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Portland, O r e g o n
18 ♦ J u l y 21 , 2000
FREE
The waiting game
Pride Northwest
community meeting
tests patience and
frustrates attendees
by J onathan
K ipp
ordana Sardo showed up to be heard.
She even prepared a statement to read
to Pride Northwest’s board of directors.
The July 13 gathering was billed as a
“community meeting,” and Sardo thought she
was going to have a chance to speak her
peace. After all, she prepared more than 600
words outlining her concerns.
J
She sat just feet from a microphone that
stood in the middle of the crowded room.
And she waited. But, more than an hour into
the meeting, Sardo began realizing the micro­
phone wasn’t going to get used.
After a constructive but lengthy group
exercise of “Keep, Change, Drop, Add” led by
facilitator Guadalupe Guajardo, some of the
meeting’s attendees started to get restless.
Many had come to show support for two
longtime board members who were voted out
in June. They were there to demand account­
ability and to get information about how and
why Tamara Swan and Janna MacAuslan
were dismissed. Some alluded to corruption
among current board members, while others
just wanted answers.
“I want to know why,” one woman said.
She also was concerned about how money is
handled by Pride Northwest board members.
Sardo finally decided to speak up: “I’m con­
cerned about the lack of accountability to the
community,” she said, adding that she, too,
had learned of the dismissal of the two board
members, “which was in violation of the
bylaws."
“When can we get a financial report.7”
Sardo wanted to know.
Others expressed their concerns that the
board isn’t accountable to the community,
leading to and encouraging rumors and dis­
trust. They asked for a more public process.
Continued on Page 8
After Gresham expresses
widespread support,
commissioners unanimously
approve domestic partner registry
Page 9