Floor plan of the SoWhat immigration jail
An alert reader sends along this drawing of the layout of the part of the proposed "office building" (heh) in Portland's South Waterfront District that's going to be devoted to detaining accused immigration violators under armed guard awaiting their appearances before a judge elsewhere in the building:
Holding tanks big enough for dozens of the incarcerated, extensive visitation facilities, closed circuit surveillance... and will there be arrays of bars instead of walls to hold the shackled "detainees" in? Sure looks like a jail from here.
The City Council will dress the windows on this one tomorrow afternoon at 2. The Sam Rand Twins will be all in, but it will be fun to watch Fish and Fritz put on the pained Francesconi look before they vote yes.
| Posted at 8:41 AM | Permalink |
|
Comments (15)
Countdown to a new "ratio" test in 3 ... 2 ...
(That's the one where they invent a new standard that says that, as long as the ratio of jail pens to office cube pens is less than 10% more than they plan here, they're fine and it's not a jail.)
Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes | January 18, 2011 8:56 AM
I can't wait to see Sam's tweets during the vote. And I'm sure Fish's next-day email blast will count the cells as new housing for our most vulnerable immigrants.
Posted by Garage Wine | January 18, 2011 9:05 AM
This is just a failure to communicate. If they had hired a good reporter (see below)you would see client interview rooms, legal conference rooms and individual waiting areas in this office area!
Posted by dman | January 18, 2011 9:49 AM
How much for that 2-bath corner unit? And what are the monthly charges?
Posted by Allan L. | January 18, 2011 10:11 AM
In other words, It's the Fish Fritz Fidget F__!
Fill in the blank.
Posted by Starbuck | January 18, 2011 10:17 AM
I don't see any beds. Do they really intend to ship dozens of people in and out of there everyday? To what purpose?
Posted by Snards | January 18, 2011 10:19 AM
"...but it will be fun to watch Fish and Fritz put on the pained Francesconi look before they vote yes."
That's hilarious by the way.
Posted by Snards | January 18, 2011 10:20 AM
What, no bike garage? I thought this neighborhood was going to be bike friendly.
Posted by Mister Tee | January 18, 2011 10:44 AM
Put an eco-roof and some solar panels on it. That will mollify the neighbors.
Posted by Eric | January 18, 2011 12:11 PM
How is that not a prison? I can't believe that they are trying to call that office space. That should not be in our city.
Posted by fortuna | January 18, 2011 1:14 PM
George, you mean that this City Council will ignore it's own Title 33 Conditional Use Review requirement for jails? There's no ratio formula in the codes describing a "detention center" or jail. It will be interesting to see how Attorney Fish gets around this predicament. A classic moment.
LUBA, Appeals Court, OR Supreme Court, here we come.
Posted by lw | January 18, 2011 3:06 PM
You have it all wrong! Think of the "holding" cells as cozy "Cuddling" nooks.
Posted by Old Zeb | January 18, 2011 4:44 PM
It is just becoming known that many parents of children for the new Charter School, across the trolley tracks to the east, just found out about the jail next door. They're ticked.
It will be interesting to see how many show up tomorrow for the design hearing, and then follow up no matter the outcome.
Posted by lw | January 18, 2011 4:50 PM
Am I Missing something here? Doesn't the County have a relatively new jail that's never been used? Why the hell are these idiots on the City Council even discussing such a project? Has anyone from Mulnomah County even bothered to cal ICE about this?
Posted by Dave A. | January 18, 2011 7:01 PM
lw:George, you mean that this City Council will ignore it's own Title 33 Conditional Use Review requirement for jails? . .
Conditional Use, my foot!
The only “condition” these days is how “useful” they are to their masters!
This would have been a no no years ago, but they take an inch, then a foot, and
now have crossed the line when they can just “blow off” the code as though they are tossing away a kleenex! Arrogance abounds! I suppose the arrogance of it all has come to this, that why even bother going through the pretense of a CU.
lw, you mentioned this would be taken into the courts. It needs to.
This group needs to be marched out of city hall for blatant abuse of the law.
As I read before here, even the planners who for years worked by this code are upset about this.
What do those law abiding citizens who have had to follow Conditional Use all these many years think about this? Guess this is just a case of “selective CU” now!
For those who do not understand the law, they shouldn't be working for the city and if they do understand and treat it with contempt, they should be fired.
Posted by clinamen | January 18, 2011 8:31 PM