This morning's Whimperer brought the news that the City of Portland will pay $545,000 to the attorneys for twelve persons whom the Portland police pepper-sprayed at three protests in 2002 and 2003. Two protests were against the Iraq war and the third was outside a Republican fundraiser at which President Bush was speaking. The City had previously agreed to pay the plaintiffs $300,000 rather than go to trial, bringing the total costs of the pepper spraying to $845,000 plus the City's own staff and attorney time in defending the case. The City's total costs easily exceeded $1 million, considering that (as the article also reports) the cost for the police overtime for the 2003 fundraiser alone was $194,000.
Tom McCall had the right idea in 1970, when the American Legion planned to hold its national convention in Portland. Faced with reports that protesters were planning to descend on Portland, Governor McCall opened Milo McIver State Park, near Estacada, to camping and organized a rock concert at the park to coincide with the American Legion meeting.
Here's Isaac's thought for the day: if the President should announce plans to come to Portland again, the City could lay out half of its million dollars to hold a concert at (say) Delta Park, and offer a different pepper for the protesters. The City could use the $500,000 it would save on any number of worthy causes, for example, enhancing the Portland Development Commission's communications with the public.