Meet Pete Colt

KVAL & KATU News reports: "PORTLAND, Ore. – Neighborhood activist Pete Colt caused a stir at a Portland city commissioners' meeting Wednesday when he pulled out a paper bag and dumped dozens of used hypodermic needles, crack pipes and used condoms on a table in front of stunned city officials.

Newly elected city commissioner Nick Fish called the display a health hazard and Colt readily agreed with him.

Colt said he had personally collected the items from around his Northwest Portland neighborhood in just a week.

The meeting was delayed while a staffer removed the objects and sanitized the table.

Colt said his initial reason for going to the meeting was to thank officials for their service, but the collection of drug and sex trade detritus overshadowed that sentiment.

“If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the actual evidence is worth a million,” Colt told KATU News.

Colt said he was trying to make a point and that the gesture at the meeting was designed to draw attention to what he calls a serious safety problem in his neighborhood due to drug use and prostitution.

No action was taken against Colt for dumping out the items at the meeting and several people in attendance shook his hand in support.

Colt said "You think I was over the top today-- Wait till I start talking about Dog Crap!"

How about the Commissioner's comment " What you've just dumped on the desk here are considered Hazardous materials. We now have a public health issue"

Colt responds-"Thank you for agreeing with me"

As radical as his approach was, I bet the Commissioner's have a better understanding of the issue.