JUNE 26, 2019
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
25
CENTS
Portland and Seattle Volume XLI No. 39
News ......................3,6,13-14,16
SPECIAL SECTION
Opinion ...................................2
Calendars ........................... 4-5
A & E ..................................11-12
Pages 7-10
Bids/Classifieds ................. ..15
HOMEOWNERSHIP
PHOTO BY BENJAMIN KERENSA (CC BY-SA 2.0) VIA FLICKR
JOE BRAZIL LEGACY
Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s ordinances relating
to rental screening criteria and security deposits
passed out of city council last week.
City Passes
Renter
Protections
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
P
ortland City Council last week
passed two tenant-protection
ordinances to change screening
criteria and procedures, as well
as capping the amount of money land-
lords can charge for security deposits.
The ordinances were put forward
by Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and
workshopped for nearly two years by
the city’s Renter Services Commission.
They passed 3 to 1, with Commissioner
Amanda Fritz opposing the ordinance.
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty was
not present for the vote, but signaled
AP PHOTO/ANDREW HARNIK, FILE
See RENTER on page 3
In this June 21, 2017, file photo, Special Counsel
Robert Mueller departs Capitol Hill following a
closed-door meeting in Washington. The debate
over special counsel Robert Mueller’s report is
getting new life with word that Mueller has agreed
to testify publicly before two House committees.
Democrats say Mueller will appear July 17 in back-
to-back sessions of the Judiciary and Intelligence
committees.
World News
Briefly page 16
Good In The Hood
Fills King School Park
page 12
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Ordinances alter
screening criteria, cap
income requirement
Saxophonist Jeremy Shaskus and trumpet player Jason Chambliss play with the Joe Brazil Legacy Band during the Joe Brazil Legacy Black Music History
Month Celebration 2019, June 22 at Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park. The event celebrated the life of Seattle jazz artist and teacher Joe Brazil. Many of the
musicians performing at the event had been taught by Mr. Brazil. The days festivities included tap dancing by NW Tap Connection, a tribute to longtime
Joe Brazil Legacy supporter, Umeme Dinish by original Seattle Black Panther Chapter member Elmer Dixon, performances by the Emerald City Jazz
Ensemble, Goody Bagg and spoken word by Mr. Kalvantre.
‘Unwanted’ and Under Arrest
Report examines criminalization at Portland hospitals
By R. Dallon Adams
Of The Skanner News
A
recent report from
Disability Rights Or-
egon depicts a star-
tling picture taking
place at hospitals around
Portland.
Local hospitals, it says,
use Portland police to re-
move recently discharged
patients or people seeking
assistive services. Rather
than receiving appropri-
ate care or assistive ser-
vices, these individuals are
instead routinely charged
with trespass and arrested.
“The fact that the hospi-
tals had a name/category
for these folks, “unwant-
ed” in the title of the re-
port, broke my heart,” said
professor Aliza B. Kaplan,
Director, Criminal Justice
Reform Clinic Lewis &
Clark Law School via email
correspondence with The
Skanner.
The report titled “The
‘Unwanteds’: Looking for
Help Landing in Jail” is a
reference to the term “un-
wanted,” which hospitals
and law enforcement of-
ficers use to refer to indi-
viduals and scenarios in
which a person is asked to
leave a hospital and does
not willingly leave the
premises.
The report looks at calls
to Portland Police from
six hospitals in the Port-
land-area including Or-
egon Health & Sciences
University, Legacy Good
Samaritan Hospital, Leg-
acy Emmanuel Hospital,
Unity Center for Behavior-
al Health, Providence Port-
land Medical Center and
Adventist Medical Center
over the course of one year
between 2017 and 2018.
Overall, homeless peo-
ple and individuals of
color were disproportion-
ately represented among
individuals arrested for
trespass at Portland-area
hospitals. People of color
represented 35 percent of
the individuals arrested
for trespass and 64 per-
cent were White. However,
nearly 80 percent of Mult-
nomah County residents
are White per 2010 U.S.
census data.
About three-quarters (72
percent) of the instances
involve subjects “who were
identified as homeless or
transient,”
highlighting
the housing component
central to the larger over-
all issue.
In total 109 of the 142 ar-
rests for trespass involved
individuals seeking care
See ‘UNWANTED’ on page 3
Habitat for Humanity, Supporters Launch
Home Affordability Campaign
By Saundra Sorensen
For The Skanner News
H
abitat for Humanity for
Oregon is stepping into
a greater public policy
and advocacy role for
homeowners and renters.
Last week the organization
announced its Cost of Home
campaign, part of a national
initiative to address housing
affordability and security
that supporters say will be
“customizable” for Oregon’s
unique housing issues.
State Sen. Lew Frederick
(D-Portland), present at the
June 15 Habitat for Humanity
Portland/Metro East home
dedication where the Cost
of Home campaign was an-
nounced, found it to be a per-
fect fit.
“I’m old enough to have
been around when we would
go down to America’s Geor-
gia, where Habitat for Hu-
manity began, and watch
them build homes for peo-
ple,” Frederick said. “This
really just continues their
philosophy. They’ve already
shown us that they can cre-
ate and develop affordable
See HOME on page 3
State Sen. Lew Frederick
(D-Portland)
praised
Habitat of Oregon’s new
role in helping shape
public policy.
