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