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‘Sweet Taste of the Arts’
Police
searched. However, 4.8 percent of Black drivers who were
searched were found with guns to 3.7 percent of Whites.
Pedestrian Stops
Several factors mean these figures cannot be taken at face
value, including the fact that stops can represent the same
person being stopped more than once.
“Many individuals are known to the police and are repeat-
edly stopped (this is particularly true of a small number of
very active gang members and individuals who are prohib-
ited from being in drug impact areas).
“The Bureau’s emphasis on reducing gang violence
results in increased contact between police and these indi-
viduals. It also increases the police presence in areas which
these individuals frequent.
Approximately 48 percent of identified gang members are
African American/Black, 32 percent are Hispanic, 14 per-
cent are White, 4 percent are Asian, and 1 percent are
Native American.
The percentage of identified gang members in Portland
who are Black and Hispanic are concerning considering
their proportions to the population in Portland. This dispar-
ity is believed to be related to an influx of California-style
gangs from the mid 1980’s and early 1990’s and is dispro-
portionately impacting youth that are vulnerable in social
structures such as education, poverty, and intergenerational
gang influences.”
The numbers do not include stops categorized as “mere
conversation,” where the person is technically free to leave.
Portland Police say they do not employ a “stop and frisk”
strategy. However, “mere conversation,” can include an
officer “patting down” and searching the person stopped.
Advocates have expressed concern that these stops dispro-
portionately impact Black youth, who may not know they
can refuse the contact. Police say it’s logistically impossible
to track every “mere conversation” contact.
The report’s authors argue that the raw numbers are not
the right way to assess racial profiling. They argue that peo-
ple in some neighborhoods are exposed to higher levels of
violence. And they say police concentrate their efforts in
those areas. Yet that doesn’t account for the disproportion,
PHOTO BY TONY SIBLEY
continued from page 1
PassinArt: A Theatre Company presented “Sweet Taste of the Arts,” a celebration and artist awards
ceremony this past Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Oregon Historical Society. The highlight of the evening
was the presentation of awards to African American artists and theater companies for their
contributions through Theater, Dance, Music, Visual Arts and Playwriting. Pictured left to right:
Nywesui Askari, founder of Sojourner Truth Theater (1981); Wanda Walden-Miller,
customer/actor/writer, PassinArt: A Theatre Company; Wrick Jones, actor/director, Black Repertory
Theater (1977); Constance G. Carley, co-founder, PassinArt: A Theatre Company (1982); Bobby
Fouther, choreography and dance; Arietta Ward accepted award on behalf of Janice Scroggins,
composer/ pianist, and Richard Brown who received an award for photography in visual arts.
the report acknowledges.
“While pedestrian stops are disproportionate to Census
estimates, it is likely that patrol units are responding to
increased victimization in parts of the city which are dis-
proportionately inhabited by residents of color. However,
even after accounting for disparate victimization, certain
parts of the city have disproportionate numbers of people of
color stopped.”
Stop data alone can’t say whether racial profiling is occur-
ring, the report says. Tactics such as Hot-Spot policing,
where police concentrate their efforts in high-crime neigh-
borhoods, can result in higher stops for African Americans.
However it can help to identify disparities.
Currently Portland Police Bureau is working with Com-
munity and Police Relations Committee members to
develop an equity plan and training for all PPB staff.
Gentrification
continued from page 1
between economic success and inequality,”
said Alan Berube, a senior fellow at Brook-
ings. “These cities are home to some of the
highest paying industries and jobs in the
country.”
At the same time, Berube noted, many of
these cities may inadvertently widen the gap
between rich and poor because they have
public housing and basic services that make
them attractive to low-wage workers.
The findings come at a delicate moment
for the country, still slogging through a
weak recovery from the Great Recession.
Much of the nation's job growth has been
Many wealthy Americans argue that the nation
has tipped toward class warfare
concentrated in lower-wage careers. Few
Americans have enjoyed pay raises. Presi-
dent Barack Obama is pushing for a higher
minimum wage. Protesters in San Francisco
have tried to block a private bus that shut-
tles Google employees from gentrifying
neighborhoods to their offices in Silicon
Valley.
