The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission recently produced the following summary of the 2008 Uniform Crime Reports:

In 2008, Oregon had large decreases in both violent crime and property crime. We had the largest decrease of any state in our violent crime rate (10.6%) and the 8^th largest decrease in the property crime rate at 6.9%. The last time the violent crime rate in Oregon was lower was 1970, and the property crime rate has not been lower since 1966. This moves Oregon down to the 40^th highest violent crime rate and the 23^rd highest property crime rate, both of these rankings are record lows for Oregon.

We now have only a slightly higher property crime rate than the U.S. (about 2% higher). Rural areas had larger drops in both property and violent crime than the state as a whole.

The first table compares Oregon with other states and the second table compares the 10 largest cities with each other and the rest of the state. 

Information courtesy of

Peter Ozanne

Deputy Chief Operating  Officer for Public Safety

Executive Director, Public Safety Coordinating Council

Multnomah County

OP

Photo by David Ashton, EastPDX News.com

Overlook Village Business Association Takes a Bite Out of Crime

By Mark Wells, Crime Prevention Coordinator

Office of Neighborhood Involvement

            Portlanders have been enjoying the rich mix of flavors and products for sale from locally owned and run businesses along N. Killingsworth from I-5 to Greeley for many years now.  Whether it’s enjoying fresh Zappoli’s from DiPrima Dolci Bakery, a tasty glass of wine at the Hop and Vine, or a hot slice of handcrafted pizza from Atomic Pizza, residents in the Overlook neighborhood take great delight and pride in their local businesses.  In a challenging economic time, the small businesses along this stretch of N. Killingsworth have teamed up to form “Overlook Village”, Portland’s most recently recognized Business District Association.

            Yetta Vorobik, owner of The Hop and Vine and president of Overlook Village, contacted me early on to invite me and the City of Portland’s Crime Prevention Program to play a role with their association to ensure patrons, residents, and staff continued to work and live in a safe neighborhood.  Although the Overlook area enjoys a relatively low crime rate, it is prone to continual graffiti, street drinking, and occasional drug dealing.  Understanding the importance of providing patrons with a safe and aesthetically pleasing environment, Yetta was concerned about these habitual livability problems and I was happy to join their efforts.

            Just like a Neighborhood Watch, Crime Prevention also provides training and support for what we call a Business Watch.  It works in the same way by providing each business the opportunity to become a part of the public safety system, increase communication, and help each other maintain a safe work environment.  After speaking with several of the business owners it was clear many smaller issues simply were not getting addressed.  There were two mailboxes splattered with five year old graffiti.  There was an abandoned phone booth that provided a great place for drug dealing.  These issues were addressed and the owners do a great job of cleaning graffiti off their buildings and reporting and documenting criminal activity in hopes of staying one step ahead of the criminal element and ensuring this business area remains clean and safe.

            When I asked Yetta to describe why she called me and asked the City of Portland to partner with their group she told me, “I find it very important to have an open dialog with the surrounding members in your community, including city officials. By having open lines of communication, businesses, residents and city officials are better able to know what is happening in specific areas of the city. By deterring crime together we are creating a neighborhood (village) that has an open and safe feeling.” 

Jenna Forzley, owner of Atomic Pizza, recently described this partnership saying, “It is important for us to stay proactive and involved in the many issues facing our neighborhoods because that is what community is about. It's not just the city's issue, or government, or tri-met, or business owners, property owners or a resident's issue, it's all of our issue. It's about working together, being informed and supporting each other to combat crime. The way the City's crime prevention programs can help in this effort is by keeping the community informed, having a strong presence in the community and making support easily accessible and user friendly. The best thing we all can do as a community is work together, communicate and respond quickly when issues do come up. The old saying "it takes a village", well this is our village and we all need to work together to keep it.”

            Long term goals for this partnership include formalizing a Business Watch and establishing a graffiti team to quickly report and remove graffiti and also provide general trash pick up and also report other criminal activity they discover.  Overlook Village is a wonderful example of how individual citizens and business owners can stand up against crime and roll up their sleeves to help the City prevent and respond to crime and livability issues.

            Please go to the Office of Neighborhood Involvement web site to find out more about the City’s crime prevention program and how you can get involved.  Check out Overlook Village on Neighborhood Notes and read about this and other city Business Associations. 

Start a village in your own neighborhood and help keep Portland the wonderful city it is!

Photo by Steve Fritz

See here for information from the Multnomah County Health Division.

One of the promises I made during my campaign, was to help citizens understand better how decisions are made in Portland city government, and to make it easier for Portlanders to be involved in making those decisions.  Since January, there has been a "Coming Down The Pike" tab on this site, however I haven't had time to post much on it. 

