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This man's actions against Ralph Nader's ballot campaign, as described in gory detail by Dan Meek recently on Counterpunch, demonstrate a profound contempt for democratic values, regardless of the political motivations that inspired them. Bradbury should be recalled, NOW!
PGE shareholders have violated Oregon election laws by paying for and mailing poltical campaign pamphlets against Washington County Public Utility Measures 34-95, 34-96, and the candidates for the Directors for the PUD, using addresses obtained illegally from Oregon Election office, use restricted to candidates and poltical organizations.
related: [ Washington County Public Utility District | WHY IS WASHINGTON COUNTY PUD IN EVERYONE'S BEST INTEREST? ]
Jack Herer, the father of Hemp and the author of "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" will be signing books at The 3rd Eye on Hawthorne, October 1st 5-6 pm.
A transcript of the commentary read on Show #10 of Portland Indymedia CATV News that will air on the following dates:
Monday August 23, 6:30pm, ch 23
Monday August 23rd IMC News features "NO!" on Measure 36 Tonight, August 23rd at 6:30pm at It's a Beautiful Pizza, 3341 SE Belmont Come down and learn how more and more of our rights to live as free humans are being systematically removed, and learn how to do something about it. [ No On 36 | Portland Indymedia TV News ]
The Pacific Green Party will field a record number of candidates for county, state legislative and federal congress seats. Candidates will hold a press conference Monday, August 23 at 11a.m. at the Capitol Press Corps and Associate Press room in the Capitol Building in Salem, Oregon to announce their candidacies. Deadline for filing voter pamphlet statements, minor party nomination and other documents is August 24.
Candidates expected to declare their candidacy include: Teresa Keane for 1st Congressional District; Mitch Besser for 5th Congressional District; Jeff Strang for state Senate District 22; Steve Geiger for state House District 28; Liz Trojan for state House District 35; Curt Sommer for state House 37; Chuck Fall for state House District 42 and Lori Burton for Linn County Commissioner #2.
Judge Janice Wilson has ruled that forming a PUD from part of a municipality is unconstitutional. The WEPUD campaign was not able to participate in the first hearing, and has been denied the right to intervene in the case afterward. Despite being removed from the November 2004 ballot, public power supporters refuse to be daunted by dirty tricks. The PUD campaign is planning its next steps, which will probably include an attempt to bring the PUD back for the May 2005 ballot.
Goli Ameri's campaign website has announced that GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert will join her for a press conference on Monday, August 16th at 9:30 am at the Benson Hotel in Portland. Joining Hastert and Ameri will be "a number of veterans troubled by David Wu's record on national security issues." Ameri has made her fervent support of Bush's War policies in Muslim countries a cornerstone of her campaign for Congress opposite Democratic incumbent David Wu.
Indeed the Iranian-born Ameri has gone so far as confirming that she is not a Muslim (New York Sun, May 18). She went to extreme lengths during the primary race to portray herself as a "refugee" who "watched" the Islamic revolution in Iran. In fact, at the time (1978-79) she was a student at Stanford who, at most, witnessed the revolution on TV in Palo Alto. Meanwhile Ameri's hawkishness has sparked a contoversy in the Iranian-American community over whether she is willing to sign a pledge to oppose a pre-emptive strike against her native Iran.
On Friday, August 13, Attorney Tom Nelson, regarded as one of the top utility lawyers in Oregon and recently profiled in the Willamette Week, will represent the Willamette Electric People's Utility District campaign in a hearing to return the PUD vote to the November 2004 ballot. The hearing will take place at 3 p.m. in the chambers of Judge Janice Wilson on the fifth floor of the Multnomah County Courthouse, 1021 SW 4th Avenue. The public is welcome to attend.
Senator Ron Wyden has a vision for our federal forests. His vision is not the preservation of our last remaining wilderness but rather the saving of small areas of old growth trees while industrial logging continues and dominates. His vision for our wilderness is that of a large theme park. He does not have a conservation ethic. He is the consummate politician.
