SR on-line auction is live… Go crazy folks!

Back by popular demand and better than ever, it’s Street Roots’ annual online auction! We have ten days of fun and fundraising for Portland’s award-winning street newspaper. Let the bidding begin!

We have some great gifts for you this holiday season — for yourself or someone close to you. Trying to figure out exactly what to get your family or friends? You’ve come to the right place. In partnership with more than 100 businesses, Street Roots has some of the coolest items in the city, both large and small.

Bidding begins at 4pm PST on Thursday, Oct 27, and ends at 3pm PST on Sunday, Nov 6. This year we have added a Buy It Now feature. If you choose to buy it now, items have been marked up to assure you get an item you want and that your purchase will support Street Roots programs.

Sincerely,
Israel Bayer
Director, Street Roots

This year your support will help Street Roots:

• Help hundreds of individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty with immediate income and improve their quality of life
• Help house or prevent homelessness for more than 250 individuals
• Produce award-winning, quality journalism that is focused on solutions
• Highlight organizations and individuals across a broad spectrum of the community
• Continue to produce more than 100,000 Rose City Resource guides distributed to more than 150 organizations and institutions in the Portland area
• Help change community perspectives and build coalitions working toward fighting poverty throughout the region

Help SR remain strong and get some great gifts in return!

Extra! Extra!

Street Roots vendors will have a fresh copy of the paper ready for you Friday morning. Make sure you pick up a copy and say hello to a friendly face. It’s still only $1! Here’s what’s waiting for you inside:

True to what’s real: Painter Max Ginsburg records the social condition and his own political views with vivid realism. Joanne Zuhl interviews the remarkable painter and activist, who has a new retrospective in publication.

Realtors seek to amend state constitution over transfer taxes: A look at the proposal to prohibit local and state lawmakers from creating a real estate transfer tax, which has some affordable housing advocates concerned about losing a potential tool against homelessness.

The council incumbent: An interview with Amanda Fritz who faces two challengers for her seat on Portland City Council.

Another piece of occupied land: People’s Park: Street Roots’ own Mary Pacios was active in the movement to create People’s Park in Berkeley, Calif., and she writes about the battle between campers and the police and the government that wanted it to all go away.

Plus, commentaries from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and a review of a new book that looks at the rise and survival of radical social movements against poverty. And of course, poetry and art, crossword and Curbside! We love hearing from our readers, so let us know what you think. As always, thank you for your tremendous support!

Just what the legislature ordered: Oregon races the clock to restructure its low-income health care system

By Amanda Waldroupe, Staff Writer

Autumn Bolds begins the day’s huddle by telling Dr. Rachel Solotaroff, the medical director of Central City Concern’s Old Town Clinic, that her patient schedule that afternoon has changed dramatically.

Solotaroff will see eight patients that afternoon. Bolds, a panel manager on Solotaroff’s patient team, is responsible for coordinating Solotaroff’s patients, and she quickly launches into briefing Solotaroff and Magadalena Juan, a medical assistant, on each patient and their health.

She goes through each patient chart, quickly saying why he or she is coming for a visit, what medications the patient is on, and whether pap smears, blood tests and other routine check-ups are up to date.

Juan scribbles notes, and Solotaroff asks some clarifying questions. The rapid pace pauses briefly as the three discuss, in the case of a couple patients, whether they have or need mental health providers, and if a particular concern the team has might be discussed with the patient at that time.

Ending with a high five, the day’s huddle is over after a short 20 minutes.

Solotaroff says these daily meetings are hugely beneficial in helping her and the team prepare for each patient visit, knowing what to expect, and also what to anticipate in terms of providing the best possible health care to the Old Town Clinic’s low-income and homeless patients.

“The idea is that your work of the day is not your schedule, but the population of patients you serve,” Solotaroff says.

Across town at southeast Portland’s Richmond Clinic, Dr. Nick Gideonse has similar daily meetings with his patient team, a group made up of doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and a behavioral health specialist.

Both clinics, and a handful of others around the state, are blazing the trail in providing this type of care to patients — health care in which a variety of providers addressing a spectrum of health needs communicate and work together. Care that is coordinated.

Oregon is adopting this model of care for its state Medicaid program, the Oregon Health Plan, in what are the most ambitious changes to the program since it began providing health care to Oregon’s poor in 1994.

