Brue Who? Looks like WW's political radar suffered a bit of a blind spot. Our recent roundup of likely candidates for state offices ("Yikes, Election 2000 is almost here," Aug. 25, 1999) missed Gary Bruebaker, a Democrat planning to run for state treasurer. Bruebaker has served as deputy treasurer for seven years and earlier this year was elected president of the national Government Finance Officers Association. Most importantly, he enjoys the endorsement of his boss, Treasurer Jim Hill. Smells Like Tea Spirit Portland's most creative urban planner is at it again. On Sept. 8, Mark Lakeman will unveil City Repair Project's latest creation: the Teen-Pony mobile teahouse. The customized pickup truck is modeled after Lakeman's Tea Horse, which travels to parks and open spaces around the city providing a community gathering place. Teen-Pony, however, is just for young people. Working with two local youth programs--Harry's Mother and Outside In--Lakeman plans to use street kids to staff the whimsically decorated 1985 Nissan. Lakeman describes it as an "ephemeral social sculpture" that will be built and unbuilt at a new location each week to teach cooperation and communication. The aim, he says, is to "teach kids what non-programmed, non-commercial gathering space is like." Lakeman is best-known for Share-It Square, an ad-hoc neighorhood piazza at the intersection of Southeast Sherrett Street and 9th Avenue. His latest project is funded by a $4,000 grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council. The truck, which will debut Sept. 8 at Couch Park, will be making weekly stops through the end of October at kid hangouts around town, including Lincoln High School, the Self-Enhancement Center and Chapman Square. Lakeman, who played football for Lincoln, hopes the Teen-Pony will also become a fixture at high-school football games to foster positive connections between kids whose schools are battling it out on the gridiron. --Patty Wentz Non Compos Mentis A high-powered coalition of lawyers, jailers, social workers and advocates is exploring a proposal to change how Multnomah County deals with mentally ill people who run afoul of the law. The idea is to set up a special "mental-health court," patterned after drug-diversion court, at which unstable individuals convicted of minor crimes could be sent to treatment instead of being confined to a jail cell. "We desperately need a better way of dealing with these people," says Ed Jones, a lawyer who has represented indigent defendants for 15 years. "Most of them are not criminals in the typical sense of the word. They're not out robbing people or committing burglaries. It's mischief, trespassing, shoplifting." In 1995, approximately 1,550--or 13 percent--of county inmates had psychiatric problems. More than half of these inmates had no history of violent crime, but in many cases their illnesses repeatedly drove them back to jail: They averaged nine bookings over a 10-year period. Violent criminals would not be eligible for the proposed court, according to Assistant District Attorney John Bradley. "First, the court would have to find that an individual is not likely to be a danger to the public," he says. The proposal was suggested by the Multnomah County chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, a private nonprofit advocacy group that represents families and spouses of people with mental illness. "People with mental illness should not go to jail for being mentally ill," says Jason Renaud, executive director of the organization. "People with Alzheimer's don't go there for having Alzheimer's. People with Parkinson's disease don't go there for having Parkinson's disease. Mental illness is a biological disorder. We're plugging a hole in the system we should have plugged 50 years ago." To date, discussions have included prosecutors, public defenders, county and state mental-health officials, representatives from the offices of County Chair Beverly Stein and Sheriff Dan Noelle and County Commissioners Diane Linn and Sharron Kelley. So far, none of these parties has objected to the proposal, but that's partly because there's no price tag yet. For the court to work, the county would have to find money to pay for expanded treatment programs, although advocates say the county would save money in the long run. Not everyone likes the idea, however. Kevin Fitts, a local advocate for consumers of mental-health services, denounces the "dangerous tactic" of trying to shape public policy without including mentally ill people on the task force. Before the first gavel can drop, the court needs an affirmative ruling from county Presiding Judge James Ellis and the endorsement of the county Board of Commissioners. --Chris Lydgate The PDX Channel FOLLOW-UP You won't see it at Lloyd Cinemas, but Portlanders can finally catch Girl from the comfort of their own couches. The film, based on Blake Nelson's novel about West Hills teen angst, was picked up by Cinemax and is a regular in the movie channel's current rotation. Even though most of Nelson's hometown references have been stripped from the script and there is a distinct lack of rain (the movie was shot in L.A.), there's still enough Rose City left for local viewers to feel at home. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published September 8, 1999