50/
Owner Gives Back
Thanksgiv
'WP of Roses’ Al
IO f
s
Jack Chung opens his
Moonstar Bar & Grill fo r a
free Thanksgiving dinner
See story, page A2
...
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www.portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV, N um ber 46
Wednesday • November 25. 2009
.Week ¡n
The Review
MAX Driver Ignored Calls
TriMet has placed a light-rail
train operator on paid leave for
contributing to a 3-year-old boy
being separated from his fa
ther. The boy’s father tried re
peatedly to get the operator's
attention via the train's emer
gency intercom, but the opera
tor ignored those cues. See
story, page A2.
Excessive Force Inquiry
Members o f Portland’s police
union demonstrated Tuesday
and held a vote o f no confi
dence against Police Commis
sioner Dan Saltzman and Police
Chief Rosie Sizer after an of
ficer was placed on administra
tive leave pending an investi
gation into the use o f force
against a 12-year-old girl. See
story, page A2.
Leonard Grounded
C ity C om m issioner Randy
Leonard, a former firefighter,
has been
to ld
un
dergo four
h o u rs
of
training and
stay with a
sa fe ty o f
ficer the next
tim e
he
shows up at
the scene o f a fire. Earlier this
month, Leonard put on fire
fighting gear and climbed up
on th e ro o f o f so u th e a st
Portland’s Marysville School
as it was burning.
2 Million Cribs Recalled
After the deaths o f four chil
dren, more than 2 million cribs
in the U.S. and Canada are be
ing recalled by Stork Craft
Manufacturing. Sales o f the
cribs go back to 1993, some
carrying the Fisher-Price logo.
Controversial Ads Allowed
Ten TriMet buses are currently
displaying a controversial ad
vertisement from non-believ
ers. The Portland Coalition o f
Reason purchased the ads that
feature the words “Good with
out God? Millions Are.” See
story, page A2.
Lawyer: Coach Targeted
The attorney defending a Lin
coln High School coach ac
cused o f driving drunk said the
coach was targeted up. by an
angry parent and police had no
reason to pull him over. David
Adelman was arrested last Feb
ruary. He is the son o f former
T rail B lazers' coach Rick
Adelman.
Worker Killed Himself
A census worker found hang
ing from a tree with the word
"fed" scrawled on his chest
last September took his own
life, police said Tuesday, add
ing that an inquiry found that
he staged his death to look like
a homicide.
Time for More Ideas
Mayor Sam Adams has ex
tended the deadline, from Dec.
1 to Jan. 8 to submit ideas on
what to do with Memorial Coli
seum. City leaders are looking
for a way to revitalize the area.
years*
* community service
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Volunteers at the Oregon Food Bank in northeast Portland fill bags of cereal for distribution to families who struggle to put food on the
table. The agency has had an unprecedented increase in need because o f a poor economy.
Fighting Back Hunger
Tough economic
conditions
push up need
by J akf . T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
When Huilliuh Chan, a 56-year-old
immigrant from China, took a nasty spill
onto a slab o f concrete last spring, her
life changed
Her back was so badly hurt that she
had to quit her job as a seamstress, and
now subsides on monthly income of
about $900 a month from her disability
payments and Social Security checks
she receives from her husband, who is
so sick from diabetes and lives in a nurs
ing facility.
During the day she w orks on art
projects to pass the time, and worries.
She worries about the property taxes
on her home in east Portland. She wor
ries about the water bill. She worries
about medical bills.
“It’s not enough, you know? I’m not
lucky," said an exasperated Chan in her
thick Cantonese accent, whose budget
is so strained she has to make regular
trips to food programs to stay afloat.
Chan isn't alone. In fact, more and
more people are in a similar predicament.
According to a report released last week
by the U.S. Department o f Agriculture,
Oregon is second hungriest state in the
U.S. J u s t behind Mississippi.
Between 2006 and 2008, about 6.6
percent Oregon households or 95,000
people skipped meals because they did
not have enough money for food, ac
cording to the report. This is an increase
from the last set o f USDA figures which
revealed that nearly 4 percent o f Orego
nians experienced hunger between 2003
and 2005.
