CPO News November 2023

October 28, 2023   Community, CPO 1, Development, Washington County Government

No November Meeting

See you on December 12, program TBA.

Neighborhood Meetings

No Cedar Mill Neighborhood Meeting notices have been received

Development applications

Multi-Family Development in Cedar Hills

A hearing was held on October 26 to consider the proposal to build a 290-unit four-building complex at 1675 SW Marlow. County staff recommended approval. A large packet of plans and other materials will be available at the CPO section of Cedar Mill Library. The Hearings Officer decision is usually handed down several weeks later.

Future of the CPO/CCI system: BCC to hear latest OEICE proposal

Tuesday, January 9, zoom link will be posted here (Meeting postponed from November 14)

UPDATE:

Presentation on the future of our CPO system has now been postponed until the January 9, 2024 Work Session of the Board of County Commissioners (BCC).

Originally scheduled to be presented at the September 5 Work Session, this is the third or fourth delay. We’ll share any explanation we receive from the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (OEICE) that currently holds responsibility for the Committee for Community Involvement (CCI) and the various regional CPOs (Community Participation Organizations).

Background here.

The Board of County Commissioners (BCC) asked the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (OEICE) to revise the plan they presented during a BCC Work Session in May. The presentation was originally scheduled for early October but is now on the agenda for the November 7 Work Session.

The original plan called for CCI system oversight to be transferred to either Land Use & Transportation, the Planning Commission, or a BCC-appointed group. Each of those options would seem to threaten the independence of the organization whose purpose is, according to the 1974 law (OAR 660 -015 -0000(1)) that established Oregon’s Land Use Laws: “To develop a citizen involvement program that ensures the opportunity for citizens to be involved in all phases of the planning process.”

BCC Work Session meetings are open for the public to watch but no comments are allowed. However, if you want to let them know your thoughts, you can send a message to Commissioners using this form.

CPO 1 October Meeting Notes

A recording of the meeting can be viewed here.

Fran Warren, CPO 1 member and a leader of TreeKeepers of Washington County, reported on the Significant Natural Resource (SNR) work being done in the county to map remaining habitat areas to determine which warrant enhanced protection. An online open house provides a comment opportunity on proposed natural resource map updates.

Washington County Sheriff, Pat Garrett, and Undersheriff Caprice Massey visited us. Sheriff Garret is retiring from his office and Undersheriff Massey has been approved as his replacement until the election in 2024. The Sheriff oversaw the implementation of the Mental Health Response Team which has served the county well. The MHRT has now been duplicated in other cities. Undersheriff Massey brings an extensive background of experience to the office. From her response to questions from the Board of County Commissioners: “… building and maintaining accountability, transparency and trust in the department is paramount as sheriff.”

Detective Jeremy Chedester,  a 20-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, provided an overview of Domestic Terrorism in Washington County and around the state (starting at 36 minutes into the meeting recording.) He spent the last seven years as a member of the Investigations Division of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces and described the various groups the JTTF tracks: Anarchists, Animal Rights Extremists, Antiabortion Extremists, Militia/Sovereign Citizen Extremists, INCELs (anti-women), White Supremist Extremists, ideological Lone Wolves, and groups who use Weapons of Mass Destruction. He investigates individuals involved in these groups, but not the groups themselves.

Terrorism is formally defined as “The unlawful use of force or violence committed against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in the furtherance of political or social objectives, including religious objectives.” In 2021, 18 states experienced terrorism attacks—with the tri-county area of Oregon (Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties) having the highest concentration of incidents. Portland ranked in the top six cities across the nation.

As Detective Chedester explained, Antifa stands for “Anti-Facist Action” which has its roots in Europe/Germany in the 1930’s while Hitler was institutionalizing Nazism, a form of fascism with disdain for liberal democracy and the parliamentary system. Rose City Antifa today is of this historic Anti-Fascist lineage. They use the same symbols/flag of Anti-Fascist Action but have become more radicalized and violent while not engaging in deadly force. Exacerbating this situation is the presence of the Anarchists, who revel in destruction, who intermingle with Antifa.

White Supremist groups today have their roots in the racial and ethnic hatred inherent in Nazism. The Proud Boys, while not explicitly espousing white supremacy, attract members who do. The white supremist group Patriot Front has been posting flyers in Washington County and is modeled on Hitler Youth. Starting around 2015, the Vancouver, WA group Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys began marching around Portland, antagonizing communities with the intent to draw Antifa and the Anarchists into fights. In recent years, more extremist members of the Proud Boys, who were intent on violence, broke away and formed the Rose City Nationalists, a new fascist group that trains with weapons. They are part of 3N, the Northwest Nationalist Network, a relatively new fascist group active from California to Washington. Now five leaders of the Proud Boys have been convicted of sedition leading the insurrection on January 6 and have been given decades-long sentences.

Detective Chedester gives trainings on domestic and international extremism to new law enforcement recruits, the Mental Health Response Team, the Crisis Negotiation Team, patrol officers, and businesses as well as community groups like the CPOs. For the Beaverton School District, he trains their newly-formed Youth Services Officers group; seven from the Beaverton Police, four from the Washington County Sheriff and one from the Hillsboro Police.