War is hell, and yet so intoxicating

by Thomas Vincent, Street News Service

I’ll say this for Sebastian Junger: When it comes to his latest book’s mission, he is not afraid of being direct. “I’m not interested in the Afghans and their endless, terrible wars; I’m interested in the Americans. I’m interested in what it’s like to serve in a platoon of combat infantry in the U.S. Army.”

“War” is the chronicle of five trips to Afghanistan Junger made in 2007 and 2008 as an “embedded reporter” writing for Esquire Magazine. While the validity of embedded reporting has been questioned by some, Junger seems totally at home with the concept: “Journalistic convention holds that you can’t write objectively about people you are close to, but you can’t write objectively about people who are shooting at you either. Pure objectivity … isn’t remotely possible in a war.”  True to his word, Junger dispenses with the notion all sides must be represented equally. The American soldiers he eats with and sleeps next to all have names, ages, personalities and back stories. Those whom the soldiers fight are nameless, faceless and are invariably referred to simply as “the enemy.”

Art that can kill

by Fay Kaylius

James Chasse was kicked to death by police on the corner of 13th & Everett
James was killed in front of Blue Hour, Wyden & Kennedy advertising and PICA
The Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.
PICA changed this old working class neighborhood
This place where James walked and did his work, underground art
The contemporary artists were the first to gentrify this area around James & the local underground
Rents go up, buildings torn down and the poor artists are forced onto the streets, here
Wyden & Kennedy for NIKE, here.
Nike provides riot gear for police
Blue Hour restaurant foie gras
Investors built their new high-rise condos
Where those old artist spaces use to stand
Art & the state embedded …
The spectacle of terrible acts
Like a concrete skull held up high
On a pike for all to see
This, the price James had to pay
The police are the rabid dogs for the city, and contemory art is gentrification
There is the consequence for art with nothing to say
The underground artists and musicians of Portland stand with James Chasse and
Underground artists and musicians of this place
The Underground declares an art war on the corner of James & 13th
If artworks are a mirror held up to reflect the ills and ideals of a society
Than in this neighborhood that surrounds the intersection of James & 13th
The mirror shows an ugly image of boutique and state-sanctioned murder of Portland’s underground art scene.
Indifference and capitulation of the corporate art world does not go unnoticed
The state dogs will kill you too if given the opportunity
Artists are workers
Artists always work
Art can be powerful
And bad art can kill!

SR vendor and Soapbox Under the Bridge spearhead community garden

By Cassandra Koslen, Contributing Writer

At first glance the recently-planted community garden at Peace Lutheran Church, 2201 N. Rosa Parks Way, is nothing special. The two long beds of dirt with plotted sprouts could be anywhere in Portland.

But this small start has its seeds from throughout the city, beginning with Street Roots vendor Rick Buck.

Every Wednesday at 6 p.m., Peace Lutheran hosts a dinner open to the community.  Joined by a new congregation who will be sharing their church, on June 15 the meal is full of renewed energy. Jerrie Johnston, church organizer, cook and council member, is beside herself.

“This is wonderful,” she says, cleaning up.  “I have to see.”

Outside on the church’s lawn, there are children playing.  Neighbors have wandered over to look at two long rows of elevated beds, almost completely planted. Mothers discuss which of the extra flats to take home and the best place to put them in their gardens.

Extra! Extra!

There’s a place in the sun calling your name this weekend, but before you head out, don’t forget to grab the latest edition of Street Roots. Vendors will be out in force bright and early on Friday morning with the new paper in hand. Here’s a peek at what’s inside:

Jefferson Smith’s view from the east: State Rep. Jefferson Smith is sounding the alarm that East Portland is where it’s at, from the vantage of working-class and lower-income families  – and where it’s not, judging by local resources. Israel Bayer talks with Rep. Smith about what’s happening in this land of flux.

How does a garden grow? A Street Roots vendor puts on the garden gloves and calls his friends to help a small church create a community garden. Cassandra Koslen writes about how this convergence of support sprung to life.

Bugged out: Be it rags to riches, bedbugs don’t discriminate: Author Martha Gies delves into world of bedbugs, from their upscale East Coast beginnings to their erroneous moniker as a poor man’s problem. Plus, tips for what to do if you suspect bedbugs have put the moves on you, too.

Migration Nation: The author of “Moving Millions” talks about where we’re going wrong in the immigration debate.

