Street Roots

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2008-06-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

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Director's Desk from Street Roots

2008-06-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Street Roots and Sisters Of The Road delivered more than 2,000 postcards to City Hall last week asking that the council suspend the camping and sit-lie ordinances.

It’s clear that Portlanders care about the civil rights of individuals experiencing homelessness. It’s unclear if Portland can develop any out-of-the-box methods as an alternative to the criminalization of people sleeping without shelter.

A supporter recently asked Street Roots why we continue to advocate for the abolishment of the camping and sidewalk laws when it’s clear City Hall is not moving on the issue.

Beyond being the No. 1 issue, short of housing itself, that our community has identified over the years, our response was that many of the laws that have unfairly stripped the rights of groups of individuals throughout our history have been met with blind resistance by bureaucracies for decades, sometimes centuries at a time. Often times those laws were perpetuated and kept in place due to public unrest driven by misconceptions, newspaper editorial boards and powerful economic and business interests that believed things like Jim Crow and anti-Okie laws were necessary to keep order and in the best interest of the general public.

Individuals living without homes in America are human beings and have every much of a right to exist in a community as anyone else, especially considering that law enforcement methods are costly and continue to contribute to a person’s criminal history, which is one of the biggest barriers in overcoming homelessness. It’s clear to that the camping and sidewalk laws target people on the streets, and until these laws are taken off the books we must continue the fight.

With your help, Street Roots met its spring goal of raising $20,000. We can’t thank you enough. Your support is going to empower vendors with the supplies and environment needed to be successful, while helping to publish a professional street paper that supports vendors and informs the community on a range of social justice issues.

We also received grants in May from Larson Legacy, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Autzen Foundation, Charis Fund, the McKenzie River Gathering and the Rose L. Tucker Foundation.

The funding from these great foundations is going to a range of different projects, including improving the Rose City Resources, organizing and giving vendors voice and to help fund specific pages in the newspaper. Big thanks to all of the foundations that support Street Roots. We look forward to working with all of our supporters over the next year to give voice, provide economic opportunities and deliver you a professional street newspaper.

Sisters Of The Road & Street Roots deliver postcards asking for the repeal of the camping and sit-lie lie ordinances

2008-06-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

Activists deliver 2,000 signatures protesting city’s ‘abhorrent laws’
By Joanne Zuhl
Staff writer

Advocates for people on the streets filled City Council Chambers June 11, unfurling nearly 2,000 postcards signed by residents calling for the repeal of the city’s sit-lie and anti-camping ordinances. The campaign to repeal the laws was organized by Sisters of the Road and Street roots. Patrick Nolen, community organizer with Sisters, addressed the council, including new commissioner Nick Fish, and called for the city to end what he called "these abhorrent laws."

The so-called sit-lie law draws its name from barring people from sitting or lying on downtown sidewalks between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. The camping ordinance prohibits people from sleeping outdoors on public property.
"Between these two laws, sit-lie and anti-camping, it is effectively illegal to be homeless in Portland’s downtown core," Nolen told the council. "The sit-lie law has been in effect since August 2007: Not once has a person who was not homeless been cited. Not once."

Nolen said the city’s own leadership admits that the city lacks enough low-income housing units and shelter beds to house everyone who is homeless in Portland, but persists in punishing people for "meeting basic needs: sleep and rest."
Sisters of the Road recently withdrew it’s membership from the Street Access for Everyone, or SAFE oversight committee, citing the continued enforcement of the sit-lie law, which the original SAFE committee recommended. The committee was established to address street disorders, such as aggressive panhandling, public intoxication and low-level crimes. In the process it re-instated a sit-lie ban, with the promise of establishing a day access center for people on the streets, and installing benches and bathrooms. Nolen, along with Sisters Associate Director Michael Buonocore resigned from the committee in May, saying the city has failed to deliver on those promises, while continuing to enforce the sit-lie law, which they say, targets homeless people. Buonocore said at the time that Sisters would like to have the committee vote to recommend a repeal of the law, but that there were not enough votes to support such a motion.

Soon after Sisters resignation, it partnered with Street Roots to launch the postcard campaign.

"These postcards come from all over, business owners, people living without housing, local politicians and citizens from every economic background,” Nolen said. “Each person that took the time to write is a murmur, a part of a louder voice, a louder voice demanding our rights."

Nolen said that similar laws are being challenged all along the West Coast.

"Each city, whether it is Fresno, Seattle, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, are all fighting to repeal laws that criminalize people for doing nothing more than trying to exist. Portland has a chance to be at the forefront of this march towards civil rights for all, because Portland belongs to all of us."
The Council made no comments on the presentation.

“We were amazed when doing outreach what a broad base of neighborhood activists, business owners and residents agreed with the idea that the sit-lie law and camping ordinance are human rights violations because they target a specific population in our society,” said Street Roots Director Israel Bayer.

Interview with the late, great Utah Phillips

2008-05-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Street Roots was sad to hear that the great folk singer and rebel rouser Utah Phillips died this past weekend. He passed away peacefully at his home in Nevada City, California on May 23. He was 73 years old.

Back in January of 2004 Israel Bayer of Street Roots had the chance to interview Utah Phillips before one of the many Winterfolk Benefit Concerts he headlined for Sisters Of The Road. Here's the interview titled, "The altered state of Utah Phillips."

He has been likened to Mark Twain and Will Rogers, but probably the best compliment you can give Utah Phillips is that, search high and low, you will find no better friend of the working man and woman.

And that’s a title that would do Phillips proud, because while he may not be the hardest workingman in show business, Phillips knows hard work like few others in show business. He is the radical son of labor organizers, a product of the union movement and a lyrical visionary for everyone who still holds hope for workers rights and civil liberties.

By the time Phillips was a teen-ager, he was riding the rails, bumming with tramps and soaking in every drop of life on the road. He taught himself to play the ukulele and guitar and began writing songs about the hobo life while he worked odd jobs. Those days and his constant keen observations of labor in the United States continue to fuel his musical storytelling today.

As a soldier in Korea, Phillips decided that nonviolence was the only sane way to live. He founded the Poor People’s Party in Utah, ran for the U.S. Senate on the Peace & Freedom ticket, and routinely runs as a presidential candidate on the Sloth & Indolence ticket.

Activist, musician, politician, rabble rouser and storyteller, Utah Phillips wears many hats. We caught up with him this month to talk about his life and music.

Street Roots: How did you get connected with Sisters of the Road?

Utah Phillips: I would come down and sing for Mike Barns and raise money for the (Portland) Alliance. Sister’s was providing the food for one of these events and I got curious about that. Around the same time, I got a phone call that Dorothy Day from the Catholic Workers had passed away. They rescued me from the streets, you know. I was feeling pretty depressed, so I went down to Sisters to get some lunch. At the time, Genny (Nelson) was working behind the counter there. There were very few people there. I sat and watched Genny. I watched the way she was working with the people and saw that the work Dorothy was doing was getting passed along. That was my first experience.

I was on the road a great deal at the time, and Genny lived in a variety of houses, and she would always have a place for me to stay. I have seen Sisters grow and grow and I watched Genny grow and grow. Genny is one of the most courageous people to be doing what she does with an ailing illness. Since I’ve had this diagnosed congestive heart failure, which means I can’t tour anymore, it’s hard to stay active. I think Genny is an example of people who can be very productive with an ailing illness.

Street Roots: What’s so unique about Sisters that has kept you coming back?

Utah Phillips: I guess first of all, the Catholic Workers philosophy that goes along with Sisters. That movement was started by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin spreading the social message of the Catholic Church that there is a whole other way of practicing Christianity that has nothing to do with fame and power and greed. Christians spend a lot of time examining the birth and death of Christ, you know, but very little practicing the example of his life. The Catholic Workers movement has meant to change this.

Dorothy went out on the skids up in New York City and opened houses of hospitality. Going back to the primitive church, Dorothy and Peter pushed the idea of people having Christ rooms where people who would be down and out on their luck could go. The Catholic Workers houses served meals to people and people would bed down if they had enough room for people to sleep. The houses are not missions and they don’t serve clients, everyone was a friend and a guest, that’s why at Sisters you have table service. You’re working with people and their lives and at Sisters they are guests.

Catholic Workers are pacifists. When I got back from Korea where I was a soldier, I acted out a lot with some pretty violent behavior. They taught me how to be a pacifist and it saved my life. They are also anarchists; they take nothing from the state and give nothing to the state. They live in volunteer poverty.

Again, I’m not a Christian, but the Catholic Workers are people I would go to the wall with.

See, Dorothy Day and other Catholic Workers, in the time of air raids, do you remember the air raids? I guess you wouldn’t. It was in the time of McCarthyism. It was against the law not to go to the air raid shelters. Shelter sirens would go off and when you heard the sirens you would have to go to the shelters. If you were on the streets you could be arrested. Well, Dorothy Day and her people would be down there in Times Square marching down the middle of the streets with hundreds of people when the sirens would go off, holding signs denouncing the nuclear buildup happening in the country. First it was hundreds of people marching, then thousands and finally the city said the hell with it. Direct action gets the goods.

See, life on the streets is very rough, you know. There are mean people out there who feel threatened and up against it all and act out violently, and at Sisters you can’t do that. Maybe it takes three or four visits at Sisters for someone to realize that ‘I don’t need this violence in my life, this is a peaceful place and I can put all that aside.’ Eventually, people like that become managers and activists and so on. General personalism works, you know. It may help out your trip that has been drilled into you by your bosses and drill instructors and peers, you know. You can walk away from it and lay it all down. This is what the Catholic Workers did for me and that’s what Sisters is doing for others.

Street Roots: It’s estimated that more than 500,000 veterans experience homeless—ness in this country every year. Do you think there is a connection between homelessness and the military?

Utah Phillips: I heard about the person who died on the streets up there shortly after I visited Santa Barbara. People on the beach there had put up crosses representing every soldier who had been killed in Iraq. I could see the connections between those soldiers and those who die on the streets. Those crosses represent sacrifice, you know, and there’s a world of difference between sacrificing your life and being sacrificed. Those people who die on the streets and on the battlefield died on the altar of human greed. One thing the rich benefiting off of these people being sacrificed, whether on the battlefield or on the streets or in a prison, have to understand is that the harvest of greed in the people is not wealth, but rage. I don’t want to see it all explode because I’m a pacifist, but the rich better have a care and better watch out. I hate to say that, I know there’s a better way, but the rich, year after year, are harvesting so much rage in the people in this country and all around the world.

Street Roots: How do you think being a hobo in the 21st century is different than the past?

Utah Phillips: (Laughter) A hobo is a wandering worker. At the end of the Civil War, when agriculture in the South had collapsed, workers traveled west, hoeing corn from one field to the next. They called themselves the hoe boys or, in vernacular,“hobos.” A hobo is somebody who works hard but doesn’t stay in the same place, you know. A tramp is different, a tramp is someone who doesn’t want to work for a boss or structure in their lives, like Frying Pan Jack said, a tramp is anyone who cooks out. If you gave him a ticket for the Salvation Army, he wouldn’t use it. A tramp will scavenge and wander and, of course, they say a bum is someone who drinks and wanders.

Used to be, there was always work for wandering people. In the past, you could be a wanderer and find work in a restaurant or on a loading dock or in a stable or on a farm or something. Now there are less ways for poor people to make it through the world, you know. There are fewer skid rows. Skid rows were great melting pots where all the people who had been driven ganged up where there was cheap food, tent cities and flophouses for people to go. Most of these melting pots have long since been torn out. Many times torn out without thought of where poor people were going to go. Where are people going to go?

Street Roots: Street newspapers are popping up all over the country. How important is it for people living in poverty to have their own independent media sources?

I think it’s important for everyone in the world to have an independent press. I think what you all got going on is a powerful, powerful movement. As a kid, I used to do that. You would get the newspapers, then you would sell them on the streets and then you would pay back and get a nickel for the paper.

At one time in Butte, Mont., the street vendors were getting paid less than the people who were delivering them, so they struck and created a newspaper union with the Wobblies (International Workers of the World). You guys have got it all figured out, you know, all figured out.

It’s going to have to come from the bottom up. If I take what’s going on in the media from the top down I get depressed. It’s from the world to the city to the block — we look at it from the top down when we watch CNN or Fox News. But if I walk out my door I see too many people working hard and doing good things to become a pessimist.

Street Roots: Over the years, how important is it for people living in poverty to have creative expression in their lives, like poetry, music and art?

Utah Phillips: All the great social movements within memory, starting with the labor movements and the civil rights movement, have all been singing movements. It’s terribly important to build solidarity. To take a comprehensive idea and then boil it down to a way people can understand it is very important.

It’s very important for poor people to have a place to have poetry workshops and halls for people to read in, or to have places for people to work with clay or create art and to have places to exhibit their art. It’s all desperately important for poor people to have ways to express themselves, you know.

Street Roots: What do you think of the current administration?

Utah Phillips: What kind of language does your paper print?

Street Roots: Well, we don’t censor anything.

Utah Phillips: In that case, they’re a bunch of brain-dead assholes. What we are looking at is corporate fascism. These people at the top of the pyramid have no experience in democracy. They’ve spent their lives in anti-democratic organizations and they’re bringing that thinking to government. Fascism grew in Germany, when a lot of people stood around and didn’t do anything. People went out to clubs, cabarets, and movies instead of doing anything, and after the war was over, the young people would ask their grandparents, ‘Why didn’t you do anything?’ We are in the beginning, you know, and we have to do something now. I don’t want my grandkids coming to me and asking why didn’t you do anything.

Street Roots: What do you think as poor and working people we need to do about it?

Utah Phillips: The major thing that needs to happen is the rebuilding of the labor movement. At a grassroots level it has proven itself decade after decade. The labor movement, through rut hog bottom-up organizing, brought us the eight-hour workday, workman’s compensation, minimum wage, and mining and safety laws.

When I was a kid, I was born in a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, that was built by the United Auto Workers Union. National health care wasn’t an issue, it was a bargaining issue, and getting a good contract meant building hospitals and entire villages. The unions had enormous power. That’s why it was so vigorously attacked. We need millions of workers to get back to the bargaining table at the point of production. We need to rebuild the whole thing as a direct action movement.

Millions of workers need to walk away from the political system and get back to organizing in the workplace.

The best way to rebuild at a local level is to rebuild our own lives. The best way to rebuild at a national level is to rebuild democracy were we live and work, between us and our workmates, between us and our children, between us and our lovers, because if we can’t build it there in our own lives, the biggest ballot box in the world won’t give it to us.

The mice who roared. New Street Roots out tomorrow!

2008-05-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

In many ways Street Roots has remained rather quiet on the protests in front of City Hall. While most newspapers, TV and radio stations in Portland covered the homeless protests – Street Roots stepped back – one because of our publication schedule, two, we have a small staff working with individuals on the streets throughout Portland.

Instead of trying to report every single detail, while missing the bigger picture, we relied on our experience, relationships, and knowledge of the homeless front and the politics surrounding the camp and homelessness in Portland.

Street Roots has two special editions every year, the first of which was the “Drug Issue” in early April. While the newspaper tomorrow is not a special edition, it might as well be. Since the protest began we’ve had three reporters on the scene, and at least five vendors sleeping out in front of City Hall.

The headline of the new Street Roots is entitled, “The mice who roared.” The newspaper includes a photo package, two in-depth news stories on the lives of the people protesting, the emotions involved and how exactly we came to this point, and what is being done behind the scenes. We’ve also included a detailed eight-year timeline of direct actions, protests, legal decisions, and policy surrounding the camping and sit-lie ordinances along with commentary from protesters and a cost analysis of shelters vs. permanent housing.

We also have an in-depth interview with John Verdi with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and commentary on Fusion Centers. You may be surprised at just who is spying on you.

And of course, we have street art, poetry and two vendor profiles of individuals selling the newspaper. Pick up a copy tomorrow from a local neighborhood vendor. One-dollar goes a long way, and you get something great in return.

Here’s a peak into the newspaper’s take on what’s going down.

City needs back-up long term plan

Street Roots fully supports the idea of housing first – the idea that we as a community can engage individuals on the streets with low-income housing.

Portland is badly in need of leadership that will guide our city to the resources needed for people on the streets to thrive through a broad approach that includes economic development (micro-enterprising), outreach and engagement efforts through non-law enforcement and harm reduction models, and of course, housing itself.

The protesters in front of City Hall demanding an end to the camping and sit-lie ordinances have thrown a wrench into a larger bureaucratic battle that’s been playing out behind the scenes for years.

The city’s response to what many bureaucrats say are unreasonable demands (repealing the camping and sit-lie ordinances) have been to open 102 emergency shelter beds, 90 for men and 12 for women. The problem is that one of the goals of the 10-year plan to end homelessness was to get away from sheltering individuals and to providing permanent supportive housing first.

The reason for this is twofold: First, shelters are more expensive to run and don’t wield the results of the housing first model. Secondly, when shelters beds don’t fill up, the city can enforce the city’s camping ordinance. State law requires law enforcement not to enforce the ordinance if shelters are full.

Like it or not, many individuals experiencing homelessness are not going to sleep in a shelter, period. There are also people living with animals; couples, and families that simply will not be split up due to archaic shelter guidelines. And yes, there are drug addicts. Individuals dealing with an addiction are human beings, and using law enforcement to force individuals into the criminal justice system, and not have the same access to shelters as the broader population, is inhumane, costly, and backwards.

Street Roots has been covering camp sweeps, the camping ordinance and other criminalization efforts, along with innovative solutions to ending homelessness since our inception. On the ground level, we’ve consistently been told by our peers, vendors and other people on the streets that the number one issue beyond finding housing is law enforcement moving individuals from one place to another, time and again, with no alternative.

The people in front of City Hall have organized themselves. Their leadership is strictly from the streets. For better or worse, they’ve created community, and at the end of the day, tried to make the world a better place for themselves and people just like them.

We are all on the same side in this fight — local businesses, community organizations, City Hall, advocates, social services, and the people affected the most. It’s clear that there are not enough resources. But we can’t lose our focus on being able to couple short-term, out-of-the-box thinking with a housing first model that has proven successful. We can’t be distracted into thinking shelter beds are a satisfactory means to end the criminalization of the homeless or to house people. Portland’s leaders need to reinforce long-term solutions to truly make a difference.

Homeless rise up on the streets to fight anti-camping and sit-lie ordinance

2008-05-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

Individuals experiencing homelessness and activists have been camping on City Hall for nearly three-weeks. The group is calling itself the Homeless Liberation Front.

