October 2011
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
Opponents cry foul at Macadam jail hearing; City Council delays final decision
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Once again, the Portland City
Council last month failed to reach
a decision on the proposed Immi-
gration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) processing center on South-
west Macadam Avenue because of
a procedural issue.
The City Council last year ap-
proved a design for the 125,000
square foot expanded building at
4310 SW Macadam Ave., but ruled
that a 5200 square foot area was
a detention facility, and needed a
Conditional Use permit in this zone.
In July Hearings Officer Gregory
Frank found that the proposal met
nearly all the criteria for Conditional
Use approval, but that ICE did not
provide enough information about
procedures for the detainees it
might release from the site – about
three a week of the 10 to 15 per day
who would pass through.
Last month the City Council
seemed to feel that ICE – and
Lindquist Development, their land-
lords-to-be – had proved that the
releases would not represent danger
to nearby residents or the adjacent
Southwest Charter School.
However, the City Council balked
at Southwest Portland Neighbor-
hood Association land use chair
Jim Davis’s charge that in doing so,
Lindquist and ICE had improperly
introduced new evidence into the
record, after Frank’s decision, in vio-
lation of state law, creating potential
grounds for a legal appeal.
As a result, the City Council de-
cided to allow another week for the
public to respond to Lindquist’s tes-
timony, and set their decision over
to 3 p.m. October 5. One of the con-
tested documents was ICE’s Release
Plan, providing more specific infor-
mation on who would be released
and under what circumstances.
Critics charged that it contained
vague and soft language such as
“may” or “might” in place of spe-
cific directives, but City planner
Douglas Hardy said the language
could be hardened and made a con-
dition of approval. Critics pointed
out that City officials have no au-
thority over federal agencies, but
Mayor Sam Adams said that the
City could revoke the Conditional
Use permit if need be.
Pat Prendergast, a Pearl District
developer with an interest in the
current project, argued that ICE
and its predecessors have operated
for 35 years from a federal building
at 511 N.W. Broadway, “not nearly
as secure as the new building will
be, with no incidents. This is a very
minor move from one end of town
to another, from federal ownership
to private. It’s hard for me to under-
stand why there’s a problem.”
Opponents, most of them Charter
School parents, weren’t reassured.
One, Christa Rodriguez, said, “My
son’s safety is my number one
priority, and it should be yours,
too. There’s no way anyone can
guarantee there will be no harm to
the school.” With others, she said
the ICE facility belonged in an in-
dustrial area rather than this or any
residential neighborhood.
Davis and South Portland board
member Bill Danneman argued
against the procedure. Danneman
said that ICE and Lindquist had
in effect submitted a new applica-
tion. “They said, ‘We’re only going
to give you the information you
need,’” Danneman said. “Then they
lost. We wouldn’t be here today if
this information had been made
available to the Hearings Officer.
Commissioner Nick Fish respond-
ed, “Does that mean that (with
this information) you would have
been satisfied?” “No, but the Hear-
ings Officer would have been,”
Danneman replied.
Elizabeth Godfrey of ICE said
that in most cases, if detainees were
released, their families, friends or
attorneys would come to get them.
Others would take a cab or mass
transit, and given bus fare if need
be. At one point Commissioner Dan
Saltzman suggested taking released
detainees to another site prior to
release.
Commissioner Amanda Fritz
objected to this, saying, “If ICE
determines it’s safe to release some
people to the community, what
difference does it make where
they’re released?” Fritz also initially
An artist's rendition of the proposed ICE detention facility. (Courtesy Keith
Skille, GBD Architects)
opposed setting the case over, say-
ing, “From what I’ve heard today,
I could make a decision based on
things that are in the record.
“Council is required to grant a
conditional use if it meets the cri-
teria, or if it can be conditioned to
meet criteria.” Eventually, however,
she said, “It probably wouldn’t hurt
to do the longer step.”
Fritz told the audience, “We’re
not being asked to decide if an ICE
facility anywhere in the city is a
good thing or not. It’s whether it
meets and satisfies the criteria the
Hearings Offer set out.”