Drunken Brawl

[June 6th, 2007] Like a pair of drunks in a pissing match, Multnomah County and the City of Portland have been whizzing all over each other about who should fund the local detox tank.

City Commissioner Dan Saltzman likened the battle to "something of a game of chicken."

Here's why: When county Chairman Ted Wheeler proposed defunding Hooper Detox Center, City Hall threatened to kill an innovative program credited with reducing crime. But in the end it was Wheeler, a newly elected pol, who blinked this week and backed down to City Hall to save the program.

"I'm willing to eat some crow on this in order to make it happen," Wheeler said Tuesday.

The standoff started when Wheeler, facing a budget shortfall, announced in April the county would stop paying about $1 million to fund Portland's "sobering station." Wheeler says the Hooper drunk tank is a police service and the city should pay instead.

Before going public with his budget, Wheeler went to City Hall to plead his case for the city to pick up the tab. But by all accounts, the freshman politician's pitch fell flat. "He looked a little bit like a rookie," says City Commissioner Erik Sten.

A very public round of hair-pulling followed. In a May 15 op-ed piece about the drunk tank in The Oregonian, city Commissioner Randy Leonard accused Wheeler of "emotional blackmail at its worst" in asking the city to fund the drunk tank. "I don't respond well to that, and the mayor does not respond well to that," Leonard tells WW.

Wheeler acknowledges he rubbed city commissioners the wrong way with the request. But he denies it was amateurish. "I didn't really have the luxury of cultivating relationships," he says. "I still think it was the right thing to do."

Sten says the city could easily have found money in its $39 million budget surplus to pay for the drunk tank without sacrificing programs. But led by Leonard and Mayor Tom Potter, the city played hardball instead.

Potter proposed cutting Project 57, an 18-month-old program that spends $1.3 million to rent 57 jail beds from the county. Due to a shortage of jail beds, drug dealers and thieves are often released to make room for violent criminals and sex offenders. Project 57 aims to keep street criminals in jail so they make their court appearances and enter treatment.

Despite some glitches (See "Jailhouse Knock," WW, Feb. 8, 2006)—court rules still allow one in three Project 57 arrestees to be released—boosters say the program has been a success. Petty crime has dropped 16 percent downtown, compared with a 3 percent drop citywide, though it's not clear how big a role Project 57 played.

The program was Leonard's pet project, though Leonard told WW he would have parted with it as a "tragic loss." Turns out he doesn't have to.

Wheeler and Leonard met last week over coffee and agreed the county would fund the drunk tank if the city pays for Project 57. Wheeler met with Potter Tuesday, June 5 to make the same offer. Potter spokesman John Doussard said after the meeting that the deal is not finalized but appears headed in a positive direction.

So why'd Wheeler give in?

"The community expects both of these programs to be funded," Wheeler says. "This gives us one year of breathing room where we can have reasoned conversations."

Meanwhile, it took WW two hours to do what the city accomplished with two weeks of threats and name-calling. By cutting the 10 programs in the accompanying chart, the city could have saved $1.3 million, funded the drunk tank and kept Project 57.

No consulting fees required.

WHAT IT COSTS & WHERE IT GOES

$260,000: Citywide tree policy
$250,000: Oregon Ballet Theatre
$200,000: "Enhance Government collaboration with underrepresented groups"
$150,000: Planning for world oil shortage
$100,000: Oregon Council for Hispanic Affairs
$100,000: Wordstock book fair
$100,000: ArtPartners school program
$60,000: Pregnancy trainers ("doulas")
$50,000: Fire & Rescue "cultural assessment survey"
$46,000: Sustainable city government

TOTAL: $1.316 million