Opinion
DOJ Appeal Won’t Hurt Reforms
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
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The Skanner Newspaper, established
T
he Portland City Council
voted 4-0 in October to
appeal a slim slice of a
judge’s ruling regarding the U.S.
Department of Justice and the
Portland Police Bureau.
Since then, I’ve heard members
of the community ask: Why? And
what impact will this have on the
settlement between the DOJ and
the City?
Zero. There will be no impact on
the reforms we have wholeheart-
edly embraced.
The Portland City Council and
the attorneys who represent us
seek clarity regarding the hear-
ings, and the judge’s role. Nothing
more.
As a public servant, I wholly
embrace the letter and spirit of the
DOJ settlement. I recently
appointed Assistant Chief Larry
O’Dea to become the new chief of
police, and much of my decision
was based on Larry’s unwavering
commitment to these reforms.
The city began implementing
changes long before the judge’s
much-delayed ruling. In areas of
promoting, training and disciplin-
ing officers, the changes are under
way.
We’ve changed our policies on
use of force and use of Tasers. We
have increased the Behavioral
Health Unit. We’ve adopted wide-
ranging policies on de-escalation
that already are having a positive
effect. Every week, I read reports
P ORTLAND
M AYOR
Charlie
Hales
of police using the power of their
words to bring a peaceful end to
crises.
This week, we will enter into
contract negotiations for a Com-
pliance Officer and Community
Liaison. The team we selected
includes nationally acknowledged
a judge tells us we must, but
because they are the right things to
do.
We are committed to reporting
our progress to the community, to
the Department of Justice, and to
the Court. We appealed none of
that.
What we appealed was ambigui-
ty in the judge’s role. We had
asked for clarity on how we report,
and when we report.
The judge’s ruling was ambigu-
ously worded. The community
needs clarity and accountability in
police reform. Portlanders deserve
no less. Our police officers
deserve no less.
So we are asking an appellate
What we appealed was ambiguity in
the judge’s role. We had asked for
clarity on how we report, and when
we report
experts in the fields of police inter-
actions with the community, and
with people in mental health
crises. Joining the team is former
Oregon Supreme Court Chief Jus-
tice Paul De Muniz.
In December, we will begin
seeking members for a Communi-
ty Oversight Advisory Board. This
is another body designed to make
sure the residents are heard.
We do these things, not because
court to help us find the clarity we
need.
What we heard from groups like
the Albina Ministerial Alliance for
Justice and Police Reform is this:
We do not trust the city.
Fair enough.
But moving forward, here’s
what I say to the alliance: We trust
you.
You’ll be there, every step of the
way, along with allies such as the
American Civil Liberties Union
and the League of Women Voters.
You’ll be watching us.
You’ll have my ear. And you’ll
have the ears of every member of
the council. You’ll have access to
the Compliance Officer and Com-
munity Liaison. You’ll have
access to the Community Over-
sight Advisory Board. Nothing
will change, in regards to the Inde-
pendent Police Review within the
City Auditor’s Office. You’ll be
able to report your findings to the
United States Department of Jus-
tice. And you’ll be able to speak
before the judge.
We hope to get clarity on the
judge’s role and his hearings. But
whether we get that clarity or not,
none of those oversight mecha-
nisms will be affected.
Your city’s elected leaders are
committed to police reform and to
the DOJ settlement. That hasn’t
wavered, and it won’t.
Police reform is one of the rea-
sons I ran for mayor. I expect to be
held accountable for making it
real. And I would humbly submit
that a mayor who wakes up every
day thinking about the Police
Bureau is most likely to succeed at
leading it.
Charlie Hales is Mayor of Port-
land and serves as Police
Commissioner.
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
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Democrats: Losses Show Party Out of Sync
I
f there was one lesson to be
learned on Election Day it was
this: Until President Obama is
gone and the Democratic Party
leadership changes, Democrats
will continue to lose.
Under Nancy Pelosi’s leadership
over the past four years House
Democrats have lost 74 seats. In
2010 alone, Democrats lost 63
seats. This week they dropped
another 12. For the 2014 campaign
it was as if leaders of the party
never talked to one another on
strategy. Obviously, there was
none.