My staff and I are now working on a system to review all City web sites for you twice per month, and I'll be keeping the Coming Down The Pike page updated.  It will mostly carry information about upcoming hearings, newly published reports, and other News You Can Use to learn and participate.  Please visit often, and be sure to call the office at 503-823-3008 if you notice an out-of-date link or one that should be added.  Check it out.

Photo by Sara Hussein

We have many Blazer fans in my office, and many more in our families.  This is Shireef Hussein, brother of Policy Assistant Sara, with Terry Porter.

Many Portlanders have expressed frustration to me that they have few options when purchasing cable TV.  As Commissioner in Charge of the Office of Cable Communications and Franchise Management, I looked into whether the City can require cable providers to "unbundle" their packages, giving customers more choices about which channels they wish to purchase.  It turns out federal regulations allow cable companies to bundle channels, and the City is not allowed to regulate that practice.

Cable subscribers in the City of Portland (where Comcast is the only provider of cable services) should be aware that there are lower cost cable options available other than the "Digital Starter" package offered by Comcast.  The "Digital Starter" tier (taken by the majority of Portland subscribers---formerly called "Standard Cable") is currently priced by Comcast at $57.99 per month (plus $5.25 in taxes and fees) for a total of $63.24/month.  The Digital Starter tier includes a bundle of approximately 83 video channels, 47 Digital Music channels, access to On Demand plus one digital converter box and two digital adapters.  Some lower cost cable subscription options (see below) are further discounted when "bundled" with other Comcast services (i.e. Internet access and/or telephone services).  These other services (phone and Internet) are offered separately by Comcast and are themselves subject to various discounts and/or limited-duration promotional pricing (frequently advertised) when "bundled" with Comcast's cable services.

My team in the Cable office have provided me with the following information about lower-cost options provided by Comcast.  There may be more choices available to you than the glossy ads imply.

Lower cost options include* :

• "Limited Basic" tier, an entry package of local broadcast, community access and government affairs channels (26 channels between channels 2 and 31, including CSPAN and Portland CityNet TV Channel 30), is available for a base price (not including taxes and fees) of $10.50 in East Portland, $10.67 in West Portland

• "Digital Family" tier, is an 'add-on' package to the Limited Basic service (see above).  The "Digital Family" tier consists of the Limited Basic channels (see below), and 14 "family friendly" channels selected by Comcast, including Hallmark, Disney & Sprout (see complete list, below) for an additional $14.95 per month.  A digital converter box and remote are also required for this service level at an additional $3.40 per month.

•  "Digital Economy" tier, which Comcast began to offer in Portland on July 1, 2009.  Subscribers can obtain the Comcast "Digital Economy" tier, consisting of Limited Basic channels (26 channels between channels 2 and 31), 19 select Digital Starter Channels (see channels listed below), 47 Digital Music Choice Channels and one digital converter box and remote for $39.95 per month (plus taxes and fees, see total prices broken out below).  Note:  when "bundled" with Comcast Internet or Voice service the rate for the Digital Economy tier drops to $29.95 per month.

For comparison, a complete breakout of the "final billed rate" for City of Portland customers, inclusive of all taxes and fees ** , for the Digital Starter tier and the other    lower-cost options is as follows *** : 

• Digital Starter Tier:  $57.99 + $5.25 taxes and fees = $63.24 monthly 
• Digital Economy Tier:  $39.95 + $3.63 (taxes & fees)  = $43.58 monthly (standalone - without Comcast Internet or phone service) 
• Digital Family Tier: 
  •   East Portland: $26.46 base price (= $10.50 Limited Basic + $14.95 Digital Family add-on) + $1.01 taxes and fees) = $26.46/month + equipment ($3.40/month) = final billed rate of $29.86/month 
  •  West Portland: $26.63 base price (= $10.67 Limited Basic + $14.95 Digital Family add-on) + $1.01 taxes and fees = $26.63/month + equipment ($3.40/month) = final billed rate of  $30.03/month. 
• Limited Basic (Portland only) : 
          --- East Portland:  $10.50 + $1.01 (taxes and fees) = $11.51/month
          --- West Portland: $10.67 + $1.01 (taxes and fees) = $11.68/month

Contact Comcast at (888) 824-8264 or www.comcast.com if you wish to take advantage of these lower cost options. 

   *  Please note that the rates quoted are for cable television services only and that additional discounts/savings may be available when bundling this service with Comcast Internet and/or Voice services.  

  **   Comcast adjusts the franchise fee and PEG fee rates annually to comply with its interpretation of federal law.

 ***   Please note that possible Downgrade charges may apply for subscribers who downgrade their level of service, as follows: $1.99 for "addressable services" and a $9.99 downgrade charge if the change requires a truck roll. 

