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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2016)
Street Roots • April 15-21,2016 2 0 1 6 PORTLAND CITY COUNCIL RACE mental and physical, due to the stress and anxiety of their situation. As a case manager for a non-profit mental health clinic, I have seen the appreciation and gratitude of program outreach. It was much easier for me to go to them then for them to come to the clinic. I would also increase public housing and create 7,000-plus low-income housing and traditional housing units. Bridge Meadows is a great model. These efforts may even decrease the needed fund amount of police and fire bureaus. With the $5 million left, I would increase the manpower and operation of the Fire Bureau. y I would spend $2 million on the fire bureau, $4 million for social services, $3 million on the police bureau, and $1 million on the parks bureau. This painting, “29 July 2015” by Gabriel Liston, from the first day of the Shell Otl/Fennica protest includes Chloe Eudaly’s favorite bridge and her favorite thing about Portland: “our spirit of creative resistance.” g Make one promise to the city’s people of color that you will deliver ■ on if elected. Street Roots will check on its status every year. LANITA DUKE As the Director of Grassroot News, NW, I am longtime reporter and video producer. I have a deep understanding of the issues facing the city and have forged relationships with citizens across geographical districts. My videos have tackled issues such as teen interaction with police, curbing teen pregnancy, low-income housing, Alzheimer’s disease, low m ath scores of city schools, job skills training and more. I will continue to be a voice for the voiceless to provide hope to the hopeless. utilizing public dollars or receiving incentives from the city. AMANDA FRITZ DAVID MORRISON cell towers out of neighborhoods, especially schools. There are two cell towers right next to Boise Elliot gramm ar school that are frying the kids inside. I would retrofit the building to protect the kids. I w ill w o r k to k e e p I will testify that the slights we face are not “all in your head.” SHANNON ESTABROOK I will see everyone as equal, as I do in my classroom. It is my “clean STEVE NOVICK slate” policy. We ALL I will work with my continue to learn from our This sketch was submitted by Suzanne Stahl. “I love goats, bureaus to ensure that in differences. We are every and have eight in my yard!” she recruiting for city jobs and color now. We all have says. varied backgrounds now. seeking input on city We ARE ONE. Please DO projects, we make an extra check on my tolerance effort to reach people of color in as many status each year, should I win. I’m still languages as possible. We have taken steps learning too. restructure our outreach on PBOT projects Just one promise to address the ongoing effects of historic and institutionalized racism in one of the whitest cities in the country? I’ve got three: I promise to seek out, value and honor the input of communities of color in all aspects of my work on council. I promise to advocate for transparent citywide goals around diversity, equity and inclusion for all city spending, hiring and programming. I promise to fight further displacement of communities of color in all current and future urban renewal areas, by insisting on rigorous anti-displacement measures, and requiring community benefit agreements (to be crafted by the communities involved) from all developers I would declare a state of emergency regarding the academic achievement gap in education. In Oregon, children of color and low-income students consistently fall far behind their white, middle-class counterparts on key educational metrics. A 2013 study by the secretary of state shows achievement gaps are significant and consistent in Oregon with a notable effect on workforce preparedness for underserved populations. “If the state fails in the effort to close the achievement gap, long-term workforce availability could be compromised, and that could impact Oregon’s ability to attract and retain quality jobs,” the report states. I will create study groups at kitchen tables, in parks, community centers, trailer parks, apartment building - everywhere to encourage students to increase their study time to close this gap. MICHAEL DURROW Provide resources so they can plan, prepare and connect to the right people and resources. SHANNON ESTABROOK I will seek out and consider input from communities of color before m a k in g im portant decisions. This promise includes hiring/retaining people of color in the staffing of my office and bureaus, to provide opportunities, direct input, and leadership on the actions of the government that belongs to all Portlanders. MICHAEL DURROW CHLOE EUDALY How will you ensure young people of color will succeed in Portland? LANITA DUKE FRED STEWART with the help of my East Portland liaison, Andrea Valderrama. ANN SANDERSON I won’t lie to you. SUZANNE STAHL Improve the relationship between