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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2011)
Street roots y March 18, 2011 w gfe B4I 1 M j j M i ü 15 j Customers, cookies and microeconomics, vendor style t’s that time of year when vendors and the city are anxiously awaiting warmer weather and a chance to bask in the sun and leave these rainy blues behind. In the meantime, vendors have been hard at work and more people than ever are out selling IRECTÖR'S Street Roots. We want to thank ? DESK . many o f the customers that support our B y Israel Bayer vendors. In the past h h ib h h month, we’ve heard stories and worked with people who have gone above and beyond for people selling the newspaper. One vendor was given a brand new coat and backpack, while another was being helped by a customer to go to the dental school and have his teeth worked on. Another vendor was given a full-time job south of Portland driving a tractor for a local farm this summer, and another is: getting the support needed to kick heroin for the first time in 12 years. He’s been clean for six weeks, and SR and other community members are helping him navigate the system. We hope he’s in- housing by the spring. Really, i f s the spall things - a hello and a smile and purchasing and reading the paper week in and week out that makes your relationship with vendors special. I Revenue decline calls fo r a new movement forward he City of Portland is facing a steep revenue decline to the tune of $16 million this year due to the shortcomings of the tax-increment finance (TIF) system that funds affordable housing. That’s just the tip of the iceberg — with revenue from TIF set to continue to decline through 2016. Israel Bayer is the • During the past five years, the City of Portland has executive director o f done an amazing job at allocating resources for affordable Street Roots. You can reach him at housing projects and homeless services through streetroots@hotmail.com. Portland’s general fund, using the federal government, and Other resources such as TIF to barely maintain the safety net All of this has come We can't really think during a time of economic about an Innovative decline around the country, transportation system, while county and state budgets for poor, working jobs, a clean Oregonians and others have environment and been slashed and maxed out healthy schools to their absolute capacity. In without having an adequate plan in place short, human lives are being lor housing. One effort lost and the safety net needs replacing and overhauled. can't thrive without Adding gasoline to the the others in concert. fire, the federal government And when it works, it is talking about sweeping benefits all. cuts to core programs, including education, housing and women’s health - all of which will have major consequences for people experiencing poverty and middle-class folks. Some might say thechickens have com e hom e to roost WHAT DO for asy ste m and^ S e j ^ th a t has been com placentiand self-serving for m ost of our lifetimes. YOU THINK? Unless something is done to fill the gap over declining Street Roots revenues in the next five years, Portland will face encourages readers monumehtal-challenges to maintaining a safety net for to submit letters and poor people. An army of.nonprofit housing developers columns for serving people of colors people experiencing homelessness and people with disabilities will be caught publication. Send up a stream without a paddle, and will be forced to letters to the editor reinvent themselves or die.- Homeless service providers to the Street Roots jwill have to learn how to downsize and centralize their office, 211 NW Davis services or they may find themselves without a lifeline. St., Portland, OR This includes Street Rpots. 97209, or e-mailed | What to do? to streetrootsnevŸs® First, the world of homeless and housing services must gmail.com. look outside its own circles for partnerships and collaborations to build a real movement. We can’t even begin to talk about a housing levy or bond to fill crucial budget gaps when we are fractured to the point of competing with one another for resources and support, instead of working together in a galvanized movement. That iheans working with labor, the business community, law enforcement, hospitals and foundationsynot only on specific projects, but to build a larger vision where housing has a seat at the table - much in the way that labor, transportation, environment, schools and, others have. After all, we can’t really think about an innovative transportation system, jobs, a clean environment and healthy schools without having an adequate plan in place for housing. One effort can’t thrive •without the others in concert. And when it works, it benefits all. Beyond this, we need bold leadership and actions at all levels of government, in the private sector and in the non profit world. The trip to Seattle