Volume XXXX, Number I
Established in 1970
vvww.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • January 6, 2010
e w er
Young and Talented
See Priscilla Renea, Arts & Entertainment
page 19
aving
Green
North Portland
eyes river path
J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
G ravel cracks and pops under the bike
tires o f Francie R oyce and Paul M aresh along
by
an unpaved section o f industrial property
along the W illam ette R iver in north Portland.
T hey dodge potholes along a stretch o f the
river that is lined w ith tow ering and gritty
industrial equipm ent.
T his isn ’t exactly an ideal place for a quiet
w alk o ra leisurely bike ride. But if R oyce and
M aresh get their w ay, this part o f P ortland
w ill be a very different place. A nd they m ight
be in striking distance o f m aking th eir dream
a reality.
Paul Maresh and Francie Royce promote the creation o f a public greenway in north Portland that w o u k ^ f o ^
Since the late 1990s, southeast Portland
River from downtown to the Columbia River.
wmameue
has had the S pringw ater C orrido r trail, w hich
provides residents w ith a quiet, tree-lined
ties to get funding for an expansion o f the
the S pringw ater C o rrid o r increase property
am bitious. It w ould pick up at the Steel Bridge
path along the banks o f the W illam ette River.
trail into north Portland. B uilding such a trail
values, im prove public health by providing
w here the S p rin g w ater C orridor tapers off
In 2 005, a group o f north P ortland residents, ju s t about an yw here in Portland seem s like a
a w alkable space, and p rovide w ildlife habi
and then sn ak e alo n g the b anks o f the
including R oyce and M aresh, b anded to
no-brainer. T here are several governm ent
tat. B ut fulfilling the vision o f a north Port
W illam ette through Sw an Island before head-
geth er to form npG reenw ay, w hich has been
reports bolstering their creation, including
land g reenw ay seem s like a dau n tin g task.
steadily lobbying various governm ent enti-
. continued
on page A 5
one by M etro that points out that trials like
The expansion o f the trial w ould be extrem ely
Tax Measures before Voters
Jobs and essential services at stake
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
W hen Frank S ynogrond lost his
eyesight in 1988, he resigned him --
s e lf to being "a professional blind
g u y ."
H e sold his audio-visual retail
business, and started collecting dis
ab ility paym ents. B ut Synogrond
began to feel m ore useless and d e
spondent w ith each check.
So he started taking classes at the
O regon C om m ission for the Blind,
w here he learned how to use a com
puter and better cope w ith the loss o f
his sight. T he next year, he w as hired
full-time with the commission m anag
ing services for elderly people who've
becom e visually impaired.
In a few days, O regon voters w ill
start turning in ballots on tw o co n
troversial m easures that w ill have a
h e f ty im p a c t o n p e o p le lik e
S y n o g ro n d .
W hen the G reat R ecession struck
O regon it blew a g aping hole in the
state's budget, w hich je o p ard ize d
education, public safety and oth er
services pro v id ed by the state. The
O regon L egislature responded by
raisin g tax es by 1.8 p e rc en t on
h o u s e h o ld s m a k in g m o re th a n
$250,000 and $ 125,000 for individu
als. It also upped a $10 corporate
m inim um tax to $ 150, in addition to
b usiness taxes and fees. T he m ea
sures are ex p ected to up revenue by $733 m illit
to co v er basic services.
H o w ev e r, b u s in e s s e s an d the w ell-to-d
scrapped together enough m oney to refer bo,
m easu res to the voters, w ho w ill have their sa
beginning this w eek w hen ballots go out for tl
Jan. 26 vote-by-m ail election.
Proponents o f the tax hikes argue that the me«
sures will affect ju st 3 percent o f the population th;
is already doing relatively well, and the m oney wi
continued
yf
on page A2
Frank Synogrond (left), a visually-impaired
person who manages rehab services for
the elderly at the Oregon Commission for
the Blind, types with ‘notepad,' a device
that helps him function without sight.
photo by J ake
T homas /
T he P ortland O bserver