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ELECTION
CHECKLIST
CITY
Mayor: Vera Katz
City Council #1:
Jim Francesconi
City Council #4:
Charlie Hales
METRO
District 3:
Carl Hosticka
District 5:
Rex Burkholder
COUNTY
Commission
District 3: Lisa Naito
Commission
District 4:
Frank Shields
STATE
Supreme Court:
Paul DeMuniz
Treasurer, Democrat:
Gary Bruebaker
Secretary of State, Republican:
Lynn Lundquist
Senate, District 8, Democrat:
Margaret Carter
House, District 6, Republican:
John Scruggs
House, District 6, Democrat:
Charlie Ringo
House, District 8, Republican:
Pavel Goberman
House, District 10, Democrat:
Mike Smith
House, District 11, Democrat:
Mary Nolan
House, District 11, Republican:
Ward Barbee
House, District 12, Republican:
Jeanne Schoel
House, District 17, Democrat:
Gary Hansen
House, District 22, Republican:
Rich Scariano
House, District 24, Republican:
Marilyn Schultz
House, District 25, Democrat:
Carolyn Tomei
MEASURES
Measure 77,
Property tax fix: Yes
Measure 78,
Signature
verification: Yes
Measure 79, More signatures to put an amendment on the
ballot: No
Measure 80, Gas tax for cops: Yes
Measure 81, Allows caps on civil judgments: No
Measure 82, Gas tax for road projects: No
Measure 26-1, Portland Community College bond: Yes
Measure 26-2, Portland Public Schools levy: Yes
CONGRESS
1st District, Republican:
Alice Schlenker
3rd District, Democrat:
Earl Blumenauer
This is the last week to go postal. Ballots for the 2000
primary
election are due May 16. And don't forget, two local school
measures require a 50 percent turnout to pass, so even if
you can't tell the two Lynns apart in the secretary of state
race, we urge you to vote on something. We weighed in with
our endorsements on April 26 (they're available on our Web
site at www.wweek.com). Now it's up to you to adopt or ignore
them. If you've forgotten what they were, here's a cheat
sheet.Hey, here's a legal way to vote twice! You can cast
your vote on Measure 81 by visiting the news page of WW's
Web site (www.wweek.com) as part of a statewide Internet
poll. The poll allows you to see how the measure is doing
among WW readers as well as among readers of other
Oregon newspapers. As of early this week, the 'No' side
was whuppin' the 'Yes' side by an 8-to-1 margin.
Diploma
Diplomacy
Last month, Police Chief Mark Kroeker called for loosening
one of the city's stiffest requirements for new cops--a
four-year college degree. Now he says he may drop it entirely.
The four-year degree requirement, in place since 1996,
has fed a serious manpower shortage: The bureau currently
has 64 vacancies. "We need bodies on the street," says spokesman
Sgt. Mike Hefley.
Last month, for example, the bureau tested 115 applicants,
but based on past success rates, once they go through a
background investigation, interview, psychological evaluation
and medical assessment, their ranks will probably thin to
about 7, according to recruiter Jennifer Lawrence.
In April, Kroeker suggested hiring applicants with just
two years of college--so long as they agreed to complete
their four-year diploma within a few years. But last week
Kroeker told WW he's reconsidering.
Kroeker is backing off his initial proposal because it
seems likely that the city would be legally required to
foot the bill for its rookies' college courses.
Instead, he may relax the requirement to a two-year associate
of arts degree for all officers. Another possibility is
to maintain the four-year-degree standard for sergeants
and other higher-ranking officers. In the meantime, he is
waiting for a legal opinion from Anna Kanwit of the city
attorney's office.
"We can address this in a variety of ways," said Kroeker,
"and I am reminded that a degree on a wall doesn't mean
a person is educated."
--Nick Budnick
Drugs
Bugs and Nudity
For as long as anyone can remember, Reed College has celebrated
the end of each school year with a campus-wide blow-out
known as Renn Fayre, a three-day "Renaissance" festival
of music, beer, drugs and nudity. Last week, however, the
bacchanalia climaxed at an event that was presumably unknown
in Elizabethan times: Eat Bugs for Money.
On Saturday evening, a crowd of 500 Reedies in various
degrees of intoxication gathered in front of the student
union. Jumping up on stage, a dozen student organizers described
the day's specials--which included ants, cockroaches and
tobacco hookworms--and exhorted hungry volunteers to step
forward.
But persuading people to eat bugs is the easy part. The
trick is to get them to do something really outrageous.
One man downed 200 ants; another ate crickets poured down
a tube into his throat. Then things got ugly: A student
strapped on a dildo, from which volunteers sucked four-inch
worms in faux-fellatio fashion. Organizers taunted the crowd
until a partygoer agreed to suck worms off a young man's
ass. One young woman swallowed several three-inch cockroaches,
washed them down with a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor,
and proceeded to perform a striptease while slurping worms.
