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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2017)
May 3, 2017 The Skanner Page 3 News rent city auditor Mary Hull Callabero reads: “Currently, the City Au- ditor relies on and some- times must seek permis- sion from City agencies subject to the Auditor’s oversight for legal, per- sonnel, procurement, and budget services. This arrangement may lead to the perception “ “Revenues from the city’s 5 percent Transient Lodgings Tax are cred- ited to the city’s General Fund and used for fire, police and other basic City services. Addition- ally, revenues from a 1 percent Transient Lodg- ings Tax are credited to a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promo- The city charter isn’t cur- rently authorized to tax short-term rental services booked through third-party sites [like AirBnB] that there is a conflict of interest and that the City Auditor’s audits and in- vestigations are not com- pletely objective or inde- pendent.” The measure has been endorsed by three for- mer elected auditors, former Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins, the League of Women Voters of Portland and Commis- sioner Nick Fish. Measure 26-194: Tran- sient Lodgings Tax Charter Amendment This measure would authorize the Portland city council to change the scope of hotel, motel and vacation rental tax – obligations to include vacation rentals booked through sites like AirB- nB. The measure was intro- duced by Commissioner Nick Fish. According to Fish’s explanatory state- ment, the city charter isn’t currently autho- rized to tax short-term rental services booked through third-party sites – because those busi- nesses are not the “own- er or operator” of the lodging space. “The Measure does not increase the tax rates,” Fish’s statement reads. King Ernie Hudson to Speak at Clark College Commencement cont’d from pg 1 tion, solicitation, pro- curement, and service of convention business and tourism in the City.” The Multnomah Coun- ty Voter’s Guide does not list any endorsements for this measure; va- cation rental company Home Away Inc., sub- mitted an opposition statement saying the city council should ask the voters each time it wants to tax businesses. Measure No: 26-193 This measure would issue a $790 million bond for Portland Public Schools to • Reduce or eliminate exposure to hazardous materials districtwide, including lead, asbes- tos and radon; • Upgrade fire alarm and sprinkler systems; • Improve accessibility for people with disabil- ities; • Repair or replace dete- riorating school roofs; • Renovate or replace schools, including Benson, Lincoln, Mad- ison and Kellogg, to improve health and safety and provide up- to-date classrooms and facilities and increase access to technology. The keynote speaker for this year’s June 22 Clark College commencement ceremony will be actor Ernie Hudson. The ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. at the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater, 17200 NE Delfel Road in Ridgefield, Wash. More than 700 students are expected to participate in the ceremony. Tickets are not required to attend. Ernie Hudson is a successful actor best known for his roles in “Ghostbusters,” “The Crow,” “Miss Congeniality,” NBC’s “Law and Order,” and HBO’s award-winning series “Oz.” Hudson was born in poverty and raised in the housing projects of Benton Harbor, Mich. His mother died when he was young and he was raised primarily by his grandmother. He began his theatre career as the resident playwright at Detroit’s Concept East, the oldest African American theater company in the United States. Later, he founded Actors Ensemble Theater, where he and other African American performers staged and appeared in their own original works. He now divides his time between his homes in Minnesota and Los Angeles, and continues to appear in many critically acclaimed productions on stage, screen, and television. Schools PHOTO COURTESY OF CLARK COLLEGE Voting cont’d from pg 1 Priorities: Careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars; equitable access to enriched educational opportunities for all students; healthy, safe schools serving the whole community; partnership with the City and County on hous- ing and social services; providing children the stability they need Endorsements Include: State Sen. Lew Frederick; Paul An- thony (PPS Board); Portland As- sociation of Teachers; Portland Federation of School Profession- als; BerniePDX; Steve Buel (PPS Board); Siobhan Burke (MESD Board); Greg McKelvey (Port- land’s Resistance) Jamila Singleton Munson Occupation: Institute Direc- tor, Summer Teaching Institute, Teach for America Governmental Experience: Ore- gon workgroup, College & Career Readiness; co-founder, Communi- ty for Equity