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Cop meets Gen-X
In one of his first public appearances, Police
Chief Mark Kroeker showed the ability to charm a crowd and
the willingness to take controversial stands.
Last week, Kroeker joined his new boss, Mayor Vera Katz,
before X-PAC, a Portland group dedicated to increasing political
participation among twenty-somethings.
Addressing the standing-room-only crowd at the Snake and
Weasel pub on Southeast 12th Avenue, Kroeker drew applause
early on in acknowledging that he came from an agency best-known
for beating Rodney King, spawning Mark Fuhrman and other
dubious exploits in law-enforcement history. "I have spent
32 years in the Los Angeles Police Department," he said,
"but I want you to know I have not come here to bring the
LAPD to Portland."
Kroeker also showed his softer side, saying, "This is from
my heart: I have fallen in love with Portland. It's a beautiful
place and I'm so pleased to be here."
But Kroeker made it clear that when facing every chief's
dilemma of balancing the public's concerns with those of
rank-and-file cops, he is likely to lean toward his officers.
For instance, when asked about police reaction to nonviolent
protest, he brought up the WTO protests in Seattle--not
to join the criticism voiced by many that police employed
unnecessary force, but to express regret that charges against
280 protesters had been dropped.
"The saddest event that came to me out of all that--and
I don't know the details about why this was done--but those
who actually broke the law I now understand will not be
prosecuted."
Though his sentiments obviously ran counter to the concerns
of some in his audience, Kroeker pressed on.
"That's to me the final little step that says you just
kind of let everything go," Kroeker said. "Because if you're
under the rule of law and people harm people or they break
things or they damage property, there has to be a consequence
or the city just kind of comes apart."
--Nick Budnick
An
Uncivil Matter
Brent Leathers' troubles continue
to grow.
Leathers, heir apparent to the Leathers Oil Co. fortune,
was charged last fall with three rape counts and 10 sexual
abuse counts, which could earn him as much as 85 years in
prison. So far, prosecutors have kept the identity of the
victim under wraps during criminal proceedings. But a civil
suit filed against Leathers on Jan. 3 discloses that the
victim is his teenage stepdaughter.
According to the suit, the girl worked at Leathers Oil
Co. last summer under the supervision of her 41-year-old
stepfather. "Brent Leathers used his position of trust and
authority to cultivate a relationship with the minor that
enabled him to engage in a pattern of touching and fondling
her," the suit charges.
The civil suit was filed by the victim and her mother,
who is now in divorce proceedings with Leathers. The suit
also names his mother, Lila Leathers, who runs Leathers
Oil, and the company itself.
The rape allegedly occurred at the family home early on
Sept. 29, while the girl's mother was in Seattle. Although
the rape did not occur on company property, the suit claims
that Leathers' duties as an employee were a "necessary precursor
to the attack and rape" and that company officials should
have intervened when they saw the relationship developing.
"Oregon law allows us to hold the employer liable," says
Jan Baisch, a Portland lawyer representing the girl and
her mother. A December 1999 Oregon Court of Appeals ruling,
for example, found the city of North Bend liable for one
of its police officers' assaulting a teenage female police
cadet while on and off duty.
The civil suit alleges that Leathers, his mother and the
company are liable for $10 million in damages, plus unspecified
punitive damages. Brent Leathers' attorney declined comment
on pending criminal charges. Lila Leathers was unavailable
for comment.
Leathers' criminal trial is set to begin Feb. 8.
--Philip Dawdy
Murmurs
SCUTTLEBUTT
WITH AN EDGE
Call 911! The results of a disciplinary investigation of the
city's Bureau of Emergency Communications landed on Commissioner
Dan Saltzman's desk Jan. 4. Word is that bureau boss
Sherrill Whittemore could be sent packing by the end of
the week.
A belated New Year's horoscope for city commish Jim
Francesconi: batten down the hatches, rough seas ahead.
Not only do you have O columnist Steve Duin gunning
for you, but last week Mayor Vera Katz said much-needed
cash for low-income housing will probably have to come from
parks and fire--two bureaus that Francesconi heads.
Speaking of cats (sorry)...This week's New York Times
Magazine features an interview with Portlander Alice
C. DeChant, who has spent the last 10 years in the cast
of Cats. DeChant, who's coming back to her native
town with aching hips and knees, is the longest-running
cast member of the show and a self-described "dog person."
Vicki Ross, supervisor of the Legislature's information-systems
department, was taken aback when a young woman showed up
in the basement of the Capitol and disrobed down to a string
bikini. It was a 40th birthday present to one of her male
employees from his brother, who'd called ahead to clear
it with the boss. Problem is, Ross had been told to expect
a "singing telegram," not a stripper.
