Current Issue :: May 16, 2008 :: Contents
Cover Story
The mice who roared
Most passing drivers just drove. Some honked and waved in solidarity. One yelled, “Get a job!” — to which one of the homeless protesters outside City Hall shouted back, “I have one, thank you!”
If nothing else, the weeks-long Homeless Liberation Front protest — which calls for the suspension of Portland’s camping and sidewalk obstruction ordinances — has dragged the debate on homelessness out of the city’s bureaucratic offices and onto the street.
Sidebars to Cover Story
Chronology of Portland's camping ordinance
Cost comparison of shelter, rent assistance and supportive housing in Portland
Editorial
City needs to back up long-term plan
Column
Fusion centers and the black hole of public oversight
After two substantive interviews with lawyers from Oregon’s Titan Fusion Center, it was apparent to me that if the center has not engaged in investigative fishing expeditions of innocent Oregonians, it is because of Oregon’s strong privacy and open government laws.
News
Camping law procedures under review
On May 10, Mayor Tom Potter noted that discussions on how police enforce the camping ordinance are occurring. The ordinance is the mechanism commonly used for sweeping out homeless campsites and one of the key complaints behind the protest in front of City Hall. Several of the protesters reported that they are routinely rousted, often with a kick from authorities, and forced to find another place to be.
Cold fusion
As director of the Open Government Project of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, John Verdi has lately focused on fusion centers — data-gathering facilities that bring together federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to review and share information related to criminal and terrorist activity. There's one in just about every state of the nation, including Oregon’s in Salem.