Portland Homeless Liberation Front

The group has ranged from 10 to 70 individuals who have been sleeping on the sidewalk in front of City Hall demanding an end to the anti-camping and sit-lie ordinances. The camping ordinance is used to clear camps out throughout Portland, while the sit-lie ordinance criminalizes sitting or lying on a public sidewalk from 7AM to 7PM.

In late April, a group of individuals were swept from under the Burnside and Morrison bridges in downtown Portland. The group marched to City Hall in the dead on night in defiance of the ordinances.

On Monday, May 5, four individuals from the camp met personally with the Mayor. Protestors demanded an end to the ordinances. The mayor declined. No resolution was reached.

The city has opened more than 100 emergency shelter beds until June in response to the protestors. Both individuals on the streets and homeless advocates say that's not enough.

On Saturday, May 10, seven individuals were arrested – six for interfering with a police officer and one for resisting arrest.

Patrick Nolan, community organizer with Sisters Of The Road caught the arrests on film.

Shortly after the arrests an illegal camping notice was posted in front of City Hall, giving protesters until Tuesday, May 13, to clear the area or risk arrest.

On Sunday, May 11, the group formally signed a letter asking the Mayor to meet again this week.

More to come.

Note: Street Roots has been following the protests and is working on an in-depth news story for the Friday, May 16, edition. The newspaper also came out against the camping ordinance on May 5, asking City Hall to “suspend the camping ordinance in designated regions of the City of Portland until all nine-action steps have been implemented, and the 10-year plan to end homelessness is complete.   Street Roots believes it is cruel and unusual punishment to continue to criminalize individuals experiencing homelessness from sleeping on public property when the City of Portland can’t offer any real, concrete solutions to the crisis until a projected 2015.”

Posted by Israel Bayer

Photo by Kristina Wright

Thinking Outside the Cardboard Box

2008-05-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

Join Dignity Village and Kwamba Productions along with Street Roots and Sisters Of The Road tomorrow for a night of theater, film, art and education.

At the event, Kwamba and Dignity Village will screen a portion of the Tent Cities Toolkit interactive movie in which Dignity Villagers, Portland¹s former commissioner EriK Sten, Street Roots Israel Bayer, JOIN’s Marc Jolin, and many others are featured.

Portland's street newspaper Streets Roots, Sisters of the Road, among others, will open the event with exhibits from local street artists and photographers. The event will also premiere the 15-minute play "Road to Dignity," written and performed by Dignity Villagers, and directed by Deborah Rodney and Phyllis Jones.

The play is a lighthearted sketch of a typical day at Dignity Village, narrated by Gizmo, one of the Village cats. The play breaks stereotypes of why people are homeless. It gets down to the real nitty-gritty of who we are as people, neighbors, and as members in the community.

The event will close with an open-mic hour of music and poetry from the audience and broader community. If you would like to participate in the open-mic, please bring your instrument (mics are provided) and join the fun!

When: Thursday, May 8, from 6:30 9:00 PM (Doors open at 6PM)
Where: Hollywood Theatre (4122 SE Sandy Blvd, Portland)

Admission is free at the door!

Thinking Outside the Cardboard Box is sponsored in part by Regional Arts and Culture Council and will premiere local art, photography, a theatrical play, and a film.

This is a collaborative project between Dignity Village (www.dignityvillage.org) and Kwamba Productions (www.kwamba.com), who are long-time partners in producing outreach materials for ending homelessness through alternative housing communities.

All hell breaks loose on the homeless front

2008-05-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

The new Street Roots is on the beat. This issue explores the new documentary film being put together on the life of James P. Chasse Jr., we report on tighter identification requirements, and offer Q & A's with the outgoing homelessness program manager Heather Lyons and council candidate Nick Fish.

Lots of things happening on the homeless front. The latest editorial from Street Roots outlines it all right here.

It seems that in the few weeks since Erik Sten, the former housing commissioner, left City Hall, all hell has broken loose on the homelessness and affordable housing front. From the elections to the city budget to talk of a possible merger of the city and county’s housing agencies to backdoor dealings and the implosion of the state’s largest mental health provider (Cascadia) — the phones at Street Roots have been ringing off the hook.

While Street Roots will be covering many of these issues in future editions, it’s clear that with no coherent leadership at City Hall on the issue, a myriad of players and institutions, for better or worse, are making power plays that will ultimately guide us into uncharted waters.

Less than a week after Sten left the building, funding for the 10-year plan to end homelessness had been cut, and the city’s popular Homeless Connect, a program that offers homeless clients one-stop support services four times a year, was completely zeroed out in next year’s budget.

The machinations run deeper: A report is in the works to determine if the Bureau of Housing and Community Development (the city agency responsible for the 10-year plan to end homelessness and housing and economic development programs), Multnomah County’s homeless programs and the Housing Authority of Portland (which works to provide affordable housing) would be better suited merged under one roof. The reasoning behind this would be the consolidation of housing dollars. Problem is, from our vantage point, it wouldn’t create any new funds, it would just rearrange the chairs on the deck and create one large bureaucracy that would be harder to manage.

Then there’s the Portland Development Commission’s recent move to hand over its multi-million dollar housing programs to another agency — most likely to the Housing Authority of Portland. Advocates, and many City Hall insiders, are scrambling to figure out exactly what it all means. What’s at stake? Possibly the PDC’s 0-30 percent set aside that goes to low-income people that took advocates and City Hall years to develop.

We haven’t even mentioned the 30 individuals experiencing homelessness that are camped out in front of City Hall demanding a safe place to sleep from police harassment or that the sit-lie ordinance is only targeting homeless people, or that we still haven’t seen the Mayor’s office move on oversight for private police.

What we are getting at is that whoever takes over housing and homelessness issues at City Hall, and programs at the county, had better be prepared to hit the ground running.

Over the past few years housing leaders were able to weave large systems, grassroots advocacy, law enforcement and non-profits together in a way that gave each group, including the homeless themselves, space to do good work and to be heard. We can see dark clouds on the horizon, and it’s going to take real leadership to make sure the fleet that Sten and others assembled isn’t led astray and we find ourselves lost at sea.

Street Roots letter to Mayor and Commissioners

2008-05-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

May 5, 2008

Dear Mayor and City Commissioners,

The Bureau of Housing and Community Development has widely reported a massive reduction in people experiencing homelessness since the inception of the 10-year plan to end homelessness in December of 2004.

The 10-year plan to end homelessness in Portland and Multnomah County outlines nine action steps that will eliminate homelessness in our city by 2015. Those steps include:

- Move people into housing
- Stop discharging people into homelessness
- Improve outreach to homeless people
- Emphasize permanent solutions
- Increase supply of permanent supportive housing
- Create innovative new partnerships to end homelessness
- Make the rent assistance system more effective
- Increase economic opportunity for homeless people
- Implement new data collection technology throughout the homeless system

We ask that City Hall suspend the camping ordinance in designated regions of the City of Portland until all nine-action steps have been implemented, and the 10-year plan to end homelessness is complete.

Street Roots believes it is cruel and unusual punishment to continue to criminalize individuals experiencing homelessness from sleeping on public property when the City of Portland can’t offer any real, concrete solutions to the crisis until a projected 2015.

We recognize the difficulties law enforcement encounter due to circumstances beyond their control - individuals sleeping in regions of the city that include up and coming festivals, markets, etc.

But without offering any research, or fact-based data that sweeping individuals from one location to another without offering real time solutions help individuals end their homelessness – the city is essentially moving away from the core philosophies of the 10-year plan to end homelessness.

Denying individuals the right to sleep and constantly asking individuals to move from public sidewalks and public parks elevates the level of anxiety, stress, sleep deprivation and ultimately trauma to peoples lives forced to sleep outdoors.

Continued enforcement of the cities camping ordinance creates an atmosphere of distrust with outreach workers, non-profits, law enforcement and individuals on the streets – ultimately working against the idea of engaging individuals on the streets to work towards permanent housing and housing first.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Israel Bayer
Street Roots
211 NW Davis
Portland, Oregon 97209
503-228-5657
streetroots@hotmail.com
www.streetroots.org

Civic Action Group and Mayoral forum round out May Day!

2008-05-01T08:11:00.001-07:00

What: Housing Opportunity Mayoral Forum

A broad base of community organizations will be asking candidates questions about homelessness and affordable housing. Sponsored by Community Development Network, Affordable Housing NOW!, JOIN, Street Roots, Community Alliance of Tenants, Sisters, 211, and Coalition for Homeless Families.

When: 12pm-1:30pm Thursday May 1st, 2008

Where: First Unitarian Church (1011 SW 12th Ave).

After the forum head on down to the South Park Blocks and join Sisters Of The Roads Civic Action Group (CAG). The group will hold a Flag Action to dramatize the number of people without housing in Portland. Held in conjunction with the annual May Day march, flags will be posted in a field to represent the 1,438 people that the City of Portland says are sleeping outside each night. Sisters believes that number to be higher.

When: 12pm-5pm Come by anytime between then to see the flags and then join the May Day march that starts at 5pm. After we march with the May Day March, there will be an after party at the Unitarian Church where CAG members will be tabling.

Where: South Park Blocks between Ninth and Park and between cross streets Main and Salmon (the starting point of the May Day march).

Candidate calls for reduction in homeless sweeps, commitment to more housing

2008-04-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

A press release from Jim Middaugh's campaign. Look for more coverage of the homeless protests in the up and coming Street Roots.

PORTLAND – City Council candidate Jim Middaugh today called on Portland leaders to consider changes in the enforcement of the city’s anti-camping ordinance until the City Council and other leaders in affordable housing identify or build 1,000 new housing units to get people off the streets.

Protesters are sleeping outside of City Hall in response to police sweeps of camping sites and the lack of affordable housing. The city currently is considering more studies and short-term extensions on homeless shelter operations in response. “Studies and short term shelters may be important, but they are nothing more than Band Aids. We don’t need mats on the floor, we need keys in the door,” Middaugh said. “We need bold leadership to revamp our local housing programs to ensure they prioritize investments in those most in need. Until housing is available we may need to rethink enforcement of our anti-camping ordinance,” he said.

Based on a legal challenge, Los Angeles agreed in 2007 to reduce homeless sweeps until the city and its partners built 1,250 units of new housing. “Sweeps in other cities have been challenged in court. It’s only a matter of time before they are challenged in Portland. Providing more housing is the best way to get people off the street and to avoid costly litigation,” Middaugh said.

Middaugh called on the Portland Development Commission, the Bureau of Housing and Community Development, Multnomah County, the Housing Authority of Portland and the development and homeless provider community to find or create 1,000 new units of housing for the homeless during the next five years.

“City Hall should state unequivocally that it will work with its partners to find or create 1,000 new units of housing by committing the PDC’s TIF set-aside, public housing money and new housing money to a reorganized housing system focused on getting people off the streets,” Middaugh said. “Until there is an adequate number of homes for people who currently are forced to camp – including in front of City Hall – there will continue to be a problem. Any proposed reorganization of housing programs should focus first and foremost on getting people off the street,” he said.

The PDC, HAP and others recently have called for a consolidation of housing programs. The City’s Bureau of Housing and Community Development is working now to develop alternative ways to organize the region’s housing providers. “Any reorganization should not dilute our successful efforts to implement the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness,” Middaugh said.

“Mayor Potter’s response to the protest is insufficient. We don’t need to study the Section 8 Voucher problem we need to act on it. We need more outreach workers to help the people with vouchers find apartments and to give landlords someone to call when they need help dealing with difficult situations,” Middaugh said. “More importantly, the Council needs to set some very clear and bold affordable housing goals and to commit to meeting them. We need to respond directly to the needs of the people sleeping outside City Hall by focusing on finding or creating more housing,” Middaugh said.

“We need a bold plan if we are to continue to make progress they way we did under Commissioner Erik Sten. If our response is simply to lay more mats on shelter floors and to ‘explore’ use of vouchers, we won’t address the fundamental needs facing our community,” Middaugh said. “It’s unfair to use our police to move people along when they have no place to go. We need action,” he said.

Don't miss the housing opportunity mayoral forum tomorrow!

2008-04-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Join us tomorrow May 1, for the Housing Opportunity Mayoral Forum. A broad base of community organizations will be asking candidates questions about homelessness and affordable housing.

The forum will take place at the First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th Ave., Portland, Ore. 97205, from noon-1:30PM

See you there!

Some of our many great vendors!

2008-04-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

Help support Street Roots today!

2008-04-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

For the past 10 years, Street Roots has been vital in changing the lives of readers and people experiencing homelessness. Together, we have helped change the political landscape of poverty and human rights in our community. Stereotypes have been broken. Dreams have come true. Lives have been changed.

We simply can’t exist without your support. Donations from community members like you are the driving force behind the
operations of Street Roots. Your donation will go directly to support the vendor program and operations of the newspaper.

Please consider a donation to Street Roots this spring, and join us in our mission to assist people experiencing homelessness and poverty by creating flexible income opportunities. Through education, advocacy and personal expression, we are a catalyst for individual and social change.

No matter how big or small, your support of Street Roots matters!

Thank you for your consideration,

Israel Bayer
Director
Street Roots

You can mail donations to: Street Roots, 211 NW Davis St. Portland, OR 97209
or donate securely on line at

On-line donations

Street Roots is a 501 (c) 3 organization and your donation may be tax deductible.

What others have to say:

"Street Roots tells stories that other media outlets don't. It's what anyone who cares about the realities of being poor in Portland should be reading."
– Nick Budnick
Portland Tribune

"Selling Street Roots means that I can take care of myself,"
– Millard GulledGe, who sells Street Roots in the Concordia Neighborhood

Street Roots interviews Narco News founder Alberto Giordano

2008-04-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

This week Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl interviews Narco News founder Alberto Giordano. Giordano covers the war on drugs from his vantage in Latin America.

Giordano is an award-winning newspaper reporter, radio and television host, and Internet journalism pioneer who founded the Internet newspaper Narco News in 2000 and its School of Authentic Journalism in 2002. Prior to moving to Latin America, Giordano was the political reporter for the Boston Phoenix, and he has published his work in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Nation, The Utne Reader, American Journalism Review, New Left Review, and other publications. In 2004, Giordano received the Upton Sinclair Freedom of Expression Award.

Narco News draws together a network of journalists as co-publishers, including, at one time, the late Gary Webb. The School of Authentic Journalism, in Mexico and Bolivia, has trained more than 100 journalists to be investigative reporters on civil rights and the impact of U.S. drug policy on Latin America.

In 2001, Giordano received First Amendment protections in a landmark New York Supreme Court case — Banamex vs. Mario Menendez, Al Giordano and Narco News — setting a precedent for all online journalists and Web sites. His criticism of the war on drugs, and its impact on Latin America are featured regularly at narconews.com.

To read the interview head on over to Street Roots.

Giordano interview

posted by Israel Bayer

Housing Opportunity Mayoral Forum - May 1

2008-04-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Join Street Roots along with other community organizations for a forum with Portland’s mayoral candidates. A broad base of community organizations will be asking candidates questions about homelessness and affordable housing.

The forum will take place Thursday May 1, from noon to 1:30PM at the First Unitarian Church (1011 SW 12th Avenue).

Special drug issue on the streets tomorrow

2008-04-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Street Roots first special edition of 2008 - the Drug Issue is out tomorrow.

The newspaper is jam packed with articles and commentaries, including a look at Oregon’s incarceration rate for drug related offenses and Portland’s myriad of recovery and harm reduction programs.

The paper has a fascinating interview with Judge Christopher Marshall with the Multnomah County’s drug treatment court, and we talk with Narco News founder Alberto Giordano.

We bring you an in-depth look at Portland’s controversial Service Coordination Team and how it relates to Project 57 and a neighborhood list made up of “chronic offenders.”

Portland author Martha Gies walks us through Gary Webb’s long shadow of reporting about the drug trade in Latin America and how it eventually led to the investigative reporters death.

We talk to Portland’s Drug and Vice squad, hear from law enforcement officers against prohibition, and highlight poetry from addicts on the streets.

All of this and much more in the special edition hitting the streets tomorrow.

Buy a copy from a neighborhood vendor today!

Erik Sten, Jim Middaugh and oh so much more in the new Street Roots

2008-04-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

The new Street Roots will be out tomorrow. Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl spends an afternoon with Erik Sten. Dubbed the “street fighter” back in 2003, Erik walks us through the peaks and valleys of life at City Hall and just how he came to get such a nickname.

A new mental health coalition called MindFreedom Oregon is organizing individuals statewide, and they aren’t playing around. The new coalition based in Eugene is made up of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors who want radical change in the services provided to individuals working with and dealing with mental illness.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. We profile formerly homeless mayoral candidate Steven Entwisle and interview council candidate Jim Middaugh. Middaugh who is running a tight race with well-respected Nick Fish throws down on private police. He also talks affordable housing, public safety and Portland's future.

Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) head has been forced out. Go figure huh? Street Roots editorial and Soup Can both weigh in on Alphonso’s departure.

We connect with Tara Herivel, a Portland defense attorney and editor of the new book Private Profiteers: Who makes money from mass incarceration, and head on down to St. Augustine with the great Jay Thiemeyer.

Did we mention the art, poetry and beautiful rants from the streets? You won’t be disappointed. Get your Street Roots from your local neighborhood vendor!

We're not betting on it

2008-03-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

From this weeks Directors Desk

The sit-lie ordinance continues to be a controversy. Seventy-nine of the 88 warnings and tickets issued under the ordinance have gone to people experiencing homelessness. According to police reports, 69 of those were either homeless or transient and 10 had no address listed at all. In fact, one individual was cited at the very location he gave police as his
address — the Portland Rescue Mission.

We assume that the number of verbal warnings given are in the hundreds and have no reason to believe that the majority aren’t against people sleeping out.

Many of the individuals who have received written warnings and tickets are what some call "frequent flyers." They are individuals who tend to rack up multiple “quality-of-life” offenses. Some for drugs and booze, others for
things like sleeping in a park or trespassing in front of a business, depends.

The business community and law enforcement have long argued that the sit-lie law is a tool to deal with Portland’s frequent flyers - mostly panhandlers, and individuals that clearly aren’t with the program. It also serves as a tool to target people sleeping on our sidewalks.

