March 15, 2017 The Skanner Page 3
News
people, Portland ranked
sixth highest as a leading
migration
destination
between 2012 and 2014,
largely due to its pro-
gressive politics, prox-
imity to nature, cycling
infrastructure — until
recently — its affordabil-
ity compared to other
West Coast cities.
The city has been ex-
“
cont’d from pg 1
meaning the Portland
metro retained roughly
66 in-migrants each day.
The report revealed
that 38 percent of all
Portland migrants from
2012 — 2014 were people
of color, compared to 25
percent of the metro’s
overall population. The
diversity boost came
mostly from Asian, Pacif-
Portland’s growth continues
to draw more racially and
ethnically diverse residents
periencing aching pains
in growth, which have
culminated in traffic con-
gestion, rents that far
outpace wages, home-
lessness and displace-
ment of its long-term res-
idents.
By comparing Port-
land’s migration trends
by race and ethnicity to
the 50 largest U.S. met-
ros during and after the
Great Recession (2008
— 2014), the PSU report
aims to understand how
Portland’s
continual
growth threatens its ac-
cessibility and its repu-
tation for having a high
quality of life.
The study cites a recent
report from the City of
Portland Auditor’s Of-
fice, which found that 79
percent of Portlanders
rated the city’s livability
as “good” or “very good”
in 2012. Four years later,
that rating dropped to 63
percent.
The findings of PSU
researchers Jurjevich,
Greg Schrock and Jihye
Kang, suggest that Port-
land’s growth continues
to draw more racially
and ethnically diverse
residents.
Each day during the
Great Recession (2008
– 2010), roughly 300
people moved to the
Portland metro region.
Concurrently, 234 peo-
ple moved out each day,
PPS
ic Islander and Hispanic
migrants.
In the same time period,
nearly one in four young
college educated people
who moved to Portland
were immigrants from
foreign countries, an in-
crease from one in seven
between 2008 and 2010.
Yet that doesn’t put
Portland at the center of
diversity, by any means.
The region’s migration
flows are less diverse
when compared to other
U.S. metros, particularly
among African Ameri-
can migrants.
Before the recession,
between 2005 and 2007,
the annual flow of Afri-
can-American migrants
was essentially zero.
But after the recession,
during 2012 and 2014,
Portland lost a net of 800
African American resi-
dents.
“The data underscore
the very real possibil-
ity that more African
Americans are leaving
the Portland metro than
moving to the region,”
stated the report.
Jo Ann Hardesty, pres-
ident of the Portland
branch of the NAACP,
told The Skanner she has
been a first-hand witness
to the out-migration of
Blacks in Portland.
Read the full story at
TheSkanner.com
City Invites Input on Washington Park
Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) seeks community input as the Bureau crafts a new Master Plan to guide the future of iconic
Washington Park, 450 acres of beautiful gardens and natural areas. Washington Park is home to many of the City’s key attractions,
including the International Rose Test Garden, Oregon Zoo, Portland Japanese Garden, and Hoyt Arboretum. Portland Parks & Recreation
is in the process of planning the vision of this iconic park by updating its 1981 Master Plan. Community members are invited to submit
their comments in-person or online to review the concepts and provide input. There will be a party in the park from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. April 8 with presentations at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. with refreshments, prizes and the opportunity to comment and explore.
Comments may also be submitted online between April 7 and April 30 at www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/waparkmasterplan.
AMA
cont’d from pg 1
Portland Police Bureau has
declined to say why the two offi-
cers were suspended. An inter-
nal message sent by Chief Mike
Marshman and obtained by local
media says the move relates to on-
going investigations that began
under the bureau’s former chief,
Larry O’Dea.
The placement of Modica and
Rodrigues on administrative
leave comes on the heels of a let-
ter sent by the AMA to Marsh-
man criticizing the promotion of
officer Chris Davis to assistant
chief.