President Obama was out brag-
ging about his record week after
week while Democrats were cam-
paigning against it.
In a speech on September 28,
President Obama said, “There’s
almost no economic measure by
which we are not better off than
when I took office. Unemploy-
ment down. Deficits down.
Uninsured down. Poverty down.
Energy production up. Manufac-
turing back.” That’s what the
president was saying this cam-
paign season.
“Make no mistake: These poli-
cies are on the ballot. Every single
one of them,” Obama said at
Northwestern University on Octo-
ber 10. Those words were then
immediately used by Republicans
to beat Democrats all over the
country.
It’s one thing to say that Democ-
rats should have run on the things
they’ve gotten done. It’s another to
pretend you don’t see that the
overriding message of the 2014
campaign is an anti-Obama
NNPA
C OLUMNIST
Lauren
Victoria
Burke
one. That’s what President Obama
did. He pretended not to notice
this entire campaign was a refer-
endum on him. When you
consider that race mixed with
American people right now, the
resounding message not just of
this election, but basically the last
several is: Get stuff done,” the
president said at a news confer-
ence after election day.
No, that wasn’t the message.
The message was a complete
and full repudiation of President
Obama. No one voting for candi-
dates like Tom Cotton, Thom
Tillis, Joni Ernst, Dan Sullivan or
Mitch McConnell was voting to
“get stuff done.” That cast of can-
didates has committed to nothing
Voters were casting a vote against the
president. Yet, he still doesn’t get it
“stopping Obama” was a driver
for some of what happened on
election day that conclusion
should have been easy to come to.
President Obama should have
known that saying,”These policies
are on the ballot” would not help
Democrats at the polls and was
bad strategy for this election cycle.
On Oct. 20, the president said so
many of the Democrats avoiding
him on the campaign trail were
“strong allies and supporters who
“supported my agenda in Con-
gress.” Of course, that’s true and
of course that message ran counter
to what 95 percent of the Democ-
rats running were saying. Within
all this you see a complete strate-
gic disconnect between the
president and his party.
“What’s most important to the
Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner November 12, 2014
after they take office. Voters were
casting a vote against the presi-
dent. Yet, he still doesn’t get it.
This week, President Obama and
House Democratic Leader Nancy
Pelosi have chosen to pretend that
the election never happened.
Pelosi is already calling members
of the House asking for support to
again lead the Democratic Caucus
– an idea that should be laughable.
After the president ignored the
Democratic National Committee
and instead created Obama for
America and erased Howard
Dean’s 50-state strategy, there is
no strategic party apparatus.
Obama, as leader of the Demo-
cratic Party, has been non-existent
in building party infrastructure.
That will be a big part of the
Obama legacy as he leaves office.
That is, that the Democratic Party
as a whole is much weaker now
than it was in 2008.
Why? Because Barack Obama is
the RGIII of American politics:
It’s all about him. And no team can
win a team sport when it’s all
about one player all the time.
Additionally, no team can score
and win on defense. The Democ-
rats have been on defense since
2010 after the Affordable Care Act
was signed in to law, even after 11
million Americans have signed up.
The Democratic Party keeps
bragging that Georgia is the next
state that will turn purple. That
talk will end, at least for now. Just
as in Texas, where the Democratic
Party invested nothing to build its
power in 2008, Georgia is now an
example of how Democrats have
failed. Even after the party spent
$60 million to register and get out
voters this year in states like Geor-
gia, North Carolina and Arkansas,
Democrats still lost.
In Georgia, there were five
African Americans running
statewide and a race for governor
and Senate. But the state did not
come close to turning blue. Geor-
gia is just one example of how
Democrats need to get their policy
message in line with their cam-
paign strategy. That Michelle
Nunn only received 25 percent of
White votes should be impossible.
But until the party’s leadership
changes and is replaced with lead-
ers focused on investing in state
and local strategies, the same los-
ing trends will continue.