Van Krevelen

The group trying to kill public financing of city elections has turned in 14,000 signatures more than it needs to put the repeal question on the May ballot. The First Things First Committee needs 26,691 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot and handed 40,988 signatures over to the city auditor's office on Tuesday to verify by Feb. 16. The juicier info comes on Feb. 1, when the committee must disclose who paid for the signature gathering. Meantime, local League of Women Voters president Carol Cushman calls the repeal effort a "cynical attempt by special interests to grab back power they have lost."

Dignity Village co-founder Jack Tafari, a British subject, is back from London after failing to get Great Britain's state health care and basic minimum benefits for "jobseekers." Tafari—whose November trip to England and Africa was paid for by Lee Larson, a wealthy backer of Portland's Dignity Village homeless camp—has untreated Hepatitis C. But the 59-year-old Tafari says he didn't get the British benefits because he failed the U.K.'s Habitual Residency Test, which is designed to deny bennies to returnees who've been out of the country too long. Tafari, who's been in the United States for seven years, is appealing the decision.

When Lora Cuykendall got her job a couple months back as chief spokeswoman at OHSU, the press-release announcement noted her excellent credentials: former senior editor at The Oregonian, ex-executive editor of the Portland Tribune and former spokeswoman for the Portland Business Alliance. One factoid that went unmentioned: She's married to Oregonian editorial page editor Bob Caldwell. That relationship hasn't helped OHSU in the news pages; Last week Oregonian reporter Ryan Frank broke embarrassing news about the shaky financial underpinnings of the tram to OHSU. But bloggers at the Portland Freelancer (http://portlandfreelancer.blogspot.com) and Oregon Media Insiders (www.oregonmediainsiders.com) wonder whether it helps on the editorial page, where the O opined last week that "the tram will be regarded a farsighted investment" and urged the city to be a "trustworthy business partner" for OHSU and its developer pals.

Still waiting. Mayor Tom Potter (see report card, page 7) promised a six-month review of his decision last April to pull out of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. But the deadline has come and gone with Potter's office telling Murmurs they're still working on it. Police boosters in the business community flipped when the council disengaged from the task force, which critics warn is a potential tool for domestic spying. Now, the Portland Business Alliance reports they haven't even spoken with Potter's office about the delayed review.

The weekly Kitz watch: Never mind.

Web-Only Murmurs!

Neighborhood activists opposed to a proposed 27-unit condo on Southeast Division Street at 26th Avenue plan to appeal this week to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. The condo development passed the city's last hurdle when the committee that reviews development adjustments ruled the building won't need a loading zone. But lawyer Kathleen O'Brien, who lives on the block, objects to the decision-making process. Developer Randy Rapaport thinks the appeal will be dismissed quickly but plans to start construction by late spring, even if his project must include a loading zone (off-street parking for delivery trucks). Meanwhile, a grand old Victorian house on the site (that was home to the Clay Rabbit pottery business—see "Run, Rabbit, Run," WW, July 27, 2005) has been moved to another lot in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood.

How tough is the business side of newspapering these days? One of the sweetest gigs in journalism is no more—at least for now. In the ongoing belt-tightening at The Oregonian, the paper announced late last month that it will suspend its paid summer internships for promising young journalists.

Independent, outside eyes are weighing in on the ongoing back-and-forth at City Council over fixing Portland's retirement and disability fund for police officers and firefighters. A report released Tuesday by the City Club gives some third-party ammunition to those calling for fund reforms such as switching disability claims to the city's workers compensation program and enrolling new hires in the state Public Employees Retirement System. City Club researchers have offered their objective voices before to this long-term debate, in which fund critics say the current system is open to abuse for disability claims and a drain on the city budget. Voters are expected to get their chance to weigh in this November on reforms.