Representative Willy Chotzen (Portland), joins us in the studio to talk all about his work as a public defender, legislator, and generally awesome human. The Oregon prison system is imperfect and we know there is room for improvement. We talk more about how Measure 11 has disproportionally impacted people of color and how we might use practices of restorative justice to improve our society and prison system as a whole.

Learn more about Measure 11

Learn more about the Oregon State Penitentiary

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Kyle Hedquist received clemency in 2022 for a life sentence he was given for a crime he committed when he was 18. In this episode Kyle tells us all about the work he did while serving his time in the Oregon Department of Corrections, the horrible conditions many prisoners find themselves living under, and the important work of restorative justice he has done as a policy advocate since his release. 

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Kyle Hedquist served 28 years of a life in prison, without parole, sentence for a murder he committed when he was 18 years old. So how is he in our podcast studio talking about the very problematic ballot Measure 11 (a bill crafted by Representative Kevin Mannix in the 90s) and our broken prison system? You'll just have to stay tuned for part 2 to find out. In this first part, Kyle shares with us what his time in prison was like, some of the work he did while inside, and helps us understand the legislation that got us here in the first place. This is what we know; Locking people up with no resources is not working. It's also terribly expensive. Something about this system needs to change.

Learn more about Measure 11

Learn more about Measure 15

Learn more about Kyle's story here

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Hopefully this is the last time we have to talk about this (fingers crossed). In this episode, Brian Hines, an avid writer and community member who filed the official ethics complaint against Mayor Julie Hoy with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, joins us to discuss his take aways from this six month process. Brian truly exhibited some hero behavior in his efforts to hold the mayor accountable.

We also touch on this last Monday's City Council meeting, where Salem Soup Squad turned out in numbers to raise their deep concerns about the mayor's new ballot petition and a gift the council voted to accept from the business community to fund two new police officers.

⁠Read the petition here. ⁠

Read Brian's Blog Here

Statesman Journal Article

OPB Article on new ballot petition

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In case you missed it!

Heads up--transcript might be auto detect her language perfectly.

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Just a little yapping about the issues with guests at Virginia's kick off party for State Senate District 11 this last Friday night. Special shoutout to the more than 100 people who attended!

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In this extended bonus we cover last weeks very long City Council meeting as well as a deep dive into the laws around enforcing camping on Oregon's public properties. Our mayor has a long history of speaking ill of the unhoused (see City Council public comments over the last few years) and we are not surprised she has now made herself a chief petitioner on a prospective ballot measure filed last week that seeks to give cities more authority to enforce anti-camping laws. Learn all about it and what you can do if you disagree.

Some sources for today's pod:

We already have a lot of rules about camping in public places: 

Current City Code: (May 2023)

• SRC 95.720 - Prohibits camping on all public property.

• Current camping prohibition is not practically enforceable.

• Ordinance 6-20 - restricts sitting and laying on sidewalks during daytime hours. Effectiveness conditioned on a determination that adequate shelter and restrooms have been provided - Not currently enforced.

• SRC 95.730 - prohibits leaving personal property unattended on a sidewalk for two hours or more. Hasn’t been enforced and may violate ORS 195.500.

  Revise SRC 95.720 and repeal 95.730 and Ordinance 6-20, and replace with:

  Camping restrictions in many areas: parks, near vision clearance areas and building entrances, residential zones, near existing shelters, and areas designated by City Manager as no camping.

  Camps required to maintain a 36-inch ADA pedestrian path.

Read the petition here.

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Felix from CouplaGoofs and Holly from Salem Soup Squad join us to share about their work and their new combined endeavor, Circular Salem. Mutual aid might just be the thing that gets us through the next three years. For more info on their work:

Circular Salem Library of Things + Kids Clothing Exchange https://circularsalem.myturn.com/library/inventory/browse

J.B. MacKinnon | The Day the World Stops Shopping https://share.google/M1P8mI6HNX73vxvmz

Salem Soup Squad [email protected]

@salemsoupsquad

https://signup.com/go/XPsaJfo

@circularsalem

[email protected]

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In this much anticipated interview, Representative Cyrus Javadi (HD 32 - Tillamook & Clatsop Counties) joins Vik and Virginia on the pod to share all about his journey home to the Democratic Party. We talk healthcare, taxes, climate change, abortion, free speech, Taylor Swift, reality television, RINOs, and the future of the Republican Party now and post-Trump.

If you want to learn more about fake pregnancy clinics, there are plenty of resources out there. Here's a few articles we've read recently:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/15/us-anti-abortion-pregnancy-centers

https://auchincloss.house.gov/media/in-the-news/massachusetts-warns-patients-over-unconscionable-crisis-pregnancy-centers

Read Rep Javadi's substack here.

CC MEDIA'S FALL PLEDGE DRIVE IS HERE. DONATE NOW TO SUPPORT OUR WORK.

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