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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2016)
News Street Roots • Aprii 8-14, 2016 Page 5 the protesters to follow her into the lobby of training. Wesson-Mitchell defended the the Portland Police Training Facility to ask if purpose of the fundraiser, but admitted “the they would be allowed entrance to the event. messaging in the advertising was poor.” All were immediately met by PPB Assistant Despite the Meet the Heat organizers’ Chief Kevin Modica, who, after a brief statements, the protesters gathered outside private conversation with Hardesty, of the fundraiser were unconvinced of the addressed the protesters defending the Bureau’s good intentions. positive intentions of “I think Portland the event and urging Police is trying to the crowd to drive glorify violence,” said "Why would we allow a busi holders, youth from the Boys and Girls Club carefully on their Kathryn Kendall, one would be in attendance. ness lobbying organization ways home, ending by of a handful of “Our invitation must have gotten lost in that has a very narrow agenda telling them, “I members in the mail,” protest organizer and NAACP appreciate you.” attendance from the charge the public to enter a Portland branch President Jo Ann Hardesty Meet the Heat and Buddhist Peace building that the public paid told protesters gathered outside of the year- the accompanying Fellowship, Portland. for and frame it in such an ag protest came just and-a-half old training facility. In a public “In a time where black statement released that morning, Hardesty gressive way?" under two months lives matter and the objected to the event marketing’s “glorifying - JO ANN HARDESTY after the Portland police department is police violence” as well as its potential draw PORTLAND NAACP Tribune acquired and not honoring that, I on public resources. released a Multnomah think it’s very “Why would we allow a business lobbying County Sheriff’s important for people organization that has a very narrow agenda Office internal audit that found officers at who are nonviolent to stand up.” charge the public to enter a building that the county jails disproportionately used force Mariana Milne, holding a sign in memory public paid for and frame it in such an against black inmates. Additionally, the of Fred Bryant, father of Keaton Otis, an aggressive way?” said Hardesty in her Portland Police Bureau is currently in the African American man killed by Portland statement. “Do you think Black Lives Matter second year of a five-year settlement with the Police officers in 2010, also expressed could hold a fundraiser here if they said they U.S. Department of Justice, who found that disappointment with the event, specifically would use the money to teach young people the bureau routinely used excessive force citing the use of language such as “high their rights when they encounter the police? against people perceived to have a mental speed chase” in its marketing. “This is a No, it would not be sanctioned.” illness. training center, and we should be training The statement goes on to criticize Reese’s In response to the protest and Hardesty’s people to mediate and de-escalate.” past leadership as Police Chief and detail public statement, PPB spokesman Sgt Pete Several protesters at the event held signs Hardesty’s attempts over the past month to Simpson told Street Roots via email, “The memorializing victims of the Portland Police communicate her objections to the event to Police Bureau’s Training Division was Bureau’s past incidents of force and calling city leaders. honored to host the event on behalf of the for greater police accountability. In printouts of a March 17 email from Portland Police Foundation to bring business After the fundraiser’s scheduled 9 a.m. Policy Director for Public Safety Deanna leaders, community leaders, and young start time, Hardesty read her statement Wesson-Mitchell to Hardesty, provided by people to. have a quick, look into, the world of aloud outside the training facility entrance, Hardesty at the protest, Wesson-Mitchell says saying she would have supported the event police training. We are aware that not that funds raised at Meet the Heat will go everyone in this community is supportive of had it been open to members of the public toward expanding the Community Academy our efforts but we will continue to work to and focused on how officers had been program from an annual to a more frequent build strongs lasting relationships with “retrained to de-escalate situations” and event in which more members of the public everyone in our community.” “value all human life.” Afterward, she invited could participate and learn about police Police Meet the Heat event draws fire BY ANN-DERRICK GAILLOT STAFF WRITER ttendees to a fundraiser at the Portland Police Training Center in Northeast Portland the morning of Friday, April 1, were greeted by a group of protesters opposed to what they saw as an exclusionary event insensitive to Portland’s low-income, minority and mental health communities. The event, called “Meet the Heat”, was a fundraiser for the non-profit organizations Portland Police Foundation and Citizens Crime Commission, an affiliate organization of the Portland Business Alliance’s charitable branch. According to the Meet the Heat event promotional material, for $1000 invitees received a “never-been-done before, exclusive look into the challenges, the danger, and the successes of Portland Police officers,” as well as the chance to meet members of the police