By July, it is expected that the physical, mental and dental health care provided to 600,000 Oregonians on OHP will be restructured in this new coordinated system, with all providers — including doctors, nurses, mental health counselors, dentists, and other medical professionals — communicating and working in tandem. Its goals are to increase access and quality of health care — and create savings, $239 million worth, by the legislature’s budget.

Vendor Profile: J.Neal Carr

By Cole Merkel, Staff Writer

Neal Carr is a philosopher at heart. He has always been philosophically minded, he says, and the existential question, along with Eastern religion keeps him optimistic and hopeful, “I know,” Neal says, “this life is just a temporary part of our soul’s existence.”

Carr has lived in Portland for 16 years. Having grown up in the Bay Area, Neal moved northward because he needed a change of environment, which he found.

“It was a good place to start over. It was an easy place to get a leg back up on the horse, so to speak.” Shortly after arriving he began to study philosophy at Portland State University.

In the time he has lived in Portland, Neal has witnessed a large influx of individuals and a shift in consciousness, with the city becoming less tolerant in the last few years toward homelessness in the downtown core, sweeping it instead to the Eastside. The city, too, has become less friendly than it used to be. “I don’t know if it’s with the economic depression or what it is, but it seems people have become a little more jaded in regards to how they treat people.”

Candidate interview: Mary Nolan

By Amanda Waldroupe, Staff Writer

Oregon Rep. Mary Nolan has been a name in politics for more than a decade down in Salem. Now she’s hoping to bend a few ears at City Hall. Nolan is in the race to unseat City Commissioner Amanda Fritz.

Nolan was first elected to serve downtown and Southwest Portland in 2000. She held a variety of leadership roles, including co-chairing the budget writing Ways and Means Committee, and as Democratic Caucus Leader and Speaker Pro-Tempore, the number two position to the Speaker of the House.

Before serving in the Legislature, Nolan was CEO of AvroTec, an aviation supplies company in Hillsboro. She also worked as director of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services.

Nolan attended Dartmouth College, majoring in mathematics. Her freshman year was the first year Dartmouth admitted women, and Nolan often was the only woman in her classes.

“For the most part, it was a non-event,” she says. “I had one professor who clearly was unhappy that the college had decided to admit women. He would ask occasionally for the female interpretation of this theorem or that theorem. I was able to handle my own, but it was a bit awkward.”

Those classroom experiences prepared Nolan, in some ways, for the professional world. Men still largely dominate the technical and engineering world, and there were many other times when Nolan found herself being the only woman in the room. “Being able to handle that with some aplomb is a very valuable skill,” she says.

Amanda Waldroupe: Why are you running for City Council?

Mary Nolan: The City Council needs to be more focused on providing efficient, respectful, and timely services that support our neighborhood livability, economic prosperity, and assure safety for all citizens. We’ve sort of become distracted over the last several years.

Western States Center: Creating a space we all can share

By Amy Lam, Contributing Columnist

In acknowledging and recognizing everyone in our communities, this year’s National Coming Out Day will not just be a coming out day for LBGTQ people, but also for their supporters.

On October 11th, more than 30 community and organizational leaders of color in Oregon signed a letter of support to “Come Out for Our Families.” In part, the letter states that “LGBT families of color are part of the fabric of our community and members of our own families.

Curbside: A collection of views from people on the streets about R2D2

While Occupy Portland simmers in front of the Justice Center in Southwest Portland, a smaller, quieter residential occupation organized by Right to Survive and Right to Dream Too has set up on a vacant lot on the corner of NW Fourth Avenue and Burnside. The group has a one-year, donated lease on the lot and plans to use it as a safe space for people to sleep. Street Roots asked the individuals in that space: What personally drew you to be here today?

“I’ve been homeless for the past three weeks, and I kind of stumbled across this and inquired what was going on here. I thought what a great, wonderful idea for this area that they opened it up for the homeless. I’m going to access the facilities here, the resources they have available here, which I think is a wonderful spot, very conveniently located, just a great idea.”

– M.J.

Taking space to dream

Photo by Nat Needham

By Amanda Eckerson, Contributing Writer

On the corner of Third and Main Street, a village is being constructed. The organizers and allies of Occupy Portland have begun laying down hay to cover mud, hanging tarps to keep out the rain, and developing internal infrastructure to support their movement. Seven blocks away, members of the Right 2 Dream Too (R2D2), have taken over the lease of an empty lot by the Chinatown gate, and begun constructing a rest area for houseless members of their community.  There are very real differences between these two instances, which have recently occurred in Portland: one is an occupation of public land, the other has a lease on private land. The occupation has been given tentative permission by the city, while R2D2’s occupancy is being disputed as illegal.