Because panhandling is a freedom of speech issue, and the camping ordinance can’t be enforced without a 24-hour notice to vacate, the sit-lie serves as a key component to move people from our public sidewalks.

It's been clearly documented by city officials that nearly 1,600 individuals are homeless after shelter beds are full. We’ve said it until we are blue in the face. That means, like it or not, that 1,600 individuals will be sleeping in our doorways, parking lots, parks, neighborhoods, and on park benches tonight.

I don’t know what else we can say. Should we call for a suspension of the ordinance? Should we respectfully decline to say anything at all? Street Roots has stood up time and again to oppose this ordinance. We’ve stood up even when it meant being accused by some of punking out after working with the Safe Access For Everyone committee (the same committee the ordinance came from) to help produce the Rose City Resource Guide.

We believe in all of the services being worked on through the SAFE committee – more park benches, public restrooms, and a day access center. How could anyone not be in support of these services that will not only help people on the skids but our community at large? We had hoped we were wrong about the ordinance. Maybe we will still be proven wrong, but looking at the way things are now, we’re not betting on it.

posted by Israel Bayer

Kids let themselves out of school, oh and take over City Hall is all

2008-03-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

Who says the young people don't care? Students from several high-schools and middle schools walked out today to protest the war in Iraq. Vendor Frank Cobb just happened to be walking to Sisters Of The Road for lunch after selling Street Roots at 23rd and Lovejoy when he encountered the protest.

Here's some pics from Frank.

Of course it wouldn't be a real student walk-out without taking over City Hall and all.

Amy J. Ruiz has more on the young radicals over at blogtown

City Hall under siege!

Prowling through history with the Black Panther Party - new Street Roots

2008-03-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

The new Street Roots will hit the street tomorrow. The feature story sheds light on Portland's Black Panther history with co-founder Kent Ford. Street Roots has a chilling Q & A with abortion doctor Susan Wicklund from Portland and Affordable Housing Now's Julie Massa talks about the politics of affordable housing in Portland.

A section 8 landlord argues that the problem with the lack of availability for low-income residents is a bigger problem than a tight market. A mother offers a letter to Portland's street community after her daughter was found dead at Laurelhurst Park, Jay Thiemeyer offers up his world-view of St. Augustine and Street Roots offers up its opinions on the latest results of Portland's ever controversial sit-lie law.

Did we mention the great art and poetry from Portland's streets? All of this and much more in tomorrow's Street Roots.

Support a vendor in your neighborhood and get a great read in return.

Seattle protests homeless sweeps on the doorsteps of City Hall

2008-03-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

Real Change in Seattle squats at City Hall to protest homeless sweeps.

Ten tents my ass

Tensions between advocates and officials in Seattle and San Francisco are red hot.

When bureaucrats attack

Street Roots video from Portland Trail Blazers and Hands on Greater Portland

2008-03-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Street Roots was recently given the "volunteer innovation" award from the Portland Trail Blazers and Hands on Greater Portland.

Here's the video they made for the awards presentation.

Sectioned Out on the streets tomorrow

2008-03-06T15:53:00.000-08:00

A brand new Street Roots will be on the streets tomorrow. The feature article explores how Oregon law allows landlords to refuse Section 8 vouchers and how it contributes to hurting those who need housing most.

We go train-hopping across Canada with Rodney Graham, talk politics and affordable housing with Ed Garren and break down just exactly how much Portland taxpayers are spending on the war in Iraq. Did you know we could have built 26,000 affordable housing units, and built several schools in Oregon alone? That's not counting hiring scores of music and art teachers or fixing our roadways.

Check out all of this and much more in Street Roots tomorrow. Support a vendor and get a great read!

Feds bring idea of housing first to New Orleans, but offer no assistance

2008-03-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

The Associate Press reports that the Bush Administration's "homeless czar" spent Monday morning in a tent city of displaced people and the afternoon in the offices of Mayor Ray Nagin, offering new ideas to help a growing homeless population but promising no immediate increase in federal funding.

Philip Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, began his first visit to post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans by touring a stretch of avenue where about 150 homeless people have been living in camping tents for months on end. Later, Mangano met with Nagin and members of the city council to discuss the mayor's plan to transfer the colony to a military-style barrack where they would be provided bunk beds, meals and care.

Read more

Feds offer no help

Security guards in Seattle take to the streets

2008-03-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

In a bid to get a first-ever union contract with their employers, about 200 security guards staged a rush-hour street blockade Feb. 25 at Fifth Avenue and Columbia Street in which Seattle police arrested two participants.

Read more

Seattle rent-a-cops unionizing

House of Cards

2008-03-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

House of Cards - The subprime market collapse stands to disproportionately affect low-income and minority borrowers
By Mara Grunbaum, Street Roots Staff writer

The sweeping effects of the national mortgage crisis are beginning to catch up to Oregon homeowners, and in the ensuing storm of foreclosures and financial ruin, low-income minority families may stand to lose the most.

Black and Hispanic Oregonians at all income levels were more likely than whites to have received subprime loans in 2006, according to a study released in January by the Oregon Center for Public Policy, an economic research group.

The subprime mortgage industry — the business of lending money to people with “subprime,” or less than ideal, credit — can help those who don’t qualify for traditional mortgages become homeowners by offering small or nonexistent down payments, interest rates that start low and increase after several years, or minimal requirements for documenting income. But subprime loans are also far likelier than traditional mortgages to end in foreclosure.

Consumer advocates contend that many homeowners have been pushed into subprime mortgages they can’t afford or persuaded to refinance unecessarily by predatory mortgage brokers, who have financial incentives to sign people to expensive loans. In many cases, recipients of the high-risk loans actually qualified for better terms. “We have seen a common practice where someone with a prime rate credit score sits down with their broker and ends up being sold a high-interest subprime loan,” said Angela Martin, director of the Economic Fairness Coalition at the progressive advocacy group Our Oregon.

According to RealtyTrac, a California foreclosure-tracking company, there were 1,099 foreclosure filings in Oregon in December 2007 — more than four times as many as in December 2006. The Center for Responsible Lending projects that 8,372 homes in Oregon ultimately will be lost to foreclosure on subprime loans made in 2005 and 2006.

Read more

House of Cards

Read this and much more in the current issue of Street Roots. Support a vendor and get a great read today!

Jeff Bissonnette talks housing and homelessness

2008-03-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

For the past nine years, Jeff Bissonnette has been a consumer advocate with the Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon. He has also spent the past decade working a as a social service advocate to set up school breakfast programs and summer feeding programs for children.

He is a candidate for City Commissioner seat No. 1, being vacated by Sam Adams.

Street Roots: You talk about the need for the city’s education and technical training needs to keep up with the times, including post-high school education and lifelong training. How will you interface that with the low-income and homeless populations that are in particular need of workforce training opportunities?

Jeff Bissonnette: Very low-income and homeless people need particular attention when looking at work force training opportunities. First, we need to ensure that there are adequate support systems in place to help individuals and families maintain basic needs: housing services, substance abuse treatment and mental health treatment if needed, assistance to pay energy bills, nutrition programs in schools and community organizations to make sure children are well-nourished (and these programs also help to stretch household resources), good before- and after-school programs to keep kids out of trouble.

Second, we need to help individuals get a job that leads to a career and offers a future. I intend to advocate for a “green collar jobs program” modeled after a successful initiative in Oakland, California. The Ella Baker Center runs a “pathways from poverty” designed to get very low-income people started in jobs in the clean energy industry, such as making homes and commercial buildings more efficient, as well as installing and maintaining renewable energy systems. Education and on-the-job training are combined to make sure that people are supported in the first steps in an industry that is growing, providing living wage jobs. This effort will require the combined efforts of business, labor unions, community organizations and educational institutions to provide the opportunities for these new green collar workers.

S.R.: What can you do for Portland that the other candidates running for this position cannot?

J.B.: While every candidate in this race offers something to the people of Portland, I offer two things that others do not: 1) a long history of being the lead organizer of numerous diverse coalitions focused around common agendas and goals and 2) the ability, demonstrated repeatedly, to have those coalitions be able to move their agendas through a political process successfully emerging with an adopted law or policy. It is one thing to be involved in issues; it is another to consistently be the lead in keeping diverse interests together, coordinated and focused until the objective is achieved. That ability to get results and build relationships for “the next issue” is my stock-in-trade and something that I believe is unique in this race.

S.R.: How are you going to keep Portland affordable and livable for all citizens?

J.B.: Portlanders are rightfully concerned that our city is growing less affordable. Housing prices, while lower than other parts of the country, have been rising rapidly. Even with the recent cool-down, prices for both home purchases and rents are quite high.

Additionally, resources are not keeping pace with populations trends responding to changing neighborhoods. More and more, people are moving to East Portland neighborhoods in search of more affordable homes and business space and all too often, needed resources do not follow. I will work to better align neighborhood goals and needs with development efforts because improving an area should not mean that long-time residents should be required to move.

S.R.: How will you make a difference in the lives of the people living on the streets?

J.B.: The biggest difference that needs to be made in the lives of people living on the streets is to ensure that they do not have to live on the streets. We need to continue and expand our commitment to increase decent affordable housing. To do this, I will work with community development corporations (CDCs) to identify sites for rehabilitation and new housing projects. I will enforce the new requirement to have 30 percent of urban renewal funds to be set aside to fund affordable housing projects. I will also continue to work with the Affordable Housing NOW! Coalition to have the city meet and maintain a commitment of at least $30 million for Housing Investment. Lastly, I will work with housing advocates at the state level to encourage the state to increase its commitment to affordable housing funding to add to city housing funds.

S.R.: What is your opinion of the way the city does business and what would you change?

J.B.: As a community organizer by profession, grassroots involvement has been a cornerstone of any effort with which I’ve ever been involved. I think that the City Council needs to get out of City Hall more often and into the community.

Here’s how I plan to do that: First, I do not believe that Portlanders who live in outlying neighborhoods should be required to make a pilgrimage to City Hall to get help from a city official or have input into city issues. To that end, I will establish a series of field offices for my commission office in various neighborhoods throughout the city. To start, I will open two offices east of I-205 and one in St. Johns.

Second, it is often discussed that the City Council should occasionally have its meetings in places other than City Hall. This needs to move beyond the “nice-to-do” stage and to the “must-do” list. At least every other month, the City Council should meet in a school or community center or union hall or homeless shelter in various neighborhoods throughout the city.

Third, while the City Council schedules meetings for late Wednesday afternoons or evenings, these sessions are often canceled. The City Council must make a concerted effort to meet in the evenings so that people wanting to come testify on an issue or simply watch can do so without taking time off work.

Lastly, I will support the expansion of the neighborhood association concept to include non-geographic representation of communities of color. I believe the geographic-based neighborhood association system continues to have a role to play but that those associations cannot be everything to everyone. I believe there has to be a broader array of options for representation and involvement and we can start that expansion by discussing and adopting recommendations that are being developed by numerous groups throughout the city.

For more great news and street culture pick up a Street Roots. Support a vendor and get a great read.

New Orleans facing another storm on homelessness and housing

2008-02-29T23:15:00.000-08:00

On Thursday The Times-Picayune reported that two experts from the United Nations said thousands of black families would continue to suffer displacement and homelessness if the demolition of 4,500 public housing units is not halted, but federal housing officials in New Orleans countered that they have units available immediately for former public housing residents displaced by Katrina.

U.N.-appointed experts Miloon Kothari, the U.N. Human Rights Council's investigator for housing, and Gay McDougall, an expert on minority issues, urged U.S. and local government leaders to further include current and former residents in discussions that would help them return home.

"I think this is vindication of what public housing advocates have been saying from day one," said Monique Harden, co-director of the public interest law firm Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, who testified before Geneva-based U.N. experts.

"Recovery must mean the end of displacement for the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast," added Harden, who returned to New Orleans last week. "What we have instead is recovery that demolishes affordable housing."

Read more

U.N. slams Feds on housing in New Orleans

This comes a day after the Mayor of New Orleans released a plan to push hundreds of people on the streets into crowded barracks as a solution to the on-going housing crisis in the Big Easy.

Swept to the barracks

All of this of course has warranted a response from the Feds asking the mayor to think about things.

Feds say hold

It's thought more than 12,000 people are actually living on the streets after emergency shelters are full.

Seattle police union says it's their job to write park exclusions

2008-02-29T15:19:00.000-08:00

The city of Seattle just put out a public relations fire over the discovery that it destroys homeless camps on city property. Now the Parks Department is hiring seven people as park rangers who will have the power to banish people for camping in the city’s downtown parks and committing other violations of park rules.

The rangers won’t be able to do it without a fight, however: The Seattle police union says that it is police work to write parks exclusion notices, which can ban people from parks for days or months, with union president Rich O’Neill threatening to file an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.

Read more...

Seattle privatized

You can help Street Roots, yeah you...

2008-02-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

Want to throw a house party to help Street Roots? Maybe your business wants to partner to make a difference. Possible you just want to give Portland's leading social justice newspaper a donation!

Find out different ways you can help Street Roots today!

Check it out!

New Street Roots on the way tomorrow

2008-02-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

The feature story (House of Cards) dives into the subprime market collapse and how it stands to disproportionately affect low-income and minority borrowers.

A Q & A with council candidate Jeff Bissonnette talks affordable housing and economic development, and Artis (the Spoonman) offers his insights after 20 years on the road. FInd out all about the Homegrown Terrorism and Violent Radicalization Act, read a Sunday night movie in the making on the street culture page, read some great street poetry, and explore death and laughter with Soup Can Sam.

Subprime the latest policy of poverty

2008-02-21T17:16:00.000-08:00

On the one side of the subprime regulation debate, you have an industry that says these loans provide homeownership opportunities to people who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for a loan.

On the other side are advocates who are watching foreclosure rates climb, homeowners losing homes, credit and hope, and communities boarding up.
In the middle, at an alarming proportion, are low-income and minority families, the ones too often blamed for their own "misfortune."

In fact, there are many factors at play in this exploitation of the American Dream: Conventional banks that deal in prime mortgages have left low-income minority neighborhoods in favor of more lucrative communities. In their absence, alternative lenders have filled the void. And the mortgage market is no longer an agreement between a lender and a borrower. Loans are chopped up into financial investments with high yields for some and high-interest for others, complete with an incentive system to lenders who sell high-interest loans that, even if they end in foreclosure, return a profit to investors.

A study by the Oregon Center for Public Policy found that in 2006, about half of all middle-income black and Hispanic borrowers in Oregon received subprime loans. That’s compared with only 25 percent of white borrowers making the same amount of money. Credit ratings, which the study does not analyze, could be a factor in these outcomes, but the disparity appeared at all income levels, and the figures echo similar findings in studies across the country: Subprime loans are concentrated in lower-income neighborhoods, among minorities, even though it is estimated that between 30 percent and 50 percent of those receiving subprime loans would qualify for prime rate mortgages.

The industry’s claim of the mortgage of last resort rings false.

Call it discrimination, economic segregation, or more ugly terms, what we have is an entire money-making scheme that keeps poor people paying more, undercuts homeownership and erodes the social and economic structure of minority neighborhoods. It is a set-up ripe for predatory lenders that perpetuate and aggravate the cycle of debt, poverty and homelessness.

Meanwhile, the federal government continues its punishing crusade to cut off assistance -— in health care, emergency food programs and employment services — to the very people victimized by its policies. President Bush’s 2009 budget would cut more than $200 million in federal assistance to Oregon, including cuts to energy assistance, adult education and worker training programs, and Head Start. The symptoms get the headlines, but these are the real policies of poverty.

It is time for state and local governments to say not in our communities, not to our people. If the larger policies at work are not in our best interest, lawmakers in Salem have to make up the difference. It is imperative that legislators push through not only the remedial subprime reform House Bill 3603, but follow through next session with the larger protections offered in the more comprehensive Senate Bill 1090, which now languishes in committee.

More importantly, however, the larger policies of poverty must be called out, and the perpetuation of economic discrimination taken as a nationwide responsibility. We have to stop punishing the victims, and hold the oppressors accountable.

Housing Candidate Forum Q & A's

2008-02-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

Housing Opportunity Candidate Forum for City Council Seat No. 2 Feb 21

On February 21st, a broad base of community organizations held the Housing Opportunity Candidate Forum for candidates for Portland City Seat No. 2 to hear candidate veiws on homelessness and affordable housing. The candidates who participated in the forum are Nick Fish, Jim Middaugh, Ed Garren, Fred Stewart and Harold Williams III.

In addition to the discussion at the forum, Street Roots, Sisters of the Road, JOIN, Coalition for Homeless Families, Affordable Housing NOW!, Community Alliance of Tenants and the Community Development Network developed the following list of questions designed to get to the heart of a candidate’s views on the issues.

Read the candidates reponses

11th Annual Homeless Marathon on KBOO tomorrow

2008-02-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

The 11th annual Homelessness Marathon from Nashville, TN starts tomorrow and will be aired on KBOO (90.7) starting at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

You can also listen live on-line at

Listen live

The Homelessness Marathon is the world's leading broadcast focusing on homelessness and poverty. Last year's broadcast from Fresno, California aired on more than 120 radio stations coast-to-coast with another 30 or so stations across Canada.

"This year, we picked Nashville," explains the Homelessness Marathon's director, Jeremy Weir Alderson, "partly because it is a city at the crossroads in terms of its treatment of homeless people, and in this respect, it is like many other cities across the United States."

Call in numbers are 1-877-NOBODY-8 (877-662-6398) for anyone, and 1-866-LEFT-OUT (866-533-8688) is a special number to give an extra for people who are homeless, formerly homeless or afraid they're about to become homeless.

Here's the schedule: (all times are eastern standard)

Hour 1 - SHORT: Welcome from host "Nobody" (live) - (7pm) LONG: A panel of homeless Nashvillians.

Hour 2 - SHORT: Performing A One Night Count - (8pm) LONG: Homelessness in Music City - Part 1 - The Civic View. Co-hosts: George Gruhn, CEO of Gruhn Guitars and Howard Gentry, Chairman, Mayor's Homelessness Commission.

Hour 3 - SHORT: Housing First -(9pm) LONG: Homelessness in Music City - Part 2 - The Street View. Co-Hosts: Father Charlie Strobel, founding director, Campus for Human Development, and Clemmie Green Lee of the Nashville Homeless Power Project.