Many wealthy Americans, from venture
capitalist Tom Perkins to real estate billion-
aire Sam Zell, argue that the nation has
tipped toward class warfare.
Major chasms also appeared in the tech
hub of San Francisco, the financial center of
New York, the seat of the federal govern-
ment in Washington and the home of the
entertainment industry in Los Angeles.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said in an
But so far this legislative session no
action has been taken despite opposition to
the proposed rule by bars and restaurants. If
nothing happens, the board will move for-
ward with its rulemaking, and drinks in bars
and restaurants could see a price hike come
April – as much as 15 percent, according to
distributors. For their part, the Liquor Con-
trol Board doesn’t expect a price hike.
The lack of bills, though, is not because of
a lack of action from lawmakers. Instead,
the lobbying group for bars and restaurants
has decided not to seek a bill this session.
They argue that the Liquor Control Board
overstepped its authority with the ruling and
plan to fight it – most likely in court and not
fast enough to prevent a possible price hike
if restaurants can’t get volume discounts.
“We’re heading into a collision,” said
Bruce Beckett, director of government
affairs for the Washington Restaurant Asso-
ciation, which boasts thousands of
members.
Distributors have also said they don’t
want to ask for a bill because it’s a fight
between two of their customers.
In Washington, more than 90 percent of
distribution is controlled by two national
giants, Young’s Market Company and
Southern Wine & Spirits. The distributors,
which opposed the privatization initiative,
are also playing defense on another bill, one
being lobbied hard by restaurants and Cost-
co.
The measure, Senate Bill 6220, would
strip a 17 percent fee on liquor sales from
grocers to restaurants and bars, which dis-
tributors see as a move by Costco into the
distributing business, without the fees that
came with it. Distributors, which have
already paid $150 million in one-time fees
to the state, say if the measure is approved,
it would nullify millions of dollars in infra-
structure investment and hundreds of jobs
could be lost.
But grocers say the measure is about lev-
eling the field.
The 17 percent fee on sales was stripped
for former contract liquor stores by law-
makers last year. The Costco coalition says
editorial published Thursday that “working
families cannot support themselves on the
(city’s) current minimum wage of $10.74
per hour” — already $3.49 above the feder-
al minimum and 64 cents more than
Obama's proposed increase. Lee has also
announced plans to build and restore 10,000
homes for low and moderate-income fami-
lies by 2020.
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Booze
continued from page 1
from liquor stores on the Oregon border.
While prices have decreased, off the shelf
liquor prices in 2013 were still significantly
higher than pre-privatization prices. For
example, average price per liter of liquor in
October of 2011, a month before the ballot
vote, was $21.61. Two years later that aver-
age price was $24.12 – an 11 percent
increase, according to date from the Depart-
ment of Revenue.
This most recent possible price hike stems
from the Liquor Control Board deciding in
November that discounted volume sales of
booze from distributors to bars and restau-
rants wasn’t OK under the new law. The
issue was brought to the board by former
state contract stores, which weren’t getting
the discount prices restaurants were enjoy-
ing. The board, however, left a window for
a legislative fix, recognizing that the so-
called channel pricing works for
distributors and restaurants.
“We weren’t interested in another lawsuit
over the issue,” said Rick Garza, the state’s
Liquor Control Board director.
that's not fair for large retailers and bars.
Restaurant representatives also said some-
times it’s more convenient to buy from a
retailer than wait for a delivery from a dis-
tributor, especially in rural areas.
“We would have the option to do delivery.
But understand that we are grocery stores.
We don’t want to be distributors,” said
Holly Chisa, a lobbyist for the Northwest
Grocery Association during a Senate panel
testimony earlier this month.
They also argue that the language in the
initiative didn't mean the 17 percent fee
applied to sales from grocers to restaurant
and bars. The Liquor Control Board thought
otherwise and applied the 17 percent fee for
these re-sales.
Phone and email messages to Costco and
the Northwest Grocery Association were
not returned.
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February 26, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3