WWW . THESkANNER . COM
J uNE 22, 2011
P ORTLAND
V OLuME XXXIII, N O . 34
25
CENTS
I NSIDE
New Columbia Market
page 2
Broken Prisons
page 4
Michael Clark Duncan
C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow
Making
Childbirth
Safer
page 7
Teen Job Fair
State studies value of
using at-home
doulas for newborns
by Helen Silvis
of The Skanner News
PHoto bY HElEN SIlvIS
I
ntensive campaigning by health advo-
cates from Portland’s communities of
color scored one significant victory in
Salem this session. The legislature passed a
bill, sponsored by Rep. Tina Kotek, which
directs the Oregon Health Authority to study
the value of doulas in reducing infant mor-
tality rates.
Next February, when the report is com-
plete, advocates hope that legislators, state
health administrators and hospitals will
work together to find funds to pay for
doulas to work with pregnant women, espe-
cially women of color, and women in under-
served rural areas.
“We thank all the legislators who helped
pass this bill,” said Shafia Monroe, presi-
dent and CEO of the nationally-recognized
doula training nonprofit the International
Center for Traditional Childbearing. “It’s
exciting that this bill passed when so many
others didn’t. Now comes the hard work of
making sure we get a Yes in February
2012.”
What’s a doula? Doulas are community
health workers, trained to help mothers
through pregnancy, childbirth and in the
weeks after birth. Usually doulas belong to
the communities they serve, giving them the
cultural knowledge necessary to win the
trust of mothers.
“Doulas give emotional support to women
during pregnancy and birth,” says Monroe.
“They are not clinicians; they don’t deliver
babies and they don’t give medical advice.
But a doula is not just your friend; she’s a
professional who has been trained to under-
stand the emotions and the normal signs and
discomforts of childbirth. And the research
shows that doulas do make a difference.”
Find out more about doulas and ICTC at
the Afro-centric Pregnancy Fair “Birth
Works for Black Women”. The Fair, will run
from 4 to 7 pm, Saturday June 25 at Fern
From left: More than 40 teens attended a teen job fair at Seeznin’s Sports Bar and Grill on Saturday June 18.
Shakeena Richmond, Sarina Simpson of Lifeworks, Quinice Jenkins and Marilyn Lindsay were among more than a
dozen volunteers who made the teen job fair a success.
Water Rate Hike Triggers Backlash
Saltzman proposes ‘impartial process’ for utility rate changes
by brian Stimson
of The Skanner News
S
eeing a significant amount
of unhappiness with the
recent water rate increase,
Portland City Commissioner
Dan Saltzman said he wants to
make sure any future rate deci-
sions are put through a more
impartial process.
Last week, Saltzman proposed
the creation of an independent
utility commission that would
take the work of rate changes,
finances, budgets out of the
See babIES on page 3
INDEX
News ................2,3,5,6
Opinion .....................4
A & E .........................7
Bids/Classifieds ..........7
hands of the mayor’s office and
into the hands of a group of cit-
izens.
Saltzman said the current
process can let politics get
involved and the proposal –
which he stressed is not set in
stone – would add a level of
professionalism, accountability
and impartiality to water and
sewer utilities.
The city will be holding a
work session to discuss the pro-
posal at 9:30 a.m. on July 19 at
City Hall. Saltzman is currently
seeking public comment about
the proposal. Details about the
commission and its role can be
found on Saltzman’s web site at
www.portlandonline.com/saltz-
man.
If the current plan is
approved, the commission,
housed under the city auditor’s
office, would receive budgets
from water and sewer bureaus,
review those budgets with the
help of a professional staff, hold
public hearings, and set rates.
The budget and rate proposals
would then be submitted to the
council at large, which would
then hold more public hearings
and vote on their decision.
As to whether a public com-
mission would mean a differ-
ence in the amount the average
resident pays on their water bill,
Saltzman said he wasn’t sure.
“I can’t guarantee anything,”
said Saltzman, but he hopes that
an experienced five member
commission, along with a pro-
fessional staff split by the water
and sewer utility bureaus will be
able to do a more rigorous
analysis of cost of service
See utIlItIES on page 3
Disparity Study Strengthens Call for Equity
Williams Avenue ilustrates institutionalized exclusion of minorities
lisa loving
of The Skanner News
A
near-million dollar report on racial
disparities in Portland’s construction
contracting practices has been
pulled apart and pieced together again –
pushing documentation of discrimination
and unfair practices to the forefront – in
preparation for a City Commission policy
vote Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner
Nick Fish are backing a resolution accept-
ing the revamped study, which if passed,
requires the Office of Management and
Budget to bolster existing equity programs
and to come up with suggestions for ways to
expand them no later than 2012.
The study is key to city efforts to address
fairness issues in construction contracting,
because court rulings around the nation
have established the legal precedent that
municipalities must have documented proof
of inequality before they can create policies
promoting diversity.
Fish’s policy director, Jim Blackwood, Jr.,
says the commissioner’s disparity advisory
committee helped direct the city’s response
See coNtractINg on page 3