Summit galvanizes faith-based efforts for homeless students: 18,000 homeless students in Oregon schools and more to come, according to state figures. The faith-based community is joining forces to fill the gaps for a fragile portion of the next generation.

Plus, commentaries by Julie McCurdy and Art Garcia, real poetry and more. You’re going to be in the sun a long time this weekend — better bring a Street Roots to read! Your vendors say thanks!

Mayor Sam Adams talks with Street Roots

By Joanne Zuhl and Israel Bayer, Staff writers

Support him or not, probably few people would want to trade places with Sam Adams right now. His first 18 months in office as Portland’s mayor has been saddled with a crushed economy that has hobbled the city’s financial status while fueling the need for city services. It has been plagued by ongoing flare-ups with police and the public, resulting in the firing of the police chief and the takeover of the bureau by the mayor’s office. And lurking in the shadows has been the rattling of recall efforts that twice failed to garner enough signatures to reach the ballot.

If it’s getting him down, it doesn’t seem to effect his game face, which more often than not remains stern and straight ahead. When we talked with him, he had just completed the 2010 City Budget — the 17th of his career working under former Mayor Vera Katz and now as mayor himself. This budget not only reflects the funding available now, but also projects a warning to bureau chiefs of the bumpy ride still to come.

Street Roots questioned the mayor about the budget and how he’s going to keep the so-called “city that works” working for everyone.

Street Roots: How does this budget stack up in terms of difficulty, obligations, priorities, etc.

Sam Adams: Putting together a city budget that balances basic services with smart investments in our city’s future is always challenging. This year’s budget was especially challenging due to the cuts to ongoing and one-time funds available. Fortunately, I work with a smart, dynamic and pragmatic group of colleagues on City Council. They fight for their bureau’s needs, but they also recognize the financial landscape we’re navigating through, and each is willing to compromise where necessary.

In terms of obligations and priorities, my first priority for this coming year’s budget (fiscal year 2010-11) was protecting the core services of the City and the services to help people most at need. It’s why I directed non-public safety agencies to cut 4 percent from their budgets and asked public safety agencies to target 2-3 percent. It’s also why I worked with Commissioner Nick Fish to increase funding to pay for increased shelter bed capacity, especially to meet more of the demand for women’s shelter beds. And, coupled with the Portland Development Commission’s budget, we’re putting $2 million toward construction of the Hooper Detox Center and additional funds toward the construction of the joint city-county mental health crisis center.

In the face of deepening county and state budget shortfalls, the City of Portland is going to have to find ways to fill the gaps created by other jurisdictions. When a person in our city is on the streets and needs services, they’re not saying to themselves, “I wish the county better funded these services.” They’re saying, “Who can I turn to for help?” So, I’ll continue to push for better funding for services for those most at-need, but I’m also committed to getting other jurisdictions — neighboring counties like Washington County and cities in our region — to increase their financial commitment to these services.

S.R.: You called this a recovery budget— what do you mean by that and what’s the forecast for Portlanders in the years to come?

S.A.: A recovery budget means that we’re not just helping people day-by-day, but that we’re funding the programs and services for people to make long-term improvements in their lives. So, for example, the Police Bureau’s Prostitution Coordination Team is about enforcing laws to curb prostitution. But it’s also coupled with a contract with LifeWorks Northwest, an amazing organization that helps women transition from lives in the sex trade to safer, healthier lives and livelihoods in the community. And I’ve continued to fund economic development efforts that help small businesses get access to start-up capital and storefront improvement dollars. At my direction, the PDC made administrative cuts that transferred $4 million toward economic development front-line programs.

A pleasure trip to Rio becomes an exploration into the real world of Brazil’s masses

by Laura Moulton, Contributing Writer

Last fall while preparing for a trip to Brazil, I did research online and discovered an article in the New Yorker about the favelas, or slums, of Rio de Janeiro. It detailed recent events in a favela called Moro do Dende, profiled a notorious drug dealer called Fernando Gomes de Freitas and described the inability of the government to bring order. I read the article carefully, chilled by particular phrases: armed posse with automatic weapons, city busses torched, the practice of dismembering police or rival gangs, tossing bodies into the sea for the crabs to eat.

