News from Gerrymandistan
The Lane County political landscape is an arcane land of magic and mystery to the outsider. To insider it is another Gerrymandistan. One might blame it on Salem but that tactic overlooks the rural mindset that often prevails in tight decision-making spaces. Yesterday commissioners voted 3-2 to redraw their five districts under a controversial scenario praised by some as a boon to representation and decried by others as manipulation of boundaries for political gain.
West Lane Commissioner Jay Bozievich said his scenario No. 8 will consolidate the Springfield District and improve representation for rural residents. But detractors at a well-attended public hearing called Bozievich’s move a blatant gerrymander that could prompt a lawsuit.
But Bozievich, East Lane Commissioner Faye Stewart and Springfield Commissioner Sid Leiken voted to approve new district boundaries that will bring the Glenwood and Jasper-Natron areas into the Springfield District and place residents in north Eugene in the North Eugene District.
Bozievich and Stewart, the county’s rural commissioners, said the current boundaries require them to represent numerous communities scattered throughout their sprawling districts that have little in common.
But North Eugene Commissioner Rob Handy and South Eugene Commissioner Pete Sorenson voted against the scenario, in part because it will relocate downtown Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood from Handy’s district to Sorenson’s.
Yesterday evening Labor union members joined Occupy Portland protesters in a march that drew hundreds to the streets of downtown Portland. The Oregonian estimated the crowd at about 1,000. in other words between 1500 and 2000
Marchers included children and dogs, babies in strollers and people on bikes. Little rush hour traffic disruption was reported. Occupy Portland demonstrators said in a statement that the march was an effort to engage the city in their efforts. About 300 protesters have camped in two downtown park squares since Oct. 6th. Demonstrators say they're protesting what they call "the outrageous influence of corporate money throughout our political system."
What Not To Put In Your Gun
Portland police have made new rules for making sure they're firing beanbags, not live ammunition, when all they intend to do is stop a suspect.
The safeguards were announced Tuesday as a grand jury continued looking into Officer Dane Reister's mistake in loading lethal rounds into a beanbag shotgun and wounding a man.
Portland police say Reister's mistake was the first since the bureau adopted the beanbag shotgun in 1997. The man Reister hit in June survived, but his lawyer said he might have permanent nerve damage.
The Oregonian has reported other law enforcement agencies have more stringent policies, and the Portland bureau's procedures faced criticism."The less lethal program has had a 15-year long record of being safe and effective and is an important tool in safely resolving dangerous incidents," said an email from Larry O'Dea, acting as chief in the absence of Mike Reese. Reese was at a police chiefs conference in Chicago.Among the rules, the Oregonian (http://bit.ly/vY2tDM ) reported:
— Officers certified to carry the beanbag weapons must check out the guns from the precinct armory at the start of their shifts.
— They must load the beanbag shotguns only with bureau-issued, beanbag ammunition stored in a carrier attached to the side of the orange-painted, 12-gauge shotguns.
— Officers are encouraged to have another officer check how they load the weapons.
— Only supervisors will carry loose, replacement beanbag ammunition.
In Case of Emergency, Take Cover Under the Radar. If you don’t have Radar, a Desk Will Do:
Under the Radar: There is a report posted on Indymedia that members of the Finance Committee at Occupy Portland took over the action’s domain name and associate email addresses earlier this week. And as an afterthought, they formed a (non-profit) corporation and then transferred all of the money which had been collected for the movement through kind donations from our community. The plot thickens…OccupyPortland.org is no longer affiliated with our protest or our movement.The website, OccupyPDX.org, is serving as a backup address. Pedaling through this posting, on the rusted-out, rickety newscycle – skeptical, actually - I come across this: “they are willfully and falsely representing themselves as speaking for the Occupy Portland General Assembly.”
And the corker…
Anonymous has heard about the recent actions of portions of the Finance Committee for #OccupyPortland forming it's own corporation, and the subsequent theft of both the #OccupyPortland funds and the movement's primary domain name. These actions are not acceptable. The will not be allowed to stand.
The "Occupy Portland, Inc" entity was formed by *********************(censorship here…mea culpa***********************. Any claims of one of these people they did not know what another was doing are false. These people have been in constant communications regarding all their actions. The theft of the domain name was planned and orchestrated by all of them. The $500 used to purchase the domain name came out of #OccupyPortland funds. These people, and others that are part of the "Global Occupy Focus Group" have persistently acted against the best interests of the #OccupyPortland movement, including making a directed attempt to destroy the GA and facilitation process, in order to replace it with their own. These people must be rejected. These people have committed fraud against the 99%. These people have been bought out by the 1%.
Other members, besides those directly involved in the corporation, include:
We are the 99%. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.
- KBOO