December 31, 2003
The Inevitable 'Communique' Year-In-Review, Part Two
Continuing with the 5/7 division of months used by the print editions of this site's first year, June found the problems with murals and the City's sign code cropping up, the aftermath of the Kendra James shooting continuing unabated, and a rumored cooperation between competing Mayoral recall campaigns disintegrating.
That month also brought the first coverage of a series of constituency discussions held around Portland by the Public Involvement Task Force. And we glimpsed the new City website one week before anyone made an official announcement about it.
Also in June, I had my first chance (on this site, at least) to weigh in against the annual Rose Festival.
Meanwhile, local relief organization Mercy Corps decided to turn down a Federal grant because it would have required them to restrict their itneractions with the media.
And we had the hottest June 5 since 1958. It hit at least 97, on a day which turned out to be a sign of wrongfully hot days to come.
Opponents of burying the Mt. Tabor reservoirs kept at it, and the expected Mayoral run of Commissioner Jim Francesconi was confirmed. Not long after, I explained why I was convinced (wrongly, as it later turned out, despite his series of appearances to discuss his "vision" for Portland) that Earl Blumenauer would be Francesconi's opponent.
Meanwhile, I picked up the story of just who was behind the well-funded opposition to a proposed People's Utility District in Multnomah County.
One of the eventually-contentious proposals from Commissioner Randy Leonard surfaced, as he mentioned he wasm oving to give neighborhoods greater control over "nuisance" liquor establishments, and the mini-debate over the so-called "creative class" reappeared on and off.
Plans for a "second downtown" (the South Waterfront proposal) pushed forward, and the public best liked the proposal for an amateur sports complex at Memorial Coliseum.
That month, I also began my history lessons "in earnest," as I started to find and purchase various books on the subject.
A debate over the uses and future of urban renewal districts began, and of course resurfaced again more recently in front of the Portland Development Commission.
July began with a difficult and useless public forum on the Kendra James shooting.
The proposals for the future of the downtown transit mall began to surface, and Fracnesconi himself believed he'd be running for Mayor against Blumenauer.
Backers of the ice rink returned with a new proposal, which also went nowhere as far as public support was concerned. And Commissioner Leonard suspended enforcement action against murals in Southeast Portland, launching yet another story which would continue throughout the year.
July also saw the announcement that June's unemployment figures for June were the highest they'd been since 1986.
Protests resurfaced as well, as Attorney General John Ashcroft came to town.
Meanwhile a local letter writer excused the local 'terrorism" of dog poisonings at Laurelhurst Park.
Back in the political world, Mayor Vera Katz shook up the Mayoral race by announcing she would not seek another term. Meanwhile, Commissioner Leonard moved to make the Office of Neighborhood Involvement a "two-track" bureau, a decision which would also result in controversy later in the year.
Closing out the month of July, a business coalition joined the opposition to the reservoir burial project, citing cost considerations.
Backers of the ice rink continued their push in August, but began expanding their thinking to include a general look at "Winter programming" for the Square, and I was to say something nice about the Portland Business Alliance.
I joined the ranks of the Portland Tribune "color commentary" panel, and this site received it's 20,000th reader.
The Police Bureau outlined its plans for the visit of President George Bush, at which everyone essentially behaved themselves, or at least compared to other such occassions.
I attended my first adult soapbox derby on Mt. Tabor (and, in fact, although I never mentioned this, managed to snag a limited edition poster for the event later that evening).
As the month drew to a close Police Chief Mark Kroeker abruptly resigned, setting off a chain of accusations and coutner-accusations as to just how it all went down. Several members of an "independent" police review committee also resigned that month, and the independent PARC report on police shootings was released -- the first of what would later become three reports on police policies whose recommendations often overlapped. But hopes were raised when the Mayor appointed Derrick Foxworth to replace Mark Kroeker.
My personal hunches were dashed at the start of September, as Earl Blumenauer announced that he would not be running for Mayor after all. But former Police Chief Tom Potter would be running, and no one knew for sure if local car dealer Ron Tonkin would as well.
