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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2013)
Street roots 10 April 1, 2013 Pot bill confuses everyone involved U N P A ID S TA FF 38-year-old pot dealer named Curtis says he is worried that Oregon may soon legalize pot. A “I’ve made a living off of selling overpriced pot to college kids my entire life,” says Curtis. “What am I going to do if they legalize. I’ve got a good life living on my girlfriend’s couch.” A handful of elected officials in Salem have finally gathered up the gumption to seriously talk about the legalization of the “drug.” After spending the majority of their careers secretly getting high and writing “policy” in their basement after their partners and kids go to bed, a draft has come to light. A public hearing will be held later this month. It’s thought that middle-aged men and women, especially musicians and artists will actually testify against the bill. “You know, I’ve gone to marijuana festivals my entire life,” says Carly. “I’ve signed a lot of petitions. So many I can’t remember. I never actually thought they would legalize the stuff. I have to make a living.” Moderate Democrats are thought to be weighing their options — knowing that they’ll need all the money they can get for their “Bridge to Nowhere” project. No one has actually asked or cares what Oregon Republicans think about the bill. The state GOP is thought to be working with a friend of a friend’s cousin in Clackamas to organize an opposition. The group is mostly made up of Randy Travis fans from Oregon City and Portland hippies — forging a unique alliance calling itself the “Tea and Leaf Club.” “I don’t know about all of that,” says Curtis, while passing the bowl. “That would require me to get off the couch too. I’m so not liking all of this.” The bill will be rolled out to the public later this month. Foundations, big business upset a t nonprofits for not ending homelessness STAFF REPORTS oundation and corporate leaders from around the Pacific Northwest gathered last week to discuss why nonprofits weren’t ending homelessness. “They obviously aren’t being smart,” said a financial officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The future is innovation. Housing people just isn’t that innovative. We want to see nonprofits actually starting to work towards ending poverty.” Asked if a $70 billion decrease in housing funds from the federal government over the past 30 years, a near depression and a bank bailout might have something to do with it — one foundation leader replied, “Excuses.” One local housing organization suggested a possible long-term dedicated funding stream to support ending people’s homelessness. Business leaders called the idea “absurd.”’ “The reality is we spend a less than 0.1 percent of billions in profit on helping poverty programs,” said the CFO of a nationwide bank. “We expect to see returns from our philanthropy dollars. Why in the hell are there still homeless people everywhere?” Foundations, especially those who receive mostly corporate donations, say they will work to change the landscape over the next five years — working to cut out any grassroots support to smaller nonprofits and challenging larger nonprofits to not be so dependent on society. “It’s simple, we expect more with less,” says one CEO. “It’s what we’ve asked from our workers. We should expect nothing less from the nonprofits we oversee.” Portland embrace leiuaui diversity www.portlandhearingvoices.net Foundations like those inside this big foundation building have built entire empires on philanthropic management, are challenging organizations they fu n d to do more with less.
