The year in sports
sec. Ill, pages 2-3
V oi. 71
Single Copy 2 5 ’
No. 1
Ordinance appeals
go to commission
for staff direction
Hood murder
gamers man
death sentence
Dennis Richard Brooks, a 26- year -old
Portland man convicted of murder in
the shooting death of a 34-year-old
California woman, was sentenced to
death last Tuesday by Clackamas
County C ircuit Judge Dale Jacobs.
Brooks was condemned for the
October 1979 shooting death of K ittie
Coy of Chico, Calif., whose sno-covered
body was found bound to a tree near
Tim othy l^ake in Mount Hood National
Forest in December of that year.
The sentence w ill autom atically be
reviewed by the Oregon Supreme
Court. If upheld, Jacobs w ill set an
excution date. Brooks is the fourth man
to receive a death sentence in Oregon
since the penalty was reimposed by
voters in November 1978
The method of excution would be the
gas chamber.
Brooks, a Portland native living in
Vancouver, Wash., at the tim e of his
arrest in January, was convicted last
summer of the execution-style slaying
of Coy She was suspected of being a
member of a forgery ring that operated
in the Portland area, but failed to show
up for her arraingment last year after
she was charged with four counts of
first-degree forgery.
The murder occured in October 1979
after Brooks, Coy and Frederick
Hazeem — a eo-defe.iddrit in the death
who pleaded guilty to a first-degree
manslaughter and testified for the state
— participated in credit card forgeries.
The motive suggested by the state for
the killin g was that Coy had stolen
money from the two men and double-
crossed them.
The three of them drove up the High
Rocks area, near Mount Hood, taking
drugs and drinking alcohol on the way,
according
to
testimony
Brooks
claimed they were just going to
thum bcuff Coy to a tree to teach her a
lesson and release her later
Identification of her body took more
than two months because he had used a
number of aliases — 19 in California
and about four in Oregon — according
to the Clackamas County district at
torney's office. She ahd taken the name
Mary Ellen Donnelly at the tune of her
Oregon forgery arrest
She was also wanted by California
..uthorities fo r failure to appear at a
sentencing there on charges of burglary
and receiving stolen goods.
Coy's body was found in December by
sheriff's deputies acting on a tip.
A fter negotiating with the state.
Hazeem pleaded guilty to the man
slaughter charge and was sentenced to
20 years.
During
Brooks’ two-day
death
penalty hearing. Hazeem described
Brooks as a violent man who often kept
guns and other weapons close to hand
Jack Seidler, chief psychologist at the
Oregon State Penitentiary, called
Brooks “ a sociopath of pathological
dimensions.”
To unpose a death sentence, a judge
must find that a defendant convicted of
murder acted deliberately, that the
murder was an unreasonable response
to provocation, if any. and that there is
a probability he would commit future
crim inal acts of violence
Jacobs said he answered yes to the
three points He described how he
visualized Brooks must have shot Coy
in the back of the head
He cited the psychologist's testimony
that it would take a ’ cataclysmic
event" to change Brooks and that there
was no hope for rehabilitation
Index
SECTION I
Sc hool Menus .............................. 2
Senior Center News ...................... 3
Keeping Posted.................................3
The Year in Review .................. 4-5
Editorials. le tte rs ..................... 6
SECTION II
Area N e w s ..................................... 1
About People ................................2
Around the County......................... 3
Classified Advertising............. 5-11
SECTION in
Sports. Recreation . . . » ................ 1-3
Television D ire c to ry ................. 4-6
1*110(08 by M ark Kloyd
Winter runoff
Runoff near I-olo Pass Road cascades as the result of recent rains. Despite flooding in other Oregon areas, local
streams managed to remain below flood stage.
Since the adoption of an updated
Sandy zoning ordinance e a rlie r this
year, city staff has discovered that
although there were no sweeping
changes, enough variation exists that
not everyone is happy.
As a result, the staff has received a
number of form al and inform al
requests for changes in the zoning of
particular parcels or amendments to
the text of the ordinance itself. The
approach of the staff has been to ac
cumulate the appeals and bring the lot
of them before the Sandy Planning
Commission.
