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Street roots
I
O ct 28, 2011
EDITORIAL
Season of fun events starts today
B
ack by popular demand and better
than ever, it’s the Street Roots online
auction! We have 10 days of fun and
fundraising for Portland’s award-winning
street newspaper. Let
the bidding begin!
We have'some
Amendment on local tax option
a bad idea for Oregon
regon has a vibrant tradition of democracy through
our ballot initiative process. We, the people, can put a
plan to the test in the public domain with petitions,
and if they pass muster, carry them forward to a vote in the
general election to decide the direction of our government.
It’s a tradition of people power over special interests
steering the ship. Is it perfect? What is in government? But it
is one of the best examples in this country of people wielding
their say from the ground up.
And it works, in m osteases, depending on where you sit.
Currently there is a petition circulating to support a ballot
measure to amend the Oregon Constitution to prohibit local
governments and the state
from establishing a real
We've got to find better
estate transfer tax, or
means to reverse this
RETT. It is an initiative
course — with a ll options
backed by the Oregon
wide open, not slammed
Association of Realtors,
shut before we even begin.
and it’s part of a
nationwide campaign by
the National Association of
Realtors to ban these assessments on the sale of homes and
other real estate.
The argument is that homebuyers and sellers can neither
afford nor should have to pay a tax, in addition to property
taxes, on a transfer of ownership. Currently; Oregon has
preemption, a legislative prohibition, on any local entity or
the state from imposing such a tax. The proposal by the
Realtors would remove any legislative option: It would be
banned in the state’s constitution.
This isn’t about to be an argument for or against a transfer
tax. To be clear, Street Roots in the past has supported
efforts to repeal the preemption with the expressed purpose
of applying the revenue toward preserving and creating low-
income housing and alleviating horhelessndss.
This isabout local control: the authority of counties and
cities to levy funds for the benefit of all; the premise behind
taxation being that if you invest wisely in the common good,
society benefits - socially and economically. The measure of
investing wisely has always been governed by
representatives, elected by the people. It is why, for years,
Multnomah County has called for the repeal of preemptions
against local governments raising money. The RETT is one
example; the authority to impose a tobacco tax is another.
Oregon’s tax system is a patchwork of voter initiatives and
legislative manipulation - both stuck in constant reactionary
mode. In our own communities, where people are hurting,
there is little leeway to invest. The Realtors association is
raising $1 million in Oregon alone from its 14,000 members
to put this on the statewide ballot in 2012. This year, more
than 22,000 Oregonians were experiencing homelessness in
a single one-night count across the state. The number of
homeless families with children increased 33 percent from
the previous year. We’ve got to find better means to reverse
this course — with all options wide open, not slammed shut
before we even begin.
Referendum upon referendum has proven a lousy way to
create forward-thinking and stable tax policy. Likewise,
amending the constitution on the RETT would sever another
connection between voters, their representatives, and the
local control necessary to take care of our diverse
communities.
O
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him a t israel®
streetroots.org
holiday season — for
yourself or someone
close to you.-Trymg
to figure out exactly
what to get your
family or friends,?
Head over to the online auction site at
www.streetrootsauction.org. It’s a great way
to support SR and do some holiday
shopping for family and friends. If you have
never tried it out, it’s a blast Did I mention
it helps SR out tremendously? It does.
In partnership with more than 100
businesses, Street Roots has some of the
coolest items in the city, both large and
small. If you’re on a fixed budget, we have
something for you. If you want to splurge
and give SR some love, we have that too.
The bidding began yesterday on Oct 27,
and ends at 3pm PST on Sunday, Nov 6.
Check out the back page for more
information. Let the bidding begin!
Also, join us for a Street Roots
photography exhibit on First Thursday, Nov.
.3 at Albina Community Bank in the Pearl
(430 NW 10th Ave.) from 6-9pm. The show
highlights the best of SR photojournalism
over the past three years along with
portraits of SR vendors. Vendors will be
holding signs expressing in one Word what
SR means to them. You won’t want to miss
i t Come one, come all. We would love to
see you there.
LETTERS
Occupations stir memories of PSU protest 30 years ago
had not yet been down to Occupy
Portland, so I picked up a five-pound bag
of apples for a food donation and headed
down there. The Weather was very warm for
October 18th, like a summer day. I was
surprised by the number of tents, they were
Wall to wall with an over-covering of tarps.