In a photo, two young men lay on their bellies on the street, hands cuffed behind them. In less than a month I would fly with my children and extended family to the city of Rio for my brother’s wedding. My children were 5 and 2, and I was taking them to a place with a crime rate supposedly four times that of the United States, where just that month a military helicopter had been shot from the sky during a stand-off between two rival gangs, where street kids huffed glue and the vast shantytowns that clung to the hillsides above the sea stretched on forever. The article underscored the complete chaos in the favelas and the corruption of the police who were supposed to be fixing the problem.

The State Department Web site’s warnings about Brazil were no more reassuring: ignore stoplights between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. to avoid holdups. Even the beaches were dangerous, with very strong riptides and a “higher-than-average probability of shark attacks.”

The marriage of housing and health care a fruitful match

By Heather Lyons, Contributing Columnist

Last week, in a cab from the airport en route to the Health Care for the Homeless Conference in San Francisco, the driver asked me what I did for a living. I always pause when I get that question from a stranger on the road. Experience tells me that I will get one of three responses if I answer truthfully. Usually it’s either a) criticism for supporting socialism (one driver in Alaska blamed me for helping, “the U.S. to become a ‘nanny country’”) b) useless advice on what should really be done for the homeless (“They should have them on exercise bikes and connected to electricity to power buildings.” That from a seatmate on a flight to Denver), or, c) something supportive, and usually benign (“That’s nice, you must really enjoy doing that.”). A colleague of mine lies when she’s asked her profession. She tells people she’s a party planner. She’s actually created a whole new persona just for such situations.

This last time was different, though. He seemed to understand the challenges that disabled homeless people face. Without much explanation of what I did, his first reaction was that the government should take care of people more because families aren’t around to do it the same way they did in his parents’ generation. He also had direct experience. He spends a lot of time driving people to and from hospitals. He said that these people are still very sick, can barely move, and he is shocked at where he drops some of them off.

Humor salves the soul and binds a family together

By Leo Rhodes

In the worst of times I always tried to find humor, to alleviate tension. Sometimes others did the same.

After a three-hour meeting in one of Seattle’s tent cities — three hours of debating, negotiating, and strategizing — I raised my hand to speak. The people in tent city listened intently as I spoke. Knowing that I make a lot of meetings, they thought this must be important.

I said, “You all know I went on a little vacation. So I have some pictures.” I heard some groans and some “aw mans.” Everybody started leaving.

“Hey get back here I’m serious, don’t you want to see my pictures?”  I went on to say; somebody went by me saying, “Meeting adjourned.”

One time a big windstorm hit the tent city. Four or five tents blew away. We found two of them. The other three tents are probably floating somewhere in space. I always say I want to call NASA and ask if the space shuttle has seen our tents, and if they can use their mechanical arm to retrieve them.

On fear and transitioning out of the concrete jungle

By Julie McCurdy

You know, I think the thing that all of us have in common is fear — a thousand unruly forms of it. Wherever we are, there is fear to be faced.

Becoming unhoused turned me feral. That is a fact I live with every single day on the long road back to self sufficiency.

You’re so not gonna believe this (wry grin) but part of the trouble with trying to re-mainstream back into “normal society” is the shame of having become unhoused in the first place. I can only speak for myself in this, but that whole “what-if-they-find-out-I-have-been-unhoused?” comes into my thoughts these days. Because I see the way the expression on peoples faces change when they know. We go from vital, wonderful conversations filled with possibility to stutters and stammers and murmered apologies.

You’ve stepped up to the plate, mayor; lets hit a home run

By Jenny Westberg

An Open Letter to Sam Adams:

Dear Sam,

Thank you for responding, finally, to our repeated calls to bring accountability to the Portland Police Bureau. It may have taken a couple of months, but you took our requests to heart.

We wrote and asked you to take a specific set of actions to address serious problems in the Portland Police Bureau. We directed your attention to an alarming number of tragic outcomes between police and people with mental illness. We noted a failure of police accountability that seemed to guarantee more tragedies in the future.

My journey: from the streets to the university

By Sean Walsh, Contributing Writer

Well, it has been a mere 6 months since that nightmare ended. I was homeless again, this time in  Cornelius, Ore. Thanks to some help from some local agencies, my wife and I are in housing. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s a roof. A lot has happened this year. My Social Security check arrived in November 2009, housing in December, and now college in March 2010. I’m majoring in computer science.

