Page A3
A p ril 8. 2009
Activists Decry 12 Lane Bridge Expansion
continued j ^ f r i m Front
Fuglister, who said that she
wants to make sure that people
have plenty of choices for how
they commute, including car
pooling and mass transit. "We
need to think a lot more about
the people side."
Jen Williams, a longtime en­
vironmental justice advocate
who served on river crossing
task force said that she repeat­
edly raised concerns about how
the influx of traffic would affect
air quality in north and north­
east Portland, but was ignored
or drowned out. She also wor­
ries that more cars will affect
water runoff.
"They just got quiet and told
you 'we'll tell you later,"' said
Williams of how her concerns
were responded to.
Fuglister and Williams also
claim that the task force met in
Vancouver at hours that were
inconvenient for most north
Portlanders and that the task
force voted on the proposal
before the public comment pe­
riod had ended.
Hal D en g e rin k w ho co-
chaired the task force denied in
an e-mail that W illiams’ con­
cerns were drowned out or that
meetings were held at inconve­
nient locations. He was silent
on the claim that the taskforce
voted on the proposal before
the public comment period was
over.
Sylvia Evans, a longtime en­
vironmental justice advocate
from inner north Portland, is
quickly expanding, Portland
could wind up with gridlocked
traffic in dow ntow n if steps
aren't taken to ease the flow of
traffic, and adding that the 12-
lane option could bring light rail
to Vancouver.
Adams also points out that
the Colum bia River Crossing
decision had the blessing of
a C om m unity and E nviron­
mental Justice Group. Further,
he said that a representative
from DEQ will be on the over­
seeing committee as well as a
counterpart from W ashington
state, negating the need for
the health and environm ental
ju stic e advocates proposed
by Fritz.
H ow ever, F ug lister, who
holds a master's in environmen­
tal science, is still worried that
that the 12 lanes will put enough
tailpipes on the freeway to sig­
nificantly pump more toxics into
the neighborhoods that line it.
Additionally, Fuglister, Will­
iams, and Fritz allege that the
Columbia Crossing group's en­
vironmental justice representa­
tives were cherry picked be­
cause they lacked expertise in
environmental justice issues.
photo m J ake T homas ZT he P ortland O bserve
Fritz adds that health and
Environmental concerns over the proposed 1 2 lane 1-5 Portland-Vancouver bridge drew opponents to a downtown
environm ental justice advo­
Portland rally on Sunday.
cates are needed in the next
cent of the vehicles were from posal saying that cars spew out phase of the planning.
also concerned about 12 lanes. ferent states."
The Columbia River Crossing
more emissions when they're
According to Carley Francis, Oregon.
"It will render that neighbor­
is a very complex project and
Portland Mayor Sam Adams, idling in gridlocked traffic.
hood uninhabitable," she said Columbia River Crossing pub­
More lanes, Adams argues, won't be finished until 2018 or
of the proposed bridge’s effect. lic information officer, 55 per­ who led the council to support
"1 don't think my health or my cent of drivers crossing the the 12-lane option, is quick to would improve the flow of traf­ later, and it could be how it
neighbors’ is worth sacrificing bridge during daylight hours point out that he lives ju st fic resulting in fewer pollution might be modified in the mean­
for someone else's privilege to have W ashington tags. Ten blocks from the freeway. He emissions. He also argues that time.
live, work, and play in two dif­ percent were trucks and 32 per­ defends the 12-lane bridge pro­ w ith the a rea's p o p u latio n
people," said Pastor R obin
Wisner, a CRT volunteer. He
explained that different cultures
have different ways of grieving,
one who from their own cultural and it's important to have some­
continued ^ ^ f r o m Front
background, rather than uni­ one culturally com petent to
fleers can’t," said Officer Marci formed officers. The crisis re­ help people through times of
Jackson, who is the coordina­ sponse team is divided to pro­ crisis.
The crisis team volunteers
vide specific services for north
tor of the program.
One of the unique features and northeast Portland’s Afri­ perform a variety o f duties.
of the program is that it provides c a n -A m e ric a n co m m unity, They act as liaisons between
culturally competent support sexual minorities, Hispanic, and the police and families, notify
families that a traumatic event
the Asian communities.
for people in crisis.
"Even if you have the best has happened, assist with re­
Often times victims are more
comfortable dealing with some­ intentions, you can still offend ferrals to victim s assistance
Crisis Team
program s as well as funeral
and counseling services, pro­
vide translation services, and
other duties.
Jo h n C a n d a , a lo n g tim e
gang outreach w orker, said
th a t h is w ork is g re a tly
com plem ented by the CRT,
and said that there is no other
organization, public or p ri­
vate, that provides similar ser­
vices.
CRT volunteers have also
helped diffuse volatile situa­
tio n s in the past, by using
com m unity connections that
uniformed officers often lack.
These are often an invaluable
asset.
At last week’s meeting, vol­
unteers brought up a Low Rid­
ers car show several years that
almost erupted into a riot had it
not been for CRT volunteers.
Fights were breaking out every­
where and CRT volunteers dif­
fused the situation by going
into the crowd and using their
connections to get people in the
crowd to disperse.
"We know the g ra n d p a r­
ents, we know the cousins, we
know the uncles. It's a differ­
ent level o f resp ect," said
April Murchinson, a CRT vol­
unteer, describing her interac­
tion with neighbors who of­
ten are reluctant to speak with
officers.
At the meeting, several vol­
unteers noted that gang vio­
lence is on the rise making it
particularly important to have
police liaisons like crisis re­
sponse in the community.
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