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.