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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2013)
Street roots Dec. 6, 2013 P H O T O B Y E L IS A B E T H N E E L Y Bob Sallinger prepares to release a red-tailed hawk back to the wild on New Years Day. The nature of politics Portland Audubon Society’s Conservation Director Bob Sallinger talks about controversial political moves that could have serious consequences for the region’s environmental landscape BY JA S M IN E ROCKOW conservation group that works in Portland is opposing it. There’s huge grassroots he Audubon Society has long opposition to this measure, so hopefully recognized that if you want to people will figure out what it’s really all measure the quality of our about. Right now, the measure is feeding on environment on Earth, you have to cast your anger towards government and frustration eyes to the skies. about specific things the city council has As a result, the Portland chapter of the done, and it is using that anger to promote organization has pioneered environmental an initiative that will be incredibly conservation across land and water for more disruptive. But, I hope the people will see than a century in Oregon, despite challenges through that. that span industrial expansion and political Making the ballot is one challenge, machinations. passing an initiative is another. We’re Most recently, the Audubon Society has confident that people will take a hard look at joined forces with a host of environmental it and realize who’s behind it and what it’s organizations to oppose an initiative that all about. When that happens people will seeks to remove the Portland Water Bureau very quickly have second thoughts. from city control and place it under an Not a single grassroots or community independently elected board. If enough organization has come out in support of it signatures are collected voters will see the except for Friends of the Reservoirs, which measure on the November 2014 ballot. is really a single-issue group. Portland Audubon Society Conservation As far as we can tell from their website Director Bob Sallinger doesn’t mince words and from their contributions reports, this is on the issue. Sallinger calls the Portland pretty much exclusively backed by big People’s Water Trust a Trojan Horse backed industrial and corporate entities. I think by corporate interests and environmental people of Portland will realize very quickly polluters seeking to gain power in city that this measure that purports to protect politics. the public from the big corporate entities is Most importantly, he says, the water actually being backed by these very same initiative drains time, money and resources big corporate entities. I am hopeful that that should be devoted to Portland’s more people will see through it and realize that pressing environmental issues, like the there’s an incredible amount to lose. Comprehensive Plan Update and Sen. Ron Unfortunately, we do have somewhat Wyden’s recently unveiled timber bill. cynical times. People are frustrated with government in general, frustrated with J asm in e Rockow: Do you think the Water some things that the Portland city Initiative is going to pass? government has done. And I’m certainly no apologist for the City of Portland. I have Bob Sallinger: I don’t know. We’re probably spent as much time as anybody certainly fighting it hard. Every fighting with the City of Portland on issues. S T A F F W R IT E R T Whether we’re talking about Superfund or River Plan or Hayden Island — there have been a number of environmental battles here that have occurred over the years. But if you want to reform city government, or any government, there’s an effective way to do it and an ineffective way to do it. Throwing your lot in with the industrial polluters in order to protect our communities from big industrial polluters is just pretty ass-backwards. J.R.: In editorials you have talked about how the board is much more obscure. It sounds like there’s not as much opportunity for people to voice concerns, i f they even become aware of them. B.S.: Just below the surface of it, what you find is that all of the rhetoric they are using to promote this thing - they’re actually the people that we need to be protected from. City government has its challenges, but these big corporate entities have not been able to elect their candidates. Again and again, big industrial interests and big business interests in Portland have lost city council elections. That’s not to say they don’t have too much influence, but those elections are very carefully followed by the public. City Council is publicly accessible in terms of having hearings and they are very well attended. I was at the budget hearings last year when upwards of 500 people showed up for a hearing. They don’t always do what we want them to do and they don’t always do the right thing, but people tend to know who the city commissioners are and who their mayor is. They tend to know where to find them and there tends to be a lot of watch dogs tracking their behavior. When you talk about a district, how many people can name the members of the Port commission, the planning commission, the soil and water conservation districts or judges? The reality is that most people have no idea who they are voting for when the ballots come for these more obscure positions. They are very hard to track and it doesn’t take much money to take control of those kinds of things. These are unpaid positions. A candidate with a little bit of financial backing, just enough money to get their name out there, can easily take over. They have said, “well, don’t worry, we’ll elect the right people.” These same entities have spent huge amounts of money to sue the city and huge amounts of money to bring this initiative. They are not going to then turn around and see this new district fall into the hands of liberal, progressive advocates. These are groups and individuals that have fought progressive groups for years. Anybody that thinks they are going to let huge amounts of time and resources and money into this campaign and the lawsuit that preceded it, and then stand down and suddenly become supporters of liberal, left- wing candidates is just kidding himself. Even if they can’t get their candidates elected, what it means is that progressive groups in Portland are going to have to track seven new districts and fight what will likely be a very well financed, corporate- backed campaign in every single one of them, in order to protect our public utilities. The other thing to realize is that what See SALLINGER, page 9
