Hail To The Thief

[November 7th, 2007]

The Portland Police Bureau expects to spend $600,000 guarding presidential candidates who campaign here in 2008. That sum could pay the annual salaries of 15 new officers.

Police spokesman Sgt. Brian Schmautz says the “dignitary protection” budget will cover officer OT, motorcades and the costs of securing the sites where candidates will beg for votes and cash.

The $600,000 sought from City Council by the Police Bureau is part of mid-year budget adjustments released Oct. 31. The figure could change depending on how many candidates visit, how often they come and how many protesters show up.

Oregon looks “very competitive” in November 2008, especially if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, according to an August poll by Rasmussen Reports. And though the candidates are raising record sums—Clinton, for instance, has raised more than $90 million—the costs of shielding them from would-be assassins, random wackjobs and peaceful picketers falls to taxpayers.

Inevitably, local law enforcement winds up shelling out for candidate security, even though the federal Secret Service is responsible for guarding “major” presidential and vice presidential candidates. (Sorry, Dennis.)

Former Mayor Vera Katz made a show of sending bills to pols whose security drained the city budget at the same time that the candidates were collecting checks at private fundraisers.

The first such invoice, for over $50,000, went to Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) in 2002, for costs incurred by the presence of his friends George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Smith blew it off. That year, Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury reimbursed the city a measly $1,500 after his campaign brought Bill Clinton to town.

That’s the last time anyone remembers a candidate covering costs, says John Doussard, Mayor Tom Potter’s spokesman. Why

“You’ve obviously never worked on a political campaign before,” Doussard says. “You stiff everybody.”

Will Clinton pay if she comes? “I’m happy to ask,” says City Commissioner Erik Sten, who’s on her Oregon steering committee but not speaking for the campaign. “But they’re not going to.”

Without an up-front agreement with visiting candidates, the city has little recourse, says Larry Oxman, chief financial officer of ASAP Collections Inc. on Southeast Ankeny Street.

“You can’t just make something up,” Oxman says. “If you have a debt that’s not agreed on by two parties, how can it be a debt?”

Try telling that to the tax collector.