T he encampment^ a modem day
Hooverville,:4s very professionally organized:
information, kitchen, medical, legal contacts,
recycling, even a place to do art. On the
north side of the park next to the-Spanish
American War Memorial, a
young man is playing Jimi
I
Hendrix on an electric guitar
but most of us camped inside the campus
buildings. Much of the time Was spent
manning the barricades. A large, white
plastic-covered geodesic dome Was
constructed in front of Smith Memorial
Center as a first aid station. This eventually
came to symbolize the PSU Student Strike,
In the late afternoon on May 11,1970,-in
an action that was later determiried to be a
police riot, helmeted Portland Police Tactical
Squad moved in wielding four feet long riot
batons and beat up a group of unarmed,
peaceful anti-war
protesters. Many of them
had to be taken to local
We too were dispossessed,
w its a pqrtabfo spbakoi; f I young people
attached to his belt. I find
to yet another
myself surrounded by
familiarity with a flood of-
memories from another
occupation, the May 6-11,1970 occupation of
Portland State University. I was there.
On May 6,1970, we moved into Smith
Memorial Center and began to build
barricades around the campus. Portland
State University was soon shut down. We too
were dispossessed, young people being sent
off to yet another corporate war.
I did riot get sent off to war because Iw as
resisting the draft, and a t some point the
Draft Board determined that I was more
trouble than I was worth, I Showed up for my
pre-induction physical while bn an LSD trip
and told them I was a. communist; just like
Jesus’ After raising a little more hell with
them they finally gave up on me. Yet my
relatives and friends continued to be sent off
to the Vietnam War and two of them were
killed in action. Some of the barricades at the
PSU Student Strike were built into shelters,
WHAT DO
YOU THINK?
corporate war.
We held a City Parks
Perm it for our Geodesic
Dome Medical Center,
but the police said it was
not valid.
So why did they not just arrest us on that
day that came to be known was “Bloody
Monday?” The community bècame outraged
by this action and on the following day, May
12, 5,000 of us marched on City Hall and
surrounded the police station. Under them
Mayor Terry Shrunk and City Parks
Commissioner Frank Ivançie, no policeman
was ever charged for what happened that day.
As I sit on a park bench at Occupy Portland
reflecting on these events past and present, I
Wonder what th e fate of this encampment will
be. Will Mayor Sam Adams and the Portland
Policé handle this situation in an adult
manner? Given the history of th is town, I fear
for Occupy Portland.
-D A V ID DUMAS
Portland
Send letters to the editor to the Street Roots office, 211 NW Davis
OR 97209, or e-mail to joanne@streetroots.org.
Our mission
Staff
Board of Directors
Vendors
Street Roots creates income opportunities for .
people experiencing homelessness and poverty by
producing a newspaper and other media that are
catalysts for individual and social change.
Executive Director Israel Bayer
Bruce Anderson (Chairman), Michael Anderson (Vice-
chairman), Heather Stadick (Treasurer), Eddy Barbosa
(Secretary), Rich Rodgers, Brad Taylor, Leo Rhodes,
Ken Hawkins
Street Roots vendors buy the newspapers for 25 cents
each and sell them for $1, keeping the 75 cents in
profit for themselves, in order to keep the cost low to
our vendors, we receive additional support from
donations and in-kind contributions.
Street Roots publishes every tw o weeks, launching
on Fridays, and is available exclusively through our
street vendors or by subscription. W e are proud
members of the North American Street
Newspaper Association and the International
Network of Street Papers.
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
www.streetroots.org
www.streetroots.wordpress.com
israel@streetroots.org
Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl
joanne@streetroots.org
Vendor Coordinator Becky Mullins
becky@streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Cole Merkel
cole@streetroots.org
Grant Writer Sarah Cloud
Accountant Heather Stadick
Reporters Amanda Waldroupe, Stacy Brownhill,
Jake Thomas
Photographers Leah Nash, Ken Hawkins, Jennifer
Jansons, John Ryan Brubaker
intern LizFosteer
Volunteers
Christine Gadeholt, Mary Pacios, Leo Rhodes, Jan
Bayer, Eliese Baker, Sue Zalokar, Tave Drake,
Michael Moore
Street Roots Rose City Resource
Street Roots publishes the Rose City Resource, a
comprehensive booklet o f services for people
experiencing homelessness and poverty.
To inquire about getting an order of the Rose City
Resource for distribution, please write to
pdxrosecityresource@gmail.com. Resources are also
available online at www.rosecityresource.org.
goes directly to the vendor
who sold you the paper
goes toward
printing costs
Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at thé Street Roots office.