Since becoming Senator his policies have time after time moved in this direction. He has successfully adopted the strategy of Mark Hatfield. His plan is simple and effective. It is, plainly put, 'two steps forward and one step back'. Two steps forward (from his perspective) to increase logging and one step back to preserve wilderness. The latest example of this strategy is Wyden's writing and passage of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA), which allows cutting of millions of acres of our forests (two steps forward) followed by his Mount Hood Wilderness Bill (one step backward). The HFRA is responsible for the largest timber sale in US History the Biscuit Sale. If it succeeds it will effectively destroy the remaining wilderness of the Siskyou Forest. Wherever there is a forest fire there now exists a legal basis to cut it down. To avoid effective condemnation by the environmental community and increase his environmental currency he countered in an election year with the Mount Hood Wilderness Bill. This Bill would protect wilderness areas around Mount Hood but the bill also encourages logging and establishes a reserve for mountain biking. The Bill will likely be watered down after the election to the betterment of the logging industry to be more consistent with Wyden's vision.
 The Willamette Electric People's Utility District campaign is proud to announce that we've retained attorney Tom Nelson to represent us in the struggle to get back on the November ballot. Because of Tom's efforts and expertise, we've been given an opportunity to present our case before Judge Wilson on Friday, August 13th. We fully expect the injunction against us to be dissolved on August 13th, and to be promptly placed back on the November ballot. See also:
Forest Conservation group Bark opposes Senator Wyden's inclusion of a mandated increase in logging in his Mt. Hood Wilderness Proposal, introduced in the US Senate today. The bill mandates a quota for logging on the westside of Mt. Hood National Forest while opening up the east side of Mt. Hood for logging in the name of forest health and fire prevention. Mirroring the Bush Administration's so-called Healthy Forest Restoration Act, the bill allows logging in Mt. Hood's eastside back country, which has been proven to increase the risk of catastrophic fire.
On Friday, July 16, Circuit Court Judge Janice Wilson issued a permanent injunction to remove the Willamette Electric People's Utility District vote from the November ballot. This decision was in response to a lawsuit on the PUD's consitutionality filed by Charles Hinkle of Stoel Rives, on behalf of the following plaintiffs:
Gary Coe - owner, Speed's Supertow Mark Cooksey - PGE employee Dave Johnson - PGE employee Dan Yates - president of American Waterways (Portland Spirit cruise ship) The Willamette Electric People's Utility District campaign is an attempt to establish a PUD in eight precincts which voted a majority in favor of the Multnomah County PUD in November 2003. The lawsuit contends that the Willamette Electric PUD violates the Oregon State Constitution because it would be formed from "part of a municipality" rather than an entire municipality or county. The Constitution does not explicitly say that PUDs cannot be formed from parts of municipalities. However, Judge Wilson chose to support Mr. Hinkle's interpretation of the Constitution.
Q: Does money=votes? If so, what [in your opinion] can be done to change that?
Clearly the outcome of this race showed that money doesn't equal votes. The two highest spenders in the race didn't even take 2 out of 5 votes. Between Potter, Posey and myself, we didn't spend more than $100,000, yet managed to pull in more than half of the votes combined. Considering that one of Potter's most publicized parts of his platform was his $25 cap, I think that people voted for Potter because they saw him as representing limits on money in campaigns.
