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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2016)
December 21, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 come effective in Febru- ary, require developers to designate a certain percentage of units in multifamily homes at prices affordable to rent- ers making less than the median family income for the Portland metro- politan area. Exactly how that would break down can vary, “ total units must be at 30 percent MFI. Earlier this year the Oregon legislature re- pealed a long-held ban on local governments re- quiring developers to in- clude lower-priced units in their projects. According to numbers generated by the Unit- ed States Department To be affordable to a fam- ily making [median fam- ily income] in Portland, a three-bedroom home would have to be priced at $1,905 (including utilities) and the ordinance of- fers some incentives to offset the price of low- er-cost units – either by constructing new units or dedicating a share of units in existing develop- ments to lower-income households. The ordinance would require 20 percent of housing units in multi-family housing rent at prices affordable to those earning no more than 80 percent MFI, or 10 percent of units in af- fordable to those earning no more than 60 percent MFI either by construct- ing new units or dedi- cating existing units to households with lower incomes. The ordinance pri- marily addresses new constructions, but offers developers the option of setting aside existing housing • Newly constructed de- velopments must re- serve 20 percent of ex- isting units to incomes at or below 60 percent of MFI; • Existing units must be 25 percent of total units at 60 percent MFI, or 15 percent of Song of Housing and Urban Development and pub- lished by the Portland Housing Bureau, in 2016 the median family in- come for a family of four was $73,300; 80 percent of MFI for a family of four was $58,650. To be affordable to a family making MFI in Portland, a three-bedroom home would have to be priced at $1,905 (including utili- ties); for a family making 80 percent of MFI, rent and utilities would need to total $1,525. According to the State of Housing report re- leased by the housing bu- reau earlier this month, $1,525 was the average rent for a three-bedroom rental unit in Portland (excluding utilities). That report noted there are few areas in the Portland metropolitan area where a family making 80 per- cent of MFI could afford rent, and none where families making 50 per- cent or less of MFI could afford rent. The report also noted that the medi- an income for renters, at $30,000, is lower than the median family income for the metro area. PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER Housing Snow Day Northeast Seventh Avenue was closed to traffic for much of Dec. 16 due to inclement weather conditions. Snow and ice storms hit the Portland metropolitan area the night of Dec. 14 and continued — punctuated by occasional thaw — through the weekend. Moore cont’d from pg 1 King, Jr. predicted in his writings that have become relevant in re- cent years. “I would go back through ser- mons and some of his writings, his books and some of his best known quotations and then match the contemporary situation to what’s expressed in those ideas, in Dr. King’s ideas,” Moore said. “The idea is to remind people that Dr. King was a prophet and put forth his wisdom and foresight.” For instance, he said, King wrote about the rise of automa- tion and the threat it imposed on regular jobs. Moore noted the hollowing of the middle class has been enabled by automation, and the advent of self-driving trucks and cars could make it worse: 3.5 million people drive trucks for a living, and Uber – which already relied on a freelance drivers rath- er than a traditional employment contract with a guaranteed wage -- is experimenting with a fleet of self-driving cars. The future could be very grim if nothing replaces the current economic model, which is quickly being eroded, he said. “Dr. King talked about having a guaranteed annual wage. No one has discussed that in recent mem- ory. Jobs, as we know jobs, don’t exist in the way they once did,” he said. Moore was born in Atlanta in “ of 10 African American attorneys in the state of Georgia. He trav- eled with civil rights activist Ver- non Jordan on Sundays. Along- side attorneys Donald Hallowell and A.T. Walden, Moore worked to promote anti-discrimination 'Dr. King talked about having a guaran- teed annual wage. No one has discussed that in recent memory. Jobs, as we know jobs, don’t exist in the way they once did' 1932, and as a young man worked as a sportswriter for the Atlanta Daily World. When he attended Morehouse College, an interest in journalism evolved into an inter- est in politics. He earned a bach- elor’s degree in political science in 1954 and an LL.B degree (bach- elor’s degree in law) from Boston University’s School of Law in 1960. Moore served as a clerk for United States District Court Judge Charles E. Wyzanski, Jr. and was admitted to practice law in Mas- sachusetts in 1961. He returned to Atlanta in 1962, where he was one laws such as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, as well as two court cases — City of Green- wood v. Peacock and Georgia v. Rachel — which used federal civil action to counterattack against unconstitutional attempts to use state law against citizens exer- cising their rights. In 1966 Moore represented Julian Bond in his fight to take seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, and he was part of the NAACP team in the 1970 Supreme Court Decision of Turner v. Fouche. Read more at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 University Ed Washington smiled, then shook his head. Several times, Washington began speaking, then stopped, fascinated, his gaze returning to the paper. “He really captured it,” Washington said, chuckling. “I’m like ‘geez, that’s right. ‘The radio and handbills, they told us not to run.’” “I mean, really, the opening lines, ‘But all these waters, they broke in on us.’ ‘Drownded just like rats.’ He’s kicking booty there, without really just coming out kicking. That’s Woody, it really is. I think it’s amazing. I had never seen this.” “They said, ‘Don’t worry, there won’t be danger until Tuesday. These dikes and dams are holding,’ and that’s exact- ly what they said.’” The song’s lyrics tell the story of the May 30, 1948 flood in classic Woody Guthrie fashion, describing a compli- cated moment historians are still work- ing to unravel. The flood destroyed what was then the second-largest city in Oregon — the largest housing proj- ect in the nation — in minutes. But all these waters, they broke in on us, Not a warning, not a chance, By this wild Columbia River, Trapped and drownded just like rats. And if this dike starts breaking, We’ll tell you so in time, So’s you can pack your things and move, But everything’s just fine. “It’s pretty graphic, there’s no ques- tion about it,” said Bill Murlin, the BPA archivist who discovered the “Roll On, Columbia” recordings and other ma- terial from the period in 1941 when Guthrie was living and working in the Pacific Northwest. “As far as why it’s not been cited in any of the Vanport history, I find that something of a mys- tery myself.” Despite reassurances in a “DON’T GET EXCITED” handbill slipped un- der doors by the Housing Authority of Portland that morning, a railroad dike owned by Union Pacific caved in around 4 p.m. Vanport residents scrambled to save children and precious possessions and escape churning, fast-moving wa- ters. “ to save Vanporters from the churning waters, or opened their homes to survi- vors — but some, The Oregonian report- ed the next day, showed up to stare and eat popcorn. “It was basically a spectator sport, if you will,” said PCC’s Harrison. He noted that the song’s lyrics contained symbol- ‘They said, ‘Don’t worry, there won’t be danger until Tuesday. These dikes and dams are hold- ing,’ and that’s exactly what they said.’ “It was horrible, because of the con- gestion. You only had one way out,” recalled survivor Oregon Sen. Jackie Winters. “Then you had the additional congestion of sightseers, because they had heard what had happened.” “There was one woman, I believe she dropped an infant,” Sen. Winters said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Those images stay.” Many Oregonians risked their lives ic details. “When you mention rats, one of the things that the ex-Vanporters re- ported, there was a rat problem there. There were thousands of rats that were seen scurrying out during the flood,” Harrison said. “I think [Guthrie’s song] captures the essence of what many people felt,” Har- rison said. Read more of this story at TheSkanner.com