led by Commissioner Nick Fish was one step in the right direction. But leadership cannot be a top-down effort. There needs to be many voices heard in this discussion, many leaders in all sectors to chart a new course, because while it’s easy to envision the solution, it is quite another thing to create the sea change necessary to take us there. Sam Adams „ Mayor 1221SW 4th Ave, STREET ROOTS’ EDITORIAL BOARD Room 340,97204 (503)823-4120 The views expressed in the A r J s f c in Street toots are the mayorsam® consensus of members of the editorial board and portlandoregon.gov contributing volunteers. ■ ü Of course, we don’t always get it right We’ll be the first to admit i t But SR does its best to respond to readers and businesses that report any problems. For example) we had a vendor that was making life difficult for a local Girl Scout and her mother selling cookies. When I got the call from a troop leader — I thought, God Almighty, how could one. of our - vendors be messing with the Girl Scouts? But, in this position you would be surprised by some of the calls we get. I could write a book. After tracking down the vendor, and sitting with him for an hour and explaining that we do, in fact, share the sidewalk with others, and that crowding out the Girl Scouts was no way to represent himself or Street Roots, he was told he would have one more chance to work with others, but it would be up to him. SR ended up buying eight boxes of cookies from the woman and having a larger conversation with vendors (while eating cookies) about how vendors could actually capitalize on working with others. One vendor said, “Come on. Do the math. Girl Scout cookies are $4 a box. If a person has a five-dollar bill and they buy a box of Thin Mints, then that leaves a dollar to buy Street Roots. We should all be getting along.” Beautiful. LEITERS TriMet tran sfer policy needs better oversight Re: “Trying to cut a fare deal with TriMet,” March 4. hat needs to be done is more watchdog oversight over how TriMet currently enforces its transfer policy. First of all, MAX and bus transfers are not identical. MAX transfers are always two hours. Bus transfers are not. We all pay the same fare, so why are bus riders only allowed a one-hour transfer during weekdays? Secondly, TriMet doesn’t even know how to interpret its own transfer policy. Per TriMet Code 19.25(G), Bus transfers shall be issued to be valid for one hour past the scheduled end of the trip time for the bus on weekdays, two hours on weekends. The end of the trip is generally the mall in downtown Portland, a transit center, or the end of the line. Historically, TriMet has interpreted the transfer ru le rs simply “one hour”, from the time of issuing the transfer. (I must say,' it appears TriMet has finally updated the language on their website to reflect its own law. But are all TriMet Operators doing it?) In general, you should never, ever see a TriMet bus operator adjust their transfers mid-route. If someone in Gresham boards a 12-Barbur/Sandy bus at 7:27 p.m., that bus runs all the way to Sherwood and ends its rim at 9:32 PM^That transfer, whether you get on the bus at Gresham, Parkrose, downtown Portland, or Tigard, must be valid until no earlier than 10:32 p.m. In other words, that transfer should be good for three hours on a weekday if you board at Gresham TC. ■ Vendor’s story of thanks resonates with readers Responses to Sam Al-Jondi’s column, Tn my darkest hours, there were many who shined a light, ” March 4: This article is just what I need when I feel that helping is thought to be enabling. I have many homeless community members who welcome being picked up by the cops for a warm place to sleep. I would like to offer more to my homeless community, we are all having a hard time and just being together keeps us warm. Words from those who need help. I am grateful because they are usually slient and don’t ask for help. Your paper encourages me to keep helping the homeless as best I can. M. KALAMA Portland Northwest Pilot Project is the best! I was lucky to have worked along side of them for a year and was amazed at the work they do! I learned so much from them and was continually renewed by how hard they work and the spirit they bring to their jobs! We are lucky to have them in our community! CHANI.GEIGLE-TELLER Portland I am a huge believer in papers like Street Roots that encourage people to write, read, and make an honest living! I am proud to have supported this paper, as well as others in other cities. Keep publishing! ADAM DOUGLAS Austin, Texas ERIKH. Portland CONTACT YOUR CITY COUNCIL Amanda Fritz 1221 SW 4th Ave, Room 220,97204 (503)823-3008 amanda® portfendoregon.gov Dan Saltzman 1221 SW 4th Ave, Room 230,97204 (503)823-415)^ dan® portlandoregon.gov Nick Fish 1221 SW 4th Ave, Room 240,97204 (503)823-3589 nick® portlandoregon.gov Randy Leonard 1221 SW 4th Ave, Room 210,97204 (503)823-4682 randy® portlandoregon.gov
