University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere makes a pitch for reshaping the university’s financial health and making the college more accessible to under-served populations during a Portland visit to the university White Stag block in Old Town. Photo by Jake Thomas.

Richard Lariviere has been president of the University of Oregon for just over a year, but he has already hatched a plan to drastically reshape how the college is governed in hopes of bringing greater financial stability to the school, and giving students a better sense of how much their education will cost.

Lariviere spoke about the sweeping changes he aims to bring to the university during an interview with the Portland Observer at the college’s Portland campus in the White Stag Block of Old Town.

Lariviere, 60, explained that when he was an undergraduate at the University of Iowa, it was possible for a student to work during the summers and save up enough for tuition at a public college that was heavily subsidized by the state.

“That’s what we are hoping to go back to, and those days are gone forever,” he said.

With fewer taxpayer dollars allocated by the state to public universities, students increasingly fund their education through a patchwork of grants, part-time jobs, family support (if they’re lucky), and, probably, lots of loans.

Lariviere said that with UO’s $8,000-a-semester tuition many families, particularly low-income, think that school is out of reach.

“And that infuriates me because they can go,” he said, referring to financial aid through loans, grants and scholarships that can make college possible.

But what makes matters worse is that it’s often unclear how much tuition will be raised from year to year. This year, at the University of Oregon, tuition shot up by 6 percent. Last year it was increased 3 percent.

“It scares the hell out of everybody,” he said.

Under Laviviere’s financial stability plan, which he said hasn’t been tried at any other public university, the state would issue $800 million in 30-year bonds to the UO. The state would spend about $64.5 million servicing the debt, which is about the same amount it gives to the university each year. UO would invest the money, creating an endowment that would steadily generate money for the school. This would free the university from having to rely on revenue from the state’s increasingly volatile coffers.

“If we know three years out how much money is going to come from the state, we can now manage our environment such that we can predict what the cost is going to be for the entire four years that you’re an undergraduate,” he said.

Lariviere argues that if his plan is successful, the university will be able to tell students about how much they can expect to spend for tuition, room and board. They will also have a sense of how much they will have in grants, and how much they will have in loans.

Currently the University of Oregon is overseen by the State Board of Higher Education and the Legislature. Lariviere’s proposal would create a new board to oversee it, giving the school more autonomy.

“This isn’t a model that’s radical or unknown in Oregon,” he said. Lariviere pointed to Portland Community College, which, like other community colleges, operates this similarly. Lariviere also mentioned that the PCC recently won approval of nearly $400 million in property tax bonds.

Lariviere also talked about his plan to revamp the UO admission process putting less emphasis on test scores and GPA’s in favor of a more holistic approach that will diversify the university.

“We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they [test scores and GPA's] are skewed throughout the population in favor of families that prepare their children from youth to be ready to go to college. That’s the only thing that most parents focus on when they are in the upper educational socio-economic strata,” he said.

He hopes to bring in more students who may not have the best GPA’s, but have life experiences that will enrich the university.

Lariviere was also asked about the tough job market for recent college grads, which has prompted some to question if college is worth the trouble.

In responding, he recalled seeing a newspaper article describing how the job market was the worst it’s ever been for new grads. The date on the newspaper was 1972.

“It’s always terrible; there are no guarantees,” he said.

However, Lariviere said that college grads, in the long run, will be richer, healthier, and happier.

“No bank, no credit card company can ever take away this education; it’s yours,” he said.

He also weighed in on an incident that occurred last February, where a swastika was found spray painted on an office for gay and lesbian students. In the aftermath, the student senate considered a resolution asking the Pacifica Forum, a controversial organization some believed to be tied to the incident, to leave the campus.

“The students argued about the principals of free speech that in a way were more lucid, better informed, and clearer than almost any other debate surrounding these issues,” said Lariviere, who added that he was “intensely proud” of how they handled it.

For careers in sustainable engineering

Portland Community College instructor Greg Gerstner inspects the bio diesel tank that creates fuel on campus from discarded cooking oil.

Starting this fall, Portland Community College’s Civil and Mechanical Engineering Technology Program will offer a new option for students wanting a career in sustainable engineering.

A student pursuing the Green Technology and Sustainability Option will take courses in renewable energy, environmental sociology and introduction to geographic information systems that emphasize environmental skills.