People are virtually abandoning their homes to join the Occupy Portland movement, while members of R2D2 are reacting to the fact they have no place to sleep. Despite these elements, there is a deeper strand of solidarity that exists between these two movements. Both groups are responding to the larger inequality of our social system, the lack of access to political power, and the rights of all of us to dream.

“When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us can Help Veterans”

By Jay Thiemeyer, Contributing Writer

When “Anatomy of an Epidemic” by Robert Whitaker came out, I interviewed the author for KBOO. The book spelled out the exploitive collusion between members of the mental health establishment and the pharmaceutical industry to expand the definition of mental illness. Less normal, more meds. A very profitable partnership, especially when focused on children, who as we know are all nuts to begin with (god bless their little hearts).

As we were concluding, I asked if he was doing work in anticipation of returning Iraq and Afghanistan war vets. Surely they would be a prime target for the collusion he’d just identified. He said he was not, but a friend, Paula Caplan, was writing a book on the subject.

“When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home” is Caplan’s book, and it is excellent.

The author has been a clinical and research psychologist for 35 years in Cambridge Mass which is where she knows Robert Whitaker. She is an affiliate, as well, of Harvard’s DuBois Institute and a Fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy Sch of Govt. She’s written other well-received books, notably “The Myth of Women’s Masochism” and “They Say You’re Crazy: How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal,” a wonderful expose of the politics behind the DSM, which is currently undergoing revision. Caplan speaks as an insider who’s been a frustrated advisor fending off the corporate shills cozening the big PhRMA.

Readers give props for SR coverage, vendors

Street Roots’ recent readers survey asked Portlanders to chime in on important issues related to the organization. It was by no means scientific, but it does give us a snapshot of the people who support vendors and read the newspaper. Here is what we found out.

The vast majority of SR readers are college educated, and female. People of all ages support SR, but readers 21-35 have increased dramatically in the past two years since we last did a survey. Sixty-three percent of readers found out about the newspaper through an interaction with a vendor, while another 25 percent found out through a friend or word of mouth. That means by helping spread the word and introducing SR to your peer network, you can make a big difference.

More than 70 percent of those surveyed thought that SR was a window into their community, politically relevant and a strong advocate for people experiencing homelessness.

Occupy Portland, Jobs With Justice to bridge Portland, Vancouver

Occupy Portland activists say they will be joining with Jobs With Justice in a joint march across the Interstate 5 bridge tomorrow to “connect struggles on two sides of the river.”

Like similar marches, the event is being billed as Portland and Vancouver Rising in support of union campaigns and in defense of safety net services, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs. Those programs are all under the threat of cuts by the so-called Congressional “Super Committee” in Washington D.C. as it sorts out federal spending. In particular the event is pointing a finger at Wash. Sen. Patty Murray, co-chair of the committee, and demanding those programs be preserved intact. From the Jobs With Justice organizers:

“The times have been changing in the last weeks. The occupations of Wall St., Portland, and other places are highlighting the fact that there are plenty of resources in our society – it is just that the 1% is grabbing all this abundance for themselves. At the very least, we have enough resources for good jobs for all and an enhanced safety net! Join us! This is a great time to come out and help make the changes we need.”

People at Occupy Portland have said they intend to join the march in solidarity with people struggling with unemployment and homelessness. Staging for the march begins at 11 a.m. Here are the details from Jobs With Justice:

- Portland meeting place: We will meet at the field just off of Northbound I-5 Exit 308. The field is on the East side of I-5, between the highway and Taco Bell. Parking is available on N. Jantzen Street. and other side streets. The #6 Tri-Met bus stops at N. Jantzen St.

- Esther Short Park is at West 6th and Esther Streets in Downtown Vancouver.

Posted by Joanne Zuhl

 

Mental health and criminal justice: Penny wise and definitely foolish

By Chris O’Connor, Contrbuting Writer

As an attorney working solely in indigent defense, I often see the terrible collision of mental health and the criminal justice system. Some of those in government and policy positions need to come down to the courthouse and see the unfortunate mess that results when the criminal justice system tries to deal with what ultimately is a medical problem.

