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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2023)
PO QR code Volume LIII • Number 05 ‘City of Roses’ www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • March 8, 2023 Committed to Cultural Diversity Taking Action on Gun Safety Celebrating 10 Years of Life- Saving Work Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, and over a hun- dred Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers called for ac- tion on gun safety during their annual ad- vocacy day in Salem. This year’s advocacy day coincides with the celebration of 10 years of Moms Demand Action’s life-sav- ing work to protect our families and com- munities from gun violence. “Over the last decade, our grassroots movement has changed the political cal- culus and narrative on gun safety in Ore- gon,” said Amie Wexler, a volunteer with the Oregon Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Thanks to the advocacy of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers, Oregon has become a national leader in the fight to end gun vio- lence. Now, alongside our gun sense lead- ers, we're building on that progress and demanding continued action to save lives from gun violence.” Thanks to the advocacy of Moms De- mand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers, gun safety advocates fended off every measure seeking to weaken Oregon’s Governor Tina Kotek, joined more than 100 Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers to Call for Action on Gun Safety during Annual Advocacy Day. (photo courtesy of Tina Kotek’s Twitter) gun laws, and after seeing tragedies unfold throughout the state and nation, volunteers worked with lawmakers to enact new gun safety legislation like a secure storage law in 2021, an extreme risk law in 2017, and back- ground checks on all gun sales in 2015 all to protect Oregon families from gun violence. This year, Moms Demand Action vol- unteers throughout our nation are asking lawmakers to take action and pass addi- tional proactive measures that will save lives. This comes after Moms Demand Action volunteers had major success this past election cycle across the country 150 Moms Demand Action volunteers won their race for office, and gun violence pre- vention proved to be a winning issue in- cluding in Oregon. In 2022, Oregonians elected nine Moms Demand Action volunteers for office up and down the ballot in the midterm elec- tions, highlighting the political power of Moms Demand Action volunteers and the importance of gun safety for voters. This was in addition to voting to implement Measure 114, which contains critical pol- icies that help keep our communities safe. Goals for the City of Portland 2023 promises to be transformational for Portland City officials stand in front of location picked for future building plans. We’re only a couple of months into 2023, and already this year is shaping up to be transformational for the City of Portland. Here are a few other exciting updates from recent weeks. Building more affordable housing: The start of construction on Alder 9, which is one of the tallest and largest affordable housing developments funded by the Port- land Housing Bureau. In partnership with Related Northwest and Centro Cultural, Alder 9 will bring 159 affordable units to the Central Eastside targeting dedicated, impactful on-site services toward seniors as well as multigenerational and BIPOC families, who are too often overlooked. Protecting privacy, transparency in surveillance technology: This new policy will build trust, increase transparency, and enable the City to confidently use the right technology that also protect our commu- nity’s civil liberties and privacy. This is not about banning technologies — it’s about ensuring we adopt and use technol- ogy responsibly, ethically, and legally. Celebrating small businesses: Small business is the backbone of our econo- Continued on Page 11
