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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM O CTOBER 24, 2012 P ORTLAND , O REGON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 3 25 CENTS Candidate Endorsements page 4 C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW DOJ Police Policy TEAM TRYOUTS Advocates scrutinize new plan for callouts on mental crises P ortland Police Chief Mike Reese has unveiled draft policy changes on police use of force. The policies are posted on the bureau’s website along with a space for comments. But advocates say they fall far short of resolving problems identified last month in a federal Depart- ment of Justice report. The DOJ report on Portland Police Bureau found a pattern and practice of excessive force against people with mental illness. That report also raised concerns about the tense relationship between police and Portland’s communities of color. Jo Ann Hardesty, of the Albina Ministeri- al Alliance, says policy changes should not be decided before the City of Portland and the Department of Justice sign a Letter of Agreement. The Letter of Agreement was scheduled for completion on Oct. 12, but has been delayed because the city and fed- eral attorneys have not yet reached an agree- ment on policy changes. In Hardesty’s view, Reese’s move is sim- ply an attempt to avoid making fundamental changes by tweaking the policies. “He’s putting the cart before the horse,” she said. “The Department of Justice report made a lot of recommendations. It’s not just one part of the police bureau that is broken; it’s broken throughout. So I think it’s a hor- rible decision to put out these policy changes with no community involvement.” Hardesty said that a key recommendation in the report was that the community should be closely involved with making change in the police bureau. And she said she has writ- ten to Portland City Commissioners urging them to prevent policy changes from being made before the DOJ spells out what needs to be done to remedy the problems. “I hope city council won’t allow this to happen before the community has seen the letter of Agreement and understands what See POLICE on page 3 INDEX News ................2,3,5,6 Opinion .....................4 A & E ......................5,8 Food..........................6 Bids/Classifieds ..........7 PHOTO COURTESY THE FIGHTING FILLIES By Helen Silvis Of The Skanner News The Portland Fighting Fillies, a premier, full-contact women’s football team, is holding new player tryouts on Sunday, Nov. 4, from 5 -7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 1, 9 —11 a.m. at Milwaukie High School’s Game Field, 11300 SE 23rd, in Milwaukie. The Fillies come from all walks of life — mothers, teachers, attorneys, firefighters, and students – and they endeavor to be role models for young athletes, showing them they can excel at whatever they put their minds to (even football). Through community outreach camps, game day promotions and working with charitable organizations, they reach a wide range of young athletes. The Fighting Fillies are entering their fourth year in the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA), in the recently re-aligned Northwest Division which now includes their cross-town rival the Portland Shockwave, the Seattle Majestics, the Everett Reign and the Tacoma Trauma. For more information, or questions regarding tryouts, email fightingfilliesinfo@gmail.com or call 503-974-4719. Visit the Fillies at www.fightingfillies.com or on Facebook www.facebook.com/fightingfillies. NE Residents Set to Lose Homes City Council forces improvement district on dirt-poor neighborhood T he plight of the Snoozy’s Hollow neighborhood in Northeast Portland came to a head Wednesday as the Portland City Council unani- mously approved a plan adding $16,000 liens on residents’ homes – with the promise of $3,000-$10,000 more debt later — to build them into the city’s grid for individual water serv- ice, sewer services and roads with storm drains. The problem with that, home- owners say, is that with so many houses valued between $40,000 and $45,000, the city’s Limited Improvement District (LID) agreement forces liens onto the properties that will erase their equity and make them impossi- ble to sell for those property owners who can’t afford the payments. Resident Kay Williford appeared to wipe away tears Wednesday morning as she tried to explain to Commissioners that she expected to lose her home under the agreement – and she says other residents already have. Williford was brought to the meeting in her wheelchair and with her arm in a sling. “I tried to speak to you before this happened but it didn’t help,” she told Commissioners. “A vote was not ever allowed or permitted,” she said of the LID. “Old homeowners, new homeowners all come to find all these liens and fees — one third the neighborhood is empty right now. “Most people are up and leav- ing, seeing that the banks don’t want the houses. “People are just renting them out until the banks take them,” Williford said. The Council technically had to approve “assessments” regarding two different agree- ments: One for water hookup and one for sewer connections. In fact, documents obtained by The Skanner News show that the City entered into the LID with the Deltawood association with only 31 percent participa- tion by the residents – and that the association’s president See HOMES on page 3 Congo Week Education Event in Portland Attorney Carrie Crawford aims to raise awareness of war zone Attorney Carrie Crawford was in Portland Oct. 22, as part of Congo Week, which aims to raise awareness about mass killings and rape of civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “We believe the situation in the Congo is just as important as the movement to free South Africa was, so many years ago,” Crawford says. The conflict, which has killed an estimat- ed 6 million people, is part of a struggle by nations and corporations, to control the country’s abundant mineral wealth, Craw- ford says. Militias and rebel groups, spon- sored by neighboring countries that include Rwanda and Uganda, have waged a cam- paign of destruction, killing and rape in order to drive people from their homelands and seize their lands. The DRC produces more than $1 billion of gold alone each year. That’s in addition to diamonds, copper, uranium, cobalt, tungsten and other rare metals. Congolese minerals are essential to industries in the developed world. They’re used in our cars and our planes, our computers and our smart phones. Without Congolese diamonds and gold, our jewelry industry would be much See CONGO on page 3