I think a closer and more personal look at individual cases as examples would help us refocus our efforts on what works and improve results while saving money. The current approach is failing all of the people involved, from victims of real crime to people lost in their mental disorder and disease.

This is not to say that there are not many hardworking, compassionate and smart people working in the various treatment agencies and government offices. It’s just that they don’t get the seemingly limitless budgets and lack of financial accountability given to the police, the district attorney and the jails and prisons or the forensic wards of the state hospital. Spend a few more pennies on the front line workers, counselors, doctors and nurses and you can save many pounds on the criminal justice end.

Occupy Portland visits Right to Dream Too

Around 200 people marched from the Occupy Portland headquarters in SW Portland to the Right to Dream Too rest area tonight. The group listened to homeless individuals, including two Street Roots vendors who talked about their experience with homelessness and how they are in solidarity with Occupy Portland.

Photo by Sue Zalokar

The most recent photo shows the rest area has grown from three tents and six people in the lot on NW 4th and Burnside to more than 40 tents with an estimated 100 people.

Posted by Israel Bayer

 

Occupy Portland sends open letter to city officials in support of homeless

Occupy Portland has sent the following letter to city officials…

This open letter from the General Assembly of Occupy Portland affirms our solidarity with the homeless people in our city.  We ask that City ordinances currently used to criminalize homeless people be suspended until new solutions are found.  This request is in accordance with the official Bill of Rights for Children and Youth as adopted by Portland and Multnomah County:  “Shelter:  We have the inherent right to shelter.  The City of Portland and Multnomah County should continue their efforts to provide adequate shelter to those who need it.”

The number of unhoused people living on the streets of Portland has steadily increased over the past ten years in spite of good intentions to reduce homelessness to zero.  Instead, Portland city officials are now cracking down on the efforts of a nonprofit homeless organization, “Right to Dream Too” (R2DToo) to open their self-help site, a rest area for those forced to live outdoors (located next to the Chinatown gate on Burnside Street).  Their goals are modest and very basic: “The right to rest, the right to sleep, and the right to dream, too.”

The Occupy Wall Street movement is calling attention to the increasing inequality and economic injustice across the country.  One frequent grievance is the rise of evictions due to home foreclosures, a trend which has been exposed as caused by banks’ irresponsible manipulation of loans.  Many more Americans are now on the precarious edge of living one or two paychecks away from joining the homeless.  This is a state of economic emergency which calls out for extraordinary action by governments.

We encourage you to open dialogue with alternative solutions — such as the R2DToo rest area, which is legally leased on private property, and is run by experienced volunteers with support from the community. Such efforts in self-determination and bootstrap self-help cost the City nothing, as they are funded by charity and managed by the hard work of volunteer organizers.  Such projects are in the American vein of self-reliance and also strengthen community bonds.  We invite you to help such grassroots solutions.

Finally, The Bill of Rights for Children and Youth can be found prominently displayed on the reception desk of Mayor Adams’ office, and is also online at the County website.  It affirms what Occupy Portland also affirms: the inalienable right to survive, which requires shelter.  Families and individuals who cannot live indoors, for whatever reason, should not be swept out of sight and mind. They deserve the human dignity to be seen and to exist in our city.

Thank you for considering this appeal, and we welcome your response.

Occupy Portland, General Assembly

Street Roots is waiting to hear back from the Mayor’s office, and it’s also been rumored that a march will take place sometime this evening in solidarity with the homeless rest area on NW 4th and Burnside.

City wants to see plans for Fourth and Burnside

Portland’s Bureau of Development Services is calling on the owners of the property at NW Fourth and Burnside to produce plans for the lot, now that a community of homeless people have set up a tent city there.

The bureau’s Enforcement Program Section Manager Mike Liefeld sent a letter to property owners Michael Wright and Dan Cossette noting that the press has already reported on an a lease agreement and preliminary plans for the property, but nothing has been turned into the city. Liefeld has given the owners 10 days within receipt of the letter, dated Oct. 12, to produce a detailed plan for property use, occupancy and development of the property, along with the lease agreement.

Approximately 70 people have set up tents on the site, and have constructed a fence made of doors for privacy along Burnside Street. At issue is compliance with state and local laws on occupancy, including permits and land use regulations.

Meanwhile, the Old Town/Chinatown Livability and Safety Committee has invited the leadership of the Right 2 Dream Too group which has occupied the site to attend their upcoming meeting Oct. 26.

Posted by Joanne Zuhl