With newly-appointed Chief Foxworth at the helm, the Police Bureau responded to questions from a community group, one day before that group released its report on the Kendra James shooting and Bureau policies and procedures.
Commissioner Erik Sten ruled out a Mayoral bid, and another local weblog interviewed Portland Mercury editor Phil Busse who, it turned out, was running for Mayor.
A small-business strategy commissioned jointly by the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Development Commission recommended changed to both organizations, and I came across an old piece of atomic paranoia filmed in Portland.
Young creatives sued the OLCC over its ban on underage performers, and the pro-PGE front group started running television ads, virtually guaranteeing early on that PUD backers never stood a chance.
Enter the month of October, and it turned out the OLCC bungled proper procedure in banning underage performers. The Portland Police Bureau released a status report on its policies and procedures as compared to the PARC report's recommendations, within the timeframe promised by new Chief Foxworth.
Meanwhile, tensions continued to grow between Commissioner Leonard and neighborhood activists, minor candidates began to grow the list of Mayoral challengers.
The family of Kendra James filed suit against the City, and ground was broken on the now-approved, but still constroversial South Waterfront development.
Knee-jerk opponents of police went off half-cocked when a "children's garden" was torn down, the PUD debate was underway, such as it was, and the PUD election was almost delayed due to wording in the ballot title.
The sign code debate continued, the winning design for what would happen to the Mt. Tabor reservoirs after burial was announced, and the Mayor proclaimed that the City Council was not going to take up the reservoir issue again.
Elliott Smith died.
Following the lead of the weblog I mentioned earlier, I also interviewed Phil Busse. Requests were put in to other candidates for such interviews as well, but all went unaccepted. I did, however, start covering Mayoral and Council campaign events.
Long past due, the City Council finally adopted a resolution against the USA PATRIOT Act, and signified some possible support in the future for more transparency and accountability in the local Joint Terrorism Task Force, although they did renew it without such policies in place -- policies which were almost introduced.
Derrick Foxworth was officially sworn-in as Portand's new Police Chief.
Still more people filed to run for Mayor and City Council in November, and the PUD measure failed.
Word surfaced (and was later confirmed) that the Mayor would soon be shuffling Bureau assignments, Dignity Village became transitional housing, and negotiations with Clear Channel over the City's sign code were scuttled, setting the stage for the Mayor soon to enter with her own proposal.
Meanwhile, the designer of the aerial tram explained that the cost estimates which the process has been using were "political" and did not reflect what the project would actually cost.
We celebrated the Feast of the Exploding Whale.
I managed to get some candidates to compare themselves to people in the current City Hall, and the debate over urban renewal districts finally came back into view, and Portland's neighborhoods held their fourth annual summit.
This site received its 30,000th reader.
And Enron announced its plans to sell PGE to a strange new private group with ties to Texas and soon-to-be-embattled Neil Goldschmidt at the helm.
Fat snowflakes fell in Portland, and I began to cover "Brand Oregon."
A stuffed monkey caused a controversy, and I found the "lost months" of PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE.
The newly-created PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE Press published its first book before November was done.
Planners started pushing the lawnless Waterfront Park proposal again, and KATU threatened a local website.
I hated the State's new slogan, until I got to see the underlying campaign.
Jim Francesconi received my endorsement... for president of the Portland Business Alliance, the City's exclusion zones suffered a temporary setback, and the never-should-have-been-here Kim Kimbrough got booted from the PBA.
Suddenly, Commissioner Dan Saltzman appointed a panel to review the open reservoir replacement project, and I struggled to get my server reconnected.
City Council and TriMet approved putting light rail on the downtown transit mall, everyone said we shoud bring back Bud's Ball, the PDC extended the life of a downtown urban renewal area, the Mayor released her proposal for handling the City's murals, and the Public Involvement Task Force neared the completion of its task.
And, finally, I announced the forthcoming one year anniversary "meet and greet" for readers of PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE.
That's it. We're done with the rear-view mirror thing. Back to year two.