Hour 4 - SHORT: Poetry by Homeless Teens - (10pm) LONG: Homeless Nation I - A survey of homelessness in Benton Harbor, Michigan; New Orleans, and Denver

Hour 5 - SHORT: Homeless Vets - (11pm) LONG: Homelessness, Crime and Criminalization. Co-Hosts: Matt Leber, organizer, Nashville Homeless Power Project and Tulin Ozdeger, civil rights director, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

Hour 6 - SHORT: Street Poetry - (mid) LONG: "The War and The Poor - Co-Hosts: Norman Solomon, author of "War Made Easy" and Frances Fox Piven, author of "The War At Home: The Domestic Cost of Bush's Militarism."

Hour 7 - SHORT: Addressing Rural Homelessness - (1am) LONG: The Fight in Fresno - A live remote from Fresno, CA.

Hour 8 - SHORT: A Homeless Job Program - (2am) LONG: The Working Poor. Guest Host: Nell Levin, coordinator, Tennessee Alliance for Progress. Co-Hosts: William Miles, Nashville Jobs with Justice, Cornell Professor of Sociology Thomas Hirschl.

Hour 9 - SHORT: Registering Homeless Voters - (3am) LONG: Homeless Nation II: A survey of homelessness in Los Angeles, Ontario, CA; and Santa Cruz, Ca

Hour 10 - SHORT: Generational Homelessness - (4am) LONG: International Hour. Guest Host: Nell Levin. Co-host: Peter Fredriksson, senior adviser to the Housing Ministry of Finland.

Hour 11 - SHORT: Homeless Mothers - (5am) LONG: Fighting Back - Co-Hosts to be Cheri Honkala, director of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign,
Paul Boden, director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project.

Hour 12 - SHORT: Street Poetry - (6am) LONG: Health Care and Homelessness. Co-hosts, John Lozier, Director National Health Care for the Homeless, Dan McMullan, a disabled homeless advocate.

Hour 13 - SHORT: A Profile in Homelessness - (7am) LONG: Will the Foreclosure Crisis Drive People to the Streets? Co-hosts Danilo Pelletiere, research director, National Low Income Housing Coalition and a co-host TBA.

Hour 14 - SHORT: A Homeless Romance - (8am) LONG: First: Where Is The Housing? Co-Host, Jeremy Rosen, executive director, National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness. Next: A panel of homeless vets.

Join us this Thursday for the Housing Candidate Forum

2008-02-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

Join us for a candidate forum with candidates seeking Erik Sten’s seat on City Council. A broad base of community
organizations will be asking candidates questions about homelessness and affordable housing.

First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97205
Thursday February 21st, Noon-1:30PM

Sponsors of this event include, Street Roots, Community Development Network, JOIN, Sisters Of The Road, Community Alliance of Tenants, Affordable Housing Now!, and the Coalition for Homeless Families.

Is Portland a magnet for poor folk? Check out the new SRs tomorrow to find out

2008-02-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

In communities throughout the country you will hear a common complaint by critics of homeless services - our city is a magnet for homeless people because of services. If we build it, they will come.

Liberal communities up and down the West Coast have been dubbed by many as a place of last resort for people experiencing homelessness. Los Angeles has been called the homeless capital of the United States, San Francisco, a bum's paradise, Seattle and Portland, a place to go to access great services.

Street Roots takes a look at what's happening on the ground and talks to city officials in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle - giving you the real dirt.

Other stories this issue include a look Urban Opportunities, a empowerment based job skills programs for homeless youth, and a Q & A with the young and up and coming Portland City Council candidate John Branam. Other features include three in-depth grassroots news pieces from our sister paper, the Big Issue Kenya, and lots of poetry and prose from the streets.

Support a vendor today, and get a great read.

Street Roots awarded "volunteer innovation" honors from Trailblazers and Hands on Greater Portland

2008-02-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Street Roots has been awarded with the 2008 Portland Trailblazers/Hands on Greater Portland 'Volunteer Innovation" award.

The Portland Trail Blazers/Hands On Greater Portland Heart of the Community Awards luncheon celebrates volunteerism and honors outstanding volunteers and volunteer programs that are the Heart of our Community.

Portland Trailblazers/Hands on Greater Portland Awards

Thank you to all of our volunteers that makes Street Roots what it is today!

Along with Street Roots, Senator Margaret Carter will be honored for the "Heart of the Community Award."

The housing opportunity candidate forum

2008-02-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

People on the streets targeted with sit-lie enforcement

2008-02-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

Between Nov. 1, and Nov. 19, Portland police issued 42 sidewalk
obstruction (sit-lie) warnings and six citations to people sitting on
sidewalks, according to documents obtained by Street Roots. At least 34
of those warning and citations were to people experiencing homelessness.
Several police reports do not determine if an individual was "transient"
or had a place of residence.

After a 30-day lull in enforcement – police began to issue more sidewalk
warnings and citations on Dec. 19. From Dec. 19 and 27, police issued
seven warnings and five citations, all to people experiencing
homelessness.

The latest round of warnings and citations issued brings the total number
to 62 warnings and 14 citations issued since the beginning of September
2007.

The most recent revision of the sidewalk obstruction ordinance bans
individuals from sitting or lying on public sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 9
p.m. The maximum penalty for violation of the ordinance is $250.
Beyond the majority of individuals receiving warnings – Street Roots found
that at least 11 of the individuals receiving warnings, and five who
received citations, were sleeping at the time of enforcement.

Bill O'Reilly slams homeless vets, slam Bill O'Reilly!

2008-01-31T20:14:00.000-08:00

It's Fox Attack

200,000 vets can't be wrong

Help protect civil rights for people on the streets in Seattle

2008-01-31T20:09:00.000-08:00

The City of Seattle is on the verge of creating one of the most anti-homeless environments on the West Coast.

A new policy being created by Seattle officials would extend the city’s parks exclusion ordinance — which was designed to ensure that public parks remain family friendly — to all public property throughout the city, no matter how urban or remote. This policy will make survival outside illegal in a city where the shelters are past capacity and meeting perhaps 60 percent of the demand for emergency shelter.

Washington County's faith-based community is kicking it, Erik Sten and Angela Davis are throwing down and Randy Leonard's got some loo's

2008-01-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

The new edition of Street Roots is on the beat. The lead stories this issue are about Washington County's faith-based community joining forces to end homelessness and Erik Sten standing firm on a homeless day access center downtown. Other features this issue include Q & A's with candidate Chris Smith and former Black Panther Angela Davis.

We highlight Commissioner Leonard's new design for public restrooms downtown, inform readers on what's happening on the ground in Paris with homeless and housing advocates and Michael Anderson with Affordable Housing Now presents a 'to-do' list for the future leader of the Bureau of Housing and Community Development.

Erik Sten floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee, and we give action steps to support activists in New Orleans who were beaten, pepper-sprayed and arrested demanding the halt of 4,500 public housing units from being demolished - all of this and much more in this edition of Street Roots.

Pick one up today and support one of our many great vendors!

Street Roots community resources on services, policy research and criminalization now on-line

2008-01-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

Street Roots has put together a community resource page for people experiencing homelessness and poverty, social service providers, journalists, students, policy wonks, advocates and others.

Under the Street Roots section you will find information about the organization ranging from our annual report to the newspapers editorial schedule to our strategic plan.

Under community resources you will find information on the following resources -

Rose City Resource: We have itemized specific sections to download from the Rose City Resources. You can download itemized updated information on services available throughout the Portland region.

Downtown map and services: You can download a map and information on downtown services available for people experiencing homelessness and poverty.

Research and policy: This section contains a cross-section of updated reports and policy research concerning homelessness, affordable housing and civil rights.

Know your rights: In this section you will find information regarding legal advice, information on laws that target people experiencing homelessness, complaint procedures, and much more.

You can access Street Roots Community Resources through our website and at the wiki pages themselves

Resources you can use

Wiki pages at Street Roots website

Erik Sten: floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee

2008-01-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

From the new issue of Street Roots coming out tomorrow...

Erik Sten was dubbed the “Street fighter” back in 2003 by Street Roots for his constant effort to work in favor of the poor. Erik has proven to be more than a city commissioner, or a major influence at City Hall. He’s an individual that has helped craft what Portland is today. And we, along with many others in the city, will miss him tremendously when he retires from the council on April 1.

Newspaper editorial boards around the city are holding up his achievements to obtain — or in many cases simply retain — affordable housing and spearhead local efforts to end homelessness, but Erik is more than just a figurehead for a social movement.

Erik Sten is one of the few individuals in Portland politics that knows many people experiencing homelessness by name. He’s a craftsman for creating an even playing field for grassroots organizations and campaigns made up of the very individuals he represents. His efforts to enhance the lives of individuals from all walks of life, cultures and interests is something that we shouldn’t take for granted. Inside a broken bureaucracy, Erik has found ways to create change and to empower people to believe in the common good.

In fact, less than a week after his announcement to leave City Hall, he found himself standing in front of a jammed Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood meeting – chock full of service providers, housing and homeless activists, city staffers, uneasy neighborhood activists, frustrated business owners, and anxious developers — all there to hear what the commissioner had to say on the now controversial homeless day-access center.

In classic form, Erik spoke to every interest in the room in a way that was attentive, forthcoming and inspiring. Instead of being baited into a debate spurred on by sensationalized media coverage designed to pit one side against the other, the commissioner simply disarmed the tension and broke things down in a way that every interest in the room could understand and respect.

On many occasions, local and national interest groups have taken shots at Erik’s intended to undermine his progressive approach of creating change through innovative strategies, collaboration and respect.

But Erik has always stood tall. His compassion and wisdom, along with his patient demeanor and excellent public speaking skills, have allowed for a political career that floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee — like a true street fighter.

And in all of Erik’s praise, from the streets to the ball, we cannot go without mentioning the individuals on Erik’s staff that have shown patience, perseverance and skill to make Portland the best city on the West Coast, bar none – individuals such as Margaret Bax, Marshall Runkel, Rich Rodgers, Bob Durston, Jim Middaugh, Cindy Gaulke, Jamaal Folsom, Angie Harris, and many more. Some of whom have been more than kind to the media and in many ways have helped bring Street Roots into a different class of newspapers in Portland.

Still, with only three months left in Erik’s tenure, we have lots of work to do. Let’s get to it.

Street Roots weighs in on day-access center

2007-12-31T09:16:00.001-08:00

Day-access center could be a galvanizing project

Portland’s struggle to locate a permanent day-access center for the homeless has proven harder than expected. The city of Portland, and City Commissioner Erik Sten’s office, are in the process of spearheading a $30 million state-of-the-art day-access center in Old Town/Chinatown.

If the goal is to create a better quality of life for the neighborhood and downtown, then improving the quality of life for people experiencing homelessness and poverty is a step in the right direction.

From Street Roots’ perspective, the idea of a day access center for the homeless is a win-win, not just for people forced to live exposed to the elements, but also for the health of the community as a whole.

Off the top of our heads we can think of several components of the day access center that would improve Old Town/Chinatown, including offering a visually appealing piece of architecture with green standards, community gardens and creative microenterprises, to name a few.

For better or worse, downtown is evolving. Specifically, Old Town/Chinatown is evolving. Beyond having the Portland Development Commission and NW Natural headquartered in the ’hood, we soon will be welcoming the University of Oregon and Mercy Corps. We have heard rumors of Uwajimaya, an Asian specialty supermarket, which we would welcome with open arms.

The conflicting reality for many businesses downtown is that poverty is real. And it’s not showing any signs of decline. Like it or not, Old Town/Chinatown is home to a web of services working with poor people, including Central City Concern, Sisters Of The Road, Transition Projects, Union Gospel and Street Roots, to name a few.

None of this even starts to address the value of building affordable housing — a dwindling resource — for Portland’s residents. The affordable mixed-income housing units proposed atop the day-access center could be for the very people living and working in the neighborhood. Currently, someone working as a barista or in a convenience store downtown can’t even afford to live in the area. That’s absurd. Part of coupling a day access center with affordable housing is to offer those very workers and people living on little income the opportunity to live downtown and to be contributing members of our community.

Some have said the process is flawed, broken. Perhaps it is, but more importantly, the system is broken, and people continue to flock to Old Town/Chinatown for services. That’s not going to change anytime soon. But what can change is the way people are treated. For some, that may mean offering people dignity and respect; for others, that may mean getting people out of sight and out of mind, and some may be somewhere in between. Regardless, the day-access center is a way to bridge all of these differing points of view by offering something special, something that we as a community not only have the responsibility to do, but the responsibility to do right. We can do this together.

New Street Roots on the beat

2007-12-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

This week's lead stories explore the final stages of the North American Free Trade Agreement pact going into effect in January, and how it will effect immigration and labor locally and in Mexico.

We have Q & A's with the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Charlie Savage on the Bush-Cheney administration's power grabs, and city council candidate Amanda Fritz.

This issue of Street Roots also brings you columns from attorney Brandon Mayfield, the Raging Grannies, Alejandro Queral with the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center, and Jay Thiemeyer speaks his truth about life on the road.

You can help us reach our goal!

2007-12-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Street Roots supporter,

Street Roots readers have donated nearly $15,000 for the Winter Fund Drive. That means we still need to raise $10,000 to lower the cost of newspaper to vendors in 2008. You can help!

Street Roots is on the verge of celebrating its ninth year in existence. During that time period Street Roots has put more than $1 million directly into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty, helped launch Dignity Village, published nine books from people on the streets and maintained a balance of professional news and advocacy, along with bringing you the voices from the streets.

During that same time period we have been a part of housing scores of vendors and creating an atmosphere of hope and dignity. The relationships built between vendors and community members, along with helping educate a broader base about issues of homelessness and poverty, have led us to where we are today.

Much like the little train that could, Street Roots continues to chug away. We’ve set goals in 2008 to redesign the newspaper in a way that improves curb appeal for vendors and will allow us to explore the options of going full color and eventually weekly. With your help we can reach these goals. Improving the newspaper increases sales for vendors, and increasing sales for vendors allows individuals to maintain their own lives in a way that offers dignity and respect. Not to mention that it allows you, the readers, to be better informed on a variety of issues that are often swept under the rug by the mainstream media. By supporting the organization, you are not only supporting a human being’s livelihood, you are supporting grassroots media.

We believe the newspaper brings Portlanders not only voices from the streets, but unique perspectives from community organizers, authors, policy wonks, candidates, and a range of alternative voices that are helping shape the environment we all call home. That home takes many shapes and forms, from a doorway in front of a business to a camp on the edge of town. Maybe home is a loft in the Pearl, or a small house in a quiet neighborhood — regardless, there’s one thing that helps us connect the two very different worlds, and that’s Street Roots. Help us continue to deliver that connection between people in a changing world of isolationism. Help us be the change we seek. Help us reach our $25,000 goal.

Thank you for you consideration.

Donate now:

Donate today!

Or you can mail a check to Street Roots, 211 NW Davis, PDX, Oregon 97209 at the address below...

Happy holidays! And thank you for your support!

Housing and homeless advocates call to action

2007-12-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

From the New York Times, "After protesters clashed violently with the police inside and outside the New Orleans City Council chambers on Thursday, the council voted unanimously to allow the federal government to demolish 4,500 apartments in the four biggest public housing projects in the city."

Read more...

New Orleans advocates raise hell

Portland's sister paper in Seattle, Real Change, spearheaded an all night protest at City Hall over camp sweeps.

Seattle advocates raise hell

San Fran looks to Portland for creative ways to clear sidewalks

2007-12-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Chronicle ran an interesting piece this weekend on Portland's role in clearing the streets of individuals experiencing homelessness coupled with services through the Safe Access For Everyone (SAFE) committee.

Mike Kuykendall says the criticism never seemed to let up.

"We were barraged with people complaining about conditions downtown," he said. "There were people sitting on the sidewalk, there were guys with sleeping bags and pit bulls, and there was aggressive panhandling. We had visitors and conventioneers saying they didn't want to come back."

Sound familiar?

No, it isn't downtown San Francisco.

Kuykendall is the head of the Business Alliance of Portland, Ore. Last week, he led a group that came to town to pitch San Francisco officials on Portland's downtown plan, called "Street Access for Everyone."

Read more...

S.F. leaders hear about Portland's approach to homelessness

You can help us reach our goal

2007-12-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

Street Roots readers have donated nearly $12,000 for the Winter Fund Drive. We very much appreciate all of your support. We still need your help!

Street Roots is on the verge of celebrating its ninth year in existence. During that time period Street Roots has put more than $1 million directly into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty, helped launch Dignity Village, published nine books from people on the streets and maintained a balance of professional news and advocacy, along with bringing you the voices from the streets.

During that same time period we have been a part of housing scores of vendors and creating an atmosphere of hope and dignity. The relationships built between vendors and community members, along with helping educate a broader base about issues of homelessness and poverty, have led us to where we are today.

Much like the little train that could, Street Roots continues to chug away. We’ve set goals in 2008 to redesign the newspaper in a way that improves curb appeal for vendors and will allow us to explore the options of going full color and eventually weekly. With your help we can reach these goals. Improving the newspaper increases sales for vendors, and increasing sales for vendors allows individuals to maintain their own lives in a way that offers dignity and respect. Not to mention that it allows you, the readers, to be better informed on a variety of issues that are often swept under the rug by the mainstream media. By supporting the organization, you are not only supporting a human being’s livelihood, you are supporting grassroots media.

We believe the newspaper brings Portlanders not only voices from the streets, but unique perspectives from community organizers, authors, policy wonks, candidates, and a range of alternative voices that are helping shape the environment we all call home. That home takes many shapes and forms, from a doorway in front of a business to a camp on the edge of town. Maybe home is a loft in the Pearl, or a small house in a quiet neighborhood — regardless, there’s one thing that helps us connect the two very different worlds, and that’s Street Roots. Help us continue to deliver that connection between people in a changing world of isolationism. Help us be the change we seek. Help us reach our $25,000 goal.

Thank you for you consideration.

Sincerely,

Street Roots crew

Donate on-line

or you can send a donation to Street Roots, 211 NW Davis, Portland, Oregon 97209

TriMet proposes a false sense of security

2007-12-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

Reeling from the bad press around two highly publicized attacks on TriMet riders, TriMet general manager Fred Hansen wants do away with fareless square during the evening, and possibly forever.

The reason? Because “Fareless Square provides a free ride for panhandlers, who go back and forth between downtown and the Lloyd Center, and drug dealers and rowdy gangs of young people, homeless people and drunks who are using the train as a shelter and a place to do their business,” Hansen told an audience at the City Club of Portland.

