Street roots
Al«. 19, 2011
Setting new
sights on
the city
li»
Steve Novick returns to the campaign trail
with a bid for Randy Leonard’s open seat
BY STACY BROWNHILL
renewal district.
One question the council has
teve Novick, the currenlty uncontested
to consider going forward is: Have
candidate for Randy Leonard’s spot on
we done urban renewal in a way
Portland City Council, has plenty of novel
that’s made previously affordable
ideas for a City Council facing more change housing unaffordable through
than it’s seen in decades. With Mayor Sam
gentrification? We have to be
Adams and Leonard leaving, and Commissioner really careful that we’re not just
Amanda Fritz facing a tough contest, as many
creating more neighborhoods j
as three of the five Council seats could change
for rich white people to live
J
next year.
in.
New Jersey-born and Oregon-raised, Novick
I was not aware until
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graduated from University of Oregon at 18 and
recently that'we spend
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Harvard Law School at age 21 before launching
$106 million per year of
/
prolific careers as an environmental lawyer,
property taxes on urban
MH
nonprofit director and community advocate. In
renewal — that’s like 24
1998, Novick was chief of staff for the Oregon
cents of every tax dollar.
WH
Senate Democrats, and has since eyed '
To some extent, the city
positions at city, county, state and fédéral
M Portland over the past 20
J
levels, most notably running a close race for
years has been blinded by
9
the Senate in 2008. The “fighter with the hard
cuteness. We keep thinking if ■
left hook,” a pun addressing his left hand hook
we build more cute
prosthesis, currently works for the Oregon
neighborhoods then that’s an
I
Health Authority.
economic development
1
Novick received
strategy. But we’ve got cute
the endorsement of
neighborhoods coming out of
I
Gov. John Kitzhaber
our ears and we’re still lagging
I
last week, and has
behind comparable cities, like
'
"To some extent, the city of
raised more than
Seattle and Denver, in terms of
$100,000 in the mere
income and jobs. So I would bé
Portland over the past 20
52 days since his
very
hesitant about where we
years has been blinded by
campaign
put more urban renewal money.
cuteness ... We keep thinking announcement (in
Also, offering better jobs is a
contrast, state Rep.
if we build more cute
way of making housing more
Mary Nolan,
affordable. If we had a stronger ;
neighborhoods, then that's
Commissioner
economy, more people would be
an economic development
Amanda Fritz’s
able to afford housing because a
strategy. But we've got cute
opponent, has
they would be making more
9
reported less than
money.
neighborhoods coming out
half of that amount).
of our ears and we're still
S.B.: You've been hailed asa 9
Street Roots grabbed
big supporter of the East Side
lagging behind comparable
coffee and kebabs
and proponent for creating
with Novick this
cities."
equity between communities
week, and picked his
of color and whites. What
brain op everything
¿ire some of your ideas for
from his ideas for
urban renewal and equity
health care and
on the East Side?
public safety to his distaste for gentrification.
STAFF WRITER
g
Stacy Brownhill: The Portland Housing
Bureau Director, Margaret Van Vliet, is moving
to lead the state housing agency. In her interview
with Street Roots, she talked about the need for
housing to be “front and center,”so that when
we’re talking about jobs or health or community
issues, we’re talking about housing problems that
underlie those other things. What are your ideas
for creating affordable housing in Portland?
Steve Novick: Creating affordable housing
is hard. Rent control and inclusionary zoning
are ways to create affordable housing but are
against state law, as I understand it. We have
the low-income housing tax credit program,
which ensures some affordable housing.
Urban renewal is a problematic tool for
affordable housing because only 15 percent of
the city can be an urban renewal district at any
given time, and the districts tend to last awhile.
So most' people will never live in an urban
S.N.: Bus service is a big
thing I hear people on the East Side talking
about. The 71 bus rims up and down Southeast
122nd Avenue, and I’ve been told it’s the worst
combination of demand and lack of service in
the city: There are a lot of people who ride it,
and it doesn’t come very often. So I would ask
TriMet, how much would it cost to run the 71
bus as often as the 14 bus, which comes every
10 minutes?
I feel guilty that a new light rail line is going
up by my house in Westmoreland. I would use
it, but I don’t need it as much as somebody
who can’t afford a car. I think we need td
prioritize the poorer areas of the city as we
make future transit decisions.
What (Commissioner) Nick (Fish) is trying
to do in terms of building new parks in the
Outer East Side is also important
Investing more in schools and less in fancy,
cute stuff is part of dealing with equity. People
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JI f always argue that the
Wcity should stick to the
F basics and that schools aren’t
part of the city’s mission, but every
politician ignores that.
S.B.: What ideas do you have for helping
Portland schools?
S.N.: I think that there are targeted
investments that the city could make in the
schools. (Commissioner) Dan Saltzman has
come up with a special pot of money for social
services for kids.
One thing I suggest in my campaign is an '
annual forum in the summer where we pay for
teachers and principals to come and learn from
schools with tough demographics where
unusually good things seem to be happening.
Another idea that I’ve adopted from Bobbie
Regan is to physically expose more kids to
college. Let’s take sixth graders on field trips
to community colleges. I heard a teenager say
at Mayor. Adams’ education summit that she
hadn’t heard of financial aid until an adult told
her.
Another thing I’d like to restore to schools is
financial education. Teaching kids about credit
See NOVICK, page 5
PHOTO COURTESY
OF STEVE NOVICK