Diversity S e pecial
dition
July 17, 2019
The
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
Week in Review
M ETRO
page 2
page 6
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Chelsea Whipple (left) joins a “Portland Resistance” rally calling for police accountability in the city’s
upcoming police bargaining union contract.
Demanding Police Accountability
Activists want seat in new police union contract
D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
Portland activists are calling on
the city to reverse course from the
past and allow meaningfully pub-
lic participation and civilian over-
sight during its upcoming contract
negotiations with rank and file
police officers negotiating a new
contract over the next year.
“Many of the city’s most vol-
atile issues will be at play, as or-
ganizers aim for a milestone 2020
contract victory that could pave
the way for some long overdue
repair in trust between the police
and many Portland citizens,” reads
a statement from Portland’s Resis-
tance, the local protest movement
by
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
page 8-10
O PINION
pages 13
C LASSIFIEDS
pages 14
that was formed in reaction to the
presidential election of Donald
Trump in 2016.
Activists from other civil rights
groups like Dr. LeRoy Haynes of
the Albina Ministerial Alliance
Coalition for Justice and Police
Reform, agree that the public
should have an opportunity to lis-
ten in and participate in the con-
tract negotiation.
“They should be open, publi-
cized meetings,” Haynes told the
Portland Observer.
In 2016, community activists
were forcefully removed from
City Hall during police contract
negotiations under then-Mayor
Charlie Hales. Commissioner Jo
Ann Hardesty, who was then the
President of the Portland NAACP
said the incident is what inspired
her to run for her current post,
though she did eventually get let in
to the proceedings. It also spurred
at least one lawsuit from a woman
who claimed she merely stumbled
upon watching the incident unfold
when she was twice struck from a
police officer with a baton.
Portland’s Resistance held a
rally last week to put a spotlight
on the issues.
Among them was Shelly Mor-
gan/Hall of Pacific Northwest
Family Circle, a group represent-
C ontinueD on p age 5
Incubator for Minority-Owned Taxis
A new incubator to help bolster
minority-owned taxi companies in
Portland is kicking off with a re-
source fair next Wednesday, July
24, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at
Alberta Abbey, 138 N.E. Alberta
St.
Designed to make minori-
ty-owned taxi companies more
visible and more competitive in
the broader transportation mar-
ketplace, the session is co-spon-
sored by the Portland Bureau of
Transportation, the African Amer-
ican consulting firm FM Burch
and Associates, Micro Enterprise
Services of Oregon, and the Pro-
fessional Business Development
Group.
FM Burch founder Faye Burch
has experience working to in-
Faye Burch
crease diversity in Portland’s con-
struction trades and continues to
help companies craft and execute
equity plans in the public and pri-
vate sectors.
Information
about
busi-
ness services, such as lending,
matched savings grants, and
credit enhancements, will be pre-
sented. Resources to help run an
independent taxi company like
towing, car detailing, meeting
potential new customers, legal
services, and an app for custom-
ers to locate the service will also
be discussed.
The outreach comes years after
Portland’s introduction of ride-
share services like Uber and Lyft
took a notch out of the profits from
local taxi services, including a sig-
nificant portion of which that were
run by immigrants of color.
To RSVP, contact Irene at 503-
951-9220 or email Irene.FMBA@
gmail.com.