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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2018)
January 10, 2018 The Skanner Portland Page 3 News the budget package the state passed last year, so they decided to refer the matter to voters. The Yes for Healthcare campaign in favor of 101’s passage — which includes a broad coalition of hospitals, in- surers and progressive advocacy groups — says if the bill fails, the state would be faced with a gaping budget hole and will be forced to make cuts to the state’s health care budget. require communities where a majority of the population is “rent bur- dened” — that is, paying more than 50 percent of their income in rent – to hold community meet- ings to begin to address the problem. Northwest African American Museum Gets New Executive Director JOBS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH Rep. Janelle Bynum may be introducing a bill that redefines the threshold for minority contractors. Frederick LaNesha DeBardelaben (right) has been appointed the new executive director of the Northwest African American Museum. She is pictured here with the outgoing interim executive director Dr. Mildred W. Ollee. DeBardelaben has more than 15 years of experience in museums, most recently as senior vice president of education and exhibitions at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. Sen. Lew Frederick is plan- ning to introduce a bill that would require police officers to pay one annual visit to a mental health professional CRIMINAL JUSTICE Sen. Lew Frederick is planning to introduce a bill that would require police officers to pay one annual visit to a mental health professional. The Skanner News will take a deeper look at that bill later this month. He also said he’s heard some discussion from colleagues about poten- tial bills that would aid with reentry for individ- uals returning to society after being incarcerated. HOUSING Advocates are hoping to revive House Bill 2010 — which died in commit- tee in 2017 and would have created a state task force to examine racial disparities in home own- ership – this session. Last session the House passed House Bill 2004, which would have pro- hibited landlords from terminating month-to- month tenancy within 60 days of receiving a request for repairs to correct certain building or health code violations. That bill died in the sen- ate and sources who spoke with The Skanner said they don’t expect to see much work done on renters’ rights this session. That said, one bill in the works would also expects to see some interest this session in reviving the economies of rural parts of the state, which continue to strug- gle as Portland’s econo- my booms. TRANSPORTATION Legislators and ad- vocates expect to see tweaks to the landmark $5.3 billion transporta- tion bill passed last ses- sion. Transit advocates are also likely to renew their push for a Youth Transit Initiative, which would fund reduced-fare transit passes for stu- dents attending public secondary schools and increase transit service in vicinity of public sec- ondary schools. A previ- ous youth transit initia- tive bill died in the House in 2015. ENVIRONMENT Rep. Ken Helm and Sen. Michael Dembrow have said they plan to intro- duce a “cap and invest” bill, placing an upper limit on the amount of carbon high-energy in- dustries can emit — and charging them for ex- cesses. Oregonians can also expect to see bills proposing the recall of older diesel vehicles, and restricting emissions of certain chemicals by in- dustry. Unemployment Americans was 13.1 percent – signifi- cantly higher than Oregon’s overall unemployment rate, which was 5.7 per- cent the same year. The lowest Black unemployment rate on record in Oregon was 9.1 percent in 2007, which was considerably closer to the state’s 6.5 percent unemployment rate at the time, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. While the US Labor Department re- ports that 2.1 million jobs were added in 2017, the hiring gap between White and Black remains pronounced – and tends to more than double that of Whites. PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED “ cont’d from pg 1 Smith cont’d from pg 1 “The Chair apologized to Com- missioner Smith in person and both agreed they are stronger working together,” said the state- ment. Kafoury had previously re- leased a public statement say- ing she apologized, calling her actions “unprofessional and re- grettable.” Kafoury is said to have called Smith the “b-word” imme- diately following a board meeting on Dec. 21. The epithet came after Smith questioned Kafoury’s appoint- ment of the county’s Chief Oper- ating Officer, Marissa Madrigal, as her alternate should she be in- capacitated. At the meeting Smith asked the county to look more carefully into politically aligning Madrigal with Kafoury, since the chief op- erating officer is also responsible for remaining objective and curb- ing institutional racism. Last week, nearly 20 constitu- ents of Smith’s came forward and testified before the board, asking for Kafoury’s resignation; among them, fashion designer Kenneth Doswell and local activist Bruce Broussard. A formal complaint to Madrigal was submitted on Jan. 7 on behalf of Alicia Byrd, an African Ameri- can library employee. The complaint is against Kafoury and calls for “a thor- ough and complete investigation into Chair Kafoury’s statements and behaviors as demonstrated during the Dec. 21, 2017 regularly scheduled board meeting.” The filed complaint extends to her fellow commissioners Sharon Meieran, Jessica Vega Pederson and Lori Stegmann for backing the chair’s apologies. Meanwhile, Smith’s campaign for city council is official: she for- “ ‘The Chair apologized to Commissioner Smith in person and both agreed they are stron- ger working together’ mally filed for candidacy Jan. 2. To celebrate her platform, Smith is hosting an official campaign kickoff event scheduled for Jan. 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Urban League of Portland’s Mul- ticultural Senior Center. Smith’s filing follows months of speculation that she violated the county charter by maintaining her position as commissioner, while at the same time campaign- ing for a city council seat as early as September, when she publicly announced her intention to run. Her actions have stirred con- troversary largely because, since 1982, the county charter states that “no elected official of Mult- nomah County may run for an- other elective office in midterm without resigning first.” As reported by the Portland Tribune, Smith argued that if she had not yet formally filed as a city council candidate, then she was not officially running and there- fore not required to step down as commissioner. Not true, said her critics. They called her campaign activities — announcing her intention to run, hiring a campaign consultant, launching an official website and accepting contributions — clear evidence of running. The three other county com- missioners, along with the chair, have since remarked that they are considering drafting a new rule that more clearly defines mid- term campaigning. Yet underlining Smith’s pre- emptive campaigning is that fact Jerome Brooks — a former county employee of Smith’s — asked the Multnomah County Democrats in September for access to the par- ty’s voter database on behalf of Smith’s campaign. The story was first reported by the Willamette Week on Monday, after a reporter obtained Brooks’ email exchange. Among Smith’s staunchest crit- ics is election-reform activist Seth Woolley, who asked the commis- sioner to resign in December and threatened legal action. His complaint over her cam- paign activities led to Smith be- ing fined $250 by the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State’s office. Read more at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 Stereotyping and race-related bias during interview processes can lead to high unemployment rates for Black Americans. “ ican Africans. The U.S. Census Bu- reau released data last September that said Blacks are the only racial group still making less than they did in 2000. While the US Labor Department reports that 2.1 million jobs were added in 2017, the hiring gap between White and Black remains The Washington Post cited a study in which resumes with “White-sounding” names were selected for interviews 50 percent more times than those with “Black-sounding names.” Wages, too, continue to lag for Amer- In Oregon, the average household made $57,532 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, American Commu- nity Survey. Meanwhile, Black families earned far less at $35,723. AP PHOTO/SETH PERLMAN, FILE Legislation This Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, file photo, shows the Illinois Department of Employment Security office in Springfield, Ill. On Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits the week before.
