fe Minority & Small Business Week
September 23, 2009
Page A3
Minimum
Wage Won’t
Change
Rockwood Plaza 1 IN ED
Volunteers painted a large,
ground-mounted mural in the
heart of Rockwood Friday.
T he P laza del Sol is a
painted, astronomy-oriented
pattern by Michael Orelove,
designed to teach children
about the solar system.
Gresham city officials said
the event spotlighted the im­
portance o f having parks in
urban spaces by transforming
parking spaces into temporary
parks, offering a unique envi­
sioning about the way we see
and use public spaces.
Labor Com m issioner Brad
A vakian says that O regon's
minimum wage workers won't
be getting a raise next year.
O regon voters approved a
2002 ballot measure to raise the
minimum wage and then tie it to
the Consum er Price Index, a
measure of U.S. inflation. The
wage gets recalculated every
September.
Avakian says the CPI d e­
clined 1.5 percent between Au­
gust 2008 and August 2009, so
Oregon's minimum wage will re­
main $8.40 an hour.
Oregon is one of ten states
that annually adjust the mini­
mum wage based on inflation.
The Oregon ballot measure
did not include a provision for
cutting the minimum wage when
prices are falling.
Volunteers paint a mural
depicting a solar system,
transforming a parking
space to art in the heart
o f Gresham's Rockwood
neighborhood.
Portland Development Under the Microscope
continued ¿ ^ f r o m Front
vices in our com m unity.”
According to figures pro­
vided by the PDC, about 41
percent of people in north and
northeast Portland are ethnic
minorities. City wide that num­
ber is about 26 percent. The
area also has a large quantity
of small businesses, estimated
at about 4,000.
Roy Jay, president o f the
African Am erican Cham ber
o f C om m erce and m em ber
of the initiative’s Community
Advisory C om m ittee, wants
to use the initiative to “start
laying out a new roadm ap.”
H e’s hoping that the initia­
tive will connect people from
the com m unity w ith local
b u sinesses. Jay suggested
that the businesses be given
loans that will be forgiven if
they can meet certain bench­
marks.
“PDC is a sleeping giant,”
said Jay.
John Jackley, director of
com m unications and busi­
ness equity for the PDC, said
that Jay and P osey’s ideas
are feasible under the initia­
tive, pointing to sites on Swan
Island that could accom m o­
date industrial jobs.
J a c k le y a ls o p ro u d ly
pointed out that last year that
the PDC hit 25 percent in
diversity in its contracted
work force, and 22 percent
o f people w ho got a c o n ­
struction journey card w ork­
ing on the South Waterfront
la st y e a r w ere p e o p le o f
color, w hich is im pressive
considering Portland is one
o f the nation’s whitest cities.
Jack ley also m entioned
that the PD C has adopted
“social equity” as one o f its
overarching goals.
“W e’re going to set an ex­
am ple fo r the re st o f the
country,” he said.
However, the PDC might
have a rough road ahead of it.
F or years the PD C has
been seen by African Am eri­
can residents o f north and
northeast as just another arm
o f a city that is indifferent, if
not outright hostile, to them.
In the 1960s and 70s the
city o f P ortland displaced
black homes and businesses
in north and northeast Port­
land w ith the build in g o f
M em orial Coliseum, the ex­
pansion Emmanuel Hospital,
and the installation of the 1-5
freew ay.
Karen G ibson, associate
professor o f urban studies
and Portland State U niver­
sity, said that for years the
area has experienced “dis­
investm ent” from housing
d iscrim in atio n and banks
w ithholding credit to local
businesses. The PDC also
neglected the area for d e­
cades, while it focused atten­
tio n on d o w n to w n , she
added.
G ib so n d e sc rib e d it as
“ironic” that the blight in north
and northeast Portland the city
contributed to is the reason
why the PDC has turned its
attention to the area.
T he P D C ’s activ ity has
caused property values to
soar, pricing out historic resi­
dents.
This distrust was evident
at the first of 11 public m eet­
ings held by the initiative’s
Com munity Advisory C om ­
mittee, com posed o f stake­
holders from the community,
last month at the Billy Webb
Elks Lodge.
“Every time development
comes, it jumbles the neigh­
borhood,” said Adrian Hamp­
ton, a long-time resident of the
area at the meeting.
Posey questioned whether
the PDC had “the guts” to
do what was really needed.
“At the end of the day we
all know that w e’re not in­
telligently looking at what the
needs are, and applying the
resources to the needs,” said
Posey, before adding, “PDC
is doing better.”
Jackley said that the com ­
m ission is aware of the bad
blood betw een it and resi­
dents o f north and northeast
Portland, and sees the initia­
tive as an opportunity to re­
build trust.
“T h e r e ’s a trem e n d o u s
amount o f past history that
has to be overcome, and the
only way you do it is with
actu al h ard re s u lts ,” said
Jackley.
Gibson remains skeptical
th at the PDC can slow
gentrification with this initia­
tive since it relies on rising
property values to fill its cof­
fers.
B eca u se the PD C b o r­
rows against future property
taxes in an urban renew al
area to fund its programs it
has a vested interest in see­
ing them rise, which displaces
re sid e n ts and b u sin esses,
explained Gibson. Such a fi­
nancing arrangement is "the
definition of gentrification,”
she said.
The PDC is looking to ex­
pand the boundaries o f its
urban renewal areas under
the initiative, which presents
com m unity members with a
big bargaining chip, she ex­
plained.
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