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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2012)
November 2012 NEWS Candidates Face-Off tive and funding for improvements to Portland State University and Portland Community College that she helped obtain in the state legislature. “Judge me by the results,” she said. Fritz replied, “I’ve been doing the job for four years, so you know what you can expect from me. We do better when we actively engage citizens. In the worst recession we’ve seen in my lifetime, I focused on the job at hand, and didn’t let personalities get in the way.” Citing her 15 years as a West Portland Park neighborhood volunteer she said, “You need me on Council because I know how it looks on the ground.” Both candidates supported a pro- posed Portland School District levy for building improvements and creation of a library district. They differed on the “arts in school” measure. Nolan said, “I tried really, really hard to convince myself to support this. My daughter is an artist. But the funding mechanism is seriously flawed. It’s the same tax for a single mother as for someone making $3 million a year.” Fritz replied, “I voted to refer this to the voters. I will vote for anything that puts teachers in classrooms. It’s those on welfare who most need access to the arts. I’m tired of cuts to schools.” Fritz was part of a unanimous, and controversial, Council decision to add fluoride to Portland waters. Asked about this she said she had been in Eng- land when the discussion started, and by the time she returned three Council members had declared themselves for the measure. She conceded the matter should have gone to a public vote (as it now will), and that she listened to six hours of testimony before declaring herself, but said she supported the measure in principle. To the argument that fluoride supporters can supplement the water they or their children drink Fritz said, “Children don’t get to choose their (Continued from Page 1) Hales said. Both said they would like to fire Of- ficer Ron Frashour, involved in a fatal shooting, but that they saw no point in fighting a court order to reinstate him. Both said they supported a proposed levy to restore art and music instruction to public schools, albeit with strong reservations, given the nature of the tax. “I hate it, but I’m voting for it,” Smith said. “I’ve seen the impact of not having art in schools.” “I support it, although I wince at the choice of revenue sources,” Hales said. “Until we get better education support from the state, patch jobs like this are necessary.” Asked about providing additional sidewalks and bike facilities, Hales said that at the current rate it would take 2,000 years to provide paving where needed. He suggested a citywide solu- tion to the issue. Smith told those present, “You should be in cahoots with East Port- land,” which has similar unpaved street problems. While otherwise critical of Mayor Sam Adams, Smith praised his Out of the Mud initiative for a flexible approach to street paving. “We have to be creative with the money we have,” Smith said. In the City Council debate be- tween incumbent Amanda Fritz and challenger Mary Nolan, the contenders were asked, “What’s the difference between you and your opponent?” Public criticism of Fritz has been that she has few tangible accomplishments to show for her four years on Council. Nolan focused on this, saying, “I’m focused on delivering results and ob- taining tangible improvements.” Nolan cited the Healthy Kids initia- The Southwest Portland Post • 7 parents.” She noted that Nolan had declared that she favored fluoridation. Nolan said, “I had a chance to look at the issue from all sides. It’s incumbent on leaders to lead – not blindly or ar- rogantly – but I will tell you where I stand on issues. You can count on me to be honest with you.” Asked about changes in waste col- lection, Nolan said that she had been head of the Bureau of Environmental Services when curbside recycling was introduced. Regarding the current cutback in garbage collection and cit- ing the needs of new mothers using disposable diapers she said, “We didn’t carefully think through the process.” Fritz defended the change, saying that the program has provisions for people who need extra service, that it will be reviewed by the City Council in November, and that based on input at a web site most Portlanders support the system. Asked about transportation pri- orities, Nolan said hers was “to make sure we preserve the usefulness of our investment in infrastructure through maintenance.” Nolan added, “Many Portlanders don’t have a 21 st Century transporta- tion system, and they deserve to. We need to complete it in southwest and other areas.” Fritz cited the recent construction of sidewalks on Southwest Luradel Street, and voiced her support for Mayor Ad- ams’ Out of the Mud initiative. DEQ to clean up South Portland property contaminated with lead By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post Having spent four months investi- gating, the Department of Environ- mental Quality has zeroed in on three South Portland properties in need of cleanup from lead contamination. Earlier this year DEQ identified 236 SW Flower St, now occupied by a house but for 60 years the site of Portland Metals’ lead smelter, as a contamination source. Last summer, DEQ’s Scott Manzano told the South Portland Neighbor- hood Association, the agency visited properties within four blocks of the site and asked to test the soil. The agency received permission to test the soil located at 22 addresses, and of these found five with lead levels in excess of DEQ’s standard of 400 parts per million. They eventu- ally whittled this down to the Flower Street home and two adjacent lots in need of cleanup. The agency has decided to remove the soil containing the highest concen- trations of lead to a hazardous waste landfill, Manzano said. DEQ will then place a “hardscape cap” over the contaminated areas. Manzano said there was no evidence the lead was leaching into ground water. In places the soil at the Flower Street address contained 50,000 parts per million of lead, the neighboring houses up to 5,000 parts per million. Greg Ware of Multnomah County said that subsurface concentrations of lead pose little danger to people. A greater danger, especially to children, lies in lead in loose surface soil or peeling paint. “One paint chip can poison a child,” Ware said. 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