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street roots
Aug. 29, 2014
C
J
Still missing after Ferguson: Police accountability
Tiny houses o ffer vital role in
larger housing strategy
■ P o rtlan d is poised to begin the work of building
tiny bouses. We couldn’t be more excited about
JL the idea.
Tiny houses are small, compact houses, typically
around 200 square feet.
Providing a safe home, regardless of its size, that
offers privacy and security for individuals and families
struggling through hard times is something we can all
get behind. It’s also a great opportunity for elders on a
fixed income that would like to be able to access
something other than a large, crowded apartment
building.
Being able to implement such a plan doesn’t come
________________________
without challenges.
Will Portland
Their allure shouldn't
neighborhoods
replace the fact that we embrace the idea, and
still need large
can the city withstand
Investments In the
the political pressure if
regional Housing
neighborhoods do not?
Investment Fund.
We hope so.
■HnHMnHHnHMnraanaBB
Time and again in
Portland and around
the nation we’ve watched neighborhoods come undone'
over the idea of having homeless shelters, tent cities
and other services in their neighborhoods. Having the
city provide education and facilitating hard
conversations will be key.
It’s also important to realize that while tiny houses
are cute and make a big splash in the media, ultimately
they are just one component of a much larger strategy
to tackle homelessness and poverty in our community.
Their allure shouldn’t replace the fact that we still need
large investments in the regional Housing Investment
Fund.
The rough costs for building a tiny home is $12,000.
And these houses can be constructed with mostly
recycled materials. It’s a win-win; especially considering
what amenities can be added to areas with tiny houses,
such as community gardens and green spaces.
This means more than building small houses. It
means modifying zoning laws and other regulations to
allow for a breakthrough in the housing market that
accommodates people who have been pushed out.
When it comes to solving our city’s housing needs —
everything should be on the table.
On issues of housing and equity, Portland is at a
crossroads. On one hand, we have thousands of
individuals and families sleeping outdoors experiencing
the harsh realities of homelessness. One the other
hand, poor people and communities of color are being
displaced from the city at an alarming raté. ■,
We have a responsibility to provide housing to
Portlanders in a way that is safe and affordable. It’s
what a healthy society does. While tiny houses won’t
solve all of the issues related'to housing, but they can
play a small role in helping us work toward housing
solutions.
Israel Bayer is the
executivedirector o f
Street Roots. You can
reach h im a t
israel@streetroots.org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
e tragedy of the Michael Brown
killing is rocking the nation. It should.
For anyone living in an urban
environment, especially people of color and
the poor — the events of Michael Brown and
the community "
response is not
surprising. 2
DIRECTOR1« 1 It’s hard to shift
through all of the
D IS K
recent events in
B y Israel Bayer
Ferguson, Missouri,
but one thing is for
sure: there’s a
commonality
throughout Americaright now again,
especially in urban environments. People are
sick and tired of the lack of police
accountability when it comes to the actions
of a handful of officers who kill unarmed
residents. The response by law enforcement
and the militarization of the police adds fuel
to the fire.
Here’s the thing. The vast majority of
police officers are amazing individuals who
conduct heroic acts every day. I’ve personally
witnessed with my own two eyes the police
save people’s lives and deescalate conflicts
that were deadly serious. It’s routine.
There’s,no question that it’s one of the
toughest jobs that exist.
When things go wrong, it’s easy to cast
the police, in bad light without the proper
context.
The Portland Police Bureau and Chief
Mike Reese recently released a video talking
about the importance of trust in light of the
events in Ferguson. He highlighted three
important areas the police bureau is working
on: diversity, use of force policies and
transparency — all things that are vital to
maintaining trust between the public and a
o n e vital thing
<
missing in the video is accountability. It
would be easy for the public to give the
police and city governments the benefit of
the doubt if there was any. Unfortunately,
there’s n o t There never has been.
Accountability would mean actually
stopping racial profiling and working to hold
officers accountable when they engage in
wrongful activities related to their use of
force and not representing the communities
they serve. It would mean creating police
oversight with teeth.
It’s fantastic that both complaints against
officers and use-of-force incidents have
declined in Portland. It’s great we’re working
to change thé makeup of the police force to
reflect the community and committed to
equity goals. It’s not enough.
The city can’t offer one good reason why
the officers involved in the James’Chasse
case are still police officers. Not one. There’s
no excuse. There’s simply no amount of
reform the police can accomplish that will ■„
replace reàl police accountability.
Thè events in Ferguson have magnified
these discussions in Portland and across the
nation. These are not isolated incidents.
Communities across the country want real
police oversight Portland is no different.
The sad reality is real police accountability
has almost become a hollow term. It’s
probably not going to happen. It’s no secret
that police unions are one of the most
powerful institutions that exist in American
politics. How a police union can be more
powerful than the government its members
represent I have no idea. It’s always baffled
me.
In the meantime, we are left to. work
around the edges and to make both the
public’s relationship with the police and the
police bureau itself the best it can be. It’s not
ide^ .b u f it, js ffte reality. -
Oh My Soul
by Victor Rivera
And you, 0 my soul, where do you stand?
What shadows do you cast upon the world?
Good, bad or indifferent
How important it is to me
To shade those in the heat
To warm those who are cold
To love those who are hated
How important it is to me
To cast my shadow in valleys deep
To urge goodness in all men
Even if taken for foolishness
O how important it is for me.
Our mission
Staff
Board e? Bwetors
Vendors
Street Root» creates iR co ro o p p o riu n ife for
people experiencing homelessness and poverty by
producing a newspaper and otfier media that are
catalysts for individua I w id soda! change.
Exseatiw Director fo iU y e r ‘
Brum Anderson (Chairman), M ldjael‘A nderson (Vice- ■
chairman), H eafeS tadick (TreaU Eddy Barbosa (See I,.
Rich Rodgers, Brad Taylor, Leo^hobs, Nora Coon,",
Street Roots v e n d o p u y the newspapers fo ^ 5 % n ti;
each and sell them M l , keeping the T ie n ts in .
profit forthem sebesjn order to-keep toe costldw to
our vendors, we.receive additional support from
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L
Street Roots publishes every tw o weeks, launching
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members of the international Network o f Street
Papers.
Street Roots
211 NW Davis S t .
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
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israel&beetKX&org
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To inquire about getting guides, call 503-228-5657.
Resources are online at www.rosecityresource.org.
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