In addition, students get hands-on work performing lab tests for water quality and producing biodiesel from the waste oil from the Sylvania Campus cafeteria. All of these classes are required for a Civil or Mechanical Engineering Technology associate’s degree with a Green Technology and Sustainability Option, which is based at PCC’s Sylvania Campus in southwest Portland.

With the emphasis on green technology development in the American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009, the program’s faculty expects even a greater opportunity in the marketplace for its graduates in sustainability fields.

“We’re very excited about the Green Technology and Sustainability Option,” said Greg Gerstner, engineering instructor. “The three courses will not only add technical acumen, but will address the importance of environmental responsibility.”

This isn’t the first green venture by the Civil and Mechanical Engineering Technology Program. Since the early 1990s, courses in thermodynamics, HVAC, energy production, energy management, equipment design and solar energy have been offered.

In the 1980s, faculty worked on the design of the solar hot water system for a campus swimming pool. In 1995, they built a straw bale building with solar panels, which was a research project to demonstrate that this kind of construction was a practical method in Oregon’s damp climate. This solar lab facility still stands today and is off the grid.

“Over the years, instrumentation has been added, and two solar hot water systems are almost complete, so that the facility can be used to supplement our thermodynamics and fluid mechanics courses,” Gerstner added. “It’s just another way we are tying green and sustainable methods into our courses for the benefit of the community.”

For more information on the program, visit pcc.edu/programs/civil-engineering.

Lack of revenue puts strain on inspections

Cristina Palacios, safe housing coordinator for the Oregon Community Alliance of Tenants, returns a call from a renter in distress. Photo by Jake Thomas.

Angela Lopez remembers when her home was making her child sick.

Lopez, a transplant from Mexico and mother of three, said she spent two years scrubbing mold her in small rental house in northeast Portland with Clorox and soap. But somehow the black fuzz always seemed to grow back on the walls and ceilings of the kitchen and bedrooms.

Her 5-year-old son’s asthma, which had been dormant, came roaring back from the mold, according to Lopez. She said she complained to her landlord, who put a lamp-sized ventilation hole in the living room ceiling covered with metal grating, which she said made the dwelling frosty during the colder months.

After what she described as a fruitless back-and-forth with her landlord, who she claimed repeatedly painted over the mold, she called the housing inspector and left several messages that she said weren’t returned. Her final phone call was met with an automated voice telling her the message box was full, according to Lopez.

The heat only worked in her bedroom, she said, and the fluctuations between hot and cold exacerbated her child’s condition. The staff at a local clinic told her that her house, which she shared with her husband, two other children, mother and father-in-law, was affecting her child’s health. After much hand-wringing, she and her husband decided to break the lease with her landlord, who couldn’t be reached for comment.

Contention has often marked relations between landlords and tenants, who occupy about 42 percent of Portland’s housing. But as the Great Recession persists conflicts between the two have grown pricklier as money for housing inspectors has dried up.

As revenues have dropped off for the Bureau of Development Services, the city agency has had to lay off building inspectors who keep dwellings inhabitable by enforcing the city’s building code.

According to bureau spokesperson Ross Caron, housing inspectors have been reduced to five (about half) as a result of the cuts.

“We have experienced a slow down in our response time,” said Caron.
He explained that the bureau has prioritized complaints it receives. For instance, a tenant who complains about a serious problem, like a lack of heat or a broken refrigerator would receive more immediate attention than other types of complaints.

However, complaints that are somewhere in between in severity will be responded to in five to 10 days, he said. A landlord will have 30 days to correct the problems. If they don’t they will be assessed a fine that, depending on how many units are in the building, could be as high as $500 a month, which doubles after three months.

It’s difficult to get a snapshot of the state of Portland housing, but according to the U.S. Census over 70 percent of housing in Portland was built before 1970, which are more likely to be in disrepair.

According to Bureau of Development Services numbers, between July 1 and Aug. 27 it received 240 housing complaints, 65 percent of which came from rental properties.

“We get quite a few phone calls about [tenants having problems],” said Matt Kinshella, external relations coordinator for 211Info, a referral service that helps people navigate community and health services.

211Info received 616 calls regarding landlord/tenant issues so far for the current fiscal year, slightly up from last year. The zip code that generated the most calls was 97233, which encompasses part of outer southeast Portland and Gresham, which generated 78 calls. The next zip code was 97205, which encompasses part of downtown. It generated 50 calls.

Housing inspectors haven’t been the only ones inundated with calls for help. The Oregon Community Alliance of Tenants, a nonprofit that advises renters of their rights and responsibilities, also its hands full.

