June 5, 2019 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 3
News
cont’d from pg 1
of restaurants in the Sa-
lem area, in 1985. It was
as a businesswoman that
she successfully ran for
the Oregon House of Rep-
resentatives in 1998, and
then for the state Senate
in 2010.
Senate
Repub-
lican
Leader
Her-
man Baertschiger, Jr.
(R-Grants Pass) called
Winters “an icon.”
“Oregon would not be
the state it is today with-
out her incredible dedi-
cation to the causes and
people she fiercely be-
lieved in,” Baertschiger
said in a statement, add-
ing that Winters “leaves
a legacy for all Republi-
cans.”
Former Oregon sena-
tor Avel Gordly served
alongside Winters in the
Senate for seven years, a
time when she said both
had the honor of work-
ing with Sen. Margaret
Carter (D-Portland) -- the
first African American
woman elected to the Or-
egon Legislative Assem-
bly.
“It was a remarkable
period of time that we
shared,” Gordly said,
“and we had the assign-
ment of serving togeth-
er on the Joint Ways and
Means Committee. So
there was the optics in
that people would come
into the hearing room
and see these three Black
women in powerful roles
on the committee. Jackie
kept saying to us at the
time that it was a remark-
able moment in Oregon’s
history, the fact that we
were all there and we
were representing dis-
tricts that were predomi-
nantly White in terms of
demographics. And she
felt and we felt that not
enough attention was
being paid to the fact that
we had made that histo-
ry.”
Gordly characterized
Winters as more of a
public servant than a
politician -- one whose
service in the Legisla-
ture was marked by both
kindness as greatness.
“It was in her regard
for and the way that she
valued relationships, she
loved people,” Gordley
Parkrose
said. “She was greatness,
in the way in which she
mastered public poli-
cy-making. Her approach
was to be the correcting
influence as a public poli-
cy maker. She focused al-
ways on whether the pol-
icy was right, on whether
it was just, and whether
it was fair. And that was
her guide.”
Gordly described Win-
ters’ grace toward her
“
The party
stuff didn’t
matter. She
saw you
colleagues and constitu-
ents as bipartisan.
“The nurturing as-
pect of her character
(meant) that she had con-
cern for the welfare and
well-being of all of her
colleagues,” Gordly said.
“The party stuff didn’t
matter. She saw you. She
was someone who had
her arms to embrace
around everyone. When
she was in the room, you
knew it. Whether she
was speaking or not. Her
presence dictated behav-
ior.”
Sen. Margaret Carter
agreed, calling Winters
a “true statesman.” She
recalled attending
National Black Caucus
of State Legislators con-
ferences with Winters.
“It didn’t matter to her
that most of the members
of Black Caucus were
Democrats,” Carter said.
“She would get in there
and hold her ground. She
never hid the fact that she
was a Republican. Never,
ever. She did not compro-
mise her position.”
Carter, who enjoyed
a more than 30-year
friendship with Winters,
added that party lines
never caused a rift be-
tween them personally.
The two celebrated the
occasional holiday to-
gether up until Winters’
death, and Carter said
she Winters to get more
recognition for her fam-
ily life, in addition to her
legislative legacy.
Read more at
TheSkanner.com
PHOTO BY GEORGE REDE VIA FACEBOOK
Winters
Lisa Loving Reads ‘Street Journalist’
Lisa Loving, former news editor of The Skanner News, read from her new book, read from her new book “Street Journalist: Understand
& Report the News in Your Community,” out now on Microcosm Publishing, June 2 at Powell’s Books on Burnside. In the book, Loving
draws on her experiences “to help expand your media literacy so that you can report on what matters most, hold powerful people
accountable, and strengthen your community.”
Streets
cont’d from pg 1
however, that same year, pedes-
trians constituted more than 50%
of all traffic fatalities in Portland,
according to a 2016 report re-
leased by the Portland City Club
using data released by PBOT the
previous year. Additionally, ap-
proximately half of all fatal or
serious Portland traffic accidents
occur on just 7% of streets — ar-
“
oline tax as well as Heavy Vehicle
Use Tax to fund the Fixing Our
Streets program, with funds split
between street repair and safety
projects. These taxes would allow
the city to generate approximate-
ly $64 million to build safer bike
lanes, additional sidewalks, traf-
fics signals and streetlights, re-
pair potholes and more. In 2020,
Low-income residents and communi-
ties of color are disproportionately
affected by traffic-related incidents
eas that make up what PBOT has
termed the city’s High Crash Net-
work.