Things haven’t always looked up for me, though. As a young man, I grew up in the rural hills of southwest Michigan. My parents homeschooled me, or more correctly, since neither graduated, I homeschooled myself. But life without a formal diploma or degree is difficult, and there was a long road ahead.

In 2005, I met the girl who is now my wife of five years. At first all was great. During our first year of married life, I was working as a certified nursing assistant for the state of Indiana, helping developmentally disabled and people suffering from autism. During this period, we spent time touring the northeast U.S., visiting Vermont, New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

Vendor Profile: Scott Landauer

By Cassandra Koslen
Contributing Writer

At first, Scott Landauer is nervous.  He sits across from me, shy, barely making eye contact, forearms crossed, guarding his chest.  It took some convincing to get him in the interview.  I ask him why.

“My story is nothing special,” he says, shrugging.

Almost all the vendors say that.  Just regular people, who have fallen on hard times, or perhaps never knew anything different.  Perhaps, in this sense, none of us are special.  But then, that is being human.  And bringing humanity to the face of homelessness is what Street Roots is all about.

Voter-Owned Elections: The 60-cent question

By Israel Bayer
Staff Writer

Portland voters will decide this coming November whether or not to continue with Voter-Owned Elections. The program allows for candidates to recruit 1,000 $5 donations to qualify for $150,000 in city funding toward a primary race, and $200,000 if the candidate makes it to the general election.

The program has heralded some successes in its five-year history, helping current City Commissioner Amanda Fritz get elected to City Council, and supporting former commissioner Erik Sten who spearheaded the program during his tenure in office.

The program has also seen some busts. Most recently, Jesse Cornett, a Democratic insider spent more than $145,000 of public money for a mere 8 percent of the vote in May’s primary election against incumbent Dan Saltzman.

Street Roots invited the League of Women Voters, a strong supporter of the system, and the Portland Business Alliance, a powerful downtown business organization that has opposed Voter-Owned Elections, to a question and answer session on the topic. The Portland Business Alliance declined the invitation.

Carol Cushman, membership director with the League of Women Voters, had these comments to our questions:

Israel Bayer: How is Voter-Owned Elections shaping our city and how it operates?

Carol Cushman: Voter-Owned Elections (VOE) benefits Portland voters by allowing grassroots candidates to seek elective office based on their experience, ideas and values rather than on whether they have access to large campaign donors. After meeting strict qualifying requirements, Voter-Owned Elections candidates are banned from raising money from downtown developers, or other special interests. Instead they can spend their time talking directly with voters. Independence is gained when reform program candidates are elected. They can focus on community concerns because there isn’t pressure on them to give special consideration to large campaign donors, as historically has been the case for privately-funded candidates.

Voter-Owned Elections enables everyday Portlanders to decide who should run for office. A VOE candidate has to gather signatures and $5 contributions from at least 1,000 Portland voters to qualify. After meeting this rigorous threshold and agreeing to raise no more money and to strict rules on campaign spending, qualifying candidates receive adequate public funds to run a viable campaign. Their spending is limited and election administrators closely regulate their campaigns.

Because of Voter-Owned Elections, a neighborhood activist like Commissioner Amanda Fritz, only the seventh woman to serve on the City Council in its 160-year history, can win with grassroots support from everyday Portlanders from neighborhoods across Portland.

Editorial: SR take on 10-year plan to end homelessness

We deserve more than the slogan of the, “10-year plan to end homelessness.” That’s not a cynical proposal, despite the way it might come across. In actuality, the city has had similar plans in the past, with equally optimistic time limits attached. It was under the previous president’s administration that such altruism was stamped on the increasing obligations placed on local governments to solve a national problem, an epidemic with modern roots dating back to the1980s and the federal hands-off policy toward housing the poor.

But that’s old news, and for some, pretty tired news. As is the devastating recession, the likes of which we haven’t seen for generations; the collapse of the private-market driven tax credit program that funds affordable housing, and the fact that the burden of ending homelessness that cities and counties took on five years ago has become a nationwide behemoth.

Halfway into the 10-year plan, success tempered by challenges

By Joanne Zuhl, Staff writer

Midway through the city of Portland and Multnomah County’s 10-year plan to end homelessness, an impressive number of people have been housed through a coordinated, countywide effort.

Likewise, however, an impressive number of people have arrived newly homeless to the streets through a national disaster.