Back on Monday, fresh in the hysteria over the Pioneer Courthouse Square bomb plot, Commissioner Dan Saltzman was fervently devoted to the notion that the Portland City Council should vote RIGHT EFFING NOW on whether to rejoin the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Now? Not so much. Let's follow the bouncing ball.
The first blow came later that day. Mayor Sam Adams, who first raised the question, had a different idea about the timing—and said he was calling instead for a study. The timeline of that study? Soon, but not next week.
Then on Wednesday morning, Saltzman's chief of staff told me and others that maybe, just maybe Saltzman might consider backing away from December 8. He had until this afternoon to advance a resolution. Saltzman told the O that we definitely couldn't wait until next year.
Wednesday night, however, another shoe dropped. Randy Leonard wrote a lengthy email to his colleagues telling everyone to hold their horses and let's not get ahead of ourselves. What's the point in rejoining the task force, he asked, if the feds got their man anyway?
And then you can guess what happened by this afternoon;s deadline: Saltzman was back to where Adams started off this week. Um, let's let the council study it before we vote.
“I remain resolved in my belief that Portland should rejoin the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). I met with the Mayor today and he will be providing a draft workplan to Council next week that will lead to Council consideration of rejoining the JTTF. Due to this fact and out of respect for my colleagues, I will not be filing a resolution for the December 8th Council hearing. I feel it is prudent for all of the facts to be aired in public before Council reconsiders this crucial decision for the safety of Portlanders.”