaign. In the past, he says, he has
worked to “integrate my being a gay man with my
professional life of solving problems for the people
of this state.” He says he wants to challenge
“some issues of what city government looks like
and who should be able to participate in it.” He
has issued a proposal to restructure city govern
ment, which includes reducing the number of
bureaus and making all commissioners respon
sible to all bureaus, separating legislative and
executive responsibilities, increasing the size of
the council, and creating municipal districts.
He says that the current system is burdensome
and does not allow community access. "It worked
when we had 40,000 people in Portland, but we
have half a million people now,” he said. “I see a
city government that is less contemptuous of its
front-line employees, that doesn’t require all of
this middle management. There has to be some
level of consistency, both within bureaus and
between bureaus, which is not there now.”
It may surprise you that we don’t automati
cally endorse candidates on the basis of their
sexual orientation—though we wanted to endorse
Neal for just that reason. What a coup, if Portland
S P E C I A L
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Just Out endorses Mary Wendy Roberts for
commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Indus
try. She works hard for our community, and for
Oregon, and she deserves the chance to continue
that work.
A CHANGE IS DUE
V
era Pool, candidate for Multnomah County
sheriff, has 23 years of experience in the
criminal justice system. From 1988 to 1993,
she was facility commander at the Multnomah
County Restitution Center, which helps criminals
re-enter the community as employed, responsible
citizens. Before that, she served for five years as a
shift commander at the Multnomah County De
tention Center, where she was responsible for 520
inmates. Along with her experience in the crimi
nal justice system, she has earned a master’s in
education.
Vera Pool plans on using her experience in
corrections to implement the changes that are
coming up in the Multnomah County Sheriff s
Office. Come July l , a section of the county up to
18 1 st Street wiU be annexed into the Portland city
limits. Pool feels that the Portland Police Bureau
should be responsible for patrolling that area,
leaving the county to take care of correctional
programs for criminals. “I plan to focus on correc
tion and prevention programs, such as hate crime
prevention and intervention programs for young
people so that we can divert their criminal behav
ior,” she said. She estimates that by allowing the
Portland Police to assume patrol and law enforce
ment duties in that area the county would save $7
million in the first four years. She hopes to work
out a contract program with Portland or other
municipalities in Multnomah County, such as
Gresham or Troutdale, for the unincorporated
areas of the county.
By focusing on corrections, Pool says, the county
would be better able to stop crime. “[We] can
implement programs to keep people out of jail, if
we can direct people in the right direction when the
offender commits the first crime. I believe that first
offenders should have some kind of consequences,
but not always negative,” she said. She favors
having people who commit crimes to perform com
munity service to repay victims for pain and suffer
ing, for example, rather than throwing them in jail.
Earl Blumenauer
had an openly gay city commissioner! Plus, we
like the guy. Neal has worked hard in our commu
nity for years. But, being the conscientious jour
nalists that we are, we started listening to what he
was saying and began questioning how we could
justify endorsing him.
Pool supports the equal treatment of all people
and denounces discrimination on all levels. “Once
I become sheriff in Multnomah County, you will
see a diversity of people in the department,” she
said. “I am a person who believes in equal justice
for all. I believe the same kind of rules or laws
should be applied to everyone regardless of their
race or sexual orientation.... I know what it means
to be discriminated against, and I would never do
that to anyone because I know the pain and suffer
ing it brings.”
Pool’s plan for restructuring law enforcement
coincides with Multnomah County Chairwoman
Beverly Stein’s plan for the county and with
Portland Police Chief Charles Moose’s plan for
the Portland Police Bureau. Vera Pool is the best
choice for Multnomah County sheriff. Incumbent
Bob Skipper should just put down his gun and
surrender.
He wants to reorganize the city government:
Our philosophy is, if it isn’t broken— don’t fix it.
He wants to create a hate crimes unit within the
Portland Police Bureau: The bureau has had a bias
crimes unit since 1991. He doesn’t hesitate to
verbally bash Earl Blumenauer: Blumenauer may
not be the warmest human on the planet, but he
has supported lesbian and gay rights for his entire
political career and deserves our respect. These
things made us question Neal and his motivation.
If he hasn’t asked the simple questions, like “Does
the Portland Police Bureau currently have a hate
crimes unit?” how can we expect him to ask the
complicated ones? Neal doesn’t have the practi
cal political experience to implement his great
plans, and it’s doubtful whether he would have the
support of the rest of the council. We considered
a joint endorsement as an easy way out of having
to make a tough decision— but we think you
expect more from us. At the risk of offending the
vote-gay-at-any-cost contingent, we endorse Earl
Blumenauer.
Here’s why. Earl Blumenauer is the most
qualified candidate for the job. He has served for
two terms on the Portland City Council. He es
chews political bickering and says he is interested
in streamlining government and making it sim
pler for people to understand and access.
Community policing, city growth and eco
nomic development are important to Blumenauer.
As administrator of the Office of Transportation
and the Bureau of Environmental Services, he
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