Chan makes periodic trips to the North
east Emergency Food Program at Luther
Memorial Church in northeast Portland.
c o n tin u e d
on p a g e .46
Mayor Kicks off Portland Plan
Wants input
from citizens
on priorities
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
The City o f Portland kicked
o ff the first o f seven commu
nity m eetings on Portland's
Comprehensive Plan, a strate
gic document that will guide
how the city forms policy on
issues ran g in g from public
health to transportation infra
structure.
At Beaumont Middle School
in northeast Portland, over 100
people, primarily from the sur
rounding neighborhoods, gath
ered last week to give their in
put at a meeting that provided
a snapshot o f the city’s chal
lenges and strengths.
"This is the most important
p iece in the p ro cess," said
M ay o r Sam A dam s to the
crowd who gathered at round
photo by J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserver
Mayor Sam Adams reaches out for public comment during
a meeting at Beaumont Middle School on the Portland
Plan, a strategic document that's being formulated to
guide city priorities in the future.
tables spread throughout the
school's cafeteria.
"It's yours; please take own
ership," he said o f the Plan,
which he characterized as a
"guide to love Portland better."
Adams pointed out that mu
nicipalities in Oregon are re
quired to develop a plan under
state law every 30 years. How
ever, it did not require the City
o f Portland to involve other
government entities (like Port
land Public Schools or the
Housing Authority of Portland )
in the process, which it was
doing this time around.
A fter m aking opening re
m arks, Adams, with sleeves
rolled up and microphone in
hand, wandered into the audi
ence to take questions.
O ne w om an w anted the
"boom boxes" in peoples' cars
to "go away."
Another person pointed out
that homelessness was not ad
dressed in the plan.
Someone brought up the is-
sue o f historic preservation.
Another wondered if the city
would actually fund its ambi
tious bike plan.
"How do we build quality af
fordable housing without pub
lic subsidies," one man asked.
O ne a u d ien ce m em ber
pointed out that Portland Inter
national Airport emitted more
carbon than the cars in Portland
combined.
Several people called on
people to get out o f their cars.
Others asked about how the
plan might affect Portland's
poor.
One person pointed out that
that the people in the room were
overwhelmingly white, which
was striking since the meeting
was intended to get input from
people in northeast Portland-
one o f the city’s most diverse
areas.
A fte r tak in g q u e stio n s,
Adams returned to the front of
c o n tin u e d
on p a g e .46
Downtown Resource Center
Building will help homeless, unemployed
Advocates for the homeless
and other disadvantaged popu
la tio n s
k ick ed
o ff
a
groundbreaking event Friday
for the future Resource Access
Center, a $47 million develop
ment at the comer o f Northwest
Broadway and Hoyt Street, next
to Union Station and the Grey
hound Bus Depot.
“This groundbreaking marks
the culmination o f a trem en
dous amount o f work by many
dedicated partners," said Com
missioner Nick Fish. “It serves
as the first step in the pathway
to opening a new one-stop fa-
cility to serve our most vulner
able citizens.
The building is a cornerstone
o f Portland and M ultnomah
County’s ambitious and inno
vativ e 10-year plan to end
homelessness.
The Resource Access Cen
ter will be three separate facili
ties in one building:
A Day C enter for people
who are hom eless will pro
vide housing, em ploym ent,
and tre a tm e n t c o u n se lin g ;
hot sh o w e rs; sto ra g e ; and
voicemail boxes to help with
job and housing searches.
A M en’s Shelter will provide
temporary housing for up to 90
homeless men.
Permanent affordable hous
ing will provide 130 units of
housing and supportive ser
vices for formerly homeless.
“Throughout the design and
c o n stru c tio n p ro c e ss, this
project will employ 125 local
w orkers at a tim e when our
economy needs it most," said
Fish. “This is a LEED-platinum
p ro je c t,
em b ra c in g
the
sustainability standards Port
land is known for."
This project represents a part-
An artists' rendering shows the future Resource Access
Center, an 8-story building that would provide low-income
housing, a temporary shelter for the homeless and
employment services.
nership involving the City o f thority o f Portland. Multnomah
Portland, Portland Develop- C ounty, and
T ra n sitio n
ment Commission, Housing Au- Projects, Inc.