With 93 of 93 precincts reported, Tom Potter obtained 40.79% of the vote. Jim Francesconi received 37.23% of the vote followed by Phil Busse with 5.93% of the vote. Randy Leonard beat the "Neighborhood 6" by capturing 53.33% of the vote. Nick Fish obtained 47.19% of the vote for Jim Francesconi's vacant seat. He would be competing against Sam Adams in November who received 37.02% of the vote. [ POTTER SHOWS THAT MONEY CAN'T BUY THIS ELECTION | 202,900 People Don't Give a Sh*t How the Government Spends Their Money! | "Potter Forces A Runoff" Oregonian Headline - WTF is that supposed to mean? ] PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE COVERAGE: The Post-Primary Landscape | The Polls Are Closed, Here We Go
Brian Smith and Mark Lakeman, both progressive candidates for City Commisioner, Seat 1 and Seat 4 respectively, interviewed on PDX IMC Web Radio. They gave background information about themselves, and stated their positions and discussed issues such as public power, education, water systems, gay marriage and police accountability. With Brian Smith, there was a lively discussion about corporate media extortion of candidates in order to get out the candidate's message. NO cash, NO coverage! With Mark Lakeman, there as an equally wonderful discussion about the city repair project. You can listen to the interviews by clicking Brian Smith Interview or Mark Lakeman Interview . For a list of other audio content go to the radio page
Portland, OR-- Seven neighborhood activists from different quadrants of Portland are running as a coalition. This historic move may be the first in a series of strategies to bring power from corporate interests back to the citizens of this City. For Commissioner position 4, incumbant Randy Leonard faces neighborhood activists Frank Dixon, Leonard Gard, Mark Lakeman, Paul Liestner, Bonny McKnight, Mary Ann Scwab, and Scott Stephens.
Major Portland media including the Oregonian, Willamette Week and the Mercury have consistently endorsed the incumbant for his style more than his content. On the other side, they have attacked the neighborhood candidates as not being serious candidates with little regard to their ideas and the community support of their ideas. Regardless of which candidate comes in first or second, these neighborhood activists have set an important precedant for working together, sharing resources, and supporting each other in a political campaign. The incumbant, a political professional, has ten times the cash raised than all the other candidates combined. However, these candidates have shown that cooperation-- not competition-- lead to a better vision for all of the inhabitants of our City.
CALL TO ACTION... We, at the Clackamas County PUD campaign, are looking for people to help with campaign visibility! Folks of all abilities are welcome and invited. The other day, we had a very abled-bodied individual in a wheel chair volunteer with us on a street corner... HIS SERVICES WERE ABSOLUTELY VALUABLE. ALSO!!! We are tAbLiNg An EvEnT in Oregon City and need volunteers to help throughout the weekend. ATTENTION: RADICAL CHEERLEADERS!!! I do not know how I would get in touch with you in such short notice, but... if you are out there... and you get this message... WE COULD USE YOUR SUPPORT! Lets make some noise and get the mainstream corporate media to cover this. Fighting the good fight has its pleasures. Of course! Sure! Certainly! But... Don't we need a win?!? Don't we deserve a win?!? THIS IS OUR LAST WEEKEND for this before election day. Let's make some noise!
Anyone who has RE-REGISTERED in the past 3 months in order to vote in the primary needs to be aware that the Elections staff has been selectively changing, omitting and overriding voter registration information!
Some of you have, no doubt, updated your voter registration this year in order to obtain a ballot with the Presidential candidates listed. Oregon is a CLOSED primary state, so only voters registered Democrat or Republican will be given ballots with Presidential candidates. It has been a high priority with the Kucinich campaign to make sure that Greens and Independents and Libertarians are allowed to vote in this primary and not be left out. Therefore, it's with great distress that I report this from an anonymous Kucinich staff member.
On the morning of May Day, mayoral candidate Tom Potter had his second "Ride for the Recumbent" bike ride through the streets of Portland. About twenty people attended the event that rode up and down the Esplanade and Interstate Avenue. As a bicyclist and a reader of Indymedia, I would like to tell you about the bike ride with Tom Potter and why I decided to vote for him.
