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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 2015)
Street Roots • Dec. 24-31, 2015 E ditorial A synopsis of the housing crisis, today and tomorrow p; eople ask Street Roots why we aren’t most comprehensive effort to date. Will it end covering more of the housing crisis in the homelessness in Portland? No. Will it help newspaper. It’s a simple answer for a , thousands of people end their homelessness and complex problem: We pride ourselves on improve our overall affordable housing structure publishing original content in Portland? Yes. It’s a.great plan, considering Every media outlet in town is covering the the circumstances, and without control over of issue. Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Portland the market or outside forces. Mercury, the Portland Last week the city voted for a $1.2 million Tribune, the Willamette short-term rental tax in Portland. The tax, on Week and the Oregonian *4 operations such as Airbnb, will be allocated to a they are all running with housing trust fund and can be used on multiple stories about the current D ESK projects each year. It’s a small, yet significant housing crisis. Sometimes victory considering how fast the rental market is the same story told in a By Israel Bayer changing. slightly different way. This comes on the heals of another small I also think that in the age of citizen journalism and victory led by the Community Alliance of social media, sometimes a specific issue or story Tenants and others to create much needed about the housing crisis is being introduced to legislation to protect Portland renters from an the public and dissected long before it ever unforgiving rental market. The new rules state appears in print. People from all walks of life are that landlords must give tenants at least 90 days speaking up. It’s having an effect on how we notice of no-cause eviction and any rental prioritize housing in our community. increases of 5 percent or more. The housing crisis is real. It deserves the The 50 percent set aside for affordable media coverage. Lots of it. The current rental housing in urban renewal areas was also a much market is unforgiving and thousands of people needed victory this year. The new allocation will find themselves on Portland’s streets. allow an additional $67 million to build affordable Thousands more find themselves on the brink of housing units in urban renewal areas. homelessness or being pushed out of the city. What needs to happen in For some, it’s a familiar tune. 2016? For others the shock is very Oregon legislators need to real. deliver. Everything - including Using editorials, poetry, The housing and more resources for affordable vendor stories and advocacy, re n ta l m a rk e t e ffe c t [H o u sin g a n d h o m e le s s S e r v ic e s Street Roots continues to be at every aspect of and new eviction protections - i s thè heart of the conversation. on the table. So is mclusionary Here’s a year-end round up of poverty. Including zoning, which would require new what’s shaking on the homeless education, youth and housing front, in no violence, displacement housing developments to include particular order: affordable housing. It’s time" for and gentrification. At the top of the list would the governor and the state Without stable be the homeless emergency. legislature to act in a meaningful housing, all of our Some might say it was way on the housing front. reactionary. Haters are going to approaches to ending Neighborhoods also need to hate. The emergency has poverty and giving be a part of the solution. allowed city and county people an opportunity Portland needs to site more governments to put into action at a better life begin to shelters and have your support a series a far-reaching policies fall In on themselves. for more housing resources. It’s and resources that we going to happen. In some cases, collectively know are needed. tent cities are going to be The Welcome Home allowed. Also, we have to have Coalition estimates that we are sm art growth strategies moving currently short a minimum of 24,000 affordable forward. Without sm art growth attached to housing units in Multnomah County. We have affordable housing, we are doomed. The work of got a lot of work ahead of us. Anti-Displacement PDX is doing is worth our Elected officials are working to.secure $30 support. Check them out. million in new funding next year for affordable All of our local officials need to support our housing and homeless services. Some say it’s too ambitious or simply political. I say it’s been a collective efforts. It takes a village, and without a long time coming. People are suffering, and in rock-solid team moving forward we are going to some cases dying on the streets. We haven’t find ourselves on shaky ground. The housing been close to being at the scale needed for and rental market effect every aspect of poverty, investments in the past three decades. including education, youth violence, How will plans for affordable housing and displacement and gentrification. Without stable homeless services be implemented? It’s called, housing, all of our approaches to ending poverty “A Home for Everyone.” The group is made up and giving people an opportunity at a better life of both the public and private sector and is begin to fall in on themselves. Supporting working on implementing a very complex housing and an increase in wages means strategy. That strategy includes investing in supporting, every day, the foundation of our city. ending veterans homelessness, new shelters, Lastly, we must find a permanent revenue expanding housing placement for women, source for affordable housing. A big one. A children and youth, looking at legal campgrounds homeless emergency this year helps us begin to and investing in building affordable housing. build a bridge to support giving people a safe Will the plan work? Portland, like many place to call home in the future. Saying that, it’s American cities, has had to deal with the lack of still not enough. Don’t stop demanding action sufficient federal support for affordable housing Portland. for more than three decades. The plan is the DIRECTOR'S J j(j|j|| Israel Bayer is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach h im a t israel@streetroots. org or follow h im on Tw itter @israelbayer. Page 3 Write in tohave s o u th in g ' that you’ve written published in our pages, o r would like to get involved as a member ofourreportingsfaff, . contact Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl at 503-228-5657, joanne@streetroots.org. We ask that alt submissions include the author’s name and contact information, if available. Street Roots 211 NW Davis S t Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 ' / - . Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.news.streetroots.org Hours: 7:30 a.m,-3p.m, Mon-Fii, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat. and 7:30-11 a m . Sun. interested in advertising in Street Roots? Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org S taff Executive Director Israel Bayer M a naging E d ito r Joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel cole@streetroots.org Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Development Director Sarah Cloud P ro g ra m A s s is ta n t Scott Jackson, Jesuit Volunteer ; D evelopm ent A s s is ta n t Ann-Derrick Gailfdt Reporters Emily Green, SueZalokar, Ann-Derrick Gaillot, Sarah Hansell, Lenora Ko, Sam Bouman, Jared Paben Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode Canvasser Desmond Hardison Board of Directors Chairman Bruce Anderson Vice-Ghairman Brad Taylor Treasurer Heather Stadick Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson, Leo Rhodes, Nora Coon, Darren Alexander, Eddie Barbosa, Rachel Langford, Marcus Swift Volunteers Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Brian Ritchie, Anders Frederickson, Stephanie Holum, Anjali Rathore, Sam Bouman, Joanna Chase, Zoe Klingmann, Haven Herrin, Eliese Baker, Dan Jones, Rob Shyrock, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jessica Pollard, Lee Ko, Diana Richardson, Cherie Manning, Thomas Buell Jr. If you are interested in volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application atstreetroots.org/volunteer. Or call our volunteer coordinator for more information at 503-228-5657.
