NEW DIGS FOR THE WATCHDOG

There may be no hotter a potato at City Hall these days than police oversight, and Mayor Vera Katz is about to dump the sizzling spud on the lap of Gary Blackmer, the city's elected auditor.

For years, the Police Internal Investigations Auditing Committee has been the stepchild of the council, bouncing between commissioners until landing in the mayor's office in 1994.

The latest change is motivated, in part, by a citizens' task force named by Katz, which has called for changing PIIAC to an independent agency with civilian investigators to probe police misconduct. Katz, while publicly open to the recommendation, is likely to oppose it.

Handing the job to Blackmer takes away critics' most potent argument: that PIIAC has atrophied under Katz, who oversees the police bureau that PIIAC is supposed to monitor. Blackmer, one of the most well-regarded elected officials in Multnomah County, has the credibility needed to make PIIAC a more effective watchdog.

The official word from the mayor's office is that the handoff of Portland's cop watchdog is merely "under consideration." But behind the scenes it's a done deal, says PIIAC staffer Mike Hess. "They've all told me I'm moving," Hess says. "It's gonna happen, it's just a matter of when." The decision comes in advance of a Jan. 11 work session at which the council takes up the question of reforming PIIAC, long perceived as decrepit and toothless. Even without a vote, the city's commissioners are supportive of the change. "It's a preamble, if you will, to a broader resolution," says Ron Paul, chief of staff to Charlie Hales.

But would-be reformers are upset that officials have begun revamping PIIAC without a public discussion. "I can't believe the mayor is making decisions without having talked about the entire structure of PIIAC," says Dan Handelman of Copwatch. "I think we have to look at this as part of a package deal."

Paul, however, said this does not end the debate about PIIAC, it merely begins it. Blackmer agreed, calling it "only one step out of a series of steps that we're going to take."
--Nick Budnick

SPRAYED in OREGON

Wherever Bill Naito is now, we've got a hunch he ain't smiling. Late last month, his brother and nephew decided to paint over a five-story-high painting of a butterfly that adorned the Naito-owned Fleischner Building at the corner of Northwest 1st Avenue and Couch Street.

Naito, who saw the value of Old Town when most people considered it Skid Row, commissioned local graphic artist Joe Erceg's design of the giant insect in 1976.

But Bill's brother Sam and his son Verne (who remain at odds with Bill's family) covered the butterfly with a new sign advertising Made In Oregon, a Naito company.

The painting was one of the first large pieces of public art downtown. Done in a "half-tone" technique, it appeared as a series of dots at close range but revealed itself as a shimmering, brightly hued butterfly when seen from a distance.

"Bill Naito was a visionary," says Erceg, who was saddened to see his creation obliterated. "I just don't know why they would paint over it."

Officials at H. Naito Corp. did not return WW's phone calls.

Erceg says that Bill Naito had the painting touched up a couple of times since 1976, but the butterfly had grown increasingly forlorn since the emperor of Old Town died in 1996.
--Nigel Jaquiss

FROM WELFARE TO WORK?

Last Friday Sandie Hoback, the director of Adult and Family Services, quit.

The official explanation is that Hoback is becoming an independent consultant on state and national welfare issues. Unofficially, people are wondering if the looming change in the White House is a factor.

Hoback, who has been director of AFS since 1996, has a glowing national reputation for chopping the welfare rolls--a record that could appeal to the Bush regime.

What is less celebrated, however, is that the number of working poor in the state keeps rising, and last year the U.S. Department of Agriculture dubbed Oregon the "hungriest state in the union." Hoback was frequently and vociferously criticized by advocates for the poor for making it harder than necessary to get food stamps and cash assistance.

"Under her tenure, homelessness, poverty and hunger increased," says Cassandra Garrison of the Oregon Food Bank, who helps people navigate the welfare system. "I got calls from seven people living in their cars this week alone."

Hoback is also an ally of Richard Wendt, a Klamath Falls millionaire who has pushed for subsidized employment for welfare recipients. While conservatives consider subsidized employment a panacea for poverty, critics say it creates a permanent class of low-skilled working poor. The Jobs Plus program is slated for cutting under the governor's proposed budget; the director of Wendt's think tank, Americans for Full Employment, says the group will be trying to save the program, but would neither confirm nor deny that Hoback would be lobbying for AFE in Salem.

It's also possible that Hoback simply looked at the proposed budget. The Department of Human Resources is planning a massive restructuring that could cut 100 ASF staffers. Jim Neely, Hoback's second in command, will fill in for her until the reorganization is done. "We don't even know if there will be a position there," says DHR spokesman Jim Sellers. "There may not be an Adult and Family Services as we know it."