Housed in the basement of the St. Augustana Lutheran Church in northeast Portland, the alliance gets about 40 messages a day from distressed renters, which sometimes overwhelms its voicemail system according to Cristina Palacios, the safe housing coordinator for the organization.

At the alliance office, Palacios spends quite a bit of time on the phone fielding and responding to complaints.

She often gives tenants the number to the housing inspector, but said that’s seldom a straight-forward solution. The short-staffed bureau is having a hard time keeping up with complaints, said Palacios, and she suspects that landlords are aware of the situation and are using it to their advantage.

“It’s not a working system,” said Palacios of the remedies available to tenants.

Palacios said that housing advocates often encounter landlords who place their bottom line above the inhabitability of their properties, and put in the bare minimum maintenance on their rentals. Tenants who complain, said Palacios, are met with a common refrain: “If you don’t like it, leave.”

She described one mother who called whose daughter was hospitalized twice from mold, only to be told to leave by her landlord. Another mother would send her children to school without taking showers due to a lack of hot water. A diabetic man called in after his year’s supply of insulin spoiled from a broken refrigerator.

“My concern is how many tenants are going through this,” said Palacios.
Palacios said that there is gulf between landlords, who typically have more money and resources, and tenants, who may not even be aware of their rights, and may worry about retaliation if they exercise them.

Portland City Council has taken note of the issue, and taken some actions.
In 2008, City Council voted to accept the recommendations of the Quality Rental Housing Workgroup- a panel of landlords, tenant advocates, and government officials charged with examining the issue.

Their recommendations included clarifying portions of the city’s building code, upping penalties for bad landlords, establishing more proactive inspection practices, stabilizing funding for housing inspectors, and better educating both sides about their rights and responsibilities.

Since accepting the recommendations in principle, the City Council has followed up on some. Fines have been upped on landlords who drag their feet on repairs. The Bureau of Development Services also launched a housing inspections pilot program, where if inspectors saw enough code violations at a multi-dwelling complex, they would knock on other tenants’ doors to see if they wanted an inspection.

Caron explained that the idea behind this program is that it takes the pressure off tenants who might worry about provoking the ire of their landlord by initiating a complaint.

One recommendation that hasn’t been followed up on is a plan to stabilize funding for housing inspectors at the bureau.

The Quality Rental Housing Workgroup had initially called for a surcharge on each rental unit to be paid by the landlord to help keep building inspectors at the bureau. However, the idea stalled as the economy collapsed, according to Ty Kovatch- chief of staff to Commissioner Randy Leonard, who has been outspoken on the issue.

“It’s just not a good time to add more fees,” he said.

Event celebrates urban farming

Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside are among the musical performers scheduled to entertain at the Muddy Boot Organic Festival this weekend on the grounds of St. Philip Neri Chruch, 2408 S.E. 16th Ave.

Edible gardens, backyard livestock and community farming bring a down-home focus to this year’s Muddy Boot Organic Festival, returning to southeast Portland for its fifth annual “Soulful Celebration of Sustainable Living.”

This bustling regional festival kicks off Friday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m., with a keynote address by widely respected filmmakers and food and agriculture policy advocates Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney, the creative forces behind such films as King Corn, Big River, The Greening of Southie and the upcoming Truck Farm.

The festivities will continue Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 11 and 12, in a colorful sustainability-themed outdoor festival featuring live music; sustainably produced food, beer and wine; information booths and vendors selling green goods; educational workshops; discussion panels and fun activities for families and children.

Both the keynote address and outdoor festival take place on the grounds of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, 2408 S.E. 16th Ave.

The theme of this year’s event is “Nourishing Spirit: City to Farm,” embracing the festival’s mission of promoting sustainable living practices within our local communities, thereby enhancing the health of our world, our neighborhoods and ourselves.

More Information is available at muddyboot.org, or by calling 503-231-4955.

The North Portland Library welcomes women of color making zines, the name for self-published works.

Whether you currently publish a zine or have always dreamed of making one, learn, share and network with Tonya Jones to create a presence of women of color in the zine world.

Jones is a zinester who’s taught workshops for women of color at the Portland Zine Symposium and at Portland State University.

The 6th annual Zinesters Talking series, held at Multnomah County libraries through September and October, comes to the North Portland branch, 512 N. Killingsworth St., on Tuesday, Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m.

Area residents are invited to celebrate jazz with Portland’s premier jazz station, KMHD.

