July 6. 2 0 0 5
JJortlanh (©bseruer
Page A5
Making Changes One Step at a Time
continued
from Front
boosting the income of more than 100.000
people. He worked toward the passage of
the temporary Multnomah County income
tax to keep Portland schools from damag
ing cuts and prevent cuts to senior and
public healthcare services. H e’s volun
teered with Portland’s Gang Task Force,
Stand forChildren, Coalition for a Livable
Future and Oregon Center for Public Policy.
“I’ve been working on the ground ev
ery day in northeast Portland since 1998
on the issues of living wage jobs and
public safety,” Shields said.
From activism to politics
Shields said he is proud to earn the
support o f tw o popular lawmakers from
P ortland’s black com m unity, Sen. Avel
Gordly, the first African American woman
to be elected to the Oregon Senate and
Sen. M argaret Carter, the first African
Am erican woman elected to the Oregon
H ouseof Representatives. W orking with
the m inority com m unity to find fairness
in the public policies that affect them
has been one o f his top priorities.
The outreach to diversity included
h irin g his legal a ssista n t. M arshal
Jevning, a local African American gradu
ate from the Uni versity o f Oregon School
of Law. Jevning has also worked with
Portland State U niversity, bringing m i
nority outreach to com m unity high
schools.
“H e ’s an in c re d ib le w o rk h o rse ,”
Shields said o f Jevning. “His legal train
ing has been an incredible com plim ent
to my social work training.”
It’s being connected to the local com
munity that allow s Shields to under
stand the im portance o f neighborhood
issues.
“W hen I moved out here, I saw there
was a big need,” Shields said. “W e're
incarcerating more people than ever be
fore and the (social) services could be
improved.”
Shields realized that although it was
im portant to help a m ultitude o f people
through volunteer work, nothing would
really be revolutionized until laws were
changed.
“W hen public policy is beating the
com m unity over the head with a 2 by 4 ,”
Shields said, “are you really getting any
w here?”
During his cam paign, he put feelers
out to get to know the com m unity even
more.
“ I knocked on probably 5,000 doors,”
he said. “In this district, there’s a wide
variety o f people. Y ou’ve got affluent
p eo ple in Irvington and stru g g lin g
people in the H um boldt area. W hen 1
knocked on doors at noon or 1 o ’clock.
Freshman State Rep. Chip Shields o f north and northeast Portland relies on his office's legal assistant Marshal
Jevning (right) to help him maneuver through a session o f the Oregon Legislature.
I was am azed at how many people were
home and unem ployed for a significant
am ount o f time. Those are the people
that I’ve worked with since 1998. It’s the
main reason that I ran - to fight for people
who are struggling.”
This meant dealing with matters like
repealing M easure 11 (m andatory m ini
mum sentences) and w orking to make
drug free zones fair to people of color.
“Someone once said the impossible
things take a little longer,” Shields said.
“W e’re now at a point where w e’re spend
ing more on prisons than w e’re spend
ing on com m unity colleges. W e’re pay
ing more for you to go to the state
penitentiary than for you to go to O r
egon State University. W e’re going to
have a lot o f prisons open that we w on’t
be able to operate and the state will be
crippled. It’s much better if you can deal
with things before the crisis.”
Rep. Chip Shields (left) meets with Service Employee International Union
members to discuss employment contract negotiations with Legacy Emanuel
Hospital.
Lessons in law
Shields was warned about the frus
trated legislative process, “but I felt like
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When public policy is beating the
community over the head with a 2 by 4,
are you really getting anywhere?
— S tate R ep . C hip S hields , representing north and
NORTHEAST PO RTLAND IN SA L E M
I could focus in with laser-like intensity
on a couple o f issues that I knew about,”
Shields said. “I feel like being down
there. I’ve been able to move the ball.”
H e’s also been able to stop the w reck
ing ball with some issues, like House Bill
2141. which would give the Department
o f C orrections and Oregon Youth A u
thority the ability to transfer inm ates to
a mental institution w henever they see
fit.
Shields said it had the best o f inten
tions, but that it meant overriding a long
tradition of ci vil commitment procedures
to prevent such transfers. He was really
concerned that if 15-year-old convicted
on a M easure 11 crim e is branded as
m entally ill, they could get sent to the
state hospital.
“ I started scratching my head and I
got my first street lesson. In a bill, if
y o u 're ju st changing a particular sec
tion, you have to include the changes
that y o u ’re making. W hat I learned that
week is that if y o u 're taking out an entire
section, you do n ’t have to include the
changes,” Shields said.
Along with Jevning, he looked over the
deleted section and went to action in get
ting a large number of people to vote
against the bill, which isn't easy.
“Republicans have a very iron fist in the
continued
on page A6
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