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Feb. 17, 2012
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Charter Commission works to finalize amendments by March 3
BY JAKE THOMAS
S T A F F W R IT E R
elinquishing the power to crack down
on “vagrants and paupers” and force
them into employment, the exhibition
of crippled persons,” and the sale of
“obscene matter”: These are just a few of
the nine “housekeeping” amendments to
the city charter that will be put before
voters in May with the aim of clarifying and
updating the language in what is essentially
our constitution.
The city’s Charter Commission is working
feverishly to meet its March 3 process
deadline, while removing antiquated
provisions that grant city officials powers
that seem odd or even offensive by today’s
standards.
But several other charter amendments
with more serious consequences for how
water and sewer rates are set, funding for
public bathrooms and fountains as well as
how police manage crowds could also make
their way onto the ballot.
Since January 2011, a 20-member
commission appointed by City Council has
been looking into how the city charter might
be improved and will be sending its
recommended changes to voters for final
approval. In order for an amendment to get
on the ballot, it needs to have been aired in
two public hearings and to muster the
support of 15 members of the commission.
If only a majority of commission members
support an amendment, it then heads to
City Council, where it might be revised
further before being put on the ballot or
dropped altogether.
Here’s what’s in play:
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Creation of an Independent Utility
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Commission
An amendment has been put forward to
create a five-member Independent Utility
Commission (IUC). The IU C would submit
sewer and water rates to City Council, which
would have limited ability to revise them.
The amendment was proposed in response
to media reports and findings by the city
auditor that the Portland Water Bureau has
spent money on park improvements, voter-
owned elections, Rose Festival renovations
and other projects of dubious relevancy to
the city agency’s core functions, while water
rates continued to climb. Not surprisingly,
the proposal in the amendment is the house
the new IU C in the Auditor’s Office, with
positions appointed by the auditor with final
approval by the City Council.
One of the primary concerns of this
amendment, however, is that it would
backfire and allow for more special interests
to influence how sewer and water rates are
set, with even less oversight and public
accountability.
Under the amendment, as currently
written, rates for water and sewer would
“only include costs associated with providing
water and sewer services.” It also includes a
provision stating that these services “should
be affordable to all people regardless of
income” and discounts should be available
for low-income ratepayers.
Susan Pearce, a retired health care
worker who serves as the commission’s
co-chair, said that when drafting the
amendment that would create the IU C ,
commission members deliberately avoided
incorporating any language that would
explicitly allow sewer or water money to be
used for any specific projects or purposes.
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“Everyone has their own idea of what
should be covered,” said Pearce, who added
that if the commission had allowed special
uses of sewer and water money in the
amendment the commission would “be
talking until the cows came home.”
Public drinking water
and bathrooms
Rich Rodgers, a City Hall veteran who is
serving on the commission, said that he is
working on language that would clarify that
public drinking fountains are eligible Water
Bureau expenses and that public bathrooms
are eligible sewer expenses. (Rodgers is also
a member of Street Roots’ Board of
Directors.)
“I believe that a key value should be that
water and sewer services are essential to
human health and welfare, and that they
should therefore be affordable to everyone,
regardless of income,” Rodgers told Street
Roots via e-mail. “Public availability of these
services is a key aspect of this, as it
provides a fuller spectrum of service to take
into account the needs of the general public,
and especially people who are homeless.”
Currently, public bathrooms in Portland
are funded and operated by a variety of city
agencies and are chronically underfunded,
Rodgers says. The parks bureau is
considering closing 189 public bathrooms as
part of cost-saving effort (see “No relief?
Park bathrooms on the city’s chopping
block” www.streetroots.wordpresss.com)
Rodgers hopes that his measures, which he
has submitted to the city attorney to draft
language, will help provide a modicum of
stable funding for a service many homeless
people and others rely on.
However, Rodgers says he won’t be
aggressively lobbying for his amendments.
“I’m not politicking on this thing; I’m
articulating what my values are,” he said. “I
don’t think the charter commission is the
place for a political power play.”
Crowd control
Two amendments under consideration
would bar police from using animals, such as
dogs and horses, as well as chemical sprays
to control crowds.
According to longtime police
accountability activist and member of the
Charter Commission Jo Ann Hardesty
(formerly Bowman) the amendments came
out of meetings with members of the
Occupy Portland movement. Occupy
activists complained that police use of harsh
chemical pepper sprays was too heavy-
handed a tactic and that horses used to
control crowds would get spooked, becoming
potentially dangerous to protestors.
Those complaints have been levied
against the Portland Police Bureau for years,
and stirred considerable outcry when
mounted units were used during protests
against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Maybe police need to have horses for
public relations, but not for crowd control,”
said Hardesty, who also notes that chemicals
used in pepper spray have become
increasingly concentrated.
There is also talk about creating a police
oversight mechanism in the charter, but it’s
unclear if this idea will advance to the ballot.
The Charter Commission has until
March 3 to finalize proposed amendments,
conduct hearings and wrap up its work.
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