The March 1 letter refers to
Davis, who is White, as a “noted
shooter” involved with the 2001
killing of Jose Mejia Poot, a Mex-
ican day laborer, at a psychiatric
facility in Sellwood.
“In a time of transformation
in policing throughout the na-
tion, it is critically important
that the Chief of Police in Port-
land demonstrate strong lead-
ership as an agent of change in
transforming the ‘good old boys’
culture within the Bureau in a
system that continues to produce
mistrust, unequal application
of the law, policies and practices
towards communities of color
and other citizens of Portland,”
the letter reads. “We do not want
“
volved in a shooting. Then-Officer
Davis was present at the time of
the shooting as a witness officer
but did not fire,” Simpson wrote
in an emailed statement to The
Skanner News. “Unfortunately it
appears that the AMA is incor-
‘...we want the Bureau to go forward
with diversity, inclusiveness and a com-
munity policing mind-set that builds
trust and not mistrust’
the Portland Police Bureau to go
backward, rather, we want the
Bureau to go forward with diver-
sity, inclusiveness and a commu-
nity policing mind-set that builds
trust and not mistrust.”
PPB spokesperson Sgt. Pete
Simpson said the letter is incor-
rect in its characterization of Da-
vis.
“Assistant Chief Chris Davis
was not ‘a noted shooter,” involv-
ing Jose Mejia Poot — Assistant
Chief Davis has never been in-
rect in its assertion in the letter.”
(According to a report published
by Portland Copwatch, Officer Jef-
frey Bell fired the fatal shots after
other officers tried pepper spray
and “beanbag” guns.)
According to Simpson, the high-
est ranking officer of color in the
bureau currently is Assistant
Chief Chris Uehara, the bureau’s
first Asian American assistant
chief.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
cont’d from pg 1
power the members of the school board
hold,” Watson continued, “and that we
do indeed get an opportunity to vote
for those who hold those positions.”
While Moore — former university
professor and current policy analyst
for the Oregon Health Authority – has
spent 15 years in the trenches of PPS as
“
PHOTO COURTESY OF PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION
Population
director of Teach for America, a non-
profit that places recent college gradu-
ate teachers into low-income schools.
The organization has stirred contro-
versy for replacing experienced teach-
ers with low-salaried, hastily trained
employees.
During the public debate, the candi-
‘When I look at our current representation, it
doesn’t always look like us’
a parent, activist and advocate, Mun-
son is a former teacher and principle
and is also the co-founder of Commu-
nity for Equity PDX, a local group of
community leaders focused on social
justice.
Munson has raised some eyebrows
over her previous employment with
KIPP — the nation’s largest network
of charter schools — as well as her cur-
rent position as the senior managing
–Jamila Singleton Munson
dates went head-to-head on a myriad of
questions concerning the responsibili-
ties of board members, the role of char-
ter schools, how to address equity, pov-
erty and special needs students, and
culturally responsive programming.
Munson stressed the importance of
having more people of color in elected
office, especially in education. “When
I look at our current representation,
it doesn’t always look like us,” she said,
addressing the largely
Black crowd.
According to a 2016 Or-
egon Educator Equity Re-
port, while 43 percent of
the PPS student body is
people of color, less than
half, at 18 percent, are
teachers of color.
Munson is also advo-
cating for “courageous
conservations” training
for all PPS teachers and
firmly recommends a
system of report cards to PPS Zone 4 candidates Rita Moore, left, and Jamila Singleton Munson,
better understand, and right, on stage at Maranatha Church in NE Portland for Black Voices
thereby improve, perfor- Candidate’s Forum. Moderator Dr. Velma Johnson, president of
mance and policy at each Teachable Moments Consulting, LLC, stands center.
school.
by the board,” said Moore, disapprov-
Meanwhile, Moore re-
turned to themes of misspent budgets ingly. “We need much more budget
and the board’s continual failure to transparency. The board must decide
implement proposed solutions. “The the budget.”
superintendent typically decides the
Read more at TheSkanner.com
budget, which is then rubber-stamped