The public station will host a live performance at Pioneer Courthouse Square, downtown, with Jazz saxophonist Devin Phillips and his band, and tunes spun by a deejay, on Wednesday, Sept. 8 from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Besides the jolt of jazz, participants will also be offered a cup of coffee, a KMHD doughnut, and station souvenirs.

Writer and comic Lizz Winstead is best known for co-creating the “The Daily Show” and helping launch the career Stephen Colbert who went on to host “The Colbert Report.” She also co-hosted “Unfiltered” on Air America Radio with Chuck D and Rachel Maddow. Currently she’s working on “Wake up World,” an off-Broadway production that parodies morning shows.

Winstead, who will be in town this week, spoke to the Portland Observer about how satire is filling a void in the news, the lack of women on late night television, and more.

What’s your take on how Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are doing?
I think Stephen was a natural off-shoot. I think they’ve done an amazing job. Jon has just taken it and grown it, and followed the natural progression. As the media goes, so goes “The Daily Show.” The way they pick their targets is really great, and I couldn’t be happier. The kid grew up and went to Harvard.

Anything in particular?
In the beginning the executives wanted it to be part pop culture and part politics. I wasn’t a big fan of that. When Jon took over he took the mantle, and realized that the biggest target were those that abuse power, whether that be people in media, or elected officials, or corporate malfeasance. I think the thing that I like the most is that the show has really focused on the really big mess-ups.

A lot of people get their news and information from these shows. Do you think that satire is filling a void in journalism?
I definitely think it is. I read everything and watch everything, and I think it is absolutely asking questions and pointing out things that you just don’t see anymore. Journalism used to be the fourth estate, and now, it’s like ,what’s going on? We now have comedy as the watchdog of the watchdog, and I think that has been a real big role of Jon and Stephen, really watching the media and seeing where they drop the ball, and even if they were thrown the ball, and really calling them out. It’s a big service, through humor, to say hey, don’t believe everything you hear, and half of what you see, and sometimes none of what you see.

Can satire be a form of journalism?
I don’t know if can be a form of journalism because I think that the journalists I like are the journalists that do investigative work, and do their homework, and bring things to light. Satire responds more than it does journalistic work, and I think, often times, with “The Daily Show” you don’t see it breaking stories persee. I think the target, more than any other, is the way the media covers the big stories that people should know about. So I think that if journalism needs a watchdog, I think that that’s the best role for satire.

So this new project satires morning shows. Tell me about that.
It’s so crazy. There’s 27 hours a day of morning programs. I was so stunned by that, not to mention the big ones are out of the news division. That’s news division money! If you’re watching the fourth hour of “The Today Show” and it involves Kathy Lee, you’ve got to ask yourself if you need a fourth hour that involves Kathy Lee. What are they doing? What are they saying? Every story seems to have the same amount of weight, whether it be how to dye your pet to match your curtains, or an Afghanistan story. A lot of people wake up and get their news from those shows.

How’d you get the idea to do this show?
Well you know my career has been responding to the world and being a media critic, and it was a big worry that they [morning shows] had been left in the wind. I started watching them when I was getting up really early [to do a show] for Air America, and I watched the evolution of these shows. The most fascinating part of these shows is the amount of wondering out loud that is done that is presented as fact. Like if you watch “Fox and Friends”, and they’ll just say, “hmmm, maybe Obama never does go to church.” And that becomes “he never goes to church,” and that becomes “he never goes to church because he’s a Muslim,” and that becomes a conversation over whether the president is a Muslim. So it’s a pretty interesting phenomenon. Stephen sort of takes on the bloviating evening heads, and Jon takes on the news, and then we have this massive amount of information, or “info-news-ment,” as I like to call it that’s out there, which seems to be ripe for parody.

On this show you play a character who hosts “Wake up World” called Hope Jean Paul. How did you go about developing this character?
Well this character is sort of an amalgam of a lot of women that are on TV. She’s not one person. And I think the tone of the show is steeped in the idea that just having more stuff is good. It’s a really corporate focus. Everything needs a sponsor no matter what it is. So it’s very me, me, me. It’s also celebrity focused in the sense that if you’re rich and famous, you’re fine, and the stories you cover will have an angle so the corporate sponsor will be happy. Everything’s got some kind of Olive Garden sponsor of some kind. So we developed it really with that in mind. She was really a little bit of Elizabeth Hasselbeck, a little bit of Kelly Ripa, a little bit of Kathy Lee, a little bit of Gretchen Carlson- and I sort of took those women and melded them together into this weird cougar-esque woman who has zero self-awareness that she’s a woman in her 40s that’s fooling everyone into thinking she’s into her 30s and is hip, but is tragically not.

