May 31, 2017
The
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INSIDE
Week in Review
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Rebranded for Equity
O PINION
Urban renewal
agency
becomes
‘Prosper
Portland’
M ETRO
C hrista M C i ntyre
t he P ortland o bserver
“Prosper Portland,” is the
new name for the Portland De-
velopment Commission. The
city’s longtime urban rewenal
agency has re-launched itself
this month with a new name
to reflect a new strategic shift
in direction that focuses on
building a shared and equitable
economy.
“Part of the reason we chose
to change our name, and the
way that we are engaging in
the public, is in recognition
that in the future, urban renew-
al will be a much smaller por-
tion of what we do,” Prosper
Portland Executive Director
Kimberly Branam, explained
in an interview with the Port-
land Observer.
The shift follows the adop-
tion of a 5 year plan in 2015
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by
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Kimberly Branam
that called for the agency to
prioritize employment and
new business projects benefit-
ting those traditionally under-
served, such as lower income
groups, minority populations
and communities of color.
Residents may feel skeptical
since many of Prosper Port-
land’s long term plans involve
changes in struggling neigh-
borhoods that were left behind
in the past.
Lents, one of the most di-
verse neighborhoods of work-
ing class Portlanders, for
example, is where Prosper
Portland has partnered with
local agencies and businesses
to establish the “Portland Mer-
cado” near SE 82nd where you
can “eat, shop and drink while
supporting 40 local business-
es, many from the Latino com-
munity.
Recent community input on
the agency’s N/NE Community
Development Plan showed that
residents want Prosper Port-
land to strengthen its outreach,
communicate better about pro-
grams and access to them and
be accountable and transparent
with funding.
One program which Prosper
Portland is now promoting is an
Inclusive Startup Fund where
25 percent of the investments
have gone to new businesses
started by African American
women, and another 15 percent
by Latino entrepreneurs.
“As our economy was re-
covering from the recession,
the inequities that existed be-
fore the recession had been
exacerbated,” Branam said.
“We really needed to focus
on supporting communities of
color, and supporting commu-
nities in east Portland, to insure
that who had not seen positive
gains from the recovery were
connected to and prioritized in
our economic development ac-
tivities.”
Controversial TriMet Budget Passes
After a dramatic and emotion-
al meeting, the TriMet Board of
Directors last Wednesday unan-
imously passed a new budget
for the public transit agency that
includes $9 million toward the
construction a new transit police
precinct in northeast Portland.
TriMet officials objected
when earlier public testimony
called the proposal a “transit
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
jail,” saying it will only replace
two holding rooms that already
exist in a policing office located
at the Smart Park garage in Old
Town.
TriMet Board Chair Bruce
Warner responded to the public
concerns, grounded by reports
that show members of minori-
ty communities are overrepre-
sented in the criminal justice
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pages 10-13
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system when it comes to transit
fare enforcements and other
policing actions.
Warner said TriMet is work-
ing with local district attorneys
to reduce criminal prosecutions
on public transportation and
TriMet has introduced a bill
which takes fare evasion cases
out of the courts and through
an administrative process.
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