Francesconi is bad news! When I first moved here, Francesconi was in the process of shutting down the Human Rights Commission--something we could surely use in Portland these days. He voted against the city's anti-war resolution, making Portland one of only two or three cities to vote a resolution down. Even Chicago passed an anti-war resolution! He was the the only vote against extending Dignity Village's lease. He sucks!! And this is a guy who got his start with the Portland Organizing Project. Once he got his liberal credentials in place, he started sucking up to the Portland Business Association and other developer types, so that he could one day be mayor. We need to say NO to him! We need to prevent hime from getting more than 50 per cent in the primary (May 18), so that there can be a run-off later. I'm not too excited about any of the other people, but any of them would be better than Francesconi. And not voting in a race like this IS voting--you would be voting for the status quo--voting for the guy with the most money--voting for big business. Even if you think the whole system is broken (as do I) it's important to send a message against big business backed, right wing candidates like Francesconi. And the weird thing is that NO ONE likes this guy. I was just driving through upper/middle class Irvington, and there were about three Francesconi yard signs up, and tons for Potter. Seriously, who likes this guy, besides the Portland Business Association? Unfortunately he has about 1 MILLION DOLLARS to pretty much slam-dunk this thing--unless everyone says NO. [ read more... ]
They say that Oregon is for dreamers. One dream I have is to see Democracy work. According to a recent AP story, "Rep. Darlene Hooley doesn't plan to comment on the (5th District Democratic Primary) campaign until after the primary election, said spokeswoman Joan Mooney." In my dream democracy, even incumbant candidates would take the time to debate challengers. Otherwise, we end up with the situation we have now - incumbants-for-life.
The incumbency re-elect rate in 2000 was 99% on House races, and around 95% in 2002. It's never been lower than 85% in the last 20 years. We are seeing some movement on election reform so that in parts of the country at least, challengers are on somewhat equal playing fields financially. But in our state when a good candidate like Andrew Kaza comes along, he faces an uphill battle - especially if his opponent refuses to engage in a debate of the issues.
In an interview posted April 5, Jeff Alworth of Oregon Blog (www.webfeet.blogspot.com) asks Randy Leonard how the city can have "anchor companies" who will protect it from economic downturns.
Leonard responds this way: "Last year, I was asked by the Portland Development Commission and the Portland Business Alliance to go to the International Retailers Convention in Las Vegas. (the largest convention in the world). I sat in a stuffy booth for two days talking with major anchor chains about the "new Portland" way of doing business...i.e., we haven't changed our standards, but we have changed our attitude. As a result of those contacts the PDC and I are currently negotiating with some of those large businesses to locate in Portland." Does this sound familiar? Recently it came out that PDC was negotiating with Home Depot regarding Depot locating in a new multi-story building at E. Burnside and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Is Home Depot one of the "major anchor chains" that Leonard talked to? Is Leonard part of the PDC negotiations? This begs the question: Why does the Central Eastside need a "major anchor chain"? Is the C.E.I.D. a mall that needs an "anchor"?
Portland Indymedia is expanding election coverage with 2 new pages. To highlight elections most relevant to the people of Oregon there is an oregon elections 2004 page. This page will collect stories related to local races in Portland and around the state. A page for discussing the presidential race has also been created. The purpose of this page is to collect the various discussions of the presidential race in one place. This page will be unique in that its stories will not appear on the front page newswire as these stories have a tendancy to dominate the newswire at the expense of more locally relevant stories. New Election Pages: [ oregon elections 2004 | selection 2004 ]
I wanted to share with the readers of Portland Indymedia one of the most moving experiences I had in Germany, and that was meeting US troops involved in the war in Iraq. What struck me was the faces of these brave men and women, as opposed to the faces I so often see on Fox News or CNN. To watch mainstream TV news coverage of the war, one might think our soldiers in Iraq are all in their late 20s to early 40s, mature and savvy veterans with the constitution to handle the horrors of this war. The faces I mostly saw were those of 18 to 22 year olds, showing signs of extreme anxiety and depression. My father was a nurse in the Army on Okinawa during the Viet Nam War, and I remember how he would describe soldiers being evacuated from Nam due to serious injury--"kids." This is just one more way the imagery of war is being manipulated to maintain public support at home.
On May 18, 2004 Portland residents will be asked to vote in primary election to identify who will be able to run for Portland Mayor and two city council positions this fall. The last day to file for candidacy was March 9th. 25 people have qualified as candidates for Mayor (23 agreed to run). 7 candidates have qualified for Commissioner # 1 position, (incumbent is Jim Francesconi). 11 candidates have filed for Commissioner position # 4 position (incumbent is Randy Leonard). Residents will be asked to vote on one measure: Measure 26-53 - which will amend the city charter to read "Candidates Receiving Majority Vote at Primary are Elected". (See wording of this measure below).
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