Murmurs: Bynum Challenges Kotek’s House Leadership

BYNUM CHALLENGES KOTEK'S HOUSE LEADERSHIP: State Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Clackamas) has embarked on a challenge to House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), the longest-serving speaker in Oregon history. Bynum, who is Black, and other members of the BIPOC Caucus are unhappy with Kotek for her handling of allegations against state Rep. Diego Hernandez (D-East Portland). Hernandez is the subject of a House human resources investigation for allegedly creating a hostile workplace for as many as seven women in the Capitol. In May, Kotek called on Hernandez to resign, a move some members feel deprived him of due process. Bynum, like Hernandez, is a two-term incumbent. In her challenge to Kotek, who became speaker in 2013 and is often mentioned as a possible candidate for governor or Congress, Bynum hopes to knit together members upset by the Hernandez matter as well as moderate Democrats who feel disenfranchised in their caucus. Kotek is eager to hold on to her position and, even with House Democrats giving up a seat in last week's election, would stand little chance in normal times of her losing the gavel. Bynum hopes to capitalize on the sense of change in the air. "This year has called into question whether we can continue with the status quo," Bynum says. "More importantly, it is a chance to innovate and push the boundaries while casting aside systems and structures that are inequitable or no longer serve us best."

INFAMOUS WHITE SUPREMACIST DIES: Tom Metzger, neo-Nazi founder of the group White Aryan Resistance, died Nov 4 at age 82 in Southern California, according to the Times of San Diego. A Portland jury ordered Metzger in 1990 to pay $5 million for his role in the racially motivated 1988 murder of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw. Three young skinheads associated with the Portland white supremacist group East Side White Pride beat Seraw to death with a baseball bat in the Kerns neighborhood. Two years later, a Southern Poverty Law Center attorney convinced the jury in a civil lawsuit that Metzger trained and motivated the men and was partly responsible for Seraw's murder.

CONSPIRACY THEORIST WINS IN 24 COUNTIES: Jo Rae Perkins, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate who espouses the QAnon conspiracy theory ("Qregon," WW, Sept. 30, 2020), won in 24 of Oregon's 36 counties in the Nov. 3 election. Perkins lost to the incumbent, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) by 57% to 39%. Her higher vote counts in the majority of Oregon counties—most of which are in Southern and Eastern Oregon—could simply be a reflection of GOP strongholds in those regions where residents automatically vote Republican. Although Perkins, a perennial candidate, received scant backing from traditional GOP donors and groups, her percentage of the vote still rivaled that of more mainstream candidates. State Sen. Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer), who ran for secretary of state, won in 28 counties statewide, losing to fellow Sen. Shemia Fagan (D-Portland) with 43% of the vote. Jeff Gudman, the Republican nominee for Oregon treasurer, won the same 28 counties as Thatcher, but got just 41% of the vote in his loss to incumbent Tobias Read.

GARBAGE FEE INCREASE PANNED: Metro's $4 billion transportation measure went down to defeat Nov. 3, as Portland-area voters rejected the largest local tax on the ballot. Within days, the regional government moved to shore up its finances in another department. Metro, which oversees trash and recycling for the tricounty region, told cities this week it would likely raise tipping fees, the charge per ton that haulers pay to dump garbage at Metro's regional transfer stations, a change first reported by the Portland Tribune. Due to uncertainty about the fiscal impacts of COVID-19s, Metro did not raise fees during its normal budget cycle in the spring but informed partners of a $9.29 per ton increase—about 8%—this week. It was not well received. In a Nov. 9 Tualatin City Council hearing, Mayor Frank Bubenik said, "Quite a few of us were shocked by this because it seems to come out of left field," while Councilor Paul Morrison called the midyear hike "unprecedented and extremely unfair." Metro spokesman Nick Christensen said the increase, on which the Metro Council is likely to vote Dec. 3, has nothing to do with failure of the transportation measure and is needed because garbage tonnage is down while costs are fixed. He says the fee hike would cost the average household just 60 cents a month.

INMATE ACCUSED OF MAIL HARASSMENT: A registered nurse at the Multnomah County Jail in downtown Portland filed a lawsuit in circuit court Nov. 9, accusing the county of negligence, creating a hostile work environment, and sexual harassment by a non-employee after the nurse's personal information was allegedly disclosed to one of the jail's inmates. Plaintiff Tommie Norton says he received notification from his supervisor in November 2019 that his personal information had been "leaked" to an inmate named Colby "Tesla" Alpin. Norton then began receiving letters from Alpin at his home address. The lawsuit says the letters included "threats, explicit language, and personal information about plaintiff," and that some letters contained unspecified "bodily fluids." Norton says he notified the county of the unwanted letters, but the county did not intercept the correspondence until March 2020, when his attorneys sent a tort claim notice to the county for damages. Norton is seeking $100,000. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, which oversees the jail, did not respond to WW's request for comment.