force and dogs from the K-9 unit. The price of admission also included memberships into the two benefitting organizations. Former police chief and current interim executive director of the Citizens Crime Commission Mike Reese told Street Roots that Meet the Heat is based on the organization’s past community academies, in which community and civic leaders are invited to go through a simulation of police training and “hear from the police chief on 21st century issues around policing.” Reese stated that in addition to the fundraiser ticket a LEAD, from page 4 In 2011 we won the National Healthy Homes Hero Award, presented by the EPA, HUD, USDA, US Dept, of Energy and the CDC. And then in 2014 we won the best overall outreach campaign from the same consortium of agencies at the National Healthy Home Conference and that was really interesting to me. We were up against hospitals, public agencies: really well-funded organizations • and our budget that year was like $60,000. S.Z.:. You’ve touched on this a bit, but class isn’t really an accurate measuring stick to determine the likelihood of lead poisoning. T.R.: It’s a myth perpetuated by the lead industry that this is a low-income, minority problem. The lead industry started doing that in the 1910-20s. As long as they could perpetuate that myth - that it was a low- income problem - then the politicians didn’t really think it was their problem and didn’t have to really take action. That has been forwarded into our culture and society now 100 years later. So that we don’t’ realize that it is a myth. Even now, with Flint. They are focusing on this being a low-income problem. It’s not a minority problem. It’s not a low- income problem. It’s a lead problem. There is only one place to lay blame in this, and it’s the lead industry. They knew about the toxicity of the product prior to releasing leaded gasoline and at the beginning of releasing leaded paint because they had workers dying. S.Z.: Are there actually 80 million homes in the U.S. that contain lead paint? T.R.: Recent assessments found that 92.5 percent of the homes in the 97202 area zip code for one example, were pre-1978 and potentially had lead paint hazards. We say 80 million homes. The feds say it’s 26 million because they are like, well statistically, the odds are that (some of these houses do not have lead-based paint hazards). Statistics don’t matter in an incidental case of lead exposure. The other thing is that the feds are (recognizing) lead paint as paint that has at least 5,000 parts per million (ppm) lead in it. But the 1978 law (that banned lead paint use) considered lead paint with 600 ppm lead and the new law says paint can’t have more than 90 ppm lead, so even though the feds are looking at paint that is 5,000 and above, we know that lead is toxic to children as low as 90 ppm. Why aren’t they including all of the lower lead paint? These test kits test as low as 600 ppm and the EPA is trying to have them thrown out as “too accurate” because they test below the 5,000 ppm. S.Z.: Wait, what? T.R. The EPA actually hired a company to try to design an instant lead test that is less accurate. They want one that only tests down to 5,000 ppm. We had the hearing last June. They said they were trying to design a product that was less sensitive because the current product is “too sensitive.” How can it be too sensitive? It detects lead. Lead is hazardous at any amount. You just need to change your HUD standard from 5,000 ppm to 600 ppm. The problem with that is that would make all of these others housing units eligible for intervention and they don’t have the funds to address it The fact that they don’t have funds to address shouldn’t determine what they consider a hazard in public statements. S.Z.: The future seems so gloomy. What can we do? T.R.: Start with your house. Then deal with your kids’ school. Then deal with the playground and the places they hang out and Grandma’s house. And then address the biggdr community. Make sure your house is lead safe. Get all the lead out of your house if you can. That includes your plumbing, that includes your soil, your painted surfaces. If everyone made sure that their house was safe, that would go a long way. Kids spend most of their time either at home or in school. Right now,, there is no federal law requiring schools to not have lead hazards. S.Z.: You studied mask and clown work with the Theatre du Soleil in Paris, and also studied with the legendary circus arts master, Hovey Burgess. That is a pretty interesting nugget of experience. How did this training prepare you for the future and the work you are doing now, if at all? T.R.: I’m actually a very shy, introverted person, but in order to compensate for that, I pretend I’m an extrovert I think that is what a lot of actors do. That’s why they are good actors. They go out on a limb where they might not otherwise be comfortable. I always did stage work with the intention of making people laugh and be happy. And the one thing that has made me unique in terms of being an environmental activist, is that a lot of the other environmental activist, is that I am always positive. Some of the others are very angry, and in all of their presentations they express their anger. I’m (mad) as heck, but I’m not going to speak it in that way. I recognize that there is a problem, but what can we do about it? Let’s not dwell on the past, on the angry. You can’t change history. Let’s stop dwelling and try to find solutions that are long term, comprehensive and societal. suzanhe@streetroots.org
