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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2016)
MARCH 16, 2016 Portland and Seattle Volume XXXVIII No. 24 25 CENTS News ............................. 3, 8-10 A & E .....................................6-7 Opinion ...................................2 Ivory Coast attacked ......8 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW RISING VOICE ORATORY James Posey By Lisa Loving Special To The Skanner T he city of Portland Equitable Con- tracting and Purchasing Commis- sion, set up to address racism in the awarding of government con- struction contracts, voted to reject city leadership at its meeting last month. However, almost no one knew it un- til Oregonlive.com reported the city’s Bureau of Internal Business Services, which oversees the panel, failed to post the video of the meeting or the written minutes until targeted by a Freedom of information request. AP PHOTO/DAVID GOLDMAN See CONTRACTING on page 3 Shane Satterfield is a roofer who owes more than $30,000 in debt for an associate’s degree in computer science from one of the country’s largest for-profit college companies that failed in 2014. For-Profit Colleges Conflicts of interest uncovered page 9 Kam Williams Reviews 'The Young Messiah' page 7 Naima Mohaba, a seventh-grader at Orca K-8 School in Seattle, is hugged by fellow Orca student Sela Kaifoto after learning Mohaba won first place in the sixth and seventh-grade division at the first annual We.App Young Artist Academy’s First Annual Rising Voices Oratory Competition. The competition took place March 12 at South Shore Pre-K through 8 School. Scholars from Mountain View Elementary School, Orca K-8, South Shore and Summit Sierra Charter School presented original speeches about current issues confronting society. Mayoral Candidates Sound Off on Justice Housing, police accountability, mental illness key issues at forum By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News T he City of Portland is at a precipice of liva- bility: skyrocketing rents turn families out into the street, Black people experience dispro- portionate representation at every step of the crim- inal justice system and those with mental illness risk mistreatment and death at the hands of the police. Portland’s city slogan is “the city that works” -- but the larger question is, “For whom does it work?” This question was at the heart of the mayoral can- didate forum for social justice held March 10 at Maranatha Church. Ted Wheeler, Jules Bailey and Sarah Iannarone squared off on the issues of police accountability, homeless- ness, mental illness and economic equity. The Skanner News was among the sponsors of the event, along with the NAAACP, the Mental Health Association of Port- land, In Other Words Fem- inist Community Center, Street Roots and others. A racically diverse crowd of more than 200 people at- tended the event. A related controversy preceded the discussion itself. Instead of having an open forum for all 12 can- didates who’ve filed for candidacy, only the three best-funded candidates — those who had raised $5,000 or more by March 8 — were invited to speak at the event. Moderator Jason Renaud, co-founder of the Mental Health As- sociation of Portland, said the format was necessary to bring about an in-depth discussion. “We are not having an open debate and big panel, we are trying to have a qui- et discussion — our issues are quiet and our issues are fragile,” Renaud said. The decision caused ten- sion in the activist commu- nity, with some pointing out the irony of restricting participation in a social justice forum based on who had enough money to speak. Other mayoral can- didates Dave Schor, Steven J. Entwisle Sr., Deborah Harris and Jessie Spon- berg sat in the front row and protested their exclu- sion — silently for the most part, though Entwisle and Sponberg each interjected once during the discus- sion. See DEBATE on page 3 Mississippi Flag Comes Down Oregon lawmakers asked state to remove Confederate emblem before pulling flag in Salem By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News W hen Bree Newsome — an activist and filmmaker as- sociated with the national Black Lives Matter move- ment — scaled a flag pole at the South Carolina state house last June and removed the Confederate battle flag, she sparked a national conversation. Activists and lawmakers across the country started to ask why the flag is still prominently displayed at so many government buildings, in the south and elsewhere, when it’s wide- ly recognized as a racist symbol and was embraced by Dylann Roof, who killed nine people during a prayer meeting at a Black church last sum- mer. In Oregon, the conversation zeroed in on the presence of the Mississippi See FLAG on page 3 AP PHOTO/ROGELIO V. SOLIS News that companies of color in the construction field rejected city PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Equity Contracting Panel: No Confidence Oregon lawmakers waited to see if Mississippi would change its flag design — possibly to this proposed change — before removing the state's flag from the Capitol grounds in Salem.
