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March 23, 2022 Page 3 L ocaL N ews INSIDE Finalists for PCC President Arts & ENTERTAINMENT page 7-8 o piNioN c Lassified /B ids College hosts candidates with open forums page 9 pages 9-10 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 personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, 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 Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association PO QR code Publisher: Editor: Adrien Bennings (from left), Naydeen Gonzalez-de Jesus, Shouan Pan and Craig Herndon are under consideration to become the next president of Portland Community College. Mark Washington, Sr. Michael Leighton Office Mngr/Clasfds: Lucinda Baldwin Admin.Coord.: Quayuana Washington Creative Director: Kenya Anderson Office Asst/Sales: 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 Portland Community College’s presidential search effort has pro- duced a pool of four finalists. The candidates are Adrien Bennings, Naydeen Gonza- lez-De Jesus, Craig Herndon and Shouan Pan, college officials announced Monday. Each were scheduled to participate this week in open forums as part of their visits to the college district. The next president will be PCC’s eighth since the college was founded in 1961, and will be replace Mark Mitsui, who is re- tiring at the end of this academic year, in June. Gonzalez-De Jesus is the ex- ecutive vice president of student success at Milwaukee Area Tech- nical College in Wisconsin where she is credited with initiatives to improve student support and the college’s commitment to a guid- ed pathways framework, which brings together academics and student services. Herndon has more than 20 years of professional experience in higher education, with roles in student support, academic affairs, and extensive community college leadership for workforce develop- ment, advocacy and administra- tion. Since 2018, he has served as the senior vice chancellor for ad- ministration, finance and technol- ogy for the Virginia Community College system. Bennings is the president of Kellogg Community College, one of 28 community colleges in the state of Michigan. In this capac- ity, she oversees a multi-campus institution within a three-coun- ty service area. Before joining KCC, Bennings was the vice president of administration and finance and chief financial officer at Clovis Community College in New Mexico. Pan as served as chancellor of Seattle Colleges since 2016 and has 30 years of experience pro- moting student, institutional and community success. Born and raised in mainland China, Pan immigrated to the United States in 1985. He has a doctorate in philosophy in higher education; a master’s degree in education in college student personnel; and a bachelor’s degree in English. Eviction Fears Grow As housing relief dries up, crisis moves to a new stage By Beverly Corbell The Portland Observer There are still some options to help renters trying to avoid evic- tion during the current housing crisis even though the state agen- cy managing an emergency rental assistance fund shut down all ap- plications on Monday. The Oregon Emergency Rent- al Assistance Program (OERAP) was set to close even earlier, but got a one week extension to March 21 thanks to an addition- al $16 million in federal funds. The monies allowed an additional 2,200 Oregonians to stay in their homes for now. While more funds are sought, getting additional re- sources remains doubtful. Jill Smith, interim director of the housing stabilization for Or- egon Housing and Community services, was grateful for the ex- Becky Straus of the Eviction Defense Project (left) and Cyd Maurer, an eviction defense attorney, represent the Oregon Law Center where free legal help is offered to low income Oregonians facing the loss of housing from eviction. tension, but said more funds are early 2021 we have been taking still needed. more eviction cases in a dedicated “Our message to the U.S. Trea- special project to be able to more sury remains loud and clear,” she meet the needs of low income ten- said. “If other states have money ants facing eviction.” they can’t use — send those dol- Portland City Council in Au- lars to Oregon.” gust authorized the Portland The Oregon Law Center is part- Housing Bureau to contract with nering with the city to provide free the Oregon Law Center, and the legal help to those facing eviction, push began in July when more according to Becky Straus, the staff was hired, Straus said. managing attorney for the center’s Any low-income renters who Eviction Defense Project. have received a termination no- “We have contracted with the tice, a proposed termination of city to help them implement their Continued on Page 5 eviction defense program,” Straus said. “What’s new is that since