Page 14
11,1 ^.ìortlanò (Obstruer
lune 9, 2010
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Support Voter-Owned Elections
Put public
before special
interests
J anice T hompson
In a special interest p o w er
grab by lobbyists, big businesses
and d ow ntow n developers, the
Portland B usiness A lliance tried
to kill
by
V oter-O w ned E lections and
deny P ortland voters the right to
vote on this im portant cam paign
reform .
V oter-O w ned E lections is re­
ducing cam paign spending and
special interest influence. B e­
fore V oter-O w ned Elections, the
B usiness A lliance and its co rp o ­
rate m em bers m ade m ajor cam ­
paign contributions - m uch larger
than any regular Portland fam ily
could afford - to guarantee their
access to C ity Hall.
T he PB A has m ade their in­
terests abundantly clear. In 2005,
th e y o p p o s e d V o te r-O w n e d
E lections reform claim ing that it
should only be enacted w ith a
vote o f the people. T he C ity
C ouncil adopted the reform and
pledged a pop u lar vote in five
years. T hey honored that co m ­
m itm ent last m onth by referring
the reform program to a vote o f
the people in the upcom ing N o­
v em b er G eneral Election.
V oter-O w ned E lections gives
ev ery d ay P ortlanders a genuine
voice in choosing their leaders in
stark contrast to the past w hen
c a m p a ig n c o n trib u tio n s w ere
routinely $ 1,000 or even $ 10,000
or m ore. B ecause o f the reform
p r o g r a m , o v e r a ll c a m p a ig n
spending is low er w hile voters
benefit from increased d iscu s­
sion o f city issues due to m ore
candid ates.
Special interest influence is
reduced, even for n o n p articip at­
ing candidates, because their con­
tributions are now typically $500
or less.
agreed to cap their cam paign
spen d in g and lim it the size o f the
co n trib u tio n s th ey accept even if
th ey didn't participate in the re ­
form program .
W ith V o te r V o te r-O w n e d
E le c t i o n s , c a n d i d a t e s lik e
A m an d a Fritz can run and w in
Moving forward, Voter-Owned
Elections wilt mean that the candidates
with the best experience, values, and
ideas can actually run and win.
D ue to V oter-O w ned E lec­
tions, w e haven't seen a repeat
o f the reco rd spen d in g such as
th e$ 1 m illion dollar m ayoral race
in 2004. S ince the reform took
effect, m any o f the city's can d i­
dates and elected o fficials have
w ith g ra ssro o ts su p p o rt from
ev ery d ay P ortlanders. M oving
forw ard, V oter-O w ned E lections
w ill m ean that the can d id ates
w ith the best ex p erien ce, values,
and ideas can actu ally run and
w in. B efore the w ay to w in w as
to have access to d e ep -p o ck ­
eted donors, and can d id ates had
to spend m ore tim e courting large
co n trib u to rs than talking to a c ­
tual voters.
A s the o p p o site ex p erien ces
o f A m a n d a F r itz a n d J e s s e
C o rn e tt d e m o n s tra te , V o te r-
O w n ed E lectio n s d o esn't g u ar­
antee an y ou tco m e. It ju s t frees
can d id ates to m ake th eir case
d irectly to real p eo p le instead o f
sp en d in g all th eir tim e courting
pow erfu l inside interests.
D em o cracy is b etter served
w h en citizen s have a voice in
w h o can run and w h en can d i­
dates have the ab ility to spend
th eir tim e talk in g d irectly w ith
vo ters rath er than raising m oney
from big donors.
Janice Thompson is execu­
tive director o f Common Cause
Oregon.
Racial Bias in Police Shootings
Perceptions
follow officers
to work
against racially
A cco rd in g to a recent study,
ch arg ed p o lice 26 police officers o v er the past
violence against 30 y e a rs w e re m is ta k e n fo r
citizens. Racial crim inals and killed by th eir c o l­
b ia s -c o n s c io u s leagues; the officers killed w ere
and unconscious alm ost alw ays black o r L atino
b \ J udge G reg M athis
■—
seem s to and m ale.
For years, there have been play a role in police on police
Indeed, it is d ifficu lt for an
new s reports about and protests shootings.
officer, full o f adrenaline, to d is­
tinguish w ho the crim in als are at
I a crim e scene.
To be fair, m any o f the o ffic­
Fill Out & Send To: I
I ers killed w ere eith er o f f duty o r
I w o rk in g in plain clothes. T hey
I w ould happen upon a crim e and
Attn-. S u b s c rip tio n s , PO B ox 3 1 3 7 , P o rtla n d O R 9 7 2 0 8 I o ffer th eir assistance. T he o ffic­
s u b s c r i p t i o n s a re j u s t $ 6 0 p e r y e a r I ers called to the scene, unsure o f
f w ho w as a good guy and w ho
(please include check with this subscription form)
I w as a bad guy w ould go on to
N ame : _______________________________ _ I m istaken ly shoot one o f their
T elephone : ___________ _______________ I ow n. In 24 o f the 26 cases, the
I officer killed w as holding his
A ddress : _______________________
I w eap o n .
503-288-0033
O llU S C llD C J
|Jortbuth (Observer
I
I
j
H o w e v e r, th e stu d y , c o n ­
ducted by a task force form ed
by N ew Y ork G ov. D avid A.
P a tte r s o n , r e v e a le d th a t an
o ffic e r’s v iew on w h eth er o r not
a p articu lar p erso n p resen ts a
d a n g er - and his d ecisio n to
shoot - is based on personal
racial biases.
It’s not ju st w hite o fficers
w ho m ake their decisions to shoot
based on racially -b ased p ercep ­
tions o f w ho is dangerous; cops
o f all eth n icities do. U n fo rtu ­
nately, B lack and L atino m en
fall into that dangerous category.
T he task force m ade a series
o f reco m m en d atio n s for local
and federal gov ern m en ts, h o p ­
ing to reduce o r even elim in ate
racial bias in officers to avoid
these p o lice on police shootings.
A m o n g them is a proposal to test
o fficers for u n co n scio u s racial
bias, so m eth in g the N Y P D b e­
gun d o in g recently.
H opefully, police departm ents
across the country wi 11 fol low New
York ’ s lead and begin testing their
officers for racial bias. The idea
behind this testing is not to get
officers fired. Rather, w e w ant to
surface any biases they m ay have
and w ork to address them.
W h eth er an o fficer ack n o w l­
ed g es o r b eliev es they view m i­
norities in a d ifferen t - and d an ­
gerous - light o r not, the reality is
that these perceptions follow that
o fficer to w ork each day.
W e d o n ’t w an t race to p lay a
role in the o ffic e r’s d ecision to
open fire on the p erceiv ed p er­
petrator. By b rin g in g these b i­
ases to light, w e could potentially
s a v e liv e s a n d r e s t o r e th e
c o m m u n ity ’s faith in the police
d ep artm en t.
Greg Mathis is a retired
Michigan District Court Judge
and syn d ica ted television
judge.
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