But the attacks occurred at stations, not aboard the Max. Other security proposals can address that concern. The reason for doing away with Fareless Square, even in increments, is money. The disgust at panhandlers and homeless people, even drunks for that matter, is something else. It’s scapegoating the popular punching bags to present another regressive attitude in the guise of a positive outcome. The goal: To have private security guards asking for proof of fares to initiate conversation among those who “raise suspicions.” You don’t even have to lift a finger to cause a problem for the courtesy interrogation. We already know that if you look homeless – especially if you’re seeking shelter from the cold and rain — according to Hansen’s own words, you’re in their sights.

Since when did suspicion of a fare violation trump the suspicion of drug dealing?

On the other hand, there are definitely positives in Hansen’s plans for security, which everyone can support, and for ensuring that fares are paid – which they should be. Fixing the faulty vending machines seems a no-brainer, but it will go a long way toward easing the minds of people who are forced to choose between risking riding without fare or walking miles home alone in the dark. Now that’s where TriMet can actually improve security.

And security on board the trains would be a benefit, provided they answer to TriMet, not private security interests. According to The Oregonian, Hansen says he would negotiate with TriMet's union to allow Wackenhut contract security officers to write tickets and exclude “unruly people” from the system. Any actions against citizens that exclude them from public transportation need to be conducted in a transparent accountability system. We don’t need any more guards enforcing public policies under the cloak of private business, particularly when a business contract and job security relies on a steady flow of people deemed “unruly.”

Fareless Square is a 30-year institution and a hallmark of our great city. It ferries people from the Southside into Old Town for a Chinese lunch, and back again within the hour. It is a conveyor for tourists who want to enjoy shopping, dining, entertainment and the sites in our bustling downtown. It sends people for a quick shop at Lloyd Center and back downtown for the evening meeting. It is lauded by environmentalists as a progressive alternative to the growing glut of polluting engines. It is a treasure to the poor, who often travel its width and breadth to reach services and needs, and yes, find shelter, as they should and have every right to. Its preservation should be at the forefront of everyone, from business owners to social advocates to consumers. But it doesn’t seem so important to TriMet.

Which brings us back to the money. TriMet has been crying for the end of Fareless Square for years to (end car prowls, stop drug dealing, protect against terrorism?) bring in more revenue. If TriMet wants to end the free rides on paid routes, put in a better system. The proposed gated entry points, fixing antiquated ticket dispensers, are all on the right track. But go further: Consider the Seattle model – where a much larger downtown is fareless — of having people pay as the leave through the front and only the front door.

We were innovative and progressive 32 years ago with the advent of Fareless Square. We shouldn’t be so shortsighted as to scrap such an asset for quick cash.

New Street Roots tomorrow will knock your socks off

2007-12-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

Street Roots lead story is a fantastic interview by Martha Gies with local author Jules Boykoff exploring how government and media play a role in suppressing dissent.

Other stories include a look at why housing advocates are clamoring for the city to step up its efforts to make affordable housing a priority for two Army centers slated for closure, and why the Department of Defense is standing in the way and the Portland Development Commission may be dropping the ball.

Portland Patrol Inc., a private security group downtown hands out a record number of park exclusions this year, police target people experiencing homelessness through the sidewalk obstruction ordinance and the ACLU brokers a deal with the city to prohibit the police bureau from working with the DEA on medical marijuana and assisted suicide investigations.

Jo Ann Bowman gives Portland her holiday wish for next year's mayoral elections, Howard Weiner talks public safety and homelessness on the campaign trail and Soup Can Sam is on fire in this Friday's issue of Street Roots.

All of this and much more in tomorrow's edition of Street Roots!

Only homeless individuals receive sidewalk obstruction warnings

2007-12-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

Thirteen written sidewalk obstruction warnings and one citation have been doled out by the Portland Police Bureau between August 30, and October 30, according to documents obtained by Street Roots.

All of the individuals receiving warnings were listed as homeless or transient, according to police reports.

The most recent revision of the sidewalk obstruction ordinance bans individuals from sitting or lying on public sidewalks from 7AM to 9PM. The maximum penalty for violation of the ordinance is $250.

The new ordinance was crafted by the Street Access For Everyone (SAFE) committee, made up of homeless advocates, law enforcement, City Hall, and the business community agreed to allow such an ordinance in exchange for park benches, public restrooms and a homeless day access center – all of which have not been fully implemented.

“The information suggests that the intent of the law’s backers and the intent of the law’s enforcers is to target homeless people,” says Adam Arms, a Portland attorney who successfully represented a case that found a similar law unconstitutional in 2004.

“The information could signify that homeless people happen to be on the receiving end of enforcement because homeless folks are forced to live outside, many on sidewalks,” Arms goes on to say. “In any event, the numbers are disturbing because they seem to confirm the “sit-lie” ordinance critics’ prediction – that the law will be unjustly used to single out homeless people for criminalization.”

Street Roots along with several other organizations opposed the committee’s recommendations to create such an ordinance on the grounds that it would specifically target people on the streets who otherwise do not have a place to sleep, or rest.

The full report on sidewalk obstruction warnings will be presented to the SAFE committee this Thursday morning at City Hall at 9:30AM.

Read the full story on the sidewalk obstruction warnings this Friday in Street Roots.

Private security hand out 2,274 park exclusion over a one-year period

2007-12-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

During a one-year period between November of 2006 and November of 2007 the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security agency issued 2,274 park exclusions in downtown, according to the latest Portland Patrol Parks Report.

The Portland Patrol Inc. is primarily funded by the Portland Business Alliance to assist law enforcement with security downtown. The private agency has the capacity to enforce public policy in parks, and has come under scrutiny from homeless and civil rights activists for the lack of public oversight.

More than half of the exclusions handed out by PPI occurred in Waterfront Park with 1, 385. PPI handed out 286 exclusions in the North Park Blocks, while the private group doled out 132 exclusions in both the South Park Blocks and Obryant Square.

Merkley/Novick interview in Street Roots

2007-12-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley are the top Democratic contenders for taking Gordon Smith’s Senate seat this fall. Street Roots, along with Oregon Action, Jobs with Justice, the ACLU of Oregon, the Rural Organizing Project and Affordable Housing Now, asked the candidates about affordable housing, immigrant issues and civil rights. Read the article…

Merkley/Novick interview

The current interview with the candidates is out on the streets. Please support a local vendor by buying a copy today!

Street Roots needs your help!

2007-12-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

Street Roots has raised nearly $9,400 in the first month of the organizations Winter Fund Drive. We’ve set a goal of 25K. We can’t do it without you!

This year Street Roots is working towards empowering vendors by lowering the costs of the newspaper for vendors from 30 cents to 25 cents, that’s a 75 percent profit off of each paper sold.

We are also developing a sales training video for vendors, as well as providing fresh water, coffee and a warm and safe place for vendors and people on the streets to congregate in the office 365 days a year.

The relationship built between readers and vendors is an amazing thing in itself. The self-confidence and self-worth individuals experience is immeasurable. The income individuals are able to gain through the sale of the newspaper is life changing.

As one vendor recently put it. “I sell these newspapers to keep me alive, so you better keep producing them. Without it (newspaper), I’m as good as gone. Things are turning around, and for the first time in a long while, I have reason to believe in something.”

The content delivered to readers through the newspaper is irreplaceable. In 2007, Street Roots published in-depth features on privatization of police, immigrant rights, gentrification, rural poverty, affordable housing and homelessness, and environmental justice. We produced two special editions, one on individuals displaced from New Orleans, the other on food, poverty and social justice.

And if that’s not enough, each issue has been jammed packed with commentaries by community organizers, people experiencing homelessness and poverty, policy wonks, media hounds, and an assorted mix of muckrakers, do-gooders, hellraisers and individuals who above all else, care about the people and the city and world we live.

Please help us reach our goal this winter of 25K!

From all of us at Street Roots, we thank you!

Donate on-line today:

Donate today!

or you can send a donation to Street Roots, 211 NW Davis, Portland, Oregon 97209

Help us keep grassroots media alive, all while helping build community!

2007-11-30T09:14:00.000-08:00

You can help us keep grassroots media alive, all while helping an individual experiencing homelessness and poverty build self-worth and gain a supplimental income.

Please help us raise 25K for our winter fund drive!

In 2008, we hope to lower the cost of the newspaper for vendors to 25 cents, giving vendors a 75% profit from each paper sold. That’s up to $100 dollars a month for individuals selling the newspaper, and nearly $1,200 more a year that vendors will have to improve their lives.

Not to mention the countless relationships that are developed and built with your local neighborhood vendor. Part of what makes Street Roots special is the relationships built between people across class lines. The self-confidence and self-worth established through those relationships are immeasurable.

Last year, Street Roots received more individual donations from people like you than ever before. Your donations went to help Street Roots empower more than 15 individuals to gain stable housing. With your help we also updated our archaic technology, created an advisory panel and editorial committee, while offering vendors additional sales items. Those items included bumper stickers and the popular “Housing is a human right” post-cards and buttons. Those additional sales items gave vendors an opportunity to make money and build awareness about Street Roots and the human rights of poor people.

This year your donation will not only go towards lowering the cost of the newspaper for vendors, but will also go toward developing a new sales training video for vendors, providing additional sales items, providing freshwater, hot coffee, and a warm place to congregate in the office. All while providing the dignity people deserve.

Vendors can’t be successful without a quality newspaper to sell. Your donation will also help the newspaper maintain four additional pages of local, national, and international news and a new vendor page exploring the unique stories of the people who sell the newspaper. Street Roots will also be doing a redesign in the summer of 2008 and looking toward a weekly publication in 2009.

We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without your generous support. We thank you for the consideration and for your dedication to the organization. From all of us at Street Roots, we thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support!

Donate today!

Novick and Merkley square off in new Street Roots

2007-11-29T16:15:00.000-08:00

The new edition of Street Roots hits the streets tomorrow. This issue is jammed packed with great stories, including an in-depth interview with Democratic Senate candidates Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley. Street Roots along with the ACLU of Oregon, Affordable Housing Now!, Jobs With Justice, Oregon Action and the Rural Organizing Project ask important questions on homelessness, affordable housing, labor, immigrant rights, and civil liberties.

Other features include an interview with Cathy Wilkerson who recently wrote a memoir called Flying Close to the Sun: My life and times as a Weatherman. The book is a memoir of a white middle-class girl from the suburbs who became what today many would call a terrorist — a bomb-making member of the Weather Underground — who then came to learn the lessons of the 1960s that other radicals of all stripes seem not to have learned.

Cathy Wilkerson was active in the civil rights movement, Students for a Democratic Society, and the Weather Underground. In 1970, she, along with Kathy Boudin, survived an explosion in the basement of her parents' townhouse that killed three Weathermen, forcing the two underground. For the past twenty years she has worked as an educator teaching teachers in the New York City schools.

Other features include a look at the FCC consolidation, the rising tides of women in prison, and why Berkeley ditched sidewalk-sitting prohibitions.

Most of all this issue includes some great stories and poetry from the streets, including the story of Street Roots vendor Brian Letiecq, a story written by two recently housed vendors, and much more.

You can find all of this and more in the next edition of Street Roots. Don't be a scrooge, buy a copy today, you might be surprised by what you find!

Don't forget! Street Roots has set a goal to raise 25K in our annual Winter Fund Drive. Your donation will go to lowering the costs of the newspaper for vendors from 30 cents to 25 cents, giving people on the streets a 75% profit on each paper sold! It will also go to provide fresh water, coffee and a safe place to gather each and every morning. We can't do it without you!

Donate today!

Community Development Network reports...

2007-11-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

The Community Development Network (CDN), an association of nonprofit community development organizations in Multnomah County, reports that on November 14, the House of Representatives passed the FY08 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) conference report by a vote of 270-147. The vote was short of the two-thirds majority of those present needed to override a presidential veto.

The same day, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on the bill, again threatening a veto because the bill exceeds the president’s spending requests by $3 billion, does not cut what the president has deemed ineffective programs and includes nearly 2,000 earmarks. The HUD portion of the bill contains $183.5 million in Economic Development Initiative earmarks, down from $307 million in such pork spending in FY06. The FY07 HUD spending bill did not include Economic Development Initiative earmarks.

Read more...

HUD money threatened with veto

Read more about the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign, the Housing America peitition asking for people to shine a light on the lack of affordable housing, and much more at CDN's website.

CDN website

P.S. For all of you policy wonks, journalists, activists, concerned citizens, and people on the beat, concerned with affordable housing, this newsletter is a must! Sign up!

Police, business community continue to scare away tourists

2007-11-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

OPB news brings us more great news about how drug dealers and addicts are getting what they deserve. Prison!

Portland police crack down on drugs downtown

The article doesn't quote anyone at the ground level beyond the police, nor does it mention anything about the two-million people in our prison system, most of whom are non-violent drug offenders. Doesn't say a thing about reform or the fact that a multi-billion dollar drug war has been failing for well over two decades now.

Maybe if we keep arresting people and treating homeless people like trash - the drugs will go away.

For it's worth, the police have been very up front and kept in great communication with organizations in downtown about the sweeps. While it may not seem like it, we aren't taking a shot at the police, just bad policy and bad PR!

Be the first business on your block to kick a homeless person out of your doorway!

2007-11-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

Two Portland Patrol Inc. security guards just walked into Street Roots, and asked two of our vendors (one of whom slept in our doorway last night) and then me if we wanted to sign up for a trespass enforcement agreement with the Portland Police Bureau. They are going door-to-door in the neighborhood.

The agreement would authorize the Portland Police Bureau to act as agents for the purpose of enforcing trespass laws on private property(s).

It offers a place to sign your name (as the owner, manager, leasee), location and to describe your place of business.

The agreement goes on to say individuals who are in or upon the above-described property without authorization may be arrested for Criminal Trespass II, or may be ejected from the property and excluded from entering or remaining in or upon the property described above indefinitely.

The next paragraph offers the opportunity for business owners or organization to take part in the agreement to punish poor people. It says, “Myself, or a person whom I have appointed, will respond to any and all subpoenas and subsequent Court appearances as required to prosecute any individuals arrested by officers of the Portland Police Bureau.”

Criminal Trespass II is a low-level misdemeanor under Oregon Law that comes with the possibility of a max fine of $1,250 dollars and a 30-day jail sentences. In reality, a person cited will most likely go to community court and is looking at doing community service. If you don’t appear in court you get a warrant for your arrest and the potential for a more serious misdemeanor charge for failure to appear. If you appear in court, but don’t do your community service, you’ll get a warrant and go straight to jail.

What does this mean? It means that the Portland Patrol funded by the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Police Bureau continue to offer a stick without a carrot. They walk a big talk, and offer money for direct service in the guise of caring about homeless people. Where’s the carrots, folks?

Street Roots and others have kicked, screamed, reported and advocated over the years in a myriad of different ways, offering why criminalization is costly, ineffective, a form of torture and does nothing to solve the problem of homelessness.

Still, the reality is year after year after year, the police and now private security sweep, ticket, exclude and harass poor people, while bureaucrats continue to set on the sidelines, and offer the 10-year plan to end homelessness as step in the right direction.

We call bullshit, once again.

Help us raise $25,000 this year!

2007-11-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

Help us raise $25,000 to lower costs of the paper for vendors!

How will your donation go toward bettering the lives of people experiencing homelessness and poverty? Currently, vendors pay 30 cents for the newspaper, and sell it in the community for $1 dollar. That’s a 70% profit from each newspaper sold.

In 2008, we hope to lower the cost of the newspaper for vendors to 25 cents, giving vendors a 75% profit from each paper sold. That’s up to $100 dollars a month for individuals selling the newspaper, and nearly $1,200 more a year that vendors will have to improve their lives.

Not to mention the countless relationships that are developed and built with your local neighborhood vendor. Part of what makes Street Roots special is the relationships built between people across class lines. The self-confidence and self-worth established through those relationships are immeasurable.

In 2007, Street Roots celebrated putting more than $1 million dollars into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty since our inception in December 1998.

Last year, Street Roots received more individual donations from people like you than ever before. Your donations went to help Street Roots empower more than 15 individuals to gain stable housing. With your help we also updated our archaic technology, created an advisory panel and editorial committee, while offering vendors additional sales items. Those items included bumper stickers and the popular “Housing is a human right” post-cards and buttons. Those additional sales items gave vendors an opportunity to make money and build awareness about Street Roots and the human rights of poor people.

This year your donation will not only go towards lowering the cost of the newspaper for vendors, but will also go toward developing a new sales training video for vendors, providing additional sales items, providing freshwater, hot coffee, and a warm place to congregate in the office. All while providing the dignity people deserve.

Your donation will also go towards helping Street Roots obtain a digital vendor data base to better track individual sales and help vendor store important personal records. We will also be working to develop on-line fundraising and advocacy programs that better serve readers and supporters.

Vendors can’t be successful without a quality newspaper to sell. Your donation will also help the newspaper maintain four additional pages of local, national, and international news and a new vendor page exploring the unique stories of the people who sell the newspaper. Street Roots will also be doing a redesign in the summer of 2008 and looking toward a weekly publication in 2009.

We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without your generous support. We thank you for the consideration and for your dedication to the organization. From all of us at Street Roots, we thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support!

Donate now!

The fight against homelessness from D.C. talking heads

2007-11-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

Street Sense in Washington D.C. talks to heads of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Catholic Charities, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, National Coalition to End Homelessness and the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless about what's working and what's not in the fight against homelessness.

What's working and what's not

Shouldn't we be talking drug reform?

2007-11-19T18:56:00.000-08:00

Real Change reports Ibogaine is the rumored “wonder drug” of addiction treatment. More effective than methadone at combating withdrawal symptoms, more potent than peyote. And very illegal.

Powerful psychedelic said to fight drug addiction

While Portlanders argue over street names, Seattlites are talking drug reform.

Spirited talk about drug reform

San Francisco ponders the first injection site for drug addicts in the U.S

Injection sites

Vancouver, B.C.'s health department already offers an injection site

Injection site Vancouver

Instead of locking addicts up in our county jails, advocating for failed drug-free zones and empowering police officers to work with addicts instead of health care providers in our neighborhoods - shouldn't we be talking drug reform in Portland?

Food, poverty and social justice

2007-11-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

A new Street Roots Special Edition is on the streets. The new issue explores food, poverty and social justice.