Hoback could not be reached for comment.
--Patty Wentz

'Tis the Season

AN APPEAL TO READERS

Sisters of the Road Cafe
133 NW 6th Ave., 222-5694
Portland OR 97209

Not long ago, we visited Sisters of the Road Cafe. There, sitting at a table with a homeless woman, offering consolation over a cup of hot coffee, was the founder of the storefront eatery, Ginny Nelson.

Why do we share this story? To explain why Sisters has long been one of our favorite community organizations. For 20 years, the focus of Sisters has been simple and clear: to serve the homeless and low-income residents of Old Town and Chinatown with nourishing meals at little cost or in exchange for work. To offer job training and employment services. And, sometimes, to simply provide some kind words and comfort to the less fortunate.

This place is the real deal, a community organization that has no use for fancy offices or tiers of bureaucracy. More than 250 hot meals are served daily. A number of the servers and kitchen help are residents of Old Town working for their meals. This isn't a social service--it's a community.

So--how can you help? Sit down and write a tax-deductible check and mail it to the address above. It doesn't have to be big; $10 will do. Between now and the end of the year, your check will be matched 50 cents to the dollar, by a grant program established by a number of anonymous supporters.

Better yet, drop off your check in person. Or stop by to volunteer at the cafe or purchase meal coupons, certificates to hand out the next time someone asks you for money. You'll find a sincerity and dedication to cause that will shatter your cynicism and restore your faith.

Last Week: Wallace Medical Concern

The 17-year-old nonprofit health-care provider still needs interpreters, podiatrists, dermatologists and good-old-fashioned cash at its new clinic in the Rockwood area. Call 274-1277 for more information.

Next Week: Schoolhouse Supplies and Community of Writers

Murmurs

NATTERINGS FROM THE NABOBS OF NEGATIVISM*

No surprise, but it's proving hard to keep Kevin Mannix out of the Legislature. The soon-to-be ex-lawmaker failed to unseat Attorney General Hardy Myers last month, so now he's working as an independent lobbyist for the Republican Party and his own Justice for All political action committee. Mannix says he'll be keeping an eye on Measure 11 reforms and redistricting but insists that his work is not related to a possible run for Congress or governor or a repeat stab at attorney general.

* Luddites are smugly grinning this week after Teleport choked over the weekend. The local Internet service provider was bombarded with spam at the same time as Christmas emails (complete with bandwith-sucking attachments) are bogging down the system. If you've been waiting for that gingerbread recipe from Cousin Susie in Dubuque, you might want to ask her to fax it instead.

* In addition to the $1.5 million advertising campaign The Portland Tribune announced last week, publisher Don Olson will spend up to $75,000 on a PR campaign to jump-start the paper, which will publish on Tuesdays and Fridays starting Feb. 9. Don Hamilton, the last reporter hired at the Oregon Journal and a 20-year veteran of The O, is the latest addition to the Tribune's news staff. Hamilton, who's covered everything from Washington, D.C., to Washington County, will write about local government and hopes to expand upon the radio commentary he occasionally does for NPR's Morning Edition. Also joining the Tribune is Harry Lenhart, the former editor of the Red Chip Review, a local research service for small-cap investors.

* Speaking of radio, KPAM's midday host, Bill Gallagher, is once again facing a familiar nemesis. After the untimely demise of KXL's Dave and Dwight show last week, Lars Larson resumes his old noon-to-4 pm slot, placing him head to head with Gallagher. So, who does Gallagher line up for this Friday's show? A couple of guys named Dave and Dwight.

Night Cabbie

by Willie Milkis
willie_milkis@hotmail.com

SIXTY-NINTH AND FOSTER. All the bars closed half an hour ago, and I get a call for a guy waiting on the street. Before I get there I know he's going to be some trashed redneck, the last diehard from some bar, and I'm going to be taking him home and have to listen to whatever drunk tangent his mind is on. He'll stink, but it'll be a short ride. And he'll be cheap. They always are. This is what I think.

I get there and find a huge guy wearing overalls, looks like a farmer. I prepare myself mentally for whatever crap I'm going to have to deal with. The cab tilts visibly when he gets in. He's not drunk, but he wants to go to a bar. We run down a verbal list of bars and I tell him they'll all be closed. "All right then, take me home."

He's polite and friendly (and doesn't stink). He also only lives a couple of blocks away, so the fare is less than three bucks. We get there and he tosses me a twenty. "Thanks for your time and trouble." He starts to get out, but I stop him. "Wait, don't you want any change for this?" I'm never eager to give back money, but I think he must've made a mistake. "Nope, you keep it all." He gets out and walks away like paying twenty bucks for a two-block ride is an everyday affair. I feel like I don't deserve it for all the preconceptions I had, but it's a pretty short-lived feeling.