Next Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m., the
commission
w ill
consider
those
requests when it meets in the Council
Chambers at Sandy City Hall.
The commission is not expected to
take final action on the appeals at its
Wednesday meeting, but rather w ill
inform city staff which of the requests
should be pursued further and at what
meeting date public hearings should be
scheduled.
The firs t request for a zone change
involves the form er site of the Mount
Hood Anim al Clinic, 37820 Highway 26,
at the west end of Sandy. The owner of
the property, V.J. Keating objects to
the change in the zoning of the property
from general commercial to high-
density residential.
The site is on the south side of High
way 26 fronting University Avenue.
Keating is currently attempting to sell
the property and charged in a letter to
the city, “ For the planning commission
and city council to pass a com
prehensive plan without notifying in
dividual property
owners
whose
property is rezoned to a less valuable
zone is unjust in the extrem e."
The second request which the com
mission w ill consider involves a zone
change on property at 40830 Highway
26. Ruby Eliason, owner of the
residential property adjacent to vacant
commercial property at Highway 26 —
I^ngensand Road intersection, would
like her one-third acre parcel rezoned
to highway commercial.
P rio r to the 1980 update, her property
had that zoning designation. A t the time
of adoption, it was changed to medium-
density residential in consideration of
its present residential use and the fact
that it was lacking comm ercial high
way access, according to Don Wilson,
city planner.
The third request to come before the
commission involves the modification
of the home occupation provisions of
the zoning ordinance.
B illie McNutt operates a hypnosis
center in her home at 38336 Hood St.
The property is zoned high-density
residential.
The
Municipal
Code
establishes standards for home oc
cupations.
Home occupations are not listed as a
perm itted 'use in the high-density
designation, according to Wilson.
The home occupation standards
make provisions for lim ited signage of
home
occupations,
however,
no
provisions are made for signing her
home occupation in the high density
zone. M cNutt is requesting a small
identification sign, however, it isn’t
perm itted under the present conditions.
C ity staff has also initiated two
requests.
D uring the zoning ordinance update,
the city staff looked closely at
properties west of Wolf D rive which
have frontage along both Pioneer
Boulevard and McCormick Drive. The
northern portion of the properties
which face Highway 26 are well-suited
for commercial development, ac
cording to Wilson.
The backside of the properties which
face McCormick D rive are more
residential in nature and should
probably be developed for high density
uses, according to the staff report.
Due to the zoning presently placed on
the property and the development
standards of the commercial zone,
there is a possibility that some conflict
may arise and the staff is asking the
commission to consider the area and
initiate any changes accordingly.
The staff is also seeking direction
from the commission in applying the
off-street parking requirements in the
downtown area.
There are several commercial
buildings located in the core area which
do not have adequate off-street parking
areas as required by the zoning or
dinance. According to the staff report,
these are typically older buildings
which have been in continuous use
through several decades. Many of the
buildings have space which is presently
being leased to smaller establishments.
The difficu lty arises, according to the
report, when the business owners come
in for a business license after having
rented or leased their space, only to
find that off-street parking spaces are
not available as required by the or
dinance.
Therefore, city staff is not able to
equitably apply the off-street parking
requirements in a uniform fashion. The
staff is requesting commission con
sideration
of
these
individual
properties and direction as to whether
or not off-street parking requirements
should be changed, or possibly a
variance to the provisions granted.
Advice to renters: ‘Put it in writing’
If there's one piece of advice that
experts give repeatedly to both renters
and landlords it's : ‘ Put it in w ritin g .”
It's a safety precaution that can
prevent a lot of later problems, says
M ari Stephenson, coordinator of the
Renter’s Hotline " It's the first step the
law states Put all requests and
agreements in w ritin g !"
