Letters to the editor

[April 11th, 2007] BEYOND THE PALE

I was reading with amusement about the "Naked Fools Parade" in the "It List" section of the March 28 WW. When I got to the sentence about "pale, amoral frames," though, I stopped short. This may not seem like a big deal to you or many WW readers, but when I read it, I got a pit in my stomach wondering how people who don't have "pale" frames might feel about this event. Would my friends of color say to themselves, "Well, I guess I'm not welcome there," or "Is this for black/Hispanic/Asian people, too?" Probably not—they would know it was just a description by (most likely) a white person not intending to offend anyone who wasn't thinking at the time he/she wrote it and an oversight by a busy editor. However, it is oversights and slights like these that people of color have to put up with every day of their lives.

Most of the things said or written are not intended to be racist or to hurt, but they do lack an awareness and sensitivity of what it is like to live in a white person's world, when one is not white. If you have any disagreement that this is still a white person's world, call me, we'll talk.

Robyn Gregory

Southeast Madison Street

STRONG IS AS STRONG DOES

In January, Nigel Jaquiss wrote about Mayor Potter's failure to promote his own charter reform initiative during his State of the City speech before the City Club of Portland ["Weak in Review," WW, Jan. 24, 2007]. Jaquiss was right about that, to be sure, but Potter has not only failed to be an advocate for his proposal but has also fumbled a golden opportunity to lead by example and demonstrate the great efficiencies that he says his "strong mayor" proposal would provide.

When Potter, along with all the City Council members save Randy Leonard, voted to enact a public campaign financing system for city elections without a vote of the people, we were told that it was appropriate to have the program in place for a few election cycles so the voters could see how it worked. Then, after the bugs were worked out, the council promised to put it on the ballot. When it comes to completely changing our form of government, however, Potter wants an immediate vote in an off-year primary.

Under the current charter, Potter has the authority to put all city bureaus in his own portfolio. He could, in effect, implement this "super efficient" system on his own, appoint his own staffer to serve as the city's CEO, and show us these wonderful efficiencies before asking us to vote. It seems to me, considering his position on public financing, this would be the way for the mayor to lead by example.

Dave Lister

Northeast Wasco Street

Eds. note: Lister ran for City Council in 2006.