Feature articles include a look at the future of community gardens and rooftop agriculture, the challenges non-profits face providing healthy meals day in and day out, and a look at the world of gleaning.

Other features include a Q & A with Brian Tokar, Program Director with the Vermont Institution of Social Ecology, and columns from Jay Thiemeyer and Daniel Denvir with the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee, and much more...

Street Roots editorial: Time to get off the industrial food grid

We are what we eat. We are dependent on an agricultural industry steered by politics and profit. We are processed through conditioning and ignorance to crave what is bad for us. We are the pesticide-riddled consumers of the globalized, multi-billion-dollar commerce of “foodstuff.” We are the corporations' cash cows.

Of course, we don't have to be, and many of us with the means have gone retro toward escaping this government-induced sustenance stupor. Community gardens, organic options and local sources are the hallmarks of the new food movement, but until they become sustainable standards that are universally accessible to the poor, we'll have to think further outside the proverbial over-packaged box of artificial flavorings.

Because of government subsidies and mass processing, the cheapest food is often the worst food. Sugar, high fructose corn syrup (subsidized) and hydrogenated fat (cheap and long-lasting) reign supreme on poor families' plates, creating the perceived irony of obesity among the most food-vulnerable in our community. But abundance of food isn't the problem in this town. It's the accessibility and affordability of the right food that is.

To add real irony to the situation, the solution could be hatched from the same sustainable, empowering and mutually rewarding ideal people apply to ending poverty. Get a garden.

The city of Portland is looking at ways of expanding its community garden program to include more low-income individuals and families. It should be a standard pairing with the efforts to create more affordable housing and green construction in Portland. Today, the city's largest concentration of people living in poverty and homelessness, those in the downtown core, remain confined to a concrete jungle.

We are programmed to think the needs of the poor span the very short spectrum of food, clothing and shelter, when the most overlooked elements are that which we all treasure; to be able to take care of ourselves, to feel a part of a society. People working in the city's community garden programs report an increase in not only good food, but of hope and productivity, and even a reduction in juvenile crime. We're beyond talking just food here, we're talking about people restoring a basic need in their lives: control.

Seattle is a model in our own backyard. The city to the north has made growing your own food a priority for all citizens, with a cooperative system of sharing abundance in knowledge and crops. P-patches are common, and garden plots can be purchased and donated to low-income families. Organic food collected is distributed to people in need who cannot grow their own.

Portland is following the lead, but as it plans for higher density residential and commercial districts downtown, it needs to be pushing more garden options in the early stages of planning and development. As we continue to push for more green construction, with entire structures operating off the grid, we should be building in the infrastructure for people to live off the industrial food grid as well.

Help support Street Roots!

2007-11-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

Dear friends of Street Roots,

Be a part of something special this year! You can help us raise $25,000 during the Winter Fund Drive!

Your donation will go towards lowering the cost vendors pay for the paper from 30 cents to 25 cents, giving vendors 75 percent profit from each paper sold.

Your donation will also go towards providing vendors with a sales training video this year, as well as providing fresh water, hot coffee, a warm place to congregate in the office 365 days a year, and a safe place for individuals on the streets to store artwork, poetry and journals.

Your donation also goes towards helping the expansion of the newspaper. We have added four more pages of local, national and international grassroots news — plus a page devoted to the unique stories of the people who sell Street Roots. Read an example of the new content:

Ride of his life

So, c'mon. What are you waiting for? Take five minutes to donate today!

Donate now!

From all of us at Street Roots, we thank you for the support. We couldn't do it without you!

Homeless vets

2007-11-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

A new report from the National Alliance to End Homelessnes says approximately 195,827 veterans were homeless on a given night—an increase of 0.8 percent from 194,254 in 2005. More veterans experience homeless over the course of the year. We estimate that 336,627 were homeless in 2006.

The report says, 1.98% of veterans from Oregon in 2006 were homeless (5,891), while 2.9% of veterans (10,125) vets are experiencing severe housing cost burden. In Washington, 1.04% (6,800) of veterans are homeless, while 2.5% (15,713) are experiencing severe housing costs burdens.

Homeless vet report

The New York Times reports that more than 400 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have turned up homeless, and the Veterans Affairs Department and aid groups say they are bracing for a new surge in homeless veterans in the years ahead.

Surge in homeless vets

Despite high rates of homelessness among U.S veterans, only one in four are receiving assistance from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a situation a national advocacy organization blames on lack of awareness of federal support, according to Street Sense in Washington D.C.

Street Sense article

The VA estimates that 45% of homeless veterans suffer from mental-health issues, while more than 70% suffer from substance abuse. The most common mental illness found in homeless veterans is PTSD, which often leads to other mental illnesses related to trauma, as well as alcohol and drug abuse. Despite this, only half of all VA centers offer treatment and assistance for PTSD and other mental illnesses.

Help out!

If Portlanders and Oregonians are looking for an organization to support this Veteran's Day, Street Roots recommends the Central Oregon Veterans Outreach. The organization is one example of veterans helping veterans who are experiencing homelessness throughout the state. They're the real deal.

COVO

Numbers of women experiencing homelessness in Seattle on the rise

2007-11-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

From Real Change in Seattle:

The numbers are still being crunched, but there are already several surprises in the first six months worth of data from Safe Harbors, a new countywide database that tracks the homeless.

One of them is that nearly 1,400 of the single adults who stayed in a publicly funded shelter in King County between January and June were women — or 25 percent of the 4,363 single adults who were sheltered. Add to that another 350 women that Seattle human services staff believe haven’t been identified and the countywide total of homeless women is 1,791, a number that’s “a lot higher than we would have anticipated,” Safe Harbors manager John Hoskins said in an Oct. 24 report to the board of King County’s Committee to End Homelessness.

Continue reading

Homeless women

Cops vs. private eyes

2007-11-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

The new edition of SRs is on the streets. The cover story is a feature on videotaping alteracations between police and the public. Activists say it's the road to accountability, while law enforcement says it has concerns over privacy and creating inaccurate public perceptions.

Other features include a Q & A with Community Alliance of Tenants Ian Slingerland, a profile on artist/activist Dan Shea, and stories on what's happening on the ground in Chile and Indonesia from the Street News Service.

A ride of his life features the amazing story of vendor John Thompson who recently wrode to San Francisco on a bike donated from the Community Cycling Center. Did we mention John only has one arm and had no money.

Our editorial looks at the hype around Old Town/Chinatown, and what people on the streets are going through living on both sides of the gun.

All of this and much more in this issue of Street Roots. Go buy it from your local vendor! Now!

New Street Roots on the beat

2007-10-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

The new edition of Street Roots is on the streets. This issue looks at takes a look at modern day slavery with journalist John Bowe, who has spent the better part of the past decade looking into workers exploitations. Other articles include a look at recommendations given to the City of Portland by Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road, and the Western Regional Advocacy Project and

One step out of the past, many still ahead takes a hard look at the drug and free prostitution zones.

Editorial

Jay Thiemyer, Alejandro Queral, Art Garcia, and Jeff Kleen bring us some great opinion pieces, while this week's Act Now asks you to take action to stop federal plans to clear-cut Oregon's old growth forests.

Act Now

All this and much more in these in the October 12, edition of Street Roots.

Director's Desk: Help us lower the price vendors pay for the newspaper!

Street Roots is gearing up for the start of our Winter Fund Drive on Nov. 1. We have some super-exciting things in the works, the first of which is to lower the cost of the newspaper for vendors from 30 cents to 25 cents in 2008.

In 2003, Street Roots had no paid staff and was publishing the paper on a monthly basis. At that time the newspaper cost 25 cents for vendors. The vendors said they would pay up to 35 cents for the paper if we could deliver a biweekly publication. The organization knew that 35 cents was too much, and we all agreed to 30 cents. Still, the five additional cents was not going to cover the costs for an additional paper, and the staff needed put the publication together. With your support, dedicated vendors and a crew a ragtag volunteers, we made it happen.

Four years later the organization is at another crossroads. We are growing and looking toward a redesign in 2008, and eventually going weekly in 2009. While our readership has grown over the years, some of the same trends have continued. We believe by going weekly in 2009 we can expand our readership, and continue to increase the profit going into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty.

First things first, right? Last year we received more individual donations from people like you than ever before. With your help we updated our technology for the newspaper and for vendors in the office, we finished our strategic plan, updated our bylaws, gained health insurance for our employees, and hired a formerly homeless vendor as our resource specialist. We developed a series of trainings for vendors, created an advisory panel and an editorial committee, and continue to bring Portland a professional street newspaper.

This year we will be redesigning the newspaper, which will help bring curb appeal for vendors to sell the newspaper, update our technology with a vendor sales database, and obtain online databases to improve our fund-raising and advocacy abilities. We will also be providing vendors with a new sales training video, additional sales items (buttons, stickers, chapbooks) and providing fresh hot and cold water in the office. With your help we can attain these modest goals.

If you are interested in becoming a Street Roots Block Captain for the Winter Fund Drive please contact me in the office. Each block captain can adopt a business, themselves, and/or family or friends to raise $400. You can do it! All it takes is getting 20 of your peers to donate $20, 10 people donate $50, or four people to donate $100. Each Block Captain will be highlighted in the 2007 Annual Report.

Office: 503-228-5657
E-mail: streetroots@hotmail.com

Park exclusions handed out by PPI climb near 2,000

2007-10-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

We reported last week about the recommendations offered by Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road Cafe, Western Regional Advocacy Project and the Oregon Law Center to the City of Portland for the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security firm that has the capacity to enforce public policy with no government oversight. Read the story...

City mulls recommendations for private police

Last week, the groups met with Randy Leonard personally and with staffers from Erik Sten, Dan Saltzman, and the Mayor's office. The discussions were healthy and we hope to move forward in a productive manner.

Today, SRs received the latest PPI Parks Report via the Parks Bureau. The report concludes that 1,980 park exclusions have been handed out by private security since November of 2006. In September, the private firm handed out 275 exclusions, the most of any month this year. Street Roots believes many of these exclusions are individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty.

SRs, Sisters and WRAP announce PPI recommendations

2007-10-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

Press Release: 10/8/07

Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road, and the Western Regional Advocacy Project are announcing recommendations for the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security group charged with enforcing public policy in Portland, Oregon. Since November of 2006 the private company has excluded 1,444 individual from public parks with no government scrutiny.

Below are the following recommendations to the City of Portland.

Letter to Mayor and Commissioners:

Dear Mayor and Commissioners,

Oversight and accountability for the private security guards that are enforcing public policies of the City of Portland are of great concern to our organizations. These concerns are motivated and informed by the experiences of homeless people with whom we work and advocate. We believe that many if not most security guards carry out their duties responsibly and do not intend to harm or target homeless people. But we also believe that oversight is crucial to ensure that individuals’ rights are protected and that the public remains safe – and that the current system is deficient in this regard. Therefore, we ask you to support and help implement several strategies that would assure greater oversight and accountability, and, we believe, ultimately make the City of Portland safer for all residents and visitors, especially the most vulnerable and disenfranchised.

Our recommendations are as follows:

• Individuals who experience problems with Portland Patrol should have clear recourse for their grievances, and at least one chance to appeal any negative decision. The grievance and appeal(s) should go through a line of authority that includes the City of Portland. The grievance and appeal processes should be straightforward, unbiased, and uncomplicated. Even if grievances are unable to be substantiated, they should be tracked so that any patterns can be identified and investigated.

• Private security guards who enforce public policies and laws should be accurately and thoroughly trained on those policies and laws. The content of the training, and the protocols or standard operating procedures (SOP), should be made available to the public. All trainings should include an individual experiencing homelessness, a social service provider, and an attorney either from Legal Aid or the Public Defender.

• Private security guards should wear different uniforms that clearly identify them as a separate entity from the Portland Police Bureau.

• Private security guards who enforce public policies and laws should not carry guns, detain people, or search personal property.

• The decision to allow private security guards to issue exclusions in parks should be revisited. Currently, Portland Patrol is issuing hundreds of park exclusions every month with no public oversight or clear recourse for complaints. If private guards are allowed to enforce public policy and restrict individuals’ right to be present in parks, then at minimum a public official should be reviewing every exclusion to ensure that it complies with basic due process requirements.

Want to know what Street Roots readers are saying about us?

2007-09-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Street Roots recently finished its 2007 Readers Survey with the help of volunteer consultant Sarah Johnson. Below are some of the comments people left on the survey. Look for a more in-depth report from the survey in the up and coming paper on September 28th.

“I have been pleasantly surprised by much of the recent content, both new editorial focus on local issues and on "canned" material that has an impact on issues that affect homelessness and social services. I have long wondered why Street Roots wasn't more political and topical. While I think the poetry and cultural information has fans, I am more interested in the hard news and political opinion.”

“More pages! Thanks for continuing to put out a quality publication!”

“How about at least two different views shared by writers on crucial issues?”

“The Vendors are the ambassadors of the paper, they have changed the hearts and minds of many Portlanders about the realities of homelessness, thanks and respect to them! Street Roots is the best op-ed section to all of the other papers in town!”

“I appreciate all the substantive writing, and would have liked to have been able to check more that one box above. My usual reading pattern is to skip the horoscope, sometimes read some poetry and sometimes not, and read all the rest. Keep up the great work.”

“I like the fact that I support Street Roots and what it stands for!”

“Every vendor I have done business with was informative and friendly!”

“I truly appreciate and enjoy reading the newspaper -- a great addition to local media. I also really enjoy buying a paper each week and chatting with the vendors. I have always had great experiences with them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

“I love the paper and the social and economical networking it provides the community.”

“Really enjoy this paper, I'm very satisfied that I bought it. I like the fact that it helps the homeless people. I have been homeless and I know what its like. The person that sold this paper to me was very kind and a talented person. He showed me his artwork.

“The writing has improved, but the paper has lost its edge.”

“I came from Frisco where they have Street Sheet. Street Roots is far superior

“Keep the vendors respective not in your face!”

“More articles that inform and inspire citizens to become involved in our community... especially voting in national and state-wide elections, developing creative housing alternatives and helping the homeless to help themselves.”

“I love this paper for it's truth and for what it does to help the vendors. Buying the paper has changed me from a person who was not comfortable with all homeless people. Now, I strike up conversations and enjoy chatting with the vendors and they, in return, must be feeling better also!”

“I enjoy the articles on Portland street culture and vendor biographies and news articles relating to Portland politics and justice issues from a street perspective instead of a suite perspective. Thanks for all you do!!! Also, this paper is a comfortable way to give a homeless person a buck and have some interaction.”

“If you're gonna be a bear, be a grizzly bear.

“Stick with homeless focus. Don't become just another left-wing press.”

“Try to improve the quality of writing Misspellings - looks unprofessional.”
“I have been reading SRs for years and I am very pleased with how it has grown over time. I am happy to support SR vendor. I was homeless once for less than a year.”

“Keep it going. A great platform that fosters understanding among different segments of the PDX community.”

“Street Roots is a great opportunity for the homeless and other minority groups. I also donate when my finances allow.”

“It's a person-to-person contact that I appreciate.”

“The current level of alarm over PPI is a bit over the top. Why don't you send a reporter to the Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting? You might be surprised that the people who live downtown are fed up with panhandlers, drunks, drug addicts, and criminals. I would think that homeless people would be just as afraid of these low lives as the rest of us. Neighborhood residents are very much in favor of PPI.”

“Keep it up. Even though there are people who pass you by, there are supporters in the community.”

“I appreciate your hard work and the independent perspective you provide in reporting both Portland news and news from the homeless community.”

“I think the changes being made in the content of the paper are exceptional. The featured articles seem more in depth and the choice of stories (the environment, PBA/PPI, Hurricane Kat) are timely and engrossing.”

“Do not be agenda driven in the reporting. Just report the stories factually.”

“Street Roots, while serving to provide voice to the homeless community, is supported by the local community members. If you think about your target audience, working class urbanites, you should change the content to reflect their interests. I don't want to buy a newspaper to support someone, when the paper itself is going to make me feel terrible or is completely interested. It’s a waste of time and resources for printing. It needs to have content that people want to read and will make them feel good. Not make them feel horrible. (Just one person's perspective)

“I have had a chance to read a lot of street papers and yours is overall the best I have seen (seriously, not just me blowing smoke).

“I agree with the Willamette Week article that the feel of the paper has shifted from edgy street articles toward mainstream articles that are better cover on the Internet and other progressive news sources. It is sad that one source of empowerment for homeless people has faded from Portland. The rough writing and unabashed opinions were honest if sometimes crude. Something seems to have been lost.”

“I feel like Street Roots has elevated the playing field for activism and news in Portland. Great work!”

“I think the changes being made in the content of the paper are exceptional. The featured articles seem more in depth and the choice of stories (the environment, PBA/PPI, Hurricane Kat) are timely and engrossing.”

Rose City Resources on the streets!

2007-09-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

The Rose City Resources are in! More than 5,000 have already been distributed to numerous community organizations. Four-thousand more will be delivered or picked up in the next week. If you would like copies you can stop by the office at 211 NW Davis between 7:30AM and 3PM, or you can call 503-228-5657 or write pdxrosecityresource@hotmail.com for delivery.

The Rose City Resource booklet is a publication of Street Roots, and is Portland's most comprehensive, updated list of services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. This booklet serves people who may not otherwise have access to a computer or social service agency, and allow individuals the opportunity to be independent in their search for services that fit their specific needs.

The Rose City Resource is made possible by the cooperation of the City of Portland, 211 and Street Roots. This guide is published quarterly with updated information and seasonal events. All locations are in Portland, unless otherwise noted.

If you would like your information listed in the Rose City Resource, or to make updates or changes to the listings, please call Eddy Barbosa at Street Roots. You may also email your information directly.

With the creation of the new resources Street Roots will have four more pages of in-depth news starting September 28th. The four pages will have a vendor/street culture page, an international and national page in cooperation with the Street News Service, and one-more page of local news and/or commentaries.

Enjoy!

Street Roots takes a ride with Portland Police

2007-09-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Street Roots takes a ride on the east side with Portland Police officer Michael Castlio, the feds meet with homeless advocates to discuss a strategy on criminalization, and Alejandro Queral talks civil rights post 911. Other features this month inlude an excerpt from our sister paper in St. Petersburg on how to survive on Russia's streets and a call to re-open the James Chasse case.