The Portland School Board made a major about-face Monday
night, approving McCoy Academy's charter school application.
One of the key behind-the-scenes movers in the turnabout
was Craig Berkman, who contributed $25,000 to McCoy
and promised to raise an additional $75,000. Berkman, who
sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination in '94, can
now point to his involvement in a big charter-school win
should he heed his friends' urgings to run again in '02.
We're not sure what's behind it, but this bumper sticker
appeared at our office last week.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
"I like to say I did at least
one productive thing during session."
--GOP House member Max Williams,
on the pregnancy of his wife, Gina,
due to deliver in February.
Setting
It Straight
The Marlboro man wears a big hat, but
state health officials want you to know he might not be as
manly as he appears.
The latest ill to be pegged to smoking is, as Bob Dole
might say, erectile dysfunction.
The Oregon Health Division says smoking is the leading
cause of male impotence, and it's about time men and those
who try to love them knew it. To that end, the Health Division
is kicking off a wry ad campaign making fun of men who think
smoking is sexy.
The campaign, paid for by cigarette taxes from 1996's Measure
44, features billboards and television spots in which cigarettes
hang limp and unimpressive from the lips of male smokers.
The point is to make both men and women aware that their
troubles in the bedroom may not be as inexplicable as they
think, says Scott Ballo of Pacwest Communications, who is
coordinating the campaign. "I think this definitely crosses
gender lines," he says.
The ads are part of a larger push by the Health Division
to point out that cigarettes affect people other than smokers.
There will also be spots featuring children who have spent
their lifetimes breathing in secondhand smoke.
--Patty Wentz
Dwight
Flight
Pete Schulberg isn't the only high-profile columnist
bailing out of The Oregonian. Longtime sports potato
Dwight Jaynes is joining Schulberg in the lucrative world
of talk radio. Both will be part of the new lineup when
KPAM switches its format from Christian contemporary to
news and talk on May 1.
Schulberg's departure, reported by The Business Journal
on Jan. 7, had been rumored since mid-December. Jaynes'
departure wasn't widely known until late last week.
Neither Schulberg nor Jaynes returned WW's calls,
but their exit from the printed pages seems to be motivated
by cash. Schulberg, who got his start in radio, told the
Journal that KPAM, owned by multi-millionaire Robert
Pamplin Jr., offered him "substantially more" than the O.
Sources say the AM station more than doubled his annual
newspaper salary, which the Journal pegged at $75,000.
Pamplin is flashing his wallet to others as well. KATU
anchor Paul Linnman says he recently turned down a slot
on the new radio team. Linnman wouldn't say what the salary
was but made it clear it was tempting. "It was an incredible
offer," he says. "Those guys apparently have a very nice
budget to work with."
A six-figure salary, of course, is only as good as it lasts.
Both Schulberg and Jaynes reportedly were given contracts
of at least three years--an eternity in the volatile talk-radio
business.
Schulberg's last column will be Saturday, according to
Oregonian executive editor Peter Bhatia. Jaynes,
he says, may stick around a bit longer but will be gone
before the Jan. 30 kickoff of Super Bowl XXXIV.
Both Schulberg and Jaynes were heavily hyped by The
Oregonian, and their departure is certainly a loss for
the daily, which has promoted only a handful of other regular
columnists, such as Steve Duin, Margie Boulé and
David Reinhard. Jaynes, at least, was hoping to keep his
column while hosting a radio show--an arrangement fellow
sports columnist Ken Vance, of The Columbian, has
with KFXX. The O, however, bans staffers from freelancing
for competing local media outlets. "We look at these things
on a case-by-case basis," says Bhatia, "but like most papers
we don't allow [staff writers] to work for competitors,
and we certainly see [KPAM] as a competitor."
And what about the grumbling that Boulé often fills
in over at KXL? Bhatia says temporary gigs and guest appearances
are still OK. That's probably a good policy. The last thing
the paper needs is another high-profile defection.
--John Schrag
Corrections
In the Miss Dish column last week, we incorrectly
stated that the Monte Carlo restaurant would be sold to
the Portland Development Commission. Instead, the Gardener
and Rancher's Association, which owns the property, plans
to sell it to a developer.
In addition, a story about Robert Pamplin Jr. ("A Man and
His Island," Jan. 5, 2000) was inadvertently accompanied
by a photo of his father, Robert Pamplin Sr.
WW regrets the errors.
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Willamette Week | originally
published January 12,
1999
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