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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (March 31, 2017)
Street Roots March 31 -April 6, 2017 O p in io n Page 3 Mayor needs courage, vision on homeless front eople ask me all of the time, “What do you think of Mayor Wheeler?” gap between promises broken in the past and generating the necessary political will to address things such as police accountability, gentrification, racial I tell them, I don’t know the mayor well, but justice, homelessness and housing policy, the from my short time working with him he’s one of the environment and more? sm artest individuals I’ve ever met. He also isn’t afraid Throw in a Trump administration that seems hell to tell you exactly what he thinks, and he can juggle bent on tearing down anything good that we have all more things than your average bear. Saying that, as collectively worked for and it can feel impossible for with many mayors, being smart doesn’t always translate both the community and a mayor to find a space to be to being able to bring the people with you. able to work toward the common good of the Trying to thread the needle community. and find justice on so many The reality is Ted Wheeler faces an almost issues at one time can feel impossible task as it relates to many of these issues. On almost impossible for the larger the police accountability front, until changes are made, community and any mayor, nobody - and I mean nobody - is actually listening. especially a new mayor. Possibly it’s unfair to the mayor, given all of the By Israel Bayer It doesn’t help that the circumstances, but then again, he did run to the left of _________________ current mayor is inheriting a his opponent on reforming the police bureau. The time social justice community that is now. feels beaten down. After all, Ted front - I think it’s . On the housing and homeless * Wheeler is our fifth mayor in the past 20 years. important to give the mayor and his team some space. Every time the community gets going in one It’s such a complex issue. I’d much rather have a mayor direction, the brakes are put on due to the nature of come in and evaluate the playing field before acting having to change administrations. Mayor Vera Katz had than simply delivering on a bunch of campaign slogans a long run, for better or worse. Tom Potter, Sam Adams that may or may not work given the information he has and Charlie Hales were one and done. now. It may be frustrating to some, but it’s the right Who among us can even remember all of the political move. promises and slogans we’ve heard over the past decades Protestors can shout until they are blue in the face, in city politics? Bureaus have been shuffled, time and but I’m grateful the mayor isn’t leading with heavy law again. Proclamations are made. Massive public planning enforcement and the criminalization of the homeless and visioning work has been done and then abruptly agenda. I’m grateful for his work already to support dumped, only to start all over again. tenants and what I hope he does to continue to support It all makes for great political theater and sensational tent cities and alternative housing pilots throughout the headlines in the newspaper, but it’s hard for city. maintaining a long-term strategy on critical issues The reality is every special interest group in the city facing our city. w a n ts s o m e th in g d o n e o n h o m e le s s n e s s , y e ste rd a y . Portland has paid the price. The changeover in You’re never going to please everyone. It’s my opinion political leadership is one of the biggest reasons I that the mayor has already set the stage for being a believe the housing crisis occurred without any real great mayor on the issue. It’s a m atter of execution and housing policy in place to counter the harsh reality of bringing the people along. If the end goal is to manage years of gentrification, skyrocketing rents and the lack the problem than, yes, it will eventually go sideways. We of affordable housing stock. need courage and vision and to continue to go big on I suppose hindsight is 20/20, but the pain is real. the housing front. Portland, that funky little West Coast town, is losing its So, to the question, what do I think of Mayor ability to support people of color and the middle class. Wheeler? I think he’s a mayor that cares a great deal Some would argue we’ve already lost our city, and I about the city he lives. I also believe that he doesn’t wouldn’t argue with them. It’s almost impossible to see have history on his side. It will be up to him and his a future for yourself in Portland if you don’t have the administration to write the next chapter and change capital to play the game. that story. Time will tell. So the question looms — how does one bridge the P Israel Bayer is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach h im at israel@streetroots. org or follow h im on Twitter @israelbayer. Sheeptoast by Elizabeth Considine IMy company setts it by the botde! <Wfio needs dean water? \ frave air, too! contact Managing Editor Joanne Zuhi 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 St. Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 ’ Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.news.streetroots.org Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun. ■ . 7 7 '.7 ' 7 . i'-. <. : . 7 Advertising Interested in advertising in Street Roots? Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org Staff Executive Director is israel@streetroots.org Managing Editor Joanne Zuhi joanne@ streetroots.org Vendor P ro g ra m D ire c to r C ole M e rkel Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Development Director Sarah Cloud Program Assistant Meghann Van Pelt, Jesuit Volunteer Development Assistant Patricia Romero Editorial Assistant Monica Kwasnik Reporters Emily Green, Suzanne Zalokar, Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Jared Paben, Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode, Arkady Brown Canvasser Desmond Hardison Board of Directors Chairman Brad Taylor Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford Treasurer Heather Stadick Secretary Dan Jones Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Nels Johnson and Alison Hallett Volunteers Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore, Zoe Klingmann, Dan Jones, Daryl Hogan, Monica McKune, Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymani, Jason Cohen, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana Richardson, Cherie Manning, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne Joyce, Del Shawn Davidson, Gillian Floren, Mark OIDee, Meg Holden, Bridget Brown, Cody Travels, Bianca Butler, Robb Hengerer, Alex Cherin, Tom Vandel, Grace Gallagher, Jenny Farres, Evan Firsick, Camber Hansen-Karr, Miranda Woods, Henry Brannan and Helen Hill. If you're interested in volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or you can call for more information at 503-228-5657.