CHANNEL LINEUPS FOR LOWER-COST COMCAST TIERS

For reference, here are the exact channel lineups associated with Comcast's lower cost tiers:

Digital Economy

Limited Basic (channels 2 thru 31)

18 Hallmark

41 Disney

42 Cartoon Network

43 Animal Planet

44 CNN

47 The Weather Channel

48 FOX News

50 History

51 TruTV

52 A&E

56 BET

57 Spike TV

58 USA Network

60 Comedy Central

64 TV Land

66 Food Network

69 Lifetime

70 E!

71 American Movie Classics

Digital Family ($14.95 + cost of Limited Basic + $3.40 for converter and remote)

Limited Basic (channels 2 thru 31)

18 Hallmark

40 Nickelodeon

41 Disney

45 Headline News

47 The Weather Channel

66 Food Network

67 HGTV

119 Sprout

121 Discovery Kids

122 Disney XD

204 DIY

215 The N

272 Science Channel

273 National Geographic

Thanks to David Olson, Director of the Office of Cable Communications and Franchise Management, and his staff for providing information for this post. 

If you have further questions unresolved by calling Comcast, please call the Cable Office at 503-823-5385.

Photo by Steve Fritz

This Wednesday, the Council unanimously passed a Resolution of Support for H.R. 676, U.S. Representative John Conyers' proposed act for National Single Payer Health Care.

RESOLUTION

"Urge Congress to enact the United States National Health Care Act sponsored by Representative John Conyers. (Resolution sponsored by Commissioner Leonard, Mayor Adams, and Commissioner Fritz)

WHEREAS all people deserve equal access to quality health care; and

WHEREAS, there is a growing crisis in health care in the United Statesof America, rnanifested in rising health care costs, increased premiums, out-of-pocket spending, and decreased international business competitiveness; and

WHEREAS in 2007 - 2008 approxirnately one third of Oregonians lacked health insurance at some time; and insured now often experience burdensome medical debt; and

WHEREAS half of all personal bankruptcies are due to illnesses or rnedical bills; and  

WHEREAS rising costs of insuring city employees can best be met not by limiting their benefits or terminating their employment, but by expanding their health care benefits under a national, publicly-funded health care program; and

WHEREAS the complex bureaucracy arising from our fragrnented, for-profit, multi-payer system of health care financing consumes approximately 30 percent of the United Statess health care spending while Medicare has a 3 percent overhead; and 

WHEREAS  Representative John Conyers introduced H.R. 676, the United States National Health Care Act, in the United States House of Representatives for the 111th Congress; and

WHEREAS, this Act would provide a universal, comprehensive, single-payer system of high quality national health care;

 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Portland:

 Respectfully urges the United States Congress to enact the United States National Health Care Act sponsored by Representative John Conyers.

Directs the City Attomey to transmit copies of this Resolution to the President of the United States and to members of the Oregon congressional delegation accompanied by letters urging them to work to adopt and implement the United States National Health Care Act (Expanded and lmproved Medicare for All Act) as defined in H.R. 676 which will provide for comprehensive health care coverage for all United States residents.

Affirms that the Council of the City of Portland will use the City's website, public  meetings, news releases, and other forms of communication to encourage Portland residents to particþate actively in the democratic process by informing their elected officials of their wishes and expectations regarding H.R. 676 and other matters of public concern."

With this post, I help deliver on the affirmation that the Council will use the City's web site, and I am encouraging you to contact your Congressional representatives to urge their support of health care for all.  See this post for contact information.

And this one, for Police and neighborhood livability issues.

I just found this page, with many helpful links for services citizens might want in Portland's streets - potholes, abandonned autos, and more.  I'll put it on the Links page of this site, too.

Photo by Steve Fritz

Simple, easy-to-read information and advice from the State is here.

If you do nothing else, wash your hands frequently.  Good hand washing involves soap and warm water, and you should spend about 15 seconds lathering up your hands - about as long as it takes to hum the "Happy Birthday" song either out loud or mentally.  Rinse, dry off with paper towels, and use the towel turn off the faucet and to open the door of the rest room.

Update 9/22/09:  More information from the state here.

Back in April, I promised to write a report following the community dialogues on Sharing Public Spaces, in the context of the now-suspended-and-soon-to-expire Sidewalk Obstructions ordinance.  The Report is much broader, assessing a range of needs, problems, and solutions identified in the Sharing Public Spaces process.  The Report is here.

It's long, because the problems and solutions are complex.  Please comment on the page with the Report, or directly to me here.