News I was out of town yesterday reporting on another story. So I just got around to reading the flap about the item in this week's Murmurs about City Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Police Chief Rosie Sizer. I reported that Saltzman, who oversees the police bureau, said in an interview that Sizer has said she plans to retire when she's eligible for full benefits in July. Now I read on Jack Bogdanski's ...   More

News Without consulting Commissioner Dan Saltzman or the Bureau of Environmental Services, Mayor Sam Adams this afternoon proposed using $20 million of BES money to help build Portland's Bicycle Plan for 2030. The last-minute move appears to have been a calculated case of retribution directed at Saltzman for his surprise funding amendment last week. And the tapping of BES certainly caught BES head ...   More

News City Commissioner Dan Saltzman just issued a letter to the grand jurors who yesterday strongly criticized the Portland Police Bureau's actions leading up to the fatal shooting Jan. 29 shooting of Aaron Campbell. Saltzman's letter (PDF) tells grand jurors he shares their concerns and vows "immediate action," including a full review of the bureau's training on handling people in crisis "utilizing ...   More

News Only Mayor Sam Adams knows why he made the unusual decision to assign the Police Bureau to Commissioner Dan Saltzman rather than over-seeing it himself as nearly every mayor in modern Portland history has done. There's at least one logical reason why Adams might not have wanted the bureau after he won election in 2008. As proven by the furor over the fatal Jan. 29 shooting of Aaron Campbell, ...   More

News As Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman (above) deals with the fallout from the latest officer-involved fatal shooting in Portland, Mayor Sam Adams is bracing Portlanders for the July closure of Saks Fifth Avenue, the downtown luxury retail store. Adams issued a 600-word press release about Saks' closure at 10:48 am today: “The property owners, the Portland Development Commission and I made ...   More

News Quick. Which City of Portland elected official charged $18.90 to his city-issued credit card at Spartacus Leathers on Oct. 29, 2009? A: Commissioner Dan Saltzman B: Commissioner Nick Fish C: Commissioner Randy Leonard D: Mayor Sam Adams Read their recent expense reports* [PDF] plus Commissioner Amanda Fritz's to find the answer. Then head to Berbati's Pan at 9 pm to see Pep Assembly, Bombs ...   More

News What follows is a two-fer! It's a brief explanation of an obscure City of Portland funding stream called the utility license fee and, in a round-about way, it's an example of local government's end-run around transparency. It's just not exactly straightforward. So bear with me. Here goes. Last month, Commissioner Dan Saltzman suggested using Portland's utility license fee to help fund the ...   More

News Commissioner Randy Leonard's push to arm and certify Portland Water Bureau security guards as Oregon police officers has taken a turn. Five months after WW first disclosed Leonard's proposal, the commissioner is now exploring a plan to arm Water Bureau security personnel under a state law that lets water authorities in Oregon create their own special police officers. Those officers would have ...   More

News Commissioner Dan Saltzman says his push [PDF] to defend the City of Portland's voter-approved reforms around disability pay for firefighters and police officers will come before City Council this week. "We need to take a stand," Saltzman says. That push, which calls for Portland to fight legal challenges such as those from ex-firefighter Tom Hurley, was supposed to have been debated at City ...   More

News A quickie check of Oregon's online campaign finance records shows a nice fresh haul today of $500 donors for Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman in his run against eight challengers. Among the newest $500 donors to the three-term incumbent: Plaid Pantries, Williams & Dame Development (as well as $500 apiece from name partners Homer Williams and Thorndike "Dike" Dame), Local 48 Electricians ...   More