Page 20
Fortiani» (Obstruer
August 24, 2011
Rights Coalition Supports Office of Equity
Coalition urges
testimony before
City Council
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
T he P o rtla n d C e n te r for In ter-
cu ltu ral O rg a n iz in g , an im m ig ran t
and re fu g e e rig h ts c o a litio n , e n ­
c o u ra g e s the c o m m u n ity to a t­
tend a C ity C o u n cil m e etin g next
w e ek to s u p p o rt the p ro p o s e d
O ffice o f E q u ity to h elp e lim in a te
d is p a ritie s th ro u g h o u t the c o m ­
m unity.
A draft and w ork plan for the
office was released by Com m issioner
A m anda Fritz last w eek, for w hich a
w ork group was created last F eb ru ­
ary by M ayor Sam A dam s in an
effort to reduce the barriers faced by
Portland m inorities and em brace the
c ity ’s diversity.
A lth o u g h m e m b e rs o f the c o m ­
m u n ity a p p la u d e d A d a m s ’ in itia ­
tiv e, c o n c e rn lin g e re d w ith the
lack o f follow th ro u g h to m ake the
o ffic e a w o rk in g d e p a rtm e n t.
The O ffice o f Equity w ould w ork
in close collaboration with other
city bureaus and departm ents to
a d v a n c e e q u ity th ro u g h o u t th e
governm ent and neighborhoods o f
Portland.
“Every year another report com es
out highlighting the disparities su f­
fered by a lot o f different g ro u p s,”
said A ndrew Riley, the Public Policy e v e ry b o d y ’s p ro b le m ,” he said .
D irector for P o rtlan d ’s C en ter for “ U ltim a te ly the k in d s o f d is p a ri­
Intercultural O rganizing. "I think the tie s are a c o lle c tiv e re s p o n s ib il­
office o f equity is an opportunity to ity , an d i t ’s no t an y o n e p e rso n s
change the conversation about how fa u lt, but it is o u r re s p o n sib ility to
the city w orks w ith all o f these co m ­ fix th em c o lle c tiv e ly .”
m unities.”
R iley has h ig h h o p e s fo r the
A c c o rd in g R iley , it is v ital fo r fu tu re o ffice.
c o m m u n ity m e m b e rs and a llie s to
“ It is th rillin g ,” he said. “ T h e
a tte n d the co u n cil m eetin g , s c h e d ­ o ffic e o f e q u ity h as th e w o rd e q ­
u led fo r T h u rsd a y , A ug. 31 at 6 u ity in its title , so i t ’s a b o u t re c o g ­
p.m . at C ity H all.
n iz in g that its c e n tra l fo cu s is
“T hese
d is p a ritie s
a re c o rre c tin g th o se d is p a ritie s .”
Youth on Public Service Mission
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
by
A rm ed with garden gloves and g ram . “ W e ’ve a lre a d y b e en to
white plastic receptacles, and obvi­ Hillsboro and Beaverton and now
Jum ping one by one from a Tri- ously trained to the T in finding trash w e’re going around other hot spots
M et bus they w eighed with heaps o f in a timely manner, the young w ork­ and trying to keep businesses look­
bagged garbage, a legion o f young ers hunted behind flow er bushes, ing clean.”
people in yellow shirts from the tran­ under cars, and around the perim ­
Once the land which sits adjacent
sit a g e n c y ’s First S tep pro g ram eters o f the building.
to a bus stop was cleared o f any
storm ed the parking lot in front o f the
“W hat w e’re doing is trying to hit noticeable debris, the group posed
P o rtland O b se rv e r on N o rth east the hot spots, or large accum ulations for a quick photograph and withdrew
M artin L uther King Jr. Boulevard on o f garbage,” said A.K. Roberts, a into their deployment vehicle in search
a recent m orning.
com m ander from the First Step pro­ o f more dirt to decontam inate.
mj
F a t h e r / s
LI H i
M I N I S T R I E S
Come and Experience Faith and Miracles!
Pastors
- ’ •’B i ■ J J / ~
Filling a TriMet bus with garbage filled bags, young community
activists stop to take a quick photo before returning on their
mission to remove trash from green and cemented areas sur­
rounding bus stops on metro area streets.
» / » ■ ■ ■ ■■
Gutierrez
W Q u ld like to
ioMitoyouj
fetf S esteo oyery
FRIDAY NIGHT AT 7PM
Services will be held at*
New Song Community Center
2511NE MLK CIVIL
Corner of NE MLK Blvd & Russell Street in Portland
Doors open at 6pm for every service
For directions or more information, ca II
503-488-5481
w w w .m fh m p o rtla n d .c o m
Crisis Response Team
Supports Families
In an e ffo rt to su p p o rt fa m ilie s
and frien d s w h o hav e e x p e rie n c e d
th e p ain and lo ss o f a lo v ed one
from a trau m atic in cid en t, the P o rt­
lan d P o lice B u re au 's C risis R e ­
sp o n se T e a m , in p a rtn e rs h ip w ith
o th e r o rg a n iz a tio n s th ro u g h o u t
th e c ity , w ill h o st th e c o m m u n ity
ev en t “O ne V oice, H ealing H earts”
on S a tu rd a y , A ug. 27 at H o lla d a y
Park.
T he public is invited to the event,
w hich w ill include m usical p erfo r­
m ances by L inda H o m b u ck le and
L ife C h a n g e C h r is tia n C e n te r
Choir. "H ealing H earts" will be there
to say ‘Y ou are not a lo n e !’
T he event w ill be held from 12
p.m . to 4 p.m . at N ortheast 11th
A venue and H olladay Street.
President’s Jobs Council to Meet
P re sid e n t O b a m a ’s C o u n c il on e n g in e e rin g sh o rta g e th re a te n in g
Jo b s and C o m p e tiv e n e ss w ill h o ld A m e ric a ’s role as the w o rld ’s le a d ­
an e v e n t at P o rtla n d S ta te U n iv e r­ in g in n o v a to r an d h in d e rin g the
sity , 6 1 7 S .W . M o n tg o m e ry , on a b ility to c re a te jo b s .
T h u rsd a y , A ug. 31 at 11 a.m ., to
P re sid e n t O b a m a fo rm ed the
d isc u ss w ay s p riv a te an d p u b lic c o u n c il in J a n u a ry fo r th e p u r­
p a rtn e rsh ip s can b e tte r su p p o rt p o s e o f b o ls te r in g th e U . S.
jo b c re a tio n in the fu tu re .
eco n o m y by fo sterin g jo b creatio n ,
T h e e v e n t w ill fo c u s on step s in n o v a tio n , g ro w th , an d c o m p e ti­
th e c o u n try c an tak e to c u rb an tiv e n e s s .