If that piece of advice is too late
coming for some owners or tenants, the
Renter’s Hotline may still be able to
help They can inform people of their
rights under Oregon la w /* refer them
to volunteers who may be better able to
help
The hotline was established in late
summer by the M ultifam ily Housing
Council, a division of the Homebuilders
Association of Metropolitan Portland
The council is a private organization
of property managers, owners and
developers Besides running the
Hothne. the council also raises funds
through rental workshops, seminars
and the sale of rental forms
Ever since the Hotline was opened it
has been deluged with calls from both
tenants and landlords
‘ h ’s been a real learning ex
perience," says Stephenson Calls vary
I
fro m
ty p ic a l
la n d lo rd -te n a n t
grievances to unexpected problems and
conflicts. Calls have been almost
equally divided between renters and
owners.
Most calls, however, fa ll into five
m ajor categories Twenty-four percent
of the calls concern move-out or
eviction
notices. Sixteen percent
concern repairs, services or damages.
Nine percent concern security deposits,
8 percent are about late rent or non
payment and 5 percent deal with rent
increases The remaining 38 percent
fa ll into a miscellaneous category.
Stephenson says she averages 15 calls
a day — many of those from all around
the state.
Stephenson says the law doesn t favor
either landlord or tenant — but it can
work to the advantage of either party
depending on the situation
*‘,t i the law i is never as clear cut as
you want it to be I t ’s not black and
w hite," she says.
“ I get so many calls from both
sides." she says Both la n d lo rd and
renters have told her they feel they
have no rights, “ 1 hear that statement
from both sides
Stephenson says it is usually better to
negotiate a tenant-landlord grievance.
“ If you work it out it's going to be a lot
better than taking it to court."
Although they haven’t had to yet, the
Renter’s Hotline is prepared to mediate
conflicts through an arbitration board.
There is another renter service in
Portland, but only the M ultifam ily
Housing Council's hotline has a manned
phone The volunteer-staffed Tenant’s
Union has an answering service and
returns calls later
Stephenson doesn't fee! being a home
builders organization creates any
conflict of interest when dealing with
tenants
“ I ’m the person manning the phone
all the tune Whoever calls me — I w ill
give them the best advice, she says “ I
really think all the other volunteers w ill
treat them the same There are some
bad owners out there We're not trying
to protect them ”
She refers to a recent article in the
W illamette Week newspaper on the “ 10
w orst’ landlords in the metropolitan
area
“ We hated to see it, of co irse ,”
whose tenant had committed suicide in
his apartment “ The question was
whose responsibility was it to clean up
the mess. The answer that I gave was it
was the fa m ily ’s. The owner had no
Stephenson feels a m ajor service and control over the situation,” she says,
goal of the hotline is to educate the
Another manager had a tenant shoot
public. “ If people know the law they
at the manager’s son. She wanted to
probably aren’t going to create any know what to do with the tenant’s
problems ’’
property after he had been jailed
There is a 7 to 8 percent vacancy of
Another landlord was owed a year's
rental units in the metropolitan area — rent Such cases often occur when the
a higher than norm al rate, Stephenson owner “ rents to a friend or rents to
says.
someone who was a frie n d ," says
“ Because the economy is bad, Stephenson
younger people are moving back home
“ You just wouldn't think someone
w ith their parents and singles are would let it go that long But they do,
doubling up," she says, “ rhere’s no not knowing they have a legal route to
problem with available units in Port take," she says
land, though there might be in a
Occasionally the Renter's Hotline
specific neightxirhood."
w ill get a call for the tenant or owner
and then “ a few hours la te r" w ill
Stephenson says a frequent question
receive a call from the other party.
concerns landlords who w ill not rent to
“ Surprisingly, their stories don’t
tenants with sm all children
agree,” said Stephenson Stephenson
“ The question seems actually larger
said she gives both parties advice
than the problem ," she said. “ It gets
according to the facts they give her
talked about a lot, but in the city as a
The Renter's Hotline number is 268-
whole, it ’s not a problem ”
0125and isopen form S a m to5 30pm .
Other calls may be more unusual
Stephenson said to “ keep try in g ” if the
Stephenson had one call from a owner lines are busy
Stephenson says. “ No one ever shows
the 10 best. None of the owners were
members of our council, however. That
w as a good sign ’’