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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2020)
September 16, 2020 Page 3 INSIDE L O C A L N E W S The Week in Review Arts & page 2 page 8 ENTERTAINMENT The Oregon Department of Transportation is moving to elevate Black voices to shape the controver- sial I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project. Feedback Starts Over on I-5 Project New board with black ties to consider past harms M ichael l eighton P ortland o bserver e ditor Officials say the priorities of Portland’s African American com- munity will be elevated under a new public outreach the Oregon Department of Transportation is taking to get past obstacles in the controversial I-5 Rose Quarter Im- provement Project. ODOT recently announced it is recruiting people with historic ties to the Black community in north and northeast Portland to form a new Historic Albina Advisory by O PINION C LASSIFIED /B IDS page 9 pages 9-10 Board to oversee decisions that must be made on designs for the project, replacing a prior commit- tee of residents advising ODOT, some who grew disgruntled with the planning process. The new 17-member panel will replace a 25-member community advisory panel and will be respon- sible for sending its recommen- dations to an executive steering committee of government officials overseeing the project, ODOT said. The original construction of the I-5 freeway and other urban re- newal projects over the past five decades historically contributed to Black residential displacement in the inner city neighborhoods of north and northeast Portland. Several advocates pushing for con- struction of a new diverse commu- nity in the Rose Quarter area are opposed to the I-5 project as cur- rently outlined. This summer, Metro govern- ment, Portland Mayor Ted Wheel- er, City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and Albina Vision Trust, a nonprofit focusing on revitaliz- ing the Albina area, all withdrew support for the project saying the plans ODOT was approving did not address historic wrongs to the black community. It happened after ODOT rejected the added expense to make the freeway caps adaptable to building structures, estimated to increase the cost to $1 billion. According to Bike Portland Publisher Jonathan Maus, sever- al citizen members of the former Community Advisory Committee were also concerned their advisory c ontinued on P age 4 Vancouver Fire Chief Introduced Brennan Blue brings 32 years of experience page 11 M ETRO Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or per- sonal usage without the written consent of the general man- ager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a member of the National Newspaper Association--Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amal- gamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association PO QR code P ublisher : e ditor : Mark Washington, Sr. Michael Leighton Office Mngr/Clasfds: Lucinda Baldwin C reative d ireCtor : Paul Neufeldt o ffiCe a sst /s ales : Shawntell Washington CALL 503-288-0033 • FAX 503-288-0015• news@portlandobserver.com ads@portlandobserver.com• subscription@portlandobserver.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 After a nationwide search, the City of Vancouver has hired Bren- nan Blue to serve as the city’s new fire chief starting Sept. 24. He is replacing Joe Molina, who is re- tiring. Blue brings more than 32 years of experience and leadership in the fire profession, including 13 years as a chief officer. He served in Southern California’s Riverside and San Diego counties for more than 25 years. Most recently, he was the fire chief for Cal Fire’s San Benito-Monterey Unit, over- seeing21 stations and more than 400 career staff. Vancouver’s new Fire Chief Brennan Blue. “It is a distinct honor and a priv- ilege to be selected to lead the ded- icated men and women of the Van- couver Fire Department,” said Chief Blue. “I look forward to building on the great work of the department staff in collaboration with the com- munity. Together, we will continue to provide the highest level of fire and emergency response to the resi- dents and visitors of our vibrant and growing community.” Chief Blue also has extensive ex- perience in incident command for a wide range of emergency respons- es and has led the development of prevention, rescue, and hazmat pro- grams for the communities he has served. In addition to his ongoing pro- fessional development and training, Chief Blue has been working to- wards earning a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Bellevue College, which he will complete in 2021. He currently lives in Clark County with his family.
