Portland Police & Alternatives

Portland Police Headquarters – Photo by Aaron Hockley

Portland Street Response logo

PROGRESS & CHALLENGES FOR PORTLAND POLICE AND POLICING ALTERNATIVES:

presented Via ZOOM: FEBRUARY 8, 7-8:30 PM

This zoom webinar was presented live on February 8, 2023, and will be available via video and podcast on or about February 15. The public and League members were invited to attend the live webinar and submit questions via the chat.

The panelists were:

Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes, Jr., Chairperson, Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform. Dr. Haynes made the opening comments, discussing police accountability and oversight and what has changed in the last 5 years.

- Juan Chavez, Project Director and Attorney, Oregon Justice Resource Center, updated the audience on the developments and challenges with the Department of Justice’s settlement agreement.

- Gina Ronning, Ph.D., M.S, Member of the Portland Police Bureau’s Training Advisory Council (TAC) and Focused Intervention Team Community Oversight Group (FITCOG). Dr. Ronning gave an update on TAC and FITCOG, with an emphasis on TAC’s program successes, challenges, and upcoming areas of focus.

- Kaia Sand, Executive Director and Columnist, Street Roots Newspaper, gave an update on progress and concerns regarding the Portland Street Response.

James Ofsink, a League member and Chair of the LWVPDX Justice Interest Group, served as the moderator.

This program was recorded by MetroEast Community Media and will be available as a video and Podcast by February 15 from links on this website. The video will also be cablecast on the public access TV channels, as shown in the schedule below.

Climate Emergency Webinar

Climate Emergency: New Federal Funding Opportunities

Thursday, December 8 – 6:30-8:00pm via Zoom

LWVPDX is cosponsoring this webinar, presented by the League of Women Voters of Corvallis.

The three panelists are:

- Jeff Hammarlund: Policy Advisor and Professor Portland State University
- Christy Splitt: State of Oregon Dept of Energy
- State of Oregon Environmental Justice Council representative

The panel will explore recent federal legislation, especially the Inflation Reduction Act, to show opportunities for action by Oregonians to mitigate the climate emergency. Some questions that will be addressed are: What programs are included for greenhouse gas reduction? How will Oregon benefit in terms of clean renewable energy? How can organizations, households and individuals benefit? What are the opportunities to improve environmental justice for communities of color and low-income communities in Oregon?

Learn more and register to attend this event here.

Election Debrief Panel: Video & Podcast

Election Debrief: What’s Next? Click below to watch the video of our November 29 panel discussion.

To listen to the podcast of this program click here.

A panel of experienced political analysts discussed the implications of the November 8 election results with a focus on Portland, Multnomah County and major statewide elections.

Anna Griffin, Vice President of news, talk and podcasts for Oregon Public Broadcasting. Before OPB, she spent 11 years as a reporter and editor at The Oregonian and 10 years as a reporter at the Charlotte Observer. She served as a 2011-12 Nieman fellow at Harvard University.

John Horvick, Senior Vice President at DHM Research. John serves as political commentator with expertise in opinion research and community based politics. His areas of interest include electoral politics, healthcare, education, land use planning, natural resource use, energy and utilities, transportation, and taxation. John is often quoted in local media such as OPB, the Pamplin Media group, the Oregonian, the Willamette Week, and national publications.

Dr. Dan Qi, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Reed College. Dr. Qi writes about race-ethnicity, and identity politics, especially in Asian American Politics and immigration, and does research on gender politics, news media and government, political behavior, public opinion, and political economy.

Alex Zielinski, News Editor for the Portland Mercury, writes about economic inequities, police, civil rights, and city politics. She received awards in 2022 for her articles from the Society of Professional Journalism. https://www.portlandmercury.com/authors/4416614/alex-zielinski.

Our evening’s moderator was Barbara Dudley, LWVPDX member and Senior Fellow at Portland State University’s Mark O. Hatfield School of Government. Our chat facilitator was James Ofsink, League member, who leads our League’s Criminal Justice Group and is serving Multnomah County taxpayers as a Tax Supervising and Conservation Commissioner, appointed by the governor. MetroEast Community Media recorded this event for video replay and podcast. Here again is the link to the podcast.

See the schedule below for times when event is being replayed on public access television channels.

Nonpartisan Info for November Election

For the recent 2022 General Election, we provided nonpartisan information for Multnomah County voters on our November 8, 2022 Election page. Find links to candidates’ statements and explanations of ballot measures.

When you mail your ballot or deposit it at a drop site in Oregon, you can trust that it will be counted accurately. The latest Election Results are here.

From start to finish, Oregon’s elections are run with high standards. Accurate registration lists, secure and transparent ballot counting, and post-election audits are built into Vote by Mail.

Learn more at Oregonvotes.gov. #TrustedInfo2022

October 5 Gun Safety Panel

VIEW THE VIDEO or LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

How can we protect our communities and schools from gun violence?

This panel Discussion is also available as a podcast here.

PANELISTS:

The panelists (left to right):

Dr. Kathleen Carlson, Chair, Gun Violence Prevention Research Center (GVPRC) at Oregon Health and Science University. In 2022, Dr. Carlson launched the GVPRC to collect objective data and evaluate novel interventions to inform policy makers in their work.

Pastor Edward Williams, FITCOG Chair . In June 2021, the Portland Police Bureau launched the Focused Intervention Team Community Oversight Group in response to the growing gun violence crisis in Portland. FITCOG works to reduce gun violence through prevention, intervention, and response.

Andrew Scott, Chair, Portland Public Schools, Board of Education. Andrew has more than 20 years of experience in the public sector and currently serves as Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Metro. He grew up in Southwest Portland and attended PPS schools. His two children currently attend a PPS school.

Paul Kemp, representing Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership. Paul Kemp became an advocate for responsible gun use and safety after his brother-in-law was shot and killed in the 2012 mass shooting at the Clackamas Town Center.

Moderator Marge Easley covers gun safety legislation for the LWV of Oregon Action Committee.

MetroEast Community Media recorded this program for the video and podcast.