News

Respect and trust in the Portland Police Bureau is at an all-time low. Citizens are fed up with disengaged police management, an impotent police review board, and cavalier cops.

Voters are dissatisfied and city hall is unresponsive.

A dozen specters of unfinished business loom over the Bureau, some deserved, some perhaps not. There have been repairs over the years, mostly patchwork, but transformation is not yet conceivable, much less on the table for discussion.

So what constitutes reform for the Portland Police Bureau? … more

Jason Renaud is the co-founder of the Mental Health Association of Portland and a candidate for Portland City Council, see www.jasonforportland.com

Open your daily newspaper, or go online and scan the news sites. You’ll find scant “new” news. Don’t get scared. It’s just today as managing editors part out holiday leave.

In the post-holiday edition press releases puff up to front pages stories, recipes get printed in larger type, the op ed and letters to the editor bin gets shaken out.

What we read is the future where few if any journalists gather the news, type in a sensible and somewhat impartial manner, print on cheap paper, find adverting dollars to supplant the various costs, and throw it on your doorstep each morning. … more

Local mental health advocate Jason Renaud has filed for a seat on the Portland City Council. Renaud co-founded the Mental Health Association of Portland, described by The Oregonian as “Oregon’s foremost independent advocate for persons with mental illness and addiction.”

“As an advocate I hear growing cynicism about city services leaving people homeless, hungry, jobless, and afraid of the police – and worse, that to attempt change is futile,” Renaud told The Portland Sentinel. … more

If you want change in City Hall – it’s available now through city funded campaign fund candidates. To make change happen, contact me for a petition form and make the $5 contribution today.

Call NOW – 503-367-6128 – and get a signature form today.

You can participate in this democracy and help new voices and new issues enter the doors of City Hall.

Thanks to our friends Chris, Michael, David, Gloria, Scott, Sarah, Paula, Jason, Greg, Moses, Carolyn, Al, Brad, & Eli. You’re all helping to make this campaign move forward.

Guest Opinion by Jason Renaud

Jason Renaud is co-founder of the Mental Health Association of Portland and a candidate for Portland City Commissioner, Position No. 3 – currently held by Dan Saltzman. For more information see www.jasonforportland.com.

Over the past week Police Chief Rosie Sizer and Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman have been backpedaling in damage control mode, trying to assure police officers and local advocates their careers and reputations aren’t in tatters.

In their hurry to discipline Officer Christopher Humphreys, they missed an opportunity to learn a vital truth about cops. They’re human. … more

Ready to vote now and get Jason Renaud elected to Portland City Council?

Not so fast.

TOMORROW NIGHT – Thursday, December 10, from 5 PM until 7 PM, campaign volunteers will be at Backspace Gallery, 115 NW 5th Avenue, to collect signatures and contributions of $5.

Why just $5?

The City Campaign Finance Fund is a closely-monitored program which provided QUALIFIED candidates with $150,000 to campaign for one of three seat in the May 2010 election.

To be qualified candidates need to gather 1000 signed forms and 1000 contributions of $5. No more, no less.

So – don’t fight the power when you can be the power. You can vote for Jason – but first we need your signature and $5 at Backspace Gallery.

The Chasse case: Portland police need more than time off - Guest Opinion by Jason Renaud, published in The Oregonian, November 13, 2009

City Council Accused Of “Impunity” On Chasse – Given 7 Actions To “Begin Rebuilding” – from The Portland Mercury, September 30, 2009

Mental health association volunteer issues plea to Portland council – from The Oregonian, September 30, 2009

Safety concerns prompt OHSU to mull gun rules – from The Portland Tribune, November 6, 2008

Historical art trove is Jefferson High School legacy – from The Oregonian, October 30, 2008

Jason Renaud, founder of the Mental Health Association of Portland and longtime advocate for the mentally disabled, has announced that he will run for Commissioner Dan Saltzman’s seat in this spring’s election.

Renaud has been an outspoken critic of how the city has handled the aftermath of the death of James Chasse, a schizophrenic man who passed away in the back of a police car after being beaten by the police.

His announcement comes a day after Saltzman backed off on suspending an officer involved in the Chasse’s death for a separate incident.

Saltzman has yet to announce whether he will run for his seat again. … more

But, Saltzman explained, it was not because of union pressure, but something much simpler:

“I didn’t fully understand the difference.”

He had, he explained, been police commissioner for only a year at the time, and didn’t have all the details down. Yet, somehow the difference is clear to a lot of people who have never been police commissioner at all.

This raises some entirely new questions about the episode:

What did Dan Saltzman know, and when did he know it?

And does he know it yet? … more