There’s a New York Times article that quotes Roseanne Barr saying the show has a feminist core. Does it?
Well, I think that it has a feminist-core in the sense that it has three women as leads, seven of the 10 writers are women. We usually have a fake expert who’s a woman, so it’s really driven by women to show how these morning shows are geared toward women, but are constantly trying to sell you things to make you thinner, and make you prettier, and make you younger. We try to expose, by becoming them, how they think of us basically as commodities that have such little strength in ourselves. So we need to look to them to buy our way, or alter our way to a better existence.

Why do you think there are so few women hosting late night shows. Why do you think that is?
You know what, that’s a really good question, and I don’t know the answer to it because there are so many women that would be amazing at late night hosting. I don’t have an answer to it, other than it feels like they [producers] try someone who doesn’t work, whether it be a woman or person of color, and they think this doesn’t work and they go back to their traditional white guy. If a white guy show fails, no one says a white guy show doesn’t work, but that does seem to be a pattern that they cling to. It never occurs to me that maybe they made the wrong choice with that particular person. They blame it on the gender or the color.

Lizz Winstead will be performing at the Alberta Rose Theatre Saturday, September 11.

Karis Stoudamire-Phillips (left) and Serena Ashley of the Portland chapter of the Links, together with Ashley’s children, Sinclair and Sierra, volunteer for a Back to School supplies drive at Madison High School in northeast Portland. Photo bv Mark Washington.

For many years the Portland Chapter of the Links, Inc. has supported the community by securing school supplies for their annual Back to School Drive organized by their Services to Youth Committee.

This year, under the leadership of Links Karis Stoudamire-Phillips and Kimberly Matier the committee is partnering with Schoolhouse Supplies, a free supply store for teachers in the Portland Public School district, by joining their “Tools for Schools” program.

The organizations involved in this program adopt a high-need Portland Public school and provide each student with a backpack full of school supplies.

The Portland Chapter of the Links has adopted Rosemary Anderson High School for the 2010-2011 school year.

By seeking corporate sponsorships, support from Links supporters and Links members, the chapter plans to provide a backpack full of school supplies for 100 students at the northeast Portland school.

Members of the organization and other volunteers packed the backpacks on Thursday at Schoolhouse Supplies which is located on the campus of Madison High School, 2735 N.E. 82nd Ave. The backpacks will be distributed to Rosemary Anderson students on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at their “Back to School” celebration.

‘Urban Bridges’ builds confidence

Kelvin Bellum receives his certificate of graduation from Urban Bridges founder and director Patricia Feathers. Photo by Drew Dakessian.

Drew Dakessian

On the corner of Northeast Prescott Street, there is a bridge unlike the many other bridges present in the city. This one does not straddle water, but rather links who disadvantaged youth with their greater potential.

The place is Urban Bridges, a non-profit life skills academy started by local modeling instructor Patricia Feathers in 2006, where kids are taught to respect themselves and others by learning good manners and confidence.

Children are divided into what Feathers has determined to be age-appropriate classes, which run for five-weeks. At the end of the class, Feathers takes the kids on a field trip to Stanford’s Restaurant at the Lloyd Center, where they put their new-found knowledge about dining etiquette to use.

The majority of participants are male, which Feathers explains is because once young men reach high school they are at risk of succumbing to gangs. When they enter the program, they slouch in their chairs, are clad in sloppy attire and banter in language laden with street slang. But by graduation, they have undergone dramatic metamorphoses.

At a graduation ceremony for one summer class, 14-year-old Kelvin Bellum is behaving strangely. His clothes are clean and pressed and his persona seems to be that of a perfect gentleman, but he is clutching at the leg of his pants, hobbling around the academy. Feathers reveals that Kelvin had just been bitten by a pit bull, and while he sustained no lasting injuries, there now is a hole in his pants. But Kelvin has just spent five weeks learning that a respectful gentleman wears only clothes that are intact, so he has been trying to conceal the hole.

Laughing, Feathers explains to him that given the circumstances, there is an exception to this rule. At this, Kelvin removes his hand from his pants, and stands ramrod.

“Our children learn a lot of really valuable skills here,”says Feathers, pointing to a picture of a six-year-old boy striking a pose, who went on to make it big in Hollywood. “He has a lot of charisma, very outgoing…he has no problem in California,”says Feathers.

