DS: I asked the district attorney to make a written record of the grand jury's deliberation and called for a judge to release those records. That request has been granted -- and this level of transparency is a victory for the public never before seen. ... I have also joined with community leaders in requesting that the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division conduct an investigation into the Portland Police Bureau. ... It is important to acknowledge that over the last six years officer-involved shootings are down by 54 percent, citizen complaints down 48 percent and complaints regarding the police's use of force down 56 percent. The bureau has made incredible strides.

But none of those facts can overcome the facts on the ground.

JC:It's a shame that it took another tragic death and the national spotlight focusing on Portland to finally motivate City Commissioner Dan Saltzman to attempt to do his job and it's too bad he's incapable of getting it done. ...

Looking at just those bits, I would say that, either Saltzman is wrong, or Jesse is overstating the case, see recent postings on here about candidates over-rendering their opponents. Saltzman's statement stands on its own and/or it will fall based on findings and public opinion. Does Jesse still make the same claim? I think this is intensely interesting to progressives that just finished lamenting how everything has to be painted as black and white, or the opponent is a villain, etc. to be considered realpolitik. Personally, I don't see that you have to render your opponent any way at all. You can state your case without characterizing the opponent. A good core of progressives just spent a major thread lamenting that few will question the notion. Is the discussion really so academic that when a "local" is next up, it's business just as we parodied usual?

Jesse's far from the first to mention this notion.

So Kari, what makes him any better than the average troll on the Tribune web site?

Other than you seem to be the primary beneficiary of the city's campaign finance fund...

I don't have any problem with you building the campaign websites of the people you support on this blog, Kari. But it's the fact that he's running for office, and not that he qualified or is the only candidate who qualified, for public money that makes it relevant. And by that measure, the other candidates for City Commission should also be asked their thoughts.

According to you logic, even Dan Saltzman, who also did not qualify for Public Finance, should also not be included in this discussion.

I agree with what someone else said earlier, this is a broader problem for the Mayor and the entire City Commission. It is not the sole fault of Dan Saltzman, nor would electing Cornett be, by proxy, inherently better simply because he is not Saltzman.

Dear Kari:

I guess the non-appearance by both Jesse and Jason at most of the rally's and other community events surrounding the police issue has made them relevant. Calling on Sam to replace Dan was such an original and well thought out solution to the issues regarding the police, it was very original and news worthy. As if Dan is the sole source of the problem, and replacing him would fix it.

While Jesse was grandstanding about Dan, I was actually attending the leadership event at the Red Cross on Thursday, and was the person who asked Dan, Rosie and Scott to commit to developing a policy that would assure both the furloughing of any officer involved in excessive/deadly force until a complete investigation, conducted by either the Attorney General or the FBI (which Dan later took up as his new idea). But somehow I'm irrelevant to the police issues, even though I have more actual experience working with police/community issue than anyone else in the race (including Dan).

I guess six years of working with the LAPD and Long Beach PD on these kinds of issues does not make me relevant, or having been a licensed mental health professional since 1990.

I also guess my four years spent working on environmental justice issues on the CRC, as well as being Co-Chair of the Hayden Island Plan Steering Committee also makes me irrelevant.

And then there is a lifetime of being involved in Democratic Party politics, my family having known (former) senator Bob Graham of Florida since he ran for governor in the late 1970s, not to mention numerous trips to DC to do lobbying work over the years.

If there is a failing with the Democratic Party of Oregon, and the region in general, it is that a person could be dead before they "break in" to what appears to be a private club.

I've submitted some well written thoughts on the issues with the police that will never see the light of day on this site.

I was at the Celsi dinner a week ago. Former governor Roberts gave an award to a young man, gushing about his nativity to Oregon. Later I met Jefferson Smith, not realizing he's the son of Meredith. Of our two leading contenders for governor, one is a former governor.

Do you folks ever welcome in anyone from "outside"? I could have moved to Mississippi for this. In case you haven't noticed, over 50% of the region is now from "outside", recent transplants. Do you want any perspectives from us? Or do you prefer an insular and narrow perspective which perpetuates rampant provinciality ?

Maybe you don't like to hear about the regions short comings, or the rampant institutional racism (as demonstrated by "The State of Black Oregon" document). Are you just hoping we will all go away?

What I hear on the streets is that people are tired of business as usual, tired of things being swept under the rug, tired of the same old stuff.

Is Blue Oregon part of the same old stuff?

The other issue is, Jesse got help from someone for his mailing lists. I know this because I started getting eMail from him almost instantly, and I never gave him my eMail address, so he got one from someone. Was it this site? Did he pay for the list, or was it an in-kind donation? If so, is that listed on ORESTAR?

I now have a more complete picture of why it has taken Oregon 30 years to get a GLBTQ rights bill passed, and why the racism in this state would make a white person from the deep south (like myself) cringe.

Of course, no one here wants to talk about that either.

Maybe you all were asleep in history class if/when they mentioned that during the statehood election 150 years ago, the issue that got even more votes than statehood was the legal exclusion of black people. Or that Oregon was legally a "Jim Crow" state until 1953.

Funny how the Chamber of Commerce doesn't mention that isn't it?

Last time I checked, I am an American citizen. But I guess for the keepers of this site, I appear to be a second class something.