The show's finale featured her swapping spit--and bugs--with
a naked male student.
We just hope there were no big-bucks barcodes (see this
week's Q&A) on those roaches.
--Joy Lanzendorfer
Pumped
Up
Arco may have overcharged gasoline buyers tens of millions
of dollars, if Tammy Dobson's hunch is correct.
Last week, Dobson, a Beaverton mother of three, used her
debit card to buy $20 worth of gas at an Arco station on
the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. Glancing at the receipt,
she noticed the total charge was $20.25--a quarter extra.
Having previously sold machines that validate credit and
debit cards, Dobson knows a little bit about the business.
She wondered if Arco's surcharge was kosher, especially
since until that day she'd never seen a notice that the
station charged customers extra for using debit cards.
According to the Oregon attorney general's office, Dobson
is right--Arco isn't supposed to charge debit-card users
any more than customers who pay cash. "They can't do it,"
says consumer-affairs specialist Jan Margosian. "It's a
violation of the Unlawful Trade Practices Act."
A quarter isn't much, but Arco operates 1,400 gas stations
in seven western states (including 46 in the Portland area),
each of which sells about 230,000 gallons of gas a month.
If each station rings up 100 debit-card sales a day, the
measly 25-cent charge adds up to nearly $13 million a year--hardly
chump change.
Arco spokesman Paul Langland says the company, which does
not accept credit cards, has imposed a 25-cent surcharge
on debit cards for 15 years--a practice company officials
believe to be perfectly legal. Langland adds that station
operators are instructed to display stickers disclosing
the practice.
That's news to Margosian, who says the AG's office will
begin reviewing Arco's practices shortly.
For her part, Dobson hopes that debit-card charges won't
follow the trajectory of ATM fees.
"I don't want to pay a fee every time I use my debit card,"
Dobson says. "If Arco does it, then Safeway and Fred Meyer
and others will do it too."
--Nigel Jaquiss
Sweat
Spin
The news coming out of Nike wasn't quite what it seemed
last week.
Both The Oregonian and the Associated Press
reported last week that UO president Dave Frohnmayer might
back off his decision to join the Worker Rights Consortium--the
implication being that Frohnmayer was rolling over to appease
sneaker mogul Phil Knight.
Not exactly.
From the beginning, Frohnmayer made it clear that UO would
pull out of the WRC after one year if the organization refused
to allow corporate membership--a fact that got lost after
Knight's emotionally charged statement of April 24, when
he yanked his expected $30 million gift to the university.
True, the UO public-relations machine went into overdrive
last week to point out the WRC agreement's tentative nature,
but that's not the same as backing out. Last Friday Frohnmayer
issued a press release reiterating his commitment to stick
with the WRC for at least a year, while Knight has maintained
a guarded silence.
In contrast, it appears that the nasty breakup between
the University of Michigan and Nike may be on the mend.
Things got ugly two weeks ago, when UM added human-rights
criteria to the contract negotiations over Nike's sports
and licensing agreement. Nike pulled out of the $7 million
deal, which would keep the swoosh on all Wolverine (Go Blue!)
apparel. In response, the university issued a scathing press
release: "Nike has chosen again to strike out at universities
committed to finding appropriate ways to safeguard and respect
human rights."
According to Nike, however, the lines of communication
are still open and the Michigan deal could go through. "People
shouldn't assume that because we came to an impasse, negotiations
can't continue," says Nike spokesman Scott Reames.
--Patty Wentz
BOGUS
BOGEY
In other Nike news, Tiger Woods may not deserve the mantle
of labor hero recently thrust upon him.
The national Screen Actors Guild is striking over the disparity
between wages paid for broadcast and cable commercials.
Celebrities like Woods who appear in commercials are required
to join the SAG. Woods honored the SAG strike and stayed
off the set for a Wieden & Kennedy-produced commercial
for the U.S. Open last week--which the union touted as a
victory.
Problem is, Woods did it in cahoots with the Man to avoid
creating a controversy. His agent, Mark Steinberg, says,
"This was absolutely, unequivocably a joint decision with
Nike. This was misportrayed."
No word on how long he'll stay off the set, but it will
probably be Nike, not SAG, who makes that call. Meanwhile
local representatives of SAG say they'll continue picketing
Wieden & Kennedy and other contractors until the contract
is settled.
--Patty Wentz
Meet
the new boss...
same as the old boss?
