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Is Marc Abrams the Newt Gingrich of Oregon politics? Abrams, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Oregon, faces an electoral challenge this week, and some key Democrats are backing the insurgent candidate, former state Rep. Jim Edmunson, or staying neutral. Edmunson, a Eugene lawyer, says he already has enough votes lined up among the 123 delegates to prevail. His supporters include Democratic House Leader Kitty Piercy and Democratic National Committee member Mary Botkin. The fact that Gov. John Kitzhaber and Sen. Ron Wyden are staying neutral signifies their dissatisfaction with Abrams, says Edmunson. Though the DPO is not a powerful political machine and Abrams' post is unpaid, the battle is unusually heated. Dissident Democrats complain that Abrams and the party machinery could have done more to help the donkey party take control of the state Legislature in the 1998 election. Some, such as Jackson County activist Michael Graham, also criticize Abrams for an autocratic and arrogant style. But Botkin says the main problem is that Democrats outside of Portland feel snubbed by Abrams, a lawyer and member of the Portland School Board. "Jim comes in with a commitment to rebuild some of the allegiances between rural and urban Oregon," says Botkin, who works in Portland as a lobbyist for AFSCME, the public employees union. "That's what the party needs now. We've got to figure out a way to get people voting again." Baloney, says Abrams, who has held the state party's top post since 1997 and has guided the DPO though shaky financial times and a soft-money scandal ("Dirty Money," WW, April 2, 1997). "We're out of debt, we're more visible and we ran a great coordinated campaign in 1998," says Abrams. Abrams downplays his lack of support from Kitzhaber and Wyden, who both backed him in 1997. "By no means should that be interpreted as a loss of confidence," says Abrams, who notes that Edmunson is well-connected to Kitzhaber, who appointed him to the state workers' compensation board. While Abrams works the phones to fend off Edmunson's challenge, he faces another political fight: At least one person, Carolyn Sheldon, is seeking Abrams' seat on the Portland School Board in the March 9 election. So much for incumbency and respect for the party leader. "Welcome to
politics," says Abrams. "There are no entitlements." --Bob Young
By today's standards it doesn't sound like the crime of the century, but at the time, William Edward Payne made several front-page newspaper accounts. At 11 pm on July 3, 1963, according to the Oregon Journal, authorities topped off a five-month investigation with a "swift, coordinated raid on six establishments." A house on Southeast 113th Avenue, where Payne was arrested, was allegedly headquarters for a bookie ring that collected wagers of $6,000 a day on sports events. The Journal said that Payne, then 22, and another man grossed more than $1 million a year between them. Facing several counts of gambling offenses, Payne agreed to plead guilty to one charge--evading $3,264 in taxes--and avoid trial. This was much to the relief of the bookmakers' customers--which the Journal said included "prominent Oregon businessmen"--who avoided being named at trial. Payne was sentenced to three years probation and a $500 fine, according to John Russell, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice. Reached at his home in Federal Way, Wash., Payne declined to talk to WW. Russell says those who seek pardons must apply to the federal pardon
attorney. They must include statements from supporters to show that
"there is contrition on the part of defendant and he has led a good
life" since serving his sentence, Russell said. The pardon attorney
recommends which ones the president should accept. With the president's
signature, the finding of guilt is set aside. --Maureen O'Hagan
The disclosure comes just after public hearings in which critics of the sale said the Port isn't getting top dollar for the 94-acre property because it has negotiated with only one buyer, the yard's current operator, Cascade General Inc. Port commissioners voted unanimously in mid-December to sell the yard to Cascade for $38.8 million. At the time, Cascade's competitors questioned whether the Port is getting fair value for the shipyards' assets, particularly dry dock No. 4, the largest floating dry dock in the western hemisphere ("Port in a Storm," WW, Dec. 16, 1998). At two public meetings in December, Port General Counsel Cory Streisinger explained that the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche placed the value of the dry dock at $10 million to $14 million; at the second of those meetings, Streisinger said the port had rejected a valuation issued by Crandall Dry Dock Engineers of Boston, recognized as an industry expert. Streisinger didn't divulge Crandall's valuation, but WW has subsequently learned that Crandall assessed the replacement value of the dock at $37.1 million to $40 million--more than the port will receive for the entire 94 acres, including numerous cranes and other assets of the yard. Port spokesman Tom Decker says the Port chose Deloitte and Touche's number because its assessed value of the dock was based on income potential rather than replacement cost. Given the perilous state of the ship-repair industry, tossing out the higher assessment may be legitimate, but by not divulging the Crandall number up front, the Port only added to critics' claims that the sale to Cascade General was a subsidy. "It's a crying shame taxpayers are getting nailed like they are," says Tom Maples of the local ship-repair firm Mar Com. "What's going on is just not right."--Nigel Jaquiss
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