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
