Below is the background information as it stood in late 2004 before Mayor Potter and Commissioner Leonard proposed this new, ground-breaking resolution which has prompted the FBI to declare there will be no such clearance granted (wouldn't want our elected officials to actually have access to what their employees are working on, now would we?), and the Oregonian to publish at least four editorials wondering why the Council just doesn't wait until the PJTTF is proven to have violated people's rights before demanding oversight.

DRAFT 2005 Joint Terrorism Task Force Memorandum of Understanding (Dec. 16, 2004):
JTTFmou2004.html

Letter from community groups to Mayor Katz with questions about PJTTF (Aug. 19, 2004):
LettertoKatz081904.html

Mayor Katz's reply to the August 19th letter (Sept. 29, 2004):
katzreply2004.html

ACLU of Oregon's page on the PJTTF:
http://www.aclu-or.org/issues/terrorism/pjttf/PJTTFMainPage.htm
(Contains some of these same documents in .pdf format, background information
and sample letters to City Council)

ACLU of Oregon's talking points on the PJTTF (Dec. 10, 2004):
http://www.aclu-or.org/issues/terrorism/pjttf/PJTTFTalkingPoints121004.htm

Our main concern is that Portland police officers who are deputized will violate ORS 181.575, the state law which prohibits the collection or maintenance of information on anyone without reasonable suspicion that they are involved in criminal activity.

This year's memorandum has a few changes, the most significant of which is that Portland now only has two full-time officers assigned to the PJTTF (rather than 1 Lieutenant, 1 Sergeant, 5 officers, and one non-sworn staff as in the past).

Although the Mayor and the Police Chief are now deputized, it is very unclear whether they have access to review the actual files being generated by Portland Police working with the PJTTF.

In an August letter to the Mayor, we (along with the ACLU, the League of Women Voters and the Japanese American Citizens League) asked a number of specific questions.

In her September reply, she stated "It is not appropriate for me to be any more specific with regard to the types of files and investigations to which I will have access," and "It is not appropriate for me to discuss any aspects of specific investigations, on-going or otherwise."

If you wish to write to the Mayor and City Council in advance of the December 22 hearing to let them know how you feel about deputizing Portland officers for the task force, their contact information is below.

Portland, Oregon City Council:
1221 SW 4th Ave Portland, OR 97204

Mayor Tom Potter
Rm 340 Ph 503-823-4120
fax 503-823-3588
(mayorpotter@ci.portland.or.us)

Commissioner Sam Adams
Rm 220 Ph 503-823-3008
fax 503-823-3017
(samadams@ci.portland.or.us)

Commissioner Randy Leonard
Rm 210 Ph 503-823-4682
fax 503-823-4019
(rleonard@ci.portland.or.us)

Commissioner Dan Saltzman
Rm 230 Ph 503-823-4151
fax 503-823-3036
(dsaltzman@ci.portland.or.us)

Commissioner Erik Sten
Rm 240 Ph 503-823-3589
fax 503-823-3596
(Esten@ci.portland.or.us)