The Leonard/Potter Proposal: Observations and Opportunity
author: someone
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It was an emotional and exhausting night and one filled with high spirits. It was refreshing to see the council willing to joke with each other and make jokes at their own expense. It was a night filled with honesty, whether it was Leonard's commitment to achieving oversight or Saltman's concerns about "the headlines" or the numerous citizen testimonies I got the impression that there was a lot of truth spoken tonight.
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I'm not going to give a play by play, I think like most people, if not everyone, who stayed the for the whole session I feel drained, mentally, physically, and spiritually. There was so much powerful testimony and I assume the whole thing will be online soon and I would highly recommend watching it, for those in Portland and for anyone else in the United States concerned about their own JTTF's. Some of the most powerful came from those who had been the victims of repressive regimes and policies, in other countries or here in the United States. There was also much documentation presented on the countless incidents of FBI misconduct in surveilling and harassing those who were suspected of no crime but were considered a valid target because of their religious or political affiliations.
I was extremely impressed by the ACLU's presentation, though it was easy to make an impression when they presented the large stacks of documents of information illegally and unconstitutionally collected about their members. My appreciation for the town hall meeting was also reinforced. I think of how people's views can be only so narrowly expressed in mediums like the internet. I felt like I actually learned a lot about my community, where they're coming from, and gained a tremendous amount of respect for them.
I also had a lot of respect for Potter and Leonard's proposal with without exception no one came out and said it was a bad idea. And how could they, given how reasonable the request to have the mayor, city attorney, and chief of police able to oversee officers involved with the PJTTF. It was stated quite well that this was not something that had to be decided, the law dictated that Potter oversee the police under his command and the police themselves have taken an oath to uphold the state constitution and the laws of the state which are much stricter than those currently applied to the FBI and other federal agents.
I had started to write an article about the arguments I expected to hear (and maybe I will finish that even if it's merely academic, I had an important point to make). I expected to hear that this proposal would make Portland less safe from terrorism. Yet no on argued that. The only people who made arguments along a similar line were merely arguing that withdrawing from the JTTF would make Portland less safe. Of course, that was not the issue at hand, though I don't suppose you would know that from the corporate media. I had a thought listening to an individual railing against withdrawing from the JTTF that the corporate media is often it's own worst enemy. By failing to educate those who might agree with the positions taken by a corporate paper or tv station those people cannot effectively engage in the democratic process.
Speaking of the corporate media, I noted some interesting times when "the media entered into the debate. I think the first instance was with the testimony of the Japanese American interned during world war 2 who spoke of the compliant populace, the compliant politicians, and the compliant media that enabled that travesty to occur. That same notion, that the media is working lock step to support the government and the status quo, and has been for some time, far before the bush administration took power, was reiterated a few times.
And that stands in such stark contrast to Saltzman's repeated pleas to not vote on the proposal because of "the headlines". I have heard it often said that Saltzman is a narcissist concerned more about his image than working for the people of Portland and that was clearly demonstrated tonight. I wanted to shout at him "Do your job, represent me" which I think is what elected officials are supposed to do, not worry about what the mean old corporate media are going to print about them when said media disagree with the council representing the will of the city, which to leave no doubt, was very clearly expressed tonight.
I appreciated the general reluctance to refrain from polarizing labels which have a tendency to really grate me. Only a very few times did I hear the terms "liberal", "lefty", "right wing" and to be fair, they were all from exceptionally eloquent testimonies. For those most part people were saying things that would have sounded at home in any conservative, libertarian, or progressive gathering (which of course reinforces in my mind that divisive labels serve only the purpose of being divisive amongst people who generally want the same things). There was a lot of strong rhetoric about following the rule of law, and the lack of upholding the law leading to many of the problems around the country. There was also a lot of talk of adhering to the United States constitution, particularly the bill of rights, and the Oregon constitution. There was also a lot of talk of local authority to oversee what many see as overly reaching, intrusive federal government.
Another idea that I found intriguing when it was raised repeatedly was that the best chance to be secure against terrorism is to have a populace is willing to work with local law enforcement. That is, by perpetuating this antagonistic relationship between the police/FBI/etc and the citizens one does a disservice to both. If one is being followed, photographed, video-taped by the police (or worse, with home break-ins and the like) for one's political or religious beliefs or affiliations one is not likely to trust those engaged in that surveillance or harassment. So moving toward community policing does necessitate raising the level of trust between public servants and the citizens they serve and to be clear about those roles. Of course, to specifically address foreign terrorism it was suggested several times that the United States government needs to address its foreign policy if the people of this country are to be safe and secure.
The most significant change in the city council is that people are actually feeling like the city council members (most of them anyway) are really listening to the concerns being raised by the citizens. It was clear from some of the remarks being made that they were paying attention, and really considering the impassioned testimony before them. People spoke of hope, and pride, in their city, state, and country, and the courage of the council to propose this resolution. One person spoke of a turning point and that resonated with me.
You could feel it in the air, the laughter, the good humor, the reluctance of anyone to disagree with the proposal (only making some vague rumblings that it might result in the withdrawal of the FBI from the JTTF). There was an opportunity for making history, not because this would have been any grand sweeping change in governmental policy (though it would not be an insignificant change in that either) but because it would have reinforced and rejuvenated the citizenry that showed up to bare their hearts, minds, and souls. It was an opportunity to revitalize people's love for and trust in democracy, at least as practiced in a small local setting (perhaps the only setting in which democracy truly works).
I came away with a sense that something inspiring was about to happen. Potter spoke of the need to listen and then taking action. I can't fault him for wanting to take more time to listen, though I will be among the first and the many who will criticize him if he does not take the action he's promised. But I do think that by not taking action tonight an opportunity was passed up. I think that had the proposal not been postponed the council and the citizens would have gone home feeling inspired. And perhaps that will still occur in 3 weeks but I have my doubts. I think the magic was in the air tonight; the energy and excitement about taking a first step was palpable. And I think that it may be asking too much of a community which already has it's trust and faith in government institutions badly shaken to turn out a series of testimonies as they did tonight.
I'd like to express my gratitude to Commissioner Leonard whom I thought was impressive in the strength of his convictions and Commissioner Adams whom though relatively quiet made his points succinctly and effectively. I am glad both of them voted against postponing the proposal which I agree would have strengthened the mayor's position in further negotiations with the FBI. As for Mayor Potter, I noticed that the commissioners really have trust and faith in him and I think that is a good thing, and especially an important thing not to squander. I suspect that mayor and the council will have some long thoughts about tonight's session, about what was accomplished and what may have been sacrificed. My recommendation to them all is to carry as much as possible of what was expressed tonight with them. If they have listened to the citizens and continue to heed their consciences I have no doubt they will find a beneficial path forward.
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