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Volume XXXIV • Number 37
Wednesday • September 22. 2004
CHOOSING A MAYOR
Reinventing Jim Francesconi Tom Potter Prepares to Lead
City commissioner proud o f his record
by J aymee
Keyed to issues, but may not have road map
R. C uti
by J aymee R. C m
T he P ortland O bserver
T he P ortland O bserver
Jim Francesconi is fighting an
image.
Lawn signs for his opponent,
Tom Potter, are now dense in any
o f a number o f Portland’s diverse
neighborhoods and the media has
hammered Francesconi hard on
campaign contributions run amok,
dubbing him the “million dollar
candidate,” referring to high-dol-
lar donations he received in the
primary election.
“An image has been created of
me that’s frankly not true. No one
has ever said that I’ve voted for
something because o f any cam ­
paign contributions. You d on’t
belong in this business if you ca n 't
do the right thing and I’m proud of
my reputation,” he said.
He insists that if Portland vot­
ers would open their minds to his
long list o f accom plishm ents,
they’d see that he outperforms his
opponent, Tom Potter, a former
police chief.
So, he’s reinventing him self
through a directed campaign with
testimonials from residents whom
his work has touched.
F rancesconi cam e to P ortland
30 years ago, as a Jesuit volun-
continued
on page A5
photo by M ichael R ibenstein /T hf
P orti
ani ) O bserver
City Commissioner Jim Francesconi stands by a long record o f
achievement in his race for Portland Mayor.
photo by
M ichael R lbenstein / T he P ortland O bserver
Former Police Chief Tom Potter says he wants to fill a “leader­
ship vacuum ’ if elected Portland mayor.
A s M ayor Vera Katz inches to­
ward retirement, Tom Potter is creep­
ing back into public life.
Potter hasn’t squinted in the light
of pubic scrutiny in a decade, but
now he finds himself in a hotly
contested mayoral race that in­
cludes top-rate endorsem ents, a
gritty campaign and back-to-back
debates, logging in more time with
his opponent at public forums and
debates than with his own family.
Potter is a Portland native, gradu­
ate o f Cleveland High School and
University of Portland.
“I always wanted to get a job
where I worked with other people
and helped people," he said. He
found that job in police work.
Accredited with creating com ­
munity policing in Portland, Potter
was on the Portland Police Bureau
for 27 years; police chief from 1990
to 1993. At that time, he worked
under M ayor Bud Clark, known as
a people’s leader, not a politician.
Clark owned a tavern before taking
office in 1984.
Potter, too, lacks experience in
City Hall, but that doesn’t mean he
hasn’t been political.
Since retiring in ’93, Potter di­
rected a homeless youth program in
continued
'yjf ,,n page AS
Gambling Obsession
Problem gambling
grows in record
numbers
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Thesesa Day and Kevin Patterson play the Oregon Video Lottery machines at the Lung Fung Restaurant on North
Lombard Street.
-AVeekin
TheReview
Lethal Injection Challenged
Lethal injection, when used for the
first time in Texas nearly 22 years
ago, was touted as a more humane
way to execute prisoners than the
firing squad, hanging, the gas cham ­
ber or even the electric chair. Now
death penalty opponents are chal­
lenging that notion
b a se d
on
th e
C o n s titu tio n ’s
E ig h th A m e n d ­
ment, which pro­
hibits “cruel and
u n u su a l p u n is h ­
ments.”
People seeking treatment for problem
gambling has grown phenomenally over
the past eight years, according to a new
report by the Oregon Dept. o f Human Ser­
vices.
During that time, the share of women
entering treatment increased from 37 per­
cent to 46 percent. People who said they
gambled in casinos increased from 10 per­
cent to nearly 18 percent, and 70 percent of
gamblers entering treatment reported play­
ing video poker at bars and taverns.
“While gam bling’s popularity and avail­
ability are growing, so are direct costs to
individuals, families and communities," said
DHS Problem Gambling Service
M anager Jeffrey J. Marotta. “The people
we see in our treatment programs look like
from an outlaw dictator." Later, Bush
condemned the beheading o f a U.S.
hostage by an Islamic militant.
Annan Condemns
Global Violations
’
ordinary, hard working people. Most worked
full-time, had families and good paying jobs
and many owned theirown home. They started
out gambling for fun but when the fun ran out
the gam bling continued.”
According to the report, 27 percent o f the
1,504 gam blers who received treatment in
2003 said that gambling cost them a marriage
or other significant relationship. Twenty-
four percent said they com m itted illegal acts
in order to gamble or pay back gambling
losses, 15 percent reported problems on the
job and 23 percent were having suicidal
thoughts in the months prior to entering
treatment. Their total gam bling-related debt
exceeded $29.5 million -or an average o f more
than $ 19,000 per person.
“Fortunately for Oregonians, we have a
very effective and well-developed gambling
treatment system,” said Marotta. “Our treat­
ment programs are helping hundreds of people
get their lives back and in the process is
saving families and strengthening communi-
continued
ond p ro sec u tio n o f co n v icted
sniper John Allen Muhammad has
removed him self from the case after
prosecutors claimed
he improperly con­
ducted his own in­
v e s tig a tio n
in to
whether Muhammad
had been denied a
speedy trial.
Before a vast assem ­
bly o f world leaders,
U.N. Secretary-G en­
eral Kofi Annan criti­
cized the violation of
basic laws around the
CBS Can’t Prove
glo b e - from c o ld ­
Guard Records
Bush Defends
blooded massacres and prisoner W ithinthenextfewdays.CBSNews
War in Iraq
abuses in Iraq to the seizing of expects to name an independent
President Bush d e­ children in Russia and widespread panel of experts to scrutinize its
livered an unapolo- rape in Sudan.
reporting o f President Bush’s N a­
getic defense of his decision to
tional Guard service after its d e­
invade Iraq, telling the United N a­ Sniper Judge
fenses for airing the explosive story
tions Tuesday that his decision Recuses Himself
crumbled. The network can ’t prove
"helped to deliver the Iraqi people The judge presiding over the sec- that the guard records it used in the
i
y^
on page A6
report are genuine.
CIA Says Zarqawi Is on Tape
The Central Intelligence Agency
has determined with a “high degree
o f confidence” that the voice on the
tape o f M onday’s beheading of
U.S. contractor Eugene Armstrong
in Iraq is that of Islamic militant Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi.
Sharon Faces Critics, Vows
Pullout
Defiant Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon faced down detractors in
his own party, insisting that he
would implement his embattled Gaza
pullout, as rebellious settlers filed
suit against a plan to give advance
payments to families who leave their
W est Bank and Gaza homes.