PPOC and police. Can’t be done? I have already seen good dialogue at Race Talks. I will promote Race Talks, school meetings, and community forums that incorporate the police community. FRED STEWART. I will lower the level of violence in the black community in the" City of Portland. Each candidate was asked to select a local artist - professional or amateur - to draw his or her favorite thing about Portland. Their submissions are on Pages 8-10. Page 9 All young people should be provided with: Free tuition at ALL community colleges in the Portland area. ALL students. Free bus passes on TriMeL Opportunities for employment and reduced rent. Free child care. recreation and SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) programs in Parks; by continuing to encourage police reform so that all Portlanders are treated with respect and everyone is safe in their neighborhood; by supporting the Diverse Civic Leadership and East Portland Action Plan initiatives within the Office of Neighborhood Involvement; and by employing people of varied backgrounds in my office and in my bureaus. Young people need internships, apprenticeships and volunteer leadership opportunities to enter the pipeline to success. I will also continue to champion the Future Connect scholarships with Portland Community College. No one person can “ensure” that youth succeed. We are all responsible for the success of every young person. DAVID MORRISON I think the best way is to make sure that all schools get the same funding and are of the same caliber. Get the military out of the STEM program. If they want to even live to see a future, we are going to have to get wireless (microwave radiation) out of the schools and replaced with more reliable, safe cabled connections. STEVE NOVICK By working to improve transportation infrastructure in east Portland, where many of our people of color live, so t h a t th e y c a n g e t to jo b s o r s c h o o l e v e n i f CHLOE EUDALY T h is is a n o th e r they don’t have cars. By working to ensure that the city itself employs young people of color. By carefully monitoring city bureaus (including but not limited to the police bureau) to guard against discriminatory conduct co m p lic a te d q u e stio n w ith n o sin g le a d e q u a te answ er. Lack of economic opportunity and Shannon Estabrook says a woman drew affordable housing, this sketch o f the candidate in 5 minutes combined with gross during an iPad class downtown. “A inequities in our miracle, ” Estabrook says. educational system, and generations of racism and discrimination mean that most young ANN SANDERSON people of color will face multiple challenges The same way I would on any big, and barriers to success. While the city, county important problem: Listening to the people and state must work together to develop long who are affected by the problem. Working term strategies for these bigger systemic with people throughout the community. issues, we can still take smaller and more Looking at what works in other communities immediate steps to not just helping youth, but in the United States and internationally and presenting our communities with ways in then adapting those solutions to the needs of which they can step up and help create the Portland. welcoming and inclusive communities youth SUZANNE STAHL need and deserve through community Gang activity is on the rise because gangs partnerships. After all, this is not a provide a sense of belonging to our youth. shortcoming on the part of the youth or More after-school activities need to be created communities of color; this a failure of our and fostered, more youth need to be involved larger society to guarantee equal rights and with successful STEM programs, and more opportunities to all people. community centers need to be built and One great example of the kind of remain open after hours a weekends (times partnership I’m talking about is the Boise when many parents are working). These Youth Business Unity Project, where students activities will show there are better and from Jefferson and Rosemary Anderson high healthier ways to get that sense of belonging. schools are matched with area businesses for paid summer internships. Youth learn valuable job skills while building wider connections in their local communities. Local businesses have a chance to give back to communities they do business in by investing in area youth. AMANDA FRITZ I will help foster success for young people of color through programs in my assigned bureaus, and by being a role model as someone who is not a white male on the council. For instance, by providing healthy FRED STEWART First off, I will be an example of a black person in Portland who loves his hometown. I will ensure that black people in Portland feel like they are included in the future of Portland. We will see more relationships with the black business-owner community and we will learn more about how much black people have contributed to Portland under my tenure as a City Commissioner. Continued on Page 10
