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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 2018)
SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 Portland and Seattle Volume XL No. 50 25 CENTS News ................................ 3,6,8 A & E ........................................5 Opinion ...................................2 Dr. Jasmine ......................5 Calendars ...............................4 Bids/Classifieds .....................7 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW BLACK POWER FASHION WEEK Landlords Fight Screening Ordinance Lobbying groups mails postcards directly to renters By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News he City of Portland is considering an ordinance that would more clearly define screening criteria for renters, and a Portland-based landlords’ group is making a public case against it. That’s not out of the ordinary. Multi- family Northwest regularly engages in political advocacy on its website and its political action committee, Equi- table Housing PAC, is a notable polit- ical spender, shelling out more than $300,000 in 2016 and $25,000 this year — most recently contributing $10,000 to the Committee to Elect Loretta Smith in August. This time, though, the organization has sought the attention not of land- lords or candidates but of renters them- selves. Last week a reporter for The Skanner received an oversized postcard read- ing, “RENTERS CALL TO ACTION! Sex Offenders, Stalkers, and Felons Could be Your Neighbors!” The postcard goes on to state some offenses “soon MAY NO LONGER BE grounds for denial of a rental applica- tion,” listing among them criminal con- victions older than three years from the date of sentencing or one year release for felony assault and battery, stalking and non-forcible sex offenses. It in- cludes a URL for the ordinance propos- al — https://www.portlandoregon.gov/ phb/article/691324 — and office contact information for all five city commis- sioners. Sophia June, a spokesperson for Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office, said the mayor’s office has received eight emails mentioning the mailer and that feedback had been mixed in terms of support for the ordinance. “I would say that we received a hand- ful of comments — it wasn’t a lot, and for both sides,” said Jamey Duhamel, di- See MAILERS on page 3 New Movies Opening This Week page 5 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED T Panache 206 Designer Elizabeth Morris stands by her booth at the Black Power Fashion Week Brunch Sept. 8 at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. The Black Power Fashion Brunch showcased local African American Designers and entrepreneurs. Other designers and entrepreneurs represented at the event included Mahogany Montgomery - LifeStyling, Linda Beed- Dolls for Our Girls, and Annie Gaston of Gaston Gear. Ousted Citizens Board Files Suit Multnomah County Community Involvement Committee members try to force county board to reverse firings By Lisa Loving Of The Skanner embers of the Multnomah Coun- ty Community Involvement Com- mittee have filed a lawsuit against the county com- mission claiming its shut- down of the citizens’ advi- sory panel was illegal. Multnomah County com- missioners voted in late June to dismiss all mem- bers of the citizen-led com- munity involvement group M because, county Chair Deborah Kafoury said, vol- unteer members were too argumentative and some felt “bullied.” Now the same CIC mem- bers who filed suit against the county are taking their position a step further and claiming the right to con- tinue meeting and manag- ing the citizens’ office staff, despite the county’s vote to disband their committee. Multnomah County Community Involvement Committee Chair-in-Ab- sentia Bernardino De La Torre-Guerrero led a pub- lic meeting of the panel Aug. 10 at Concordia Uni- versity library, where the committee voted to fire its two paid county staff — a move that has not been honored by the county’s Office of Community In- volvement, which runs the CIC. Voting on that item at the meeting were De La Torre, former CIC Chair Gregory Anderson, and members Yu Te, Ben Brady and Sher- ry Willmschen. This group argues that they constitute a quorum of the CIC, for which coun- ty staff last posted a meet- ing agenda on its official website in May. De La Torre is a career ju- venile justice administra- tor who spent more than 20 years developing social support programs for vul- nerable teenagers in Mult- nomah and Washington counties. He was elected CIC chair before county See COUNTY on page 3 Community Leader Ella Mae Gay Dies June 14, 1923 - September 4, 2018 A Time to Say Farewell Ella Mae Gay’s funeral will be held Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018, at Manaratha Church, 4222 NE 12th Ave., Portland, Oregon 97211. Her body is entrusted to Terry Funeral Home, 2337 N Williams Ave. “A Time to be Born” On June 14, 1923, in Wagoner Coun- ty, Oklahoma, God gave Monroe and Minerva Palmer a beautiful baby girl. They named her Ella Mae Palm- er (from birth she was most often affectionately called Ella). She was the youngest of 14 children. Her par- ents, and her 13 siblings, preceded her in death. “A Time to Plant” Ella attended Arkansas Valley Grade School and graduated from Carter G. Woodson High School in Tullahassee, Oklahoma. She joined church and accepted Christ in her life at a very young age; even as a child she was excited about attend- ing Sunday School and Church at Pinkard Chapel C.M.E. Church, Tul- See ELLA MAE GAY on page 6 Ella Mae Gay, June 14, 1923 - September 4, 2018