PDX Priorities: A clear vision, with accountability for reaching it; stronger partnerships with the community; reach all parent and student populations; healthy and modern school facilities; cultur- ally relevant approaches to learn- ing Endorsements Include: Tom Koehler (PPS Chair/Board); Amy Kohnstamm (PPS Board); Pam Knowles (PPS Board); Deborah Kafoury (Multnomah County Chair); Mayor Ted Wheeler; Nick Fish (City Commissioner); Dan Saltzman (City Commissioner); Andrew Colas; Stand for Chil- dren, Inc. CANDIDATES FOR ZONE 5, covers parts of N. Portland and NE Portland (replacing Pam Knowles) Scott Bailey Occupation: Economist, teacher Governmental Experience: Citi- zen Budget Advisory Committee, Portland Bureau of Buildings Priorities: Fixing the manage- ment issues in central office; developing an educational vi- sion and strategic plan for PPS; redrawing school boundaries to balance enrollment; finishing the conversion to middle schools in NE and SE; no more teaching to the test; expanding language im- mersion programs Endorsements Include: Co- lumbia Pacific Building Trades Council; Portland Association of Teachers; Portland Federation of School Professionals; State Sen. Michael Dembrow; State Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer; Stand for Children, Inc. Virginia La Forte Occupation: Account supervi- sor, The Marketing Arm Governmental Experience: 2017 PPS Bond Stakeholder Advi- sory Group; Oregon Department of Education workgroup (to im- prove district-wide school com- plaint process); PPS TAG Adviso- ry Council Priorities: Student safety and equity; accountability and fiscal responsibility; rebuilding trust in PPS; stabilization of lead-based paint in PPS Endorsements Include: Paul Anthony (PPS Board); Julia Espar- za Brown (PPS Board); Stephen Griffith (former PPS Board); Pa- mela Knowles (PPS Board); Amy Kohnstamm (PPS Board); Bill Scott (former PPS Board); Carol Turner (former PPS Board) Read the rest at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 these incidents of police and racial- ized violence. All of that continues, but Donald Trump has been elected presi- dent and what that means it’s hard for any injustice that’s not somehow tied to him to get the coverage that it did just two years ago. So while I still write about police brutality as a trending issue, that issue and a lot of other domestic issues are struggling to break through and get the attention that they deserve. And yet I understand. People are alarmed at what it means to have Donald Trump as president. They’re concerned, they’re nervous. So some issues that were seen as the most essential issues of the day just two years ago are not seen that way today. Part of my job is to continue to force the struggles and the pain and the challenges of everyday Americans into the national conversation. I try really hard to do that, not just with my arti- cles, but through Facebook or Twitter and even public events, like the one I’m doing in Portland. TSN: Do you still believe that social media is the best tool to promote, dis- cuss and rally around charitable and social causes, such as Black Lives Mat- ter? SK: Yes and no, in the sense that – it “ You have to pivot from social media to strategic plan- ning offline is without a doubt a powerful tool for people who use it and have influence. I think people who have used it heavi- ly, like myself, have found that it’s great to help make people aware of problems; it’s even great to help build the seed- lings of a community around a prob- lem. But you have to pivot from social me- dia to strategic planning offline. Strate- gic planning doesn’t happen on Twit- ter. You can begin to influence policy online, but a lot of that hard work has to take place off of Facebook, off of In- stagram. We are finding that social media is a great tool for information, but it’s not the solution in and of itself. I don’t think that is social media’s fault; many of us thought we could get more change done through social media alone than I think is actually possible. I’m still going to use it, as heavily as I’ve always used it, but with the aware- ness that I need to use it as a part of a much more complex, offline strategy on how you effect change. Social media is a new way of digest- ing information that I don’t think we’ve fully processed or can understand, (for instance), seeing wonderful moments alongside the most horrific moments, and then having to click away and have a conversation. Because the medium itself is very Shaun King new, I think we’re now just understand- ing the impact it’s having on society, on elections. Donald Trump, for instance, has more followers on social media than all 17 of the Republican candidates he beat, combined. I think that matters. Read the full interview at TheSkanner.com
