Former Mayoral Candidate Announces Hunger Strike

Portland Mercury:

Alex ZielinskiCameron Whitten, the 21-year-old Occupy Portland participant who finished fifth in the mayoral primary this month, announced the next headline-grabbing chapter for his activism: Come this Saturday, June 2, while thousands of Portlanders are watching the Starlight Parade, Whitten will take up a position outside city hall and begin a hunger strike aimed at three housing-related issues. He laid out his grievances in a statement this morning: 1. For City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, withdraw the fines on Michael Wright and Dan Cossette, co-owners of the Right 2 Dream Too Rest Area, and seek a peaceful resolution for this cost-free solution to homelessness for the remainder of the lease agreement. 2. For City Council, add a housing levy measure to the November 2012 General Election ballot. 3. For Sheriff Daniel Staton, issue a 1-year moratorium on Wall Street bank foreclosures in Multnomah County. That's not an easy list—and Whitten sent it out a day after housing issues, in the city's budget, received unprecedented political support. I mean if Whitten got his wish on just one of those demands, let alone all three, it would be a major miracle. But Whitten tells me he sees all three as essential to the success of the city and county's 10-year plan to "end" homelessness, so he'll sip water and eat vitamins "as long as physically possible." [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Read the full article here. Discuss below.