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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2011)
Street roots 5 LLlìixcd Aug. 19, 2011 NOVICK, from page 4 cards, mortgage and basic financial literacy used to be a mandatory part of the curriculum, and now it’s barely brushed over. I don’t think people realize just how hard the schools have been h it Twenty years ago, we had a school system that was funded largely by local property taxes, and people in Portland would vote for the schools. Now, we have a system where the money that’s raised in Portland is thrown in a statewide pot, and our Portland schools are much, muqh worse off than they were. S.B.: With your experience in environmental law, arguing on behalf of the EPAfor 10 years and tackling the Love Canal case in the 1980s, what are your thoughts on the Columbia River Crossing? Should they build the bridge? S.N.: I agree with a lot of points the critics are making. I would also caution that eventually you probably need to replace a 100-year-old bridge. If there’s an opportuhity to get federal money that we might not have down the road, that shouldn’t be dismissed too easily, eveffif it’s not a high priority at this particular time. Now, if the people of Portland were being asked to pay for that bridge, then I would not say it’s a high priority. But if it’s combiiied funding from the federal government, the state governments, and the people of Vancouver, then it doesn’t sound like the worst thing in the world to me. In terms of how many interchanges we have to accommodate more people coming over from Vancouver, and whether we’re just adding to the congestion in the Rose Quarter once they get over here, I think those are important questions to ask. The argument that the trade unions have — that the CRC is a jobs project - that’s not thousand people to work for awhile, I’m not going to say that’s an irrelevant argument. S.B.: In your campaign, you've talked about spending less public-safety money on dramatic reactive procedures, like long prison terms, and spending more on preventative measures. How would that switch'in spending work? health care is the fastest rising cost If Portland became a leader in controlling health care costs, that would be an advantage for existing employers and attractive for anybody we’re trying to recruit S.N.: In the short term I think the- city There are some models you could scale to and the county should work more closely a city. For example, the Atlantic City casino together on public-safety issues; do joint workers’ union adopted a strategy where budgeting and joint strategy. But my big- they identified their highest-cost employees picture dream is to work out a deal with the and built a clinic just for them. The clinic state for the county to get its public safety included a couple of doctors, a couple of budget in a lump sum, allowing it to spend primary nurses and eight health care more money on prevention programs. coaches — professional nudges — who would What we have right now is a system with call people up and check on them. And they a limited budget for police, a limited budget v managed to significantly reduce their health for supervision, a limited budget for care costs just with that model. treatment, a limited budget for re-entry That’s something I think the city could do programs, but in effect, an unlimited budget as an employer: build a system for high-cost for prisons. The state pays for prison, and employees that would collectively reduce there’s no incentive for the district our health care costs, and invite public and attorneys to give shorter sentences. private employers. Then, you can say to new If the state put the county in charge of its employers, ‘Come to Portland and you’ll get own public-safety budget, it would create a the advantage of this network.’ Over time, if situation where the DAs would have to a city has taken the initiative to control count the cost of prison sentences and health care costs, that’s a significant figure out a way to divide it with other costs, economic advantage. like prevention. Another of thy health care interests is People have talked about repealing getting the city prepared for the huge Measure 11, but you don’t need to repeal expansion of Medicaid in 2014, if Obama’s Measure 11 if you change the mix of prison health care reform is not repealed. A lot of versus prevention through the budget. people who had no previous health care S.B.: This summer, Street Roots wrote a coverage will be eligible for physical health series on traumatic brain injuries that care, mental health care, and drug and examined Portland's health systems, and how alcohol treatment. Suddenly, we’ll have we can improve them for people living on the federal money paying for Medicaid for a streets. But affordable and navigable health population that previously was going care is an issue for everyone. begging for services, and that’s something You've done lot of work with Oregon the nonprofit community, the city an'd the Health Authority to streamline Medicaid and county should be planning for. generate ideas for Obama’s health care reform. S.B.: You've spoken out against the Iraq I f you could shape health care in Portland War since 2003. What can Portland be doing however you wanted, what would you do? better to help veterans returning from Iraq and S.N.: One of my ideas for economic Afghanistan who face joblessness and even homelessness? development js to make Portland a leader in an a re a t h a t ’s n o t tra d itio n a lly th o u g h t o f a s economic development but should be: controlling health care costs. For employers that provide health care, S.N.: Working with employers to tryt<T make sure to prioritize giving jobs for veterans, to the extent they’re still able to work, that’s something we can do. Getting vets the health care they need and connecting them with resources at the V.A., that’s something we can do. S.B.: You’re reputed to be something of a budget wonk. How could Portland be spending our dollars better? In particular, what do you think of Commissioner Leonard's strategy of using water and sewage money for special projects? S.N.: If it were my choice, I wouldn’t have done the special projects. There’s an argument for doing less (special projects) in order to avoid distraction, and even if it’s a * small amount of money, we should spend money for what it’s supposed to be used for. But they are not big-ticket items. They might look bad when they’re on thè front page, but they haven’t added a lot to sewer or water bills. I called up the Water Bureau and asked, ‘How do we compare to other cities?’ It turns out that our water is more expensive than most other major cities in the country, and I’d like to know why. I will keep pushing the Water Bureau on that. If we’re higher than Milwaukie, (for example) let’s ask them what they’re doing differently. S.B.: What's on fire in Portland today that nobody else is noticing? . S.N.: There are things that have happened over the past 20 years that I’m not sure a lot of people recognize. Portland is a great city to be an upper middle-class white person because there are all sorts of nice restaurants and pretty placés to go. But the Communities of Color Coalition did this report last year that showed in terms of inequities between white people and non white people, we’re worse than a lot of cities that we think of as comparable, like Seattle. We’ve also gotten significantly poorer in relation to other cities in the past 20 years. I think there are a lot of good-hearted,______ civicallyengagedpeopre’m Portland who aren’t aware of that. Dine Out Dig In. Make A Difference. There’s just two more weeks of Dining with Dignity fun! LOOKING FOR AN AFFORDABLE PLACE TO RENT? Your online housing search just got easier. r> »2 r * Generous restaurants» food carts, and coffee shops have committed 10% or more b i their sales during August to Sisters Of The Road! 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