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January 8, 2020 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 3 News Housing cont’d from pg 1 ful implementation. “The 2015 Affirma- tively Furthering Fair Housing Rule was a his- toric victory for the civil rights movement,” said Kristen Clarke, Presi- dent and Executive Di- rector of the Lawyers’ Committee. “Secretary Carson should do the right thing: withdraw this disastrous proposal Secretary Carson should do the right thing: withdraw this disastrous proposal and take steps to restart the implementation of the 2015 rule. Secretary Carson not only seeks to dismantle HUD’s system for providing oversight of its fair housing grant- ees, the proposed rule also doubles as a trans- parently ideological at- tack on equitable local policies that advance racial and economic jus- tice.” Under the 2015 Affir- matively Furthering Fair Housing rule, HUD re- quired states, municipal- ities, and public housing authorities that receive certain federal housing and community develop- ment funds to prepare a plan called an Assess- ment of Fair Housing ev- ery five years. This plan, developed with commu- nity engagement as well as data and policy analy- sis, served as a basis for strategies in overcoming issues like residential ra- cial segregation and lack of access to opportunity in low-income communi- ties of color. HUD effec- tively suspended the im- plementation of the 2015 rule in 2018. HUD’s Notice of Pro- posed Rulemaking would do away with the Assessment of Fair Housing process entire- were irrational. The proposal’s defi- nition of fair housing choice as being limited to the ability of individuals and families to secure housing that is “within their means” is also in- consistent with heart- land Fair Housing Act jurisprudence holding municipalities liable for preventing the develop- ment of affordable hous- ing in predominantly White neighborhoods. “It is bitterly ironic that HUD would arm local governments with the excuse that protections for tenants, workers, and the environment are barriers to fair hous- ing,” said Thomas Silver- stein, Counsel in the Fair Housing & Community Development Project at the Lawyers’ Committee. “Communities across the country will see right through this ploy and mobilize to submit com- ments in opposition to Secretary Carson’s pro- posed regulation.” The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is subject to a 60-day public comment period. The Lawyers’ Committee will be work- ing with coalition part- ners and communities to submit comments in op- position to the proposal. Police Chief PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED “ ly. Instead, HUD would require states and local- ities to select three goals for nominally advancing fair housing choice while placing no real obliga- tions on public housing authorities. HUD would only exercise real over- sight over its grantees if it found that either their goals or the actions tak- en to advance their goals Anti-War Protest Several hundred people gathered at Victor Steinbrueck Park at the Pike Place Market in Seattle to protest the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike on January 3rd, a move, those attending the event are afraid could lead to a war with Iraq. Fish cont’d from pg 1 cer a few years after I did and we would talk about that from time to time. “The city will truly miss him,” Foster said. “He really blew things up down there at the council, I think. He did a tremendous job and will be truly missed.” Fish was the current longest ten- ured member of the Portland City Council, first elected and took of- fice in 2008. He was last re-elected in 2018 and his current term was to expire at the end of 2022. Fish’s office oversees the Bureau of En- vironmental Services and Port- land Parks & Recreation. Fish has also previously been the commissioner in charge of the Portland Fire Bureau and Water Bureau, and helped create the Portland Housing Bureau in 2009. Author and former The Skanner News Editor Lisa Loving wrote in a social media post, “I first inter- viewed Nick Fish for The Skanner News when he was elected. When I attended City Council meetings as a reporter he would step down from the dais and chat with me before the meetings. Nick was proud to follow the legacy of his father,” she added, “who was a controversial and powerful mem- ber of Congress for many years.” “We didn’t always agree on things,” Loving said, “but I loved Commish Fish because he re- turned my phone calls and until his illness, was willing to sit there and take the heat.” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement, “Nick was a dear friend and a trusted public ser- vant. He fiercely advocated for all Portlanders and always led with compassion, wit and intelligence. He was instrumental in shaping Portland for the better and I often sought his advice and guidance. Nick was taken too early. He will be dearly missed.” Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum said in her tribute to Nick Fish, “In his poignant “resignation” letter three days ago, Nick said, “The future is bright.” I’m sure he believed that. But today our skies are cloudy, suffused with a terribly empty feeling in the hearts of everyone who knew and loved him — and of the thousands of Portlanders who benefited from his deep commit- ment to them.” “Nick was one of the kindest and most authentic people I’ve known, U.S. Congresswoman Su- zanne Bonamici said in a state- ment. “Although he came from a long line of prominent New York politicians, Nick was truly hum- ble. He worked hard and was pas- sionate about our community, es- pecially on issues of housing and homelessness, the environment, and parks.” Metro will hold a special “Free Parking Day” on Saturday, Jan. 11 in honor of Nick Fish. Visitors to Blue Lake Region- al Park, Oxbow Regional Park, Broughton Beach, the M. James Gleason Memorial Boat Ramp and Chinook Landing Marine Park can park for free on Jan. 11 to recognize Fish’s legacy in sup- porting parks and open spaces in the Portland region. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, at 3 p.m. in Hoffman Hall at PSU. cont’d from pg 1 ping on an early measure where (the city) could’ve been proactive.” Raiford further argued that Outlaw wasn’t given the resources she needed to promote diversity in a department so understaffed, Outlaw recently de- cided to relax hiring standards to fill its 128 officer vacancies. It is a sentiment shared by Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who wished Outlaw the best in her new position. “As an outsider, being asked to change the culture of the Portland Police Bu- reau required a herculean effort, as well as a support team which I fear she never found,” Hardesty said in a state- ment. Mayoral candidate and activist Sarah Iannarone agreed that Outlaw was not set up for success in Portland. “During her tenure, trust in the po- lice department did not improve as we saw continued deaths at the hands of the police, mismanagement of protests, and friendly communications between officers and white nationalist groups,” Iannarone told The Skanner. “At the end of the day, the mayor is the police com- missioner and the buck stops there. I “ She brought an edge to us, and it prepared us for something greater believe Outlaw is a qualified profes- sional but unfortunately, in her short tenure, she was unable to complete the progressive reforms that the Portland Police Bureau desperately needs.” But E.D. Mondaine, president of the NAACP Portland, said the timing of Outlaw’s departure was fitting. “I think her time in Portland pol- ished what she had learned in Oakland, gave her a broader scope with how to deal with community issues in an in- terpersonal way, and how to become a bit more broader viewed, because of the constituency she served here,” Mondaine told The Skanner. “And she brought an edge to us, and it prepared us for something greater.” Mondaine sat on the hiring board that offered Outlaw her position in Portland in 2017. “She was my pick from the very begin- ning,” Mondaine said. “She was tough, she was smart, she was intuitive, she was a mother, and she was engaging.” “Especially for a woman in an overly populated White environment dom- inated by males, in the Whitest city in America, in the only racist state in America that was incepted in racism,” Mondaine added. “(Outlaw) learned some things here that I think she’s go- ing to be able to use and take with her to Philadelphia. I think she cut her teeth on some diplomacy that’s going to help her in the fight she’s got. I think she needed this nesting place, and we needed her and her progressiveness to bring us again to another level of read- iness, and I think that those that come behind her will follow in step pretty well.” Outlaw was sworn into office in Octo- ber 2017 as Portland’s 48th Police Chief, and the first African American woman to hold the position. Her hiring was the result of a nationwide search, and several rounds of interviews with rep- resentatives from the Urban League of Portland, the NAACP Portland Branch, the Portland Police Association and the Portland Business Alliance She had previously served as deputy chief with the Oakland police. Outlaw’s new position is a consider- able promotion, with her overseeing more than seven times as many law en- forcement employees as she did in Port- land. Her hiring is also the result of a four-month search, which has many questioning what they see as a rushed process to name Outlaw’s replacement. The day after Outlaw announced her departure, 20-year PPB veteran Jami Resch was promoted to chief. Read more at TheSkanner.com