And according to the city’s
transportation bureau, low-in-
come residents and communities
of color are disproportionately
affected by traffic-related inci-
dents.
“Compared to other neigh-
borhoods, people living in
low-income communities and
communities of color may have
fewer choices about how, when
and where they travel, put-
ting them at higher risk as they
move around,” reads a section of
PBOT’s website for Vision Zero,
a campaign to reduce the number
of traffic fatalities.
In 2016, Portlanders approved
the so-called “gas tax” (Measure
26 – 173) a 10-cents per gallon gas-
the gas tax is set to expire and vot-
ers will need to renew it to contin-
ue the measure.
The Audit: Project Delays, Lack
of Oversight and Revenue Over-
estimates
The recent audit highlights a
program marred by delays put-
ting the initiative significantly
behind schedule. It says Fixing
Our Streets began with 59 proj-
ects and 38 of these projects were
scheduled to break ground be-
fore 2019. Of these projects, only
12 started on time and, so far, only
eight projects have reached com-
pletion. These completed projects
were also well over the originally
stated budget by $900,000.
To explain the delays, PBOT cit-
ed unrealistic project timetables
and hiring difficulties among
other factors. As for overbudget
completed projects, PBOT notes
unforeseeable
circumstances
during the construction process,
specifically noting an instance
where buried streetcar rails
were found beneath the pave-
ment during one project. It was
necessary to remove these tracks
and before continuing with the
remaining construction process.
PBOT said it will complete 20 proj-
ects and begin another 21 in 2019.
These completed projects will in-
clude the Foster Streetscape proj-
ect in Southeast Portland.
The FOS program had a goal of
$2.5 million in heavy vehicle tax
revenue for the first year, but the
actual revenue was just short of
this goal at $1.8 million. Original-
ly, the heavy vehicle tax rate was
to be increased to meet FOS reve-
nue goals, however.
This requirement was eliminat-
ed in 2018 citing concerns about
an increase in businesses seeking
exemptions.
To ensure accountability, Fix-
ing Our Streets also created an
oversight committee of volunteer
members. The audit determined
this committee was rendered in-
effective during planning and
oversight processes.
The financial report for Septem-
ber 2018 did not include expendi-
tures totaling $1 million for “eight
projects nearing completion.”
Read more at TheSkanner.com
cont’d from pg 1
“Two weeks ago, this meeting was
ending and police responders were
heading out to Parkrose High School,”
Edwards said.
She then presented Keanon Lowe,
who on May 17 tackled and disarmed
a student, with the Community Peace
Collaborative’s Award for Selfless Her-
oism. Lowe works as a security guard
and football and track coach at the high
school. A former wide receiver for the
University of Oregon Ducks, Lowe held
analyst positions with the Philadelphia
Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers be-
fore returning to Portland two years
ago.
Friday he revealed that his return to
Portland was motivated by tragedy.
“
I sought out the
school that needed
the most help
“We talked about heroes and I have
two,” Lowe told the crowd of about 40
people. One was his mother, who relo-
cated from Gresham to Beaverton to en-
sure he’d have access to education after
he expressed a desire to attend Jesuit
High School to play football. “She made
it happen. I don’t know how.”
His other hero was his best friend,
Taylor Martinek, who died two years
ago of a drug overdose. At the time,
Lowe was working for the 49ers and
decided to move back.
“I always consider myself a leader in
the community,” Lowe said. “I sought
out the school that needed the most
help.”
He said he believed he was placed in
the situation he was for a reason: “All of
a sudden, it’s on me to make something
happen.”
Lowe held the student, Angel Grana-
dos-Diaz, in a bear hug until police ar-
rived. Granados-Diaz, who turned 19
shortly before the incident, pleaded
not guilty May 29 to charges of pos-
sessing a firearm in a public building,
discharging a firearm at a school, pos-
sessing a loaded firearm in public and
reckless endangerment.
Classmates and friends have told lo-
cal media that Granados-Diaz had ex-
pressed suicidal thoughts in the weeks
leading up to the incident and police
have described the incident as a suicide
attempt. Granados-Diaz is currently in
custody at the Multnomah County Jail
and his bail is set at $500,000. His next
court date is July 9.