Mailbox

[April 25th, 2007] ROGUE OF THE WEAK

I was quite disappointed to find Rep. Tina Kotek named "Rogue of the Week" [WW, April 18, 2007].

Rep. Kotek has an obvious personal stake in both the protection from discrimination provided by Senate Bill 2 and the legal recognition of her family granted by House Bill 2007. But her role in building the fair-minded majority that passed this legislation was more than symbolic. After winning the Democratic primary in a "safe" district, Tina rolled up her sleeves and worked hard to elect the 31st House Democrat, without whom equality would have never even received a vote.

Last fall, she and I joined colleagues on the coast to knock on doors in pouring rain, supporting a candidate who delivered the Democratic majority by a few hundred votes. At the same time this "Rogue" was experiencing the discrimination and second-class status ascribed to some Oregonians, she was toiling in the rain and cold to elect enough pro-equality Representatives to enable a solution.

During—and even before—this legislative session, Rep. Kotek has provided steadfast leadership of a sort that is rare from freshman legislators. With all due respect, I suggest that Mr. [Byron] Beck and Mr. [Henry] Stern ask themselves if they have done as much to advance the cause of equality in the last decade as she has done in the last year.

I am honored to serve with Tina Kotek. Willamette Week has bungled its coverage of this victory, but I have no doubt that she will give you many more to cover in the future.

Diane Rosenbaum

Speaker Pro Tempore

Oregon House of Representatives

YOU SAY CIVIL UNION, I SAY GRANDE MOCHACCINO

When I go to a coffee shop, I always browse the menu for my favorite drink. Establishments with a French flair might call it café au lait. Others prefer cafe con leche. It doesn't matter what you call it, though—it's simply coffee with milk. And it's damn good.

In Oregon, we are on our way to being one of the few states granting legal recognition of same-sex relationships. The terminology that we use does not lessen the importance of this monumental legislation. I am overjoyed that the hard work of Basic Rights Oregon and Representative Tina Kotek will allow same-sex couples all over the state to be recognized in a way they deserve.

Shame on Byron Beck, Henry Stern [Rogue of the Week, April 18] and City Commissioner Sam Adams. Only in Willamette Week, where Rogue of the Week is usually reserved for greedy corporations or crooked cops, would there be criticism for such a landmark piece of legislation as The Oregon Family Fairness Act.

Kristi Ketchum

Northeast Mason Street

Editor's Note: See Queer Window. And for many, many more reader responses to last week's Rogue, check out the comments online: www.wweek.com/editorial/3323/8833/.

IF YOU RESTORE IT, THEY WILL COME

Nick Deshais' "kids vs. nature" theme in "Field of Schemes" [WW, March 28, 2007] was a disservice to the volunteers who labored to improve the environment at Whitaker Ponds nature area and meet the needs of Little League.

Deshais omitted that the ball fields are landlocked by Portland Public Schools property that, when sold, will render the fields inaccessible. Diverse interests served on the committee, including neighborhoods, schools, Slough Watershed Council, Portland Parks Board, and Little League, all of whom committed to address Little League's concerns.

The Whitaker Ponds nature area, home to the Columbia Slough Watershed Council, provides thousands of kids outdoor nature experiences annually. Hundreds of kids and parents from the large Hispanic population who live and work in the Columbia Slough watershed attend the Explorando el Columbia Slough celebration each year. Whitaker Ponds is a site for adult classes in water quality and watershed health.

Deshais states, "Until the early 1990s nobody really gave the ponds a second thought." That's news to those of us, including citizens living throughout the Columbia Slough watershed,

who have militated for Slough cleanup and its fish and wildlife habitat protection and restoration since the early 1980s—and earlier.

The only "scheme" in his piece was how Deshais could twist a thoughtful effort to improve an environmental education site for kids and adults, while simultaneously addressing the long-term interest of Lakeside Little League, into a "kids vs. nature" polemic. Fortunately, City Council adopted a plan that ensures kids have improved access to nature and sports fields.

Mike Houck

Director, Urban Greenspaces Institute

MEASURE 11 PUTS CRIMINALS IN THEIR PLACE: PRISON

David Rogers says, "You can't in any concrete way make a connection between the passage of Measure 11 and the reduction in crime rates that Oregon has experienced" [Q&A, WW, April 11, 2007].

Nonsense.

From 1995, when Measure 11 took effect, to 2002, Oregon's violent crime rate decreased for seven consecutive years. The total decrease was 44 percent, more than any other state.

The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission says that, for every 10 percent increase in incarceration, violent crime drops by 3.4 percent. Oregon has had ten 10-percent increases in incarceration rate since 1995 [Ed. Note: Rodstein submitted a correction stating that the number of increases is unclear, but probably between three and six; see comments section].

Two noted academic criminologists, people generally not fans of incarceration, independently estimated that increased incarceration accounts for 25 percent of the national decrease in violent crime. Using even this conservative estimate, this translates to tens of thousands of violent crimes prevented in Oregon by Measure 11.

As for Mr. Rogers' claims about incarceration rates, in 2005 Oregon ranked 34th among states in incarceration rate despite ranking 4th in property crime. According to the Criminal Justice Commission, in 2005 84 percent of convicted felons received non-prison sentences.

According to the Oregon Prison Population Forecast, approximately 3,500 violent criminals and child molesters are in prison instead of on the street because of Measure 11. These people were convicted of aggravated assault, armed robbery, kidnapping, child molestation, forcible rape, manslaughter, attempted murder and murder. Does Rogers believe that virtually none of them would commit more crimes if released? That's what you'd have to believe to accept his statement.

Howard Rodstein

Crime Victims United

Lake Oswego