09:09 PM PST on Wednesday, March 30, 2005

By JIM PARKER, kgw.com Staff

Portland's mayor and police chief are at odds over the mayor's plan that would keep the city out of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force unless federal officials share top secret information with certain local leaders.

KGW photo

Portland Mayor Tom Potter talks about his disagreements over the JTTF.

The resolution by Mayor Tom Potter goes before the Portland City Council on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m., apparently over the chief's objection according to a memo obtained Tuesday by KGW.

The FBI's terrorism task force works with officers from police departments in 100 cities across the country to investigate potential terrorists and prevent possible attacks and police chief Derrick Foxworth's memo to the mayor concludes: "Clearly, the benefit to the safety and security of our community is maintained and enhanced by remaining part of the JTTF."

However, Potter does not want renew the city's role in the task force if federal officials refuse to grant top secret security clearance to himself, the city attorney and chief Foxworth. His proposal would expand the city's oversight over any FBI anti-terror operations that include Portland police officers.

"There are points that I disagree with the chief on and he and I have had discussions about that," the mayor acknowleged on Tuesday.

Potter, a former Portland police chief and 27-year law enforcement veteran, said he has asked Foxworth to come up with a plan for how the city could create its own terrorism investiagtion unit if negotiations with the FBI fail.

KGW photo

Police chief Derrick Foxworth.

Robert Jordan, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Portland office, has previously said the federal agency would be willing to consider giving Foxworth clearance, but not the mayor or others.

Currently, only officers assigned to the task force have the high-level security clearances.

The task force issue is controversial in Portland, which has seen two high-profile terrorism cases.

Potter took office seven months after the controversial arrest of a Portland lawyer whose fingerprints the FBI eventually determined had been mistakenly linked to the terrorist bombings that killed 191 people in Spain last March.

The FBI issued a rare public apology to attorney Brandon Mayfield, a convert to Islam who is suing the government over the mistake.

Portland also drew national attention for the federal trials of six people who eventually pleaded guilty to involvement in an unsuccessful plot to travel to Afghanistan and join the Taliban in its battle against the U.S. military.

The American Civil Liberties Union has led much of the criticism of the joint task force, urging greater accountability to prevent the abuse of civil liberties.

(KGW reporter Randy Neves and the AP contributed to this report.)