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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2022)
PO QR code Volume LII • Number 13 ‘City of Roses’ Summer of Sound Historic Journey Begins Celebrating the music and the musicians Ketanji Brown Jackson seated on Supreme Court See A&E, page 10 See story, page 6 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • July 06. 2022 Committed to Cultural Diversity Columbia River Tragedy Kevin McDowell Man feared drowned after hero rescue Clark County is asking voters in Vancouver and the surrounding area to increase the sales tax to pay for police body camer- as in an attempt to bring greater transparency to law enforcement actions. The proposal has drawn cautious support from the Vancouver NAACP. (AP archive photo) Cautious Support for Body Cams Clark County sends measure to voters By Beverly Corbell The Portland Observer Voters in Vancouver and Clark County will decide this summer if it backs a very small increase in the sales tax to provide police body and dashboard cameras for its sheriff’s deputies. The proposal, Prop- osition 11 has drawn cautious support from the Vancouver NAACP and will appear on the ballot Aug. 2 during Wash- ington’s Primary Election. Karen Bowerman, chair of the Clark County Council, led a recent discussion of the proposition where different mem- bers of the justice system outlined the effects of using the cameras. Primarily, the cameras would make the sheriff’s office more accountable to the public, Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins said. “It would allow us to be more trans- parent. Our community clearly wants that,” Atkins said. “We’ve been work- ing on this for a couple of years so it won’t be hard for us to implement.” If passed, the tax will increase county sales taxes by 0.1 percent, an increase of one penny for every $10 spent. Coun- ty finance director Mark Gassaway said the tax would yield about $12,000 per year in added revenue. Other areas of law enforcement could benefit from the funding over the long run, such as providing new revenue to im- prove jail conditions, add diversion pro- grams to lesson incarceration needs, or hire more sheriff’s deputies, officials said. Jasmine Tolbert, president of NAACP Vancouver, told the Portland Observer she believes that using police body and Continued on Page 12 On Sunday June 26, Kevin McDowell was boating in Portland on the Columbia River near Lemon Island when a woman was struggling to swim. In his heroic final act, McDowell, 35, jumped in to help her swim to safety while he tragically lost his life in the life-saving action. McDowell was well known in the com- munity and the owner of the Capitol Bar. Back in February, the establishment was in the news when it was struck by an SUV which forced the bar to temporarily close. Although this was a big loss to McDowell and his partner Dessiree Guy, they were determined to get the establishment back up and running and support staff members. McDowell's mother Rhonda Jackson shared a description of her son after the swimming tragedy with KPTV news, de- scribing him as “eloquent, loving, giving and patient.” He would often tell her, 'Mom it's everything, it's all love.'” A gofundme has been created by one of McDowell’s sisters, Trayanna Enriquez, to help with her brother’s funeral expens- es. You can visit gofundme.com/f/tq2w- pz-kevin-mcdowell to make a contribution. A body was recovered in the Columbia River, and on Tuesday, it was confirmed to be Kevin McDowell.
