I watched your press conference about your plan to address the escalating gun violence in our city which came on the heels of a very articulate 9 year-old girl -who narrowly missed getting hit by a stray bullet while playing in a park in broad daylight- testifying at a City Hall meeting.
And I totally agree that “the county must “push forward anti-poverty initiatives.” Especially since elected officials have created those “neighborhoods with higher rates of poverty, lower incomes, higher health disparities, higher eviction rates and fewer economic opportunities,” by neglecting those same areas of town for decades. Years of disinvestment and more recently years of aggressively pursuing strategies to migrate Poors to the outreaches of the city have divided Portland into two cities.
There’s the city where most elected officials live called “Real Portland.” They enjoy prosperity and live in their shady single family neighborhoods – shopping, working and recreating in their neighborhood and like to talk a lot about their liberal values and their deep well of empathy for less fortunate people. They talk a lot about viewing and doing everything through an “equity lens.” There’s lots of yard signs proclaiming “Black Lives Matter” even though the aggregate skin tone in these same neighborhoods is pretty pasty. If these neighborhoods were a Sherwin Williams color, they would be “Floral White.” When something does appear in their idyllic liberal neighborhood, a place where no one worries the catalytic converter will be stolen right off their Prius in broad daylight or that the $1000.00 bike they ride to their job a couple of miles away will be stolen off their front porch, such as a homeless camp….. they know exactly what compassionate measures are needed to address the humanitarian crisis unfolding in their neighborhood. They lodge hundreds of complaints with the city and then Poof! The unhoused are asked to leave and the city announces plans to build Safe Rest Villages….. in poor neighborhoods.
And then there’s the city East of 82nd Avenue, which doesn’t even have a name. It’s no-man land . This is where politicians never go unless it’s a re-election year or there’s a dedication for a homeless shelter or tenement housing conveniently located as far as possible from their own homes (and family vineyards). These residents live in high density housing, endure long commutes to their job somewhere else in the city and if their neighborhoods were a Sherwin Williams paint color, it would be called “Rainbow Spectrum.” There’s not a lot of recreating going on because residents work two jobs to get by and there’s few places to gather when they do have time. These residents are liberal too but there’s a lot less yard signs because they’re busy just trying to get by and (more recently) dodging bullets. And they’re tired – it’s exhausting living in East Portland. There’s the everyday aspects of getting by and then there’s the grueling meeting schedule just to determine which branch of government controls the funds they need and then there’s the constant advocating (aka begging) for funds to make East Portland a more livable place….. which they rarely get.
So…… I’ve helpfully provided a list of proven “anti-poverty initiatives” which are conspicuously absent from your solutions for “neighborhoods with higher rates of poverty, lower incomes, higher health disparities, higher eviction rates and fewer economic opportunities”
1. Living wage jobs or “economic opportunities” as you call like to call them
2. More green spaces
3. A lot more community meeting places. Such as…. The promised Flagship East Portland Library that got shelved so the city could put one in NW first where people living in million dollar condos are apparently desperate for a public library
4. Improving the quality of neighborhood buildings and housing
5. Ample lighting suitable for pedestrian traffic
6. Actual sidewalks suitable for pedestrian traffic
7. Safe transit stops that are well lit and aren’t located a mere 5 inches from the street in a puddle or a ditch
8. Reducing neighborhood socio-economic segregation by locating “Emergency Housing” in other parts of the city vs the continuation of your current policy of concentrating it in “neighborhoods with higher rates of poverty, lower incomes, higher health disparities, higher eviction rates and fewer economic opportunities”
9. Automatic funding for youth employment, job mentorship and training, educational supports
10. Automatic funding for programming to support community events and social connectedness instead of making community groups constantly grovel for grants
11. Creating Business Improvement Districts
12. Reducing congestion. Hint: not every single arterial road in East Portland needs to be on a “road diet.” Having multi-modal forms of transportation is great, but it’s kind of hard to strap a vacuum cleaner and your cleaning supplies onto a bike and then ride 30 miles to the wealthier part of town. Or to haul a couple of ladders and roofing supplies onto the bus. One or two streets could actually be left alone to do what they were designed to do which is efficiently move residents from their homes out in the Hinterlands, as you know it… to their jobs in some other part of the city not located on a transit line)
13. And finally…..A better Gun Violence dashboard. Seriously it’s not very good
So while we’re glad you’re going to implement GVI tactics such as call-ins to address the highly active street groups involved in the gun battles occurring in our city and that community outreach groups on the ground are going to get funding – it’s sad it took a nine year old girl publicly shaming you to get you to finally release that funding and take meaningful action.
Maybe we can get a cohort of ten year-olds to come to your next meeting to plead for the remaining 12 items on our anti-poverty initiatives list that are still missing from your “plan.”
Sincerely,
Old Bitter, resident of Hinterland
Old Bitter 