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Greg Pluchos, president of the powerful Portland police officers union, warned several months ago that contract talks with the city could be difficult. Looking at the union's initial proposal, you can see why: Willamette Week has learned that the 950-member union is asking for wage increases of more than 40 percent over three years. City negotiator David Shaff says he's never seen such a bold request in his 20 years with the city: "The firefighters used to have the record within recent memory. They once put what amounted to 29 percent on the table." Pluchos counters with an emotional trump card--four officers have been shot in the last year, including Colleen Waibel, who was killed on the job in January 1998. "Officers are being shot, stabbed, hurt in car accidents," he says. "It's part of police work in Portland." Pluchos doesn't think he's exploiting his fallen comrades for a pay increase. "Hell no. I don't have to use anyone," he says. "The facts speak for themselves. Officers are out there risking their lives each and every day." The union president also argues that officers haven't received a raise beyond inflation in the last 12 years. On top of that, he says, the city has given Portland schools $25 million in aid over the last five years. "The schools have their own taxing authority," Pluchos says. "It seems the city is more interested in giving away money to other entities than compensating officers with a fair wage." Pluchos concedes that there's no chance the city will buy the union's opening proposal, just as there's no chance the union will buy the city's opening offer of raises equal to annual inflation rates. "It's like two knights going to joust," he says. "They start at different ends of the field, not next to each other. Are we prepared to move? Sure. How much I don't know." According to Shaff, the starting wage for Portland officers is $31,300. After one year, the wage jumps to $40,600. After five years, base pay is $51,300. The average compensation, including overtime, for the union members is $54,000 a year. For now, the two sides are negotiating in private. A 1995 state law allows for public bargaining if one side requests it. So far, neither the city nor the union has elected to make the bargaining open to the public, something the Portland School Board chose to do in its recent negotiations with teachers. Pluchos says public contract talks "might squelch creativity." The
City Council is slated to discuss the subject March 16. By then, it
will have probably started negotiations with the 650-member firefighters
union. --Bob Young
Don't Meet The
Press That strategy, used by The Oregonian last week in a school-board election endorsement, is drawing fire from one of the candidates. In its Feb. 17 edition, The Oregonian endorsed three-term incumbent Karen McKinney for the Portland Community College board of directors. It did so without interviewing either of her opponents, Pam Maher and Ed Dennis. "I'm disappointed," says Dennis, the 30-year-old head of the Oregon Student Association. "I've got a lot to say." Associate editor Wayne Thompson, who wrote the endorsement, says he made some calls about the race and concluded that the current PCC board is doing a solid job. There are two seats up for grabs this election. In both contests Thompson decided to endorse the incumbents, McKinney and Harold Williams. In his mind, there was no reason to interview any of the challengers, including Dennis. "To have him come in would have been a waste of time," Thompson says. Over the past few years many candidates interviewed by WW have complained of being snubbed by the the Big O. But they usually tend to be minor-party candidates or others considered to have no chance of winning. That's not the case with Dennis, who was endorsed by WW. He has an impressive list of backers, including Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber, former Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield, the PCC Faculty Federation and a number of student leaders. Editorial page editor Robert Caldwell, who talked to Dennis last week, won't second-guess Thompson's actions (at least not publicly), but neither does he offer a ringing defense. "What I said to Ed is that our standard is to report these things out," Caldwell says. "Usually that involves talking to candidates." Caldwell says the flap will lead to some internal discussions about
the paper's endorsement policy. In the meantime, he has encouraged Dennis
to write a letter to the editor. "We'll try to get his views into the
paper," he says. --Nigel Jaquiss
Last summer, PSU announced plans to cover the campus' biggest open space with artificial turf ("The Grass Is Always Greener," WW, June 10, 1998). In an effort to placate critics of the plan, Brian Chase, head of facilities at PSU, installed an Internet "Webcam" on the roof of the Stott Center in August of last year. With mouse and keyboard, visitors to PSU's Web site could take turns actually manipulating the camera (including its telephoto lens) to watch the recreation field's construction. "It was a PR thing," Chase says. "We set it up so people could see our progress." Dan Anderson, a 23-year-old graduate student who lives in Maryanne residence hall at 1824 SW 11th Ave., says that at least four women in his building received threatening phone calls. He says the caller or callers claimed to be able to see the women's every move via the camera. Following the calls, three women complained to campus housing authorities
over Presidents' Day weekend. Last week, those complaints reached the
desk of PSU president Daniel Bernstine and the newsroom of KGW-TV. On
Tuesday, Feb. 16, KGW ran a story on the cam complaints. The next day,
on the orders of Bernstine, the camera was taken down. --Nigel
Jaquiss WHY, THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW...HOUSE BILL 4006 * RELATING TO SMOGMOBILES BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OREGON: SECTION 1: Whereas Oregonians deserve cleaner air: (a) A toll-free number shall be established to report vehicles that are emitting obscene amounts of smog-causing pollutants into the atmosphere. (b) Criteria for reporting such vehicles shall include (but not be limited to) the vehicle in question being invisible behind a cloud of smoke or a lingering haze where the vehicle was several minutes previously. SECTION 2: The consequence of being reported shall be: (a) A notice from the DEQ warning the offending vehicle owner
to get a proper tuneup. A second reporting within 60 days shall
force the offending vehicle owner to pay a penalty ($50-$100) and
immediately bring the vehicle to a DEQ station to be repaired to conform
with existing emissions standards.
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