Street Roots took a tour of the Central City Concern facilities last week. It’s amazing to think how much the organization has done for Portlanders working in recovery. We still have a long way to go in how we treat addicts in this country, but Central City is doing its best to bridge the gap between the inhumane practice of jailing addicts and dealing with the realities of the streets. They also employ a hell of a lot of people who once lived on the skids. Kudos to the entire crew over there.

The Bush administration’s top agency on homelessness met with advocates for the homeless in Washington, D.C. to discuss ways to deter cities from criminalizing people on the streets. Many advocates think the goal for the Interagency Council on Homelessness is to bridge the gap between the advocacy communities making noise around the country, and the work of the 10-year plans to end homelessness.

In the past year, advocacy groups around the country have been picking up steam. Groups such as the Western Regional Advocacy Project, a coalition of grassroots homeless organizations along the West Coast — including Street Roots and Sisters of the Road — along with coalitions in rural amd urban communities in the Midwest and South are all pushing one consistent message: You can’t solve homelessness without the federal government’s commitment to public housing. Couple this with criminalization and a power struggle at local levels with different strategies by local housing bureaus, chambers of commerce and law enforcement, and homeless and housing advocates, and it doesn’t bode well for a national movement to maintain results over the long term. The feds seem to recognize the hypocrisy of criminalization along with the advocates. Whether they can pursuade law enforcement, private security and business communities to back off is another question.

New Orleans and Los Angeles have exposed the brutality of using criminalization as a method to deal with homelessness and poor people, as their affordable housing vanishes and county jails are filled with the mentally ill and homeless. Both of those cities are a living nightmare for poor people and have been abandoned by the federal government.
Locally, Portland has become the racehorse for the 10-year plan to end homelessness. And to be honest, because many of the tools were already in place when the tides rose, and having a city that is strategically moving out of the box and striving to prove ending homelessness can be done, we are doing a bang-up job. Let’s just hope the feds don’t leave us holding the bag.

Housing advocates take over HUD office in New Orleans

2007-09-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Public housing residents from St. Bernard’s, and several community organizations from New Orleans and around the country took over the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) office last Friday, demanding they reopen four public housing developments operated under its direction.

The coalition included groups from New Orleans, Miami, Georgia, Texas, Rhode Island, and California along with Public Housing Residents of the Lower East Side (PHROLES) from New York City and the Coalition to Protect Public Housing from Chicago.

Two years after the developments were evacuated in the post-Katrina floods, the public housing developments have remained empty despite having sustained only moderate damage from the storm. Residents and groups have been prevented from rehabilitating and filling the vacant units.

The sit-in set off a three-hour confrontation with police, the National Guard, and SWAT teams after 25 residents and activists were denied a meeting with officials to discuss community demands. Under threat of arrest, the groups decided to cease their occupation of the building and to hold a national press conference before the media covering the anniversary of Katrina.

“What is happening with the public housing in New Orleans is just a preview of what can and will happen to public housing around the country if this story is not told,” said Lisa Burriss, director of organizing for PHROLES, who participated in the sit-in. “We must remain united, fighting for the rights of all low-income people in this country to have decent, safe and affordable places to raise their families. Housing is a human right!”

Street Roots reported this month that in January 2005, homeless outreach workers counted 6,300 people living on the streets in the city and its immediate suburbs. A count in 2007 estimated 12,000 people experiencing homelessness, though only an estimated 60 percent of the city’s general population had returned.

PHOTO BY TED JACKSON –The Times – Picayune

Homeless camp being shut down and park exclusions skyrocket

2007-08-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

The City of Portland and local businesses team up to shut down one of Portland's oldest homeless camps, and park exclusions given out by a private security group hired by the Portland Business Alliance continue to skyrocket. The latest figure Street Roots uncovered is 1,444 since November of 2006. Local attorney Adam Arms breaks his silence and gives his real opinion on the SAFE process and on the ordinance itself. An update from a Mercy Corps from the frontlines of Katrina, and so much more - all in tomorrow's issue of Street Roots.

Last chance to take Street Roots Reader Survey!

2007-08-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

We've had hundreds of people respond to the Street Roots Readers Survey!

What are we finding out so far?

The majority of people reading the paper make between 30K and 100K, and they are very well-educated. We've found out nearly 40% of those surveyed read more than half of the newspaper, while another 30% read it cover to cover.

People hate Soup Can Sam or is that a sign they really love him? Readers love the vendors and think we are changing the face of the way people look at homelessness and poverty in our community.

What are people saying so far?

"The Vendors are the ambassadors of the paper, they have changed the hearts and minds of many Portlanders about the realities of homelessness, thanks and respect to them!"

"I love this paper for it's truth and for what it does to help the vendors. Buying the paper has changed me from a person who was not comfortable with all homeless people. Now, I strike up conversations and enjoy chatting with the vendors and they, in return, must be feeling better also!"

"I think the changes being made in the content of the paper are exceptional. The featured articles seem more in depth and the choice of stories (the environment, PBA/PPI, Hurricane Kat) are timely and engrossing."

"Quality of the paper has improved, but you've lost your edge!"

Please take the time to let your voice be heard by Street Roots!

Street Roots Survey

Thanks,

Street Roots crew

Free the Oregon Three!

2007-08-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

From: Western Regional Advocacy Project, Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road, Los
Angeles Community Action Network, San Francisco Coalition On Homelessness,
Real Change

HOMELESS People who witness crimes are being thrown into jail
because prosecutors want easy access to them

On June 3rd, three homeless people who witnessed a disturbance in Medford, Ore. that
led to a death and an arrest on manslaughter charges were themselves jailed—because a
prosecutor argued, and a judge agreed, that as homeless people, the witnesses might
prove too difficult to locate at the time of the trial. That trial is scheduled to start Sept. 25.
No charges have been brought against the witnesses.

On Friday, Aug. 24th, the three individuals will be going before a judge to fight for their
freedom from incarceration. But they are not the first homeless people to be jailed for the
crime of stepping forward to tell police what they witnessed.

"It should alarm everyone in this country, regardless of how you see the issue of
homelessness, that our courts are locking people up simply based on the fact that they
witnessed (not committed) a crime. Guantanamo Bay comes to Medford Oregon," says
Paul Boden, the Executive Director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project based in
San Francisco.

“An alarming trend has emerged in this country, one that criminalizes those that merely
witness a crime; a trend that has led to the jailing of witnesses for indefinite periods of
time. This trend has the chilling effect of silencing those who would otherwise be used as
tools in the pursuit of justice,” says Pete White, founder and Co-Director of the Los
Angeles Community Action Network

This incident comes on the heels of another case, in Scranton, Penn. On July 6th, Randy
Barr, a 41-year-old homeless man, saw a man slashed to death during an argument, called
police and waited for them to arrive at the scene in order to make a statement. He was
jailed for four weeks before being put on a house arrest program earlier this month, fitted
with a monitoring device and required to check in with house arrest officials once a week.
He is banned from using alcohol or drugs and must also submit to random drug tests and
pay $10 a day for the program.

Initially, Barr was thrown in Lackawanna County Prison where, he said, no one told him
about anything that was happening with the case.

As advocates for homeless people, we are outraged at this egregious violation of their
civil rights. Instead of giving the individuals in these cases a hotel room or other place to
stay, they have been thrown into jail and treated as any other inmate for the crime of
coming forward as good citizens, while not having a roof over their head.

“Just because an individual is without a home, shouldn’t mean you are stripped of your
rights as a citizen of the United States,” says Israel Bayer, the Director of Street Roots
newspaper in Portland, Ore.

It has often been said that the most precious thing we have in America is our freedom and
that government must be able to show good cause before our freedom can be infringed
upon. Protections were created that government must be able to prove “beyond a
reasonable doubt” that we have committed a crime before it can lock us up in jail in an
effort to preserve our individual freedom. Apparently, those days are over.

“If you've got money, you've got rights. Since when do you have to buy due process and
human rights in this country?” says Rachael Myers, Advocacy Director with Real Change
newspaper in Seattle, Wash.

Street Roots Readers Survey - take it!

2007-08-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

Please take the time to fill out the Street Roots Readers Survey. We’ve gotten hundreds so far, but with your help we can reach our goal!

SRs Survey!

The survey will help the organization empower vendors, create a marketing and advertising plan and help the editorial team know exactly who is reading the newspaper.

We are counting on you for your perspective!

Please take the survey!

Water Wars hits the streets

2007-08-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

The new edition of Street Roots has hit the streets. The feature article "Water Wars" with John DeVoe, the executive director of WaterWatch, is about the intersection of politics and science and the future of Oregon's Kamath River Basin. Other news pieces include, "Leonard: SAFE group misses target in City Hall restrooms," and a piece on immigrants being detained in the Northwest Detention Center. We also have some great street poetry, a piece by Jay Thiemeyer on his travels across the country and a whole lot more.

Directors Desk:

Please take the time to go on-line to the organizations Web site, www.streetroots.org, and take the Street Roots Readers Survey. We’ve gotten hundreds so far, but with your help we can get at least 1,000 responses by the end of August.

The survey will help the organization empower vendors, create a marketing and advertising plan and to help the editorial team know exactly who is reading the newspaper.

Volunteer consultant Sarah Johnson is leading the research project, which includes the survey, but also includes working with a team of vendors out in the field and doing one-on-one interview’s with vendors and supporters. Street Roots is also leading a sales training for vendors that will help people better sell the newspaper in the community.
Over the next two months we will be having a healthy, free breakfast with vendors, exploring sales techniques and what’s working and what’s not working out on the beat.

Street Roots has more than 70 vendors in the community – each individual offers their own unique perspective and personality. We work hard to meet people where they’re at. We respect each individual for the skills and passion they bring to the table. We can in no way, shape or form make everyone happy on the streets, but what we can offer is a safe place for people to gather every morning, get a hot cup of coffee, some conversation and an opportunity to earn an extra buck, with dignity, in the community. We hope you know that as we grow as an organization it does not mean we lose our roots in being a voice and friend to all people on the beat, or lose our edge in being a provocative publication.

Street Roots received $25,000 from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation this month. The relationship being built with the foundation is exciting and allows us to continue implementing the organization’s strategic plan, which is to empower vendors, increase circulation to help put more money directly into the hands of poor people, stabilize infrastructure and to create a sustainable funding for the future.

We also recently received $30,000 from the City of Portland to reformat and publish the Rose City Resources. Look for the new format in September – it’s going to be hot!

The drama surrounding the SAFE Committee’s work to implement public restrooms, park benches and a day access center in exchange for banning people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks continues. Lines have become so blurry it’s hard to tell what is what. City Hall has opened its door for an all night restroom and has shown real leadership in the face of adversity for doing so. Still, like Utah Phillips has said more than once about human rights, “It’s not enough!” While not always popular or sexy, the rights of poor people are the rights of us all.

Is Street Roots being bought off by the city?

2007-08-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

The Willamette Week called this morning.

They wanted to know about the Rose City Resources and if we had been bought off by the city.

The “alt-weekly” is possibly running a news story on the resources. The guide is an eight-year-old publication of Street Roots and Portland’s most comprehensive, updated list of services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty.

The current Rose City Resources consists of more than 300 listings of social service and government agencies working with people experiencing homelessness and poverty. The guide consists of listings for the following subjects: Clothing, Employment & Training, Meals & Food Boxes, Food Stamps, Health Care, Financial, Hotlines, Transitional Housing, Legal Services, Rental info, Meals, Recovery resources, Shelters, Youth Services, Utilities, Counseling & Mediation, and Animal care.

For years, Street Roots has been publishing the 4-page guide in the middle of the newspaper. The organization also sold individual copies of the resources to various social service and government agencies, including the Oregon Food Bank, Department of Human Services, Planned Parenthood, Department of Corrections, JOIN, and the Department of Corrections, to name a few. Orders were made in bulk for 25 cents a copy.

After doing outreach in the fall of 2006, Street Roots came to the conclusion that some agencies could not afford the guide, while most of the Street Roots readers did not use the resources themselves.

Street Roots approached the City of Portland to partner on a newly formatted wallet size guide with the idea that the resources would be subsidized to city and county bureau’s, social service agencies, hospitals, outreach workers and emergency responders that work with people experiencing poverty.

The City of Portland, specifically the mayor’s office and Erik Sten’s office, told Street Roots to do our research and to find out if we would be duplicating services. So we set out and talked to numerous groups, such as 211 Community Info, the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, social service agencies, etc., etc. It seemed several resource guides existed, but many were small and out of date – some dating back to 2004. We also found out that by creating a newly formatted resource guide, we would be saving numerous agencies hundreds of combined hours of staff time spent on running around trying to update information for their specific customers.

After doing the outreach, we worked with the mayor’s office to get the funding through money set aside for mental health services and the SAFE committee. We made it clear that our advocacy and editorial stance was separate from our direct service component and that we disagreed fully with the sit-lie ordinance attached to the SAFE committees recommendations. We agreed to disagree.

Editorially Street Roots never bent on the issues that we consider to be human rights violations by the City of Portland for enforcing laws against people experiencing homelessness. We strongly came out against the sit-lie ordinance – calling it unconstitutional and a violation of human rights. We opposed the passing of an ordinance that allowed three Portland Police officers to be paid for by the Portland Business Alliance and continue a campaign for public oversight of the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security company that has issued more than 1,100 park exclusions.

The newly formatted guide that is scheduled to come out in September will be an expanded guide with more listings and details about specific agencies, along with more than a dozen new sections, including how people can get involved through community organizing projects, a “know your rights” component, and a veterans section along with updated events such as Project Homeless Connect, where public restrooms are, and what to do in case of a drug overdose, to name a few.

We are proud of the Rose City Resources, and proud to be working with numerous organizations that strongly support the guide, including the City of Portland. We believe by offering people a durable, wallet-sized format of the resources and rights available to people on the streets, we are bettering the lives of not only poor people, but Portlanders as a whole.

We also believe Street Roots has shown a history of professional journalism, and advocacy and never bowed to the idea that you can’t work with someone on one hand, and battle it out on another.

We look forward to publishing the guide and look forward to serving Portlanders with a unique variety of news, direct services, empowerment and advocacy that you can’t find anywhere else in the city.

Has Street Roots been bought off by the city? The simple answer is, no!

Sincerely,

Israel Bayer
Director
Street Roots

PBA/PPI complaint protocol falls well short of oversight

2007-08-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

Street Roots has obtained the Portland Business Alliance Downtown Clean and Safe Security Program Citizen Complaint Protocol. The protocol was apparently requested by City Hall, and is in response to months of inquiries by Street Roots and the Portland Mercury about Portland Patrol Inc., a private security group that has the capacity to enforce public policy. Street Roots has revealed that since November, the private security group has issued more than 1,100 park exclusions in downtown public parks.

Unfortunately, the complaint process is not much different than anything that existed prior to the request – it’s just centralized into one document. The Portland Business Alliance has remained silent on the issue for months by stonewalling the press, while spinning half-truths to City Hall about the extent of their relationship with the Portland Police Bureau.

Half truths

The changes that have occurred in the protocol include having “any citizen who wishes to complain about the conduct of any Clean and Safe security officer can request an informational card from the officer. The card will contain the officer’s identity, PPI phone number and address, and the phone number for the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST), the state regulating agency for certified security officers.” A complaint can also be lodged on-line through the PBA’s website.

The protocol says upon receipt of any complaint the “PPI management will conduct a thorough and complete review, investigate the allegations, and take corrective action as necessary up to and including termination, and will provide this information to the Alliance. It also states the Portland Business Alliance will provide a Citizen Complaint Summary Report to Council on a quarterly basis.”

Offering a card to someone who believes their civil rights are being violated and having the Portland Business Alliance offer a quarterly report is NOT public oversight and transparency.

The card is a step in the right direction, but the people of Portland deserve a direct line to City Hall for oversight and transparency of any private agencies that does business on public lands – especially in the case of the Portland Business Alliance who has shown a history of advocating for institutionalizing laws that violate the human and civil rights of poor people.

Police, private security too close for comfort

2007-08-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

The passage of an ordinance that allows the Portland Business Alliance to pay for three police officers in downtown sends a clear message to citizens that if you have enough money, you can buy special services from the Portland Police Bureau. The city argues that it’s not a new thing, and that the Housing Authority of Portland and Tri-met pay for officers, too. Well, like grandma says, "Just because everyone is jumping off a bridge, doesn’t mean you do, too."

Maybe we should just approach any number of multi-billion dollar industries and ask them to fund our public police force. Why not find a way to pay for the nearly 1,000 police officers entirely through private funding?

In the contract obtained by Street Roots between the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security force (that enforces public policy with no public directive or oversight and the Portland Business Alliance) it states: "This program is the only program in the nation where a private security and police work together on the same program, under the same roof… Their primary area of responsibility is assisting PPI officers with enforcement type activities." A loophole has been created. The PBA and the police have found a way to exploit that loophole. Private police take its directive from a private interest group, the PBA, and the police assist in enforcement activities.

Can we say taxation without representation? We think so. Street Roots fully supports the City of Portland’s goal to keep downtown safe. We respect the Portland Business Alliance, the City of Portland and groups like Street Roots working together to create a healthy downtown for all Portlanders. We do not respect a private security force that has handed out 1,100 constitutionally questionable park exclusions with absolutely no public directive or oversight. Street Roots has been told in our call for public oversight of private security that we are representing our constituents and that the city fully understands.

We believe we are representing Portland and have the opportunity to set a precedent not only in Portland, but around the country where we see policing being privatized at alarming rates. This is not about politics or grandstanding, it’s about doing what’s right for Portlanders and keeping our law enforcement transparent and accountable to all citizens.

In a town that has a hard time coming to terms with being able to disagree on one hand and work together on another without being paranoid and childish, and refusing to talk to one another, it’s time for Portland to grow up and be the city it claims to be. That means finding a way to create an atmosphere to create a vision that consists of representation by the people for the people.

Street Roots Editorial from August, 1, 2007

For more news go to

Street Roots

And don't forget to take the Readers Survey!

Street Roots Readers Survey

Important - Street Roots Readers Survey!

2007-08-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Street Rooters,

Street Roots is conducting a "Month of Inquiry."

For the next 30 days Street Roots will be conducting reader surveys in hopes to better understand the individuals and the communities which support us.

This Month of Inquiry is a critical step for Street Roots, as it lends insight into the likes, needs, dislikes and wants of our readers. We are ready for change and we need your help. Please take the time to assist Street Roots during our Month of Inquiry.

