MARCH 8, 2017
25
CENTS
Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 23
News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 The Ebony Building .........8
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
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AGAINST GENTRIFICATION
A coalition of advocates for low-income and
houseless people are campaigning in support of a
bill that would decriminalize sleeping and resting
outdoors.
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
A
bill before the Oregon legislature
this session creates sweeping
protections for unhoused people
— and aims to effectively disman-
tle hundreds of local ordinances that
criminalize sleeping in public.
House Bill 2215, which advocates are
calling the Right to Rest Act, has the
backing of the Western Regional Advo-
cacy Project — a multi-state coalition of
social justice organizations — and local
homeless advocacy groups like Sisters
of the Road and Street Roots, as well
AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE
See REST on page 3
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. speaks during
a news conference at the Republican National
Committee Headquarters on Capitol Hill in
Washington Wednesday as the GOP works on
its long-awaited plan to repeal and replace the
Affordable Care Act.
World News
Briefs page 10
International
Women’s Day
page 12
Omari Tahir-Garrett listens to Clifford Cawthon, with Seattle SAFE (Standing Against Foreclosure & Eviction) talk about what happened to Mr. Garrett
when he appeared in court to fight against eviction from the house he lives in, and is the location of the Umoja Fest Peace Center. Mr. Garrett was taken
into custody and detained in the King County Jail for several days without access to council or any information as to why he was jailed.  SAFE called
attention to Mr. Garrett’s experience because it highlights the gentrification and loss of affordable housing in Seattle’s historically Black Central District.
Oregonians Favor Reduced Drug Charges
Majority polled, law enforcement support de-felonizing drug possession
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
T
he House Commit-
tee on Judiciary held
a hearing Monday
where
lawmakers,
community advocates and
law enforcement testi-
fied in favor of reducing
small-possession
drugs
charges from a felony to
a misdemeanor. HB 2355
would also establish a
statewide system to hold
law enforcement depart-
ments accountable for pro-
filing practices.
During the hearing, Sen.
Lew Frederick said that
possession
reclassifica-
tion would prove to break
redundant patterns in the
legal system.
“I fully expect that we
will see a number of those
no longer wrapped up in
the stigma of being labeled
a felon,” said Frederick.
“Now they will be able to
move along, contributing
to society instead of stuck
in the continued punish-
ment cycle. That cycle does
not work.”
Gov. Kate Brown, Attor-
ney General Ellen Rosen-
blum, House Speaker Tina
Kotek, the Oregon State
Sheriffs’ Association, and
the Oregon Association
Chiefs of Police have all en-
dorsed HB 2355.
The hearing comes less
than a week after the ACLU
of Oregon released a state-
wide poll that revealed
staggering public support
of drug sentencing reform.
The poll shows that 73
percent of Oregon vot-
ers overwhelming favor
changing small-scale pos-
session charges to a misde-
meanor, instead of a felony,
which carries harsher pen-
alties such as lengthy pris-
on sentences and larger
fines. Only 19 percent op-
pose the proposed de-felo-
nization.
“Rather than ensuring
that people have access
to treatment and recov-
ery, our system focuses
primarily on a criminal
justice response,” stated
David Rogers, executive
director of the ACLU of Or-
egon, during a Wednesday
morning press conference
for the poll’s findings.
“Let’s be clear, the War
on Drugs is a failure. It
has damaged families and
ruined lives… and has cost
taxpayers billions of dol-
lars,” continued Rogers,
See MISDEMEANOR on page 3
Activists Launch ‘Resistance Talks’
Know Your City, Portland’s Resistance launch
series of conversations
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
I
n the months following the presi-
dential election, Portland has be-
come a hotbed of protest and resis-
tance which has largely decreed,
“Trump is not my president.”
Through the galvanization of
marches and masses — and $1 million
worth of damage to downtown Port-
land — one group has emerged as
the city’s largest activist movement:
Portland’s Resistance.
Its leader is 24-year-old African
American law student, Gregory
McKelvey, who has become the char-
ismatic face of Portland’s anti-Trump
movement.
While the organization has gar-
nered national attention for its
wide-spread anti-Trump protests,
the Portland native admits that the
media has been more focused on its
PHOTO BY MELVIN HERNANDEZ
HB 2215 would upend
ordinances that
criminalize resting
outside
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
New Bill
Seeks ‘Right
to Rest’
Portland’s Resistance leader Gregory McKelvey
at Trump inauguration protest, January 2017,
Portland.
clashes with police, rather than the
movement’s message. For McKelvey,
See TALKS on page 3