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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2017)
March 22, 2017 INSIDE The Week in Review O PINION Page 3 edition CAREERS special This page Sponsored by: page 2 pages 6-7 pages 8 S PORTS photo by Z aChary s enn /t he p ortland o bserver Rahsaan Muhammad, Kirk Fatland and Cassie Cohen of the Portland Harbor Community Coalition are working to make sure people from the local community, especially minority and disadvantaged populations, are hired as part of a $1 billion Superfund cleanup of the Willamette River Harbor in Portland. Hire Diverse and Local Advocates plead for river cleanup jobs M ETRO page 11 by Z aChary s enn t he p ortland o bserver As federal, state, and local governmental entities begin an estimated $1 billion clean up of Portland’s polluted harbor, local community members are pushing to have the Superfund revitaliza- tion work completed by a local and diverse workforce. Individuals and organizations represented by the Portland Har- bor Community Coalition say it is only right for Portland residents who been adversely affected by the harbor’s contamination to ben- efit from the immense economic investment necessitated by the cleanup. The coalition represents a di- verse array of populations with historical and contemporary pres- ences in Portland and the metro area, including Native American, black, and immigrant communi- ties. The group was formed in 2012 in response to a massive public relations campaign by the Low- er Willamette Group, formerly known as the Portland Harbor Partnership, a group representing several of the entities and corpora- tions that the federal Environmen- tal Protection Agency has listed as potentially responsible parties for the decades-old pollution, includ- ing the Union Pacific Railroad, Arkema, the city of Portland and Phillips 66. “Polluter groups were basically taking the lead on all the content that’s out there,” Portland Harbor Community Coalition representa- tive Cassie Cohen said. She said it was important for the environmental justice com- munity to insert the voices of the most affected communities into ongoing decisions regarding the harbor restoration’s implemen- tation, especially for people of color who have been victims of the pollution’s negative effects to become recipients of the benefits of the economic stimulus that the revitalization will create. Rahsaan Muhammad, a mem- ber of the Portland Harbor Com- munity Coalition, says that he also is hoping to see responsible, community-led stewardship of the revitalized river and land once the cleanup is complete. Wilma Alcock, a 79-year-old Portland native, says that she grew up eating fish caught in what C ontinued on p age 13 Urban League Job Fair on Tap pages 8-13 Arts & ENTERTAINMENT C LASSIFIEDS C ALENDAR pages 14 page 15 The Urban League of Portland is hosting a free job fair for the community, connecting job seek- ers with over 80 of the metro ar- ea’s best employers. The annual event is coming Tuesday, April 4 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to the Double Tree Hotel at Lloyd Center. Job seekers will have the opportunity to meet face to face with employment special- ists through job postings, career counseling, employment resource referrals, youth employment pro- grams, career counseling, train- ings and other events. People from all backgrounds and skill sets are welcome, wheth- er you’re just starting out in a field or would like to change career paths. Participants can learn about non-profit careers focused on the arts, education, healthcare and social justice. Discover jobs with federal, state, county and city governments. Talk to representa- tives about paid apprenticeships in skilled trades such as carpentry and more. Meet with recruiters to learn about jobs in manufacturing, retail, hospitality, customer ser- vice and finance. The Urban League of Portland mission is to empower local Af- rican Americans and others to achieve equality in education, employment, and economic se- curity.