Please take five minutes to fill out our "Readers Survey" on-line at

Street Roots Readers Survey

You can also go to the Street Roots website to fill out the survey.

Street Roots

Please take the time to pass this on to as many people you know that read Street Roots!

Sincerely,

Israel Bayer
Director
Street Roots

Letter to the Mayor, Commissioners

2007-07-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

7-31-07

Dear Mayor and Commissioners,

Street Roots fully supports the City of Portland’s goal to keep downtown safe.

We respect the Portland Business Alliance, the City of Portland and groups like Street
Roots working together to create a healthy downtown for all Portlanders. We are
concerned that a private interest group will be paying for the salaries of three police
officers working on behalf of the general public.

We are also concerned about the directive given to Portland police officers working in
conjunction with private security guards in the downtown region.

Currently, private security guards working for the Portland Patrol Inc. have the capacity
to issue park exclusions. More than 1,100 exclusions have been given out to Portland
citizens by the private agency since November.

Street Roots is concerned that any police officers paid for by the Portland Business
Alliance would be working in conjunction with an agency that enforces public policy
with no public directive or oversight.

Sincerely,

Israel Bayer
Director, Street Roots
211 NW Davis
Portland, Oregon 97209
503-228-5657
streetroots@hotmail.com
www.streetroots.org

Mission: “Street Roots is a nonprofit newspaper assisting people experiencing
homelessness and poverty by creating flexible income opportunities. Through education,
advocacy and personal expression, we are a catalyst for individual and social change.”

Willamette Week swings and misses

2007-07-30T19:11:00.001-07:00

The Willamette Week, a paper that Street Roots has always had the utmost respect for, published an article this week that was misleading and inaccurate. Under a photo taken in February of 2006 a caption read: Portland's street paper vendors don't plan to attend a national conference of execs planning their industry's future this week in Portland.

The article says, “Representatives from 17 "street newspapers" are converging in Portland this weekend for their biennial conference. But if you're imagining planes packed with homeless scribes landing in Portland, bringing color to local hotels and banquet halls, don't.

In the world of street newspapers, the homeless don't run the show. Instead, the North American Street Newspaper Association conference, being held this Friday, July 27, through Sunday, July 29, will be attended primarily by about 50 directors and editors paying $150 each.” Read the article here:

WW article

Although the article states that Street Roots had in fact invited vendors we believe the WW only talked to three vendors, one of which says, “They (vendors) don’t have much of a stake in the paper.” Another who says “A conference. I haven’t heard anything about it.” The other vendor who told us he had nothing but good things to say about vendors and the participation in the organization was not quoted.

Nineteen vendors attended the NASNA conference this weekend with vendors in attendance in eleven of the twelve workshops. Vendors took part in discussions at workshops, networked with vendors, editors and directors at other street papers, and were in attendance at both of our evening social events sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalist among others.

Here’s what we don’t understand. Street Roots talked to the reporter about a variety of things happening with Street Roots, while the Executive Director of both Street Sense in Washington DC and Tim Harris with Real Change in Seattle had talked in depth with the reporter about the North American Street Newspaper Association and gave her the organizations strategic plan.

During our many conversations I had talked about the idea of creating an atmosphere for homeless and poor writers that didn’t differentiate in print who is housed and who is not.

It’s very easy for people on the streets to be tokenized. We talked about how it’s important to us to not refer to people as being homeless or not homeless in the context of a byline. If a writer is homeless and wishes to share those details through their commentary or poetry or as a journalist than the reader will be able to pick that up. Street Roots is not going to say, “Hey, read this because it’s by a homeless person.”

People on the streets and low-income people shouldn’t be held to a lesser bar because they are homeless. Street Roots chooses to publish the works of people that are advancing their writing skills or who are telling a genuine story about their experience. Some of these individuals are mentored and some already have those skills.

We also talked about being an organization that had one staff person a little more than a year ago, but now have four individuals working with the paper – one a formerly homeless vendor. We talked about the growing pains of being a small organization and constantly coming from a place of scarcity.

We shared SRs recently finished strategic plan that lays out the three major goals of the organization - to empower vendors, improve the quality of the newspaper (so vendors can make more money) and build a sustainable fundraising platform. We also shared the organizations 2005 and 2006 Annual Reports.

Street Roots 2006 Annual Report

We also talked about the relationships that are created between vendors and the community and how those relationships are helping breakdown stereotypes about homeless individuals.

The article was written in a way to make it seem that Street Roots is a small business and moving towards broadening our content and readership, but somehow lacks the integrity or the knowledge to publish a professional newspaper and to be upstanding to people on the streets – specifically our vendors. They use the word “street newspaper” in quotes as if to say it’s a novel publication. In our minds it was meant to do nothing more than damage our image in the community as professional publication and an empowerment project for poor people.

We also believe that the WW was flat out wrong to report that vendors were not going to be a part of the NASNA conference.

We want to assure our supporters and readers that we love Portland, and we believe in people – homeless and housed a like and that together we can make a difference through community journalism, creative writing, building relationships and offering people dignity through the sales of the newspaper.

- Israel Bayer

Contract for PBA to pay for Portland police up this Wednesday

2007-07-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday City Hall will be voting on an ordinance to reauthorize a contract between the Portland Business Alliance and the city to provide police servcies for the Clean & Safe Program. According to city hall the Portland Business Alliance paid the city $210,000 last year for those services.

This continues to bring up the debate on who's interests the police, and security guards, are acting under when they enforce public policy on Portland citizens.

Meanwhile - Larry Norton with Old Town blogs backs up Street Roots call for oversight of private security by saying, "There are many issues where reasonable people could reasonably disagree - but it seems that there should be no disagreement by anyone that accountability and transparency is missing when a private security firm can enforce city laws without same accountability and transparency required of the city police.

Old Town blog/private security

Call or e-mail the Mayor and ask for oversight of private security -

Act Now

NASNA conference a smashing success

2007-07-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

The North American Street Newspaper Conference was a smashing success. Vendors, directors, and editors visited us from cities like St. Louis, Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, DC, Boston, Cambridge, San Francisco, Edmonton, Montreal, and Denver, to name a few. We had reps from 17 newspapers in all.

Workshops on Friday included a newspaper round table led by Street Roots managing editor Joanne Zuhl and Dave Tomaro from the Statesman Journal in Salem about how to broaden newspapers curb appeal to help vendors, a breakthrough strategic planning session led by consultant and SRs vice-chairperson Bruce Anderson, and a workshop on Fundraising 101 by Real Change director Timothy Harris. Other workshops on Friday included the popular Fair and Biased: Walking the line between objectivity and advocacy led by Portland Mercury Editors Amy J. Ruiz and Scott Moore and a panel discussion about street paper innovations around the world. Friday night we had a barbecue in the park blocks with Street Rooters and NASNAnians.

On Saturday, NASNA officially created a strategic alliance with the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) – becoming a regional model for other regions throughout the world. Both organizations created a due structure that allows one payment into both organization. Workshops led by Portland Tribune reporter Nick Budnick and Cydney Gillis with Real Change explored how to use your underdog status to our advantage. They presented tips on how to develop "sources" and creatively use public records laws and other tools at your disposal to do impact journalism while building credibility and readership. Other popular workshops on Saturday included Vendors! Vendors! Vendors! and Stuck Small: Expand your capacity for greater impact along with a workshop on the Street News Service, a wire service for street newspapers around the wold.

We elected some new faces to NASNA’s Executive Committee – including Andy Freeze from Street Vibes in Cincinnati, Rick Barnes, businessman and publisher of the Denver Voice, and Bryan Pollard, Managing Editor of the Cherokee Phoenix. Both Street Roots Joanne Zuhl and Israel Bayer were re-elected to the Executive Committee. The committees focus this year will be creating a new strategic plan, technical assistance and obtaining staffing for the national organization.

Saturday night SRs board chairperson Marvin Mitchell and Paul Boden with the Western Advocacy Project brought the house down with inspiring presentations on the role of street newspaper in a larger movement.

Street Roots was honored to host the NASNA conference and looks forward to continuing to bring readers an opportunity to build relationships, support vendors, get educated and to take action!

Photos by Chelsea Clark-James

We're all NASNAnians now

2007-07-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

So we said to ourselves, a mere five months ago, if there’s going to be a convergence of alternative news freaks, wild-eyed radicals and social justice junkies, it ought to be in Portland, right? Really, we kidded ourselves, how hard could it possibly be to make 40 journalists happy and fulfilled — for 72 hours and change?

The answer will come July 26-29, when members of the North American Street Newspaper Association converge on the City of Roses for its 2007 annual conference, which, in keeping with media mathematics, hasn’t occurred since 2005 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

It is an event to bring together the people and mission of the street newspaper movement, represented regionally across North America by NASNA, and around the world through the International Network of Street Papers. Papers from Cincinnati, Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal, Boston, Washington, D.C., Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas and many more will be attending, in addition to people not affiliated with papers, including an historian from Columbia College who is writing a book on the street paper movement.

Paul Boden, director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project, or WRAP, will be the keynote speaker for the event. WRAP is a coalition of west coast social justice-based homelessness organizations, and it’s report, "Without Housing" documents how more than 25 years of federal funding trends for affordable housing have created the contemporary crisis of homelessness and near-homelessness. The report, which draws a direct correlation between the decline in housing funding and the rise in homelessness, has been disseminated to the public through street newspapers across the country.

Education is key for street newspapers, externally and internally, and the conference serves to help papers at all levels develop as media and businesses. For two days, participants will be attending workshops that cover such topics as design, reporting techniques and the rights and obligations of the media. Fortunately, we have some amazing local talent helping us out.

Portland Mercury news editors Amy J. Ruiz and Scott Moore will host a workshop on walking the line between objectivity and advocacy. And Nick Budnick, a reporter who has worked with the Willamette Week and is now with the Portland Tribune, is hosting a workshop on guerilla journalism, with tips on how small newspapers can leverage greater strength through good sources and public record laws. (Doesn’t hurt that Nick was an intern for legendary muckracker Jack Anderson.)

These days, however, it’s as much business as bylines, and street papers are learning that to stay viable as an advocacy and employment model, they’ve got to operate as smart businesses. Street Roots is lending the expertise of board member and business strategist Bruce Anderson to help papers create and implement a breakthrough strategy. Tim Harris, the founding director of Real Change newspaper in Seattle will teach people the basics of fundraising, and Bonnie Olsen, a consultant to nonprofits and community organizations will teach participants how to build effective partnerships and coalitions and how papers can grow. Tere Mathern with Portland’s own Technical Assistance for Community Service will help on the fundraising front as well.

City Commissioner Erik Sten will be opening the conference, along with Laura Thomspon-Osuri and Street Roots Director Israel Bayer, NASNA chairman and vice-chairman, respectively.

At their core, though, these conferences allow us a moment to unbridle ourselves from deadlines and obligations, and mingle with the rest of the herd, to sup at the trough of experience and ideas, and drink in the passion and energy of people just like us, only from somewhere else.

We’re honored this year to have Lisa Maclean, the network director for the International Network of Street Papers join us. She’s traveling all the way from Glasgow to work with NASNA members on the Street News Service and on the partnership between NASNA and the INSP, as we develop regional and global campaigns that will undoubtably change the world.

In fact, the tagline for the conferencce is “Changing the world, one street paper at at time.” But that’s really not the case. What’s really happening is that the world is changing one reader at a time. Together, readers and papers employ thousands of low-income and homeless people, with dignity and mobility, through sales and journalism. Vendors meet opportunity through their readers, get jobs and make connections. And equally important, their voice is being heard and having an impact, literally, around the world.

So, welcome, NASNAnians, to Portland, Ore. We shall do our best to keep things weird, inspiring, fullfilling and somewhere close to budget.

By Joanne Zuhl
Staff writer

DC 10-year plan to end homelessness in limbo

2007-07-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Slow Progress on DC’s Homeless Plan

Three years into the District’s 10-year strategy to end homelessness, interviews with public representatives and local advocates revealed that the plan has made little progress in its goal of adding 6,000 units of permanent housing with support services for the homeless.

“Right now [the plan’s] in limbo because we just haven’t had time to work on it,” said Cheryl Barnes, the only formerly homeless member of the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness, a council established by Mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2005 to implement the plan.

The District’s 10-year plan, drawn up in 2004 by Williams, aimed to end chronic homelessness by adding 6,000 new units of affordable housing, increasing preventative efforts and providing support services to people on the streets.

More than 90 communities across the country have drawn up 10-year strategies to eradicate homelessness in their communities, encouraged by a blueprint released by the National Alliance to End Homelessness in 2000 that focused on preventative measures and an increase in permanent affordable housing with mental health, medical and other support services for the chronically homeless.

Areas like Portland and Multnomah County, Ore., and Columbus, Ohio, have dramatically reduced their numbers of homeless as a result of long-term strategic partnerships between public agencies, businesses and nonprofits. (See sidebar on Portland’s success on page 5.)

However, the plan in Washington, D.C. has not seen much progress in part because of the change in administrations from Williams to new Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, advocates said. Overwhelming concerns such as improving the city’s public education system have led the city to put eradicating homelessness “on the back burner,” Barnes said. And the city is losing affordable housing units every year to high-priced developers, pushing the goal of 6,000 net additional units farther out of reach.

Tasked by the mayor to create strategies across agencies to end chronic homelessness, the Interagency Council on Homelessness held no meetings during the transition between the Williams and Fenty administrations earlier this year and only met under the Fenty administration for the first time in June.

“We need to be meeting every month,” Barnes said. The city’s 2014 deadline to end homelessness may not be realistic, Barnes said. “I think it might take another 10 years.”

The D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development funded the rehabilitation and construction of more than 4,000 affordable housing units in the last two years. But this funding was not the result of inter-agency collaboration under the 10-year plan, department spokeswoman Najuma Thorpe said.

“We certainly work with the plans that are dictated to us but we are always looking for more ways to increase affordable housing,” Thorpe said.

However, the department has set aside $12.5 million for building permanent housing as a result of long-term planning with the Deputy Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, which oversees the 10-year strategy.

But that earmark does not include funds for any support services like medical or mental health, said Thorpe. Under the 10-year plan, the 6,000 new affordable units must offer permanent supportive housing.

“The city’s commitment to dollars is definitely a good step forward in the right direction, and shows that the city believes in the concept of preventing people from becoming homeless,” said Michael Ferrell, director of the nonprofit D.C. Coalition for the Homeless. “The responsibility lies with the District government.”

Ferrell said that bringing affordable housing is the biggest challenge D.C.’s government faces and that the plan will take time to implement.

“That’s why it’s a 10-year plan and not a five-year plan,” Ferrell said.

Father Jon Adams, the director of one of the largest providers of homeless services in the District, said he believes the plan is making progress. As head of So Others Might Eat (SOME), he noted that providing funds for housing is a step in the right direction to ending homelessness.

“I think [the plan] is going [forward] and I think for one thing the city itself has had enough foresight to have established the Housing Production Trust Fund,” Adams said.

The trust fund was established in the late 1980s to fund the building and rehabilitation of affordable housing. More than 5,000 affordable housing units have been completed or are under development from direct support from the Housing Production Trust Fund, according to a joint report by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute and the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development.

The number of affordable housing units added to D.C. under the trust fund has “grown dramatically” since 2001 to more than 1,500 units in the 2006 fiscal year, the report said.

However, these additions may not include supportive services for mental and medical health and are not the result of inter-agency collaboration for more permanent supportive housing under the city’s 10-year plan. Most alarmingly, these additional units coincide with the District’s loss of thousands of affordable rentals and homes each year.

The city has also not met its own deadlines under the 10-year plan for rehabilitating various homeless shelters. Although the 10-year plan called for mass renovations at Parcel 26/La Casa, Gales School and an unidentified men’s shelter by October 2006, no major renovations have taken place and no men’s shelter has been selected for renovation.

Meanwhile, Franklin School Shelter for men, located downtown, does not have air conditioning for the summer and is scheduled to shut down at the end of the year.

With funds available for construction and further implementation of the 10-year plan, progress should be on the horizon. But the patience of some of District’s homeless and their advocates is wearing thin.

“I’m appalled. They don’t understand the importance of this issue,” Barnes said, expressing her frustration at the pace of work at the Interagency Council. “There are folks who have been in the shelter system for the last seven to ten years. We’re tired of waiting for our piece of the pie.”

Despite numerous attempts to contact representatives from the mayor’s office, they were unavailable for comment on the status of the 10-year plan by press time.

By Daniel Johnson and Kaukab Jhumra Smith
Reprinted from Street Sense

Street Roots is calling for public oversight of private security

2007-07-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new Street Roots blog! We will be delivering readers announcments, giving people a sneak peek of the new paper, publishing longer pieces from individuals on the streets, offering breaking news, vendor profiles and getting people involved in action items that can make a difference.

The new blog will be accessible on the Street Roots website next week. In the meantime - enjoy!

Staffers at City Hall have said they've been receiving e-mails requesting oversight of the Portland Patrol. Now is the time to let City Hall know public oversight is needed!

Nearly 1,000 park exclusions have been issued in Portland public parks since November by private security guards without the public’s oversight.

The idea that a private institution, in this case, Portland Patrol Inc., has the capacity to enforce public policy that is upheld in a court of law without the public knowing their training procedures or what discretion security guards are using is unacceptable for Portlanders. Public parks and sidewalks belong to all of us and should not be controlled by private institutions that hire a private police force to patrol Portland.

Private security oversight could be rolled into the current Independent Police Review (IPR) — minimizing the bureaucracy that would be created by inventing a whole new system. The infrastructure for the IPR is in place, and could be the channel for people to reach the city and citizen oversight groups with regard to policing the private police.

This is different from private guards on private property. And it’s different from the city directly employing security, accountable to the city and ultimately to elected officials. This is private security employed by private business interests. Any measure of public questions and concerns are now ricocheted between private entities, without transparency and clear oversight by the public they monitor.

Portland is known for its green spaces and phenomenal park system, accessible and belonging to all. It is not known for being a police state, yet the numbers of uniformed patrols seems to grow year by year. Let’s keep this expansive rent-a-cop system in check, and let’s begin with the public’s property.

To e-mail or call the Mayor and commissioners go the Street Roots website and

Act Now!

The Portland Mercury also ran a short this week called

Rent-A-Cop

Pick up the new issue at locations throughout Portland and find out the shape of Oregon's grassroots environmental movement and Blackwater, a private militia working around the world!