When Maggi White was eased out last month as publisher
and editrix of the meretricious ad-rag Our Town
(known to the cognoscenti as Our Clown), many Portlanders
shed a bitter tear--no longer would we indulge in the guilty
pleasure of chortling over Maggi's weekly column, the insufferably
trite From Where I Sit (a.k.a. From Where Is It).
Hope springs eternal, however. Maggi may have left behind
small shoes to fill, but her successor and former protégée
Lynn Elsey appears well-suited to the task. Case
in point: Elsey's May 8 column on the May Day clash between
police and protesters. In an effort to assess the costs
of the protest (without providing any actual figures, of
course), Elsey mentions stress counseling for police
horses and exhaust fumes from all the vehicles snarled
in traffic jams. "In a surreal way," she concludes, "it
was almost like watching a preview of the Rose Festival."
Yowza! Perhaps Our Town will continue to brighten
our Mondays after all.
Sleep
On It
For the last 11 months, Portland's homeless women have
had the option of sleeping on the streets or bedding down
on floor mats at the Salvation Army's Harbor Light shelter
in Old Town. One way or another, that choice is about to
change.
An anonymous citizen has offered to buy 30 beds for the
women's shelter, but only if the city continues funding
for the program, which runs out June 30. With the city facing
a budget crunch and with less than stellar results from
the Salvation Army, that's a big if.
The City Council funded the shelter's emergency floor mats
last year in response to public outcry over the murders
of three homeless women in Forest Park. It wasn't an overnight
success. Women complained about the hours (8 pm to 6 am),
lack of showers or breakfast, and the floor mats. The program's
$149,000 price tag also drew fire from other providers,
who said it was excessive considering the minimal services
provided (see "Homeless for the Holidays," WW, Dec.
28, 1999). Since then the situation has improved
somewhat--showers are available, opening and closing times
have been extended by a half-hour, and more women are using
the shelter.
If the council decides to axe the program, Portland's homeless
women will be in the same predicament as last year: try
to get into the four emergency beds at the Jean's Place
transitional shelter--which may also be lost to budget cuts--or
sleep on the streets.
The Council is expected to vote on funding for homeless
services before the June 30 deadline. Whether they give
the Salvation Army's shelter (and the offer of new beds)
the go-ahead for another year will depend on a recommendation
from the city's Bureau of Housing and Community Development.
Officials remain tight-lipped about which way the bureau
is leaning, but City Hall insiders say Mayor Vera Katz will
likely cough up the cash to keep women off the streets year-round.
--Rachel Graham
Murmurs
STILL
100 PERCENT ELIAN-FREE!
Blazermania I: An innocent outing took a turn for
the surreal for Gov. John Kitzhaber and his wife,
Sharon, at the Trail Blazers game against Utah on Sunday.
To start with, malcontents in the audience booed when the
first couple were shown on the big screen in the Rose
Garden. Then (don't ask us why) a dancer from Cirque
du Soleil snuck up behind the governor and locked him in
a scissors hold with her legs. No wonder he doesn't
go out much.
Blazermania II: During a KEX post-game interview, Blazer
guard Greg Anthony sent countless male listeners into cardiac
arrest when he wished the crowd Happy Mother's Day--a
week early.
Portland cops will get another overtime opportunity Friday:
Presidential candidate Al Gore will be in town while
the Cascadia Forest Alliance holds a rally in Pioneer
Courthouse Square. The two events are unrelated--in fact,
so far Gore has tiptoed around the environmental issues
that matter to Oregonians: old-growth logging and dam breaching.
Undeterred, tree-huggers are planning a massive lunchtime
party with appearances by both Pink Martini and City
Commish Erik Sten, followed by a march to Forest
Service headquarters to demand an end to the Eagle timber
sales in the Mount Hood National Forest.
Dept. of Fortunate Timing: In the aftermath of the Mayday
melee, the Portland chapter of the NAACP has seized
the moment and asked Mayor Vera Katz to join its effort
to strengthen citizen oversight of police conduct.
Katz says she'll take them seriously--although she would
prefer to pull them into supporting her own version
of police accountability, which will soon be under way.
Two weeks ago, the minority activists of the Education
Crisis Team warned the Portland Public School District that
they'd turn up the heat if the district didn't take drastic
action to improve underperforming schools by May
12. Obviously the activists are not optimistic: The first
protest is scheduled for May 11 at 7:45 am, when picketers
will line up outside Beach Elementary in North Portland.
After almost a decade at Just Out, veteran reporter
and editor Inga Sorensen is heading to Manhattan
to take up position as news editor for the New York Blade
News, a gay and lesbian newspaper spawned by The
Washington Blade. During her tenure at Just Out,
Sorensen, 35, covered some of the most contentious issues
in Oregon politics, including the OCA's infamous Ballot
Measure 9.
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