VETERAN’S DAY
Special Edition
November 6, 2019
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
The
Week in Review
page 2
photo by b everly c orbell /t he p ortland o bserver
Rev. Willie Banks, a long time African American community advocate, has announced plans to run for
mayor of Portland in the May 2020 Primary.
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
M ETRO
Running for Mayor
page 7
page 8
Rev. Willie
Banks outlines
his priorities
by b everly c orbell
t he p ortland o bserver
Rev. Willie Banks has long
been active in supporting Port-
land’s African American commu-
nity, but he’s fed up with local
government, so he’s running for
mayor of Portland in 2020.
“What got me is the city has
used people of color as a token,
and only call us when they want
us to do something,” he said.
“When they did the reconstruc-
tion in northeast Portland and
pushed black folks out, they have
used people of color to gain their
wealth and used people of color to
pay taxes, and that’s all they really
care about.”
Banks recently lost his wife
Earnestine, but said that he’s run-
ning in her memory.
“She was such a sweet wife to
me, and every time I see her pic-
ture, it motivates me,” he said.
Banks’ top priority as may-
or would be to reduce poverty
in Portland. Over a decade and
more, he established a founda-
tion and resource for legal help in
Portland to help the disadvantaged
and named both efforts in honor of
civil rights icon Rosa Parks, work
he said has saved people $3.5 mil-
lion in real estate foreclosures and
rental assistance since 2000. He
said the public service mission has
also generated holiday food bas-
kets for poor families and support-
ed educational programs.
The most evident sign of pover-
ty is all the homeless people sleep-
ing on Portland streets, Banks
said, and he’s disgusted that not
more is being done.
“We need to stop beating
around the bush and do what we
can for these people and get them
back into the neighborhoods,” he
said. “We’ve got empty build-
ings all over the city. We seem to
push homeless people around like
we’re pushing a buggy. We need
to realize that they are human be-
ings too.”
Banks says he gained experi-
ence looking out for other people
when he was president of the Na-
tional Federation of Federal Em-
ployees for 20 years.
“I dealt with grievances and
firings and prepared a bargaining
agreement with management to
make sure everything affecting
working people was addressed,”
he said.
Banks, who is also pastor at
the New Beginnings Church of
God in Christ, said he is also un-
happy about the cost of having a
c ontinued on p age 10
Free Flu Shots at Legacy
O PINION
pages 9
Free flu shots are available to
the community this month while
supplies last at three Portland
Legacy locations: From 6 a.m. to
10 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays at Legacy Emanuel
Medical Center; from 4 p.m. to
8 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays (ex-
cept Thanskgiving) and Saturdays
at Randall Children’s Hospital at
Legacy Emanuel; and from 11
a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays and Tues-
days at the Legacy Holladay Park
campus.
No payment or insurance re-
quired. Those under 15 years old
require a guardian present. Vac-
cine options will meet every need:
Egg-free, high-dose, preserva-
tive-free, latex-free and 4-strain.
Health officials say they have
started to see cases of flu in Ore-
gon. They recommend everyone 6
months and older get a flu vaccine.
People who get vaccinated not
only protect themselves but may
also protect those around them.
People at higher risk of severe
illness include babies and young
children, adults older than 65,
pregnant women, and those with
chronic medical conditions or
weak immune systems.