I'm giving up on Blue Oregon. Clearly it is a private club, and I don't know what "dues" I have to pay to be heard here, but frankly, I don't have the money or the time.

Regards, Ed Garren www.EdForPDX.com

Hi Kari:

The eMail address that Jesse's campaign used is not the one on my web site, and in fact, if a fairly obscure one that I only use for certain notifications. This was not just my experience, but a few others noted the same thing happened for them.

As for any traction I am or am not getting here or elsewhere, I thought this blog was also a place for progressives to share information and ideas. Most of the other news outlets have based their coverage upon finances raised.

I have spent most of my life working for and in non profits. My friends here who support me, are loathe to have any political involvement, fearing retaliation against their agencies if they support (even $5 because it's recorded and public info). I live in a lower middle class (what's left of it) and low income neighborhood, where most of my neighbors gave up on politics decades ago, when the Democratic party abandoned them.

But in terms of relevant experience, you might want to check my resume (it's on my web site). I'm the only person in the race, probably in the city for that matter, who has actually worked with two police departments with regard to diversity issues. In addition, I worked with the Los Angeles county Sheriff's department (a much easier "sell") on these issues. How many other candidates can say they have actually provided direct services for the types of issues I have spent a lifetime working on, including services to homeless people? The list goes on, I'll spare you.

The larger point is, you've known Jesse for years, maybe decades, and your company is deeply involved in his campaign. That bias is blatantly obvious to others, even if you can't see it.

And your rationale and defense is (ironically) almost identical to that of the police union/department, "We are following procedures, we are following the law, why are you so angry?"

To use a phrase from my profession, you can intellectualize this all you want, but the level of coverage for a candidate on this blog appears to be directly related to how much revenue the blog is getting from them.

The reason all of this is SO frustrating is that this community is now in the midst of dealing with problems that I worked on decades ago in other communities. Instead of welcoming that experience, and inviting me into the conversations (as Jason Renaud has done), I sit watching the same tired rhetoric, the same political posturing, and the same (and very predictable) discourses, scapegoating, finger pointing, blame game.

Jesse isn't offering any new ideas, or any viable solutions. He's just playing politics with a big check that the tax payers are bankrolling and your company is benefitting from. The least you could do is go public on that every time you mention his name. If not, what is the difference between you and the corporate owned Republican media?

If this sounds harsh, it's because I expect more out of people who claim to be progressive.

Regards, Ed Garren candidate for City Commission seat #3 www.EdForPDX.com

Practical Solution: Give Police Officers, Sargents, and all command level personel rotating shifts like 2/5 day shifts in which they live on sight that they patrol. Pay officers, and give them relief to move in "hot precincts" they patrol to civilize the neighborhoods, and make them sensitive to the people to whom they patrol.

These methods have proven and consistent results when employed. They are radical, and I beleive some version of this kind of solution is the only way to see truly professional community policing. The Portland Police Bureau has become so detached from the community they police that this kind of method is truly called for.

Saltzman's editorial is extraordinary.

He's admitted the police portfolio is more complex and challenging than he expected. He's made good steps forward, not shying away from anger or tears. It's clearly his own writing; a man struggling to stay on top of the issue, stay focused on solutions.

But Saltzman was unaware of too much of this vital task, perhaps uninterested, perhaps poorly advised. What we don't know, and can't trust, is he the best person to heal the wounds?

After three years of waiting I had to call him and Chief Rosie Sizer on the unreleased Chasse investigation.

His dunderheaded attempt to discipline Chris Humphreys over Chasse resulted in a police union insurrection pointedly against both Saltzman and Chief Sizer - weeks prior to the beginning of negotiations.

Later when Humphreys was caught on video shooting a 12-year-old girl with a lead pellet bag, Saltzman again was outmaneuvered by the police union, pissing off everyone.

Fixing the police bureau will take years of dedication from cops willing to be transformed, from community leaders and organizations representing disenfranchised communities, from volunteers interested in justice, from city hall politicians and their staffs, probably from outside experts. Years and years to encourage and re-engage the community with understanding, guiding, and overseeing the police.

That's our job. Ours. Not Dan's, not Rosie's, not Scott Westerman's. It's our communal task to provide civilian oversight.

Jesse Cornett is running for City Council. All council members need to be fully engaged and aware of police issues for the duration. Jesse qualified for public support and will be able to suit up and show up at all events, send out mail, make phone calls, build fancy web sites, get professional consultation, do polling, and get out his vote. I am eagerly anticipating his campaign, and looking forward to his ideas about repairing the rift between the police and the community.

To Jason Renaud. Why are you dropping out of the race and endorsing Cornett?

The subjects of Chisholm's thread are Saltzman and Cornett. I haven't dropped out and I have not endorsed Cornett or Saltzman.

I followed the link to Cornett's site hoping to see a reform plan and was disappointed. So I am looking forward to seeing it!

I'm with Paul about the casual manner in which oversight of our Watchers is carried out by the city council. It's pretty clear that hiring African Americans for a few top management slots, flipping a coin for oversignt, and then patting themselves on the back for a job well done, ain't accomplishing much cultural change in the PPD.

Amen. I had no idea we were employing Watchers ! Black motif, I guess, though.

If this is a sample of behavior to discriminate between Jesse and Ed, I'm moving my chips to Ed's camp. The Portland intelligentia can jerk off without my watching them.

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