Girls likewise benefit from Urban Bridges and its variety of offerings, which include modeling classes, personal grooming tips, and job interview training. At the graduation ceremony, Lundyn Warren’s poise is perfect, and she carries herself with aplomb well beyond her 12 years.

Unlike other finishing schools, says Feathers, Urban Bridges is a non-profit. Though there is a fee, at $300, it is comparatively low.

“We never turn a family away because they cannot afford it,” she says, as long as “they can prove that they really are having a financial hardship.”

Feathers and her husband often pay out-of-pocket to put needy children through the academy and to fund the academy at large. For that reason, Feathers says, she is “desperately trying to find funders, donations, and board members that just love children.”

In these hard economic times, willingly going “into the hole” is practically unheard of. But Feathers says the impact that Urban Bridges can have on a child, and by extension, a whole community, is worth it.

“It’s truly a passion and a dream come true. I always wanted to give back to children and help them to be…the best…that they can possibly be.”

For more information, call Urban Bridges at 503-493-9436 or visit UrbanBridges.org.

Park ban targets trouble

Anyone excluded from the New Columbia housing development in north Portland would automatically be banned from adjacent McCoy Park under a new ordinance passed by the Portland City Council. Photo by Mark Washington.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

The repercussions of two summer shootings at New Columbia has resulted in a new city ordinance that excludes anyone from the neighborhood’s adjacent park who have also been banned from the housing development.

New Columbia is an innovative housing development in north Portland that blends rental and owner-occupied properties on the remains of Columbia Villa, a World War II era public housing project.

Residents of the neighborhood, which was reopened in 2005, have strived to get past a troubled past that included gang violence, and chart a positive course for the experimental community. But the recent shootings raised fresh concerns that past gang activity was returning.

Before the ordinance was passed last week, people who were excluded from New Columbia could easily migrate to McCoy Park, a nearly four acre park in the center of the housing development. It meant that someone could be banned from New
Columbia, which is operated by the Housing Authority of Portland, for peddling drugs, attempting to establish a gang presence, or generally decreasing the livability of the area, and then simply take a few steps to McCoy Park, which is operated by Portland Parks and Recreation, and be in the clear.

“In other words, they have been able to use McCoy Park as a sanctuary or safe haven and remain in the middle of the community that they’ve just been excluded from,” said Mark Warrington, public safety manager for the parks bureau, at the City Council hearing for the ordinance

Mike Schmerber, a north Portland police officer, told City Council that there are several individuals who have been excluded from New Columbia for weapons violations, robberies, and gang ties, who have been able to find sanctuary in the park.

Exclusions have been useful for police, said Schmerber, because they can arrest people banned from New Columbia for trespassing, instead of waiting for them to commit a crime.

“That’s a powerful tool,” he said.

The New Columbia Homeowners Association supports the new ordinance, as does the housing bureau and the city Office of Neighborhood Involvement.

However, City Commissioner Randy Leonard expressed misgiving about this approach.

“These folks aren’t going to just say, well, I’m going to quit robbing people and hanging out with gangs,” said Leonard.

He brought up how the city has tried prostitution-free and drug-free zones that banish anyone from them that is suspected of the prohibited activity. He said that such individuals just migrate elsewhere, and a better approach has been to get them into treatment.

“My issue, and my sole issue, is what I don’t like to see us do is make one community feel better to the expense of another community,” he said.

Leonard, however, ended up voting with the rest of City Council in favor of the ordinance given the community’s unique challenges.

Ida Cunningham, a resident of New Columbia who lives across the street from McCoy Park, told City Council that the neighborhood has come a long way, but still has to grapple with old problems.

“Because once upon a time it was Columbia Villa, and it was a bad zone territory, a bad zone territory,” she said.

Cunningham said the park is where she takes her puppy on walks and sees kids playing.

She said that a shooting occurred in front of her house in the park. She later found out the people involved didn’t live in New Columbia, and wants the park to remain safe.

Nick Fish, the commissioner in charge of the parks bureau, said he appreciated the concerns raised by Leonard, and would report back to City Council in six months on how the exclusion is working.

Reo’s thrives despite complaints, racial barbs

Reo’s Ribs owner Reo Varnado is surrounded by his employees at his soul food and Mississippi barbecue restaurant on Southwest Macadam Avenue. Photo by Mark Washington.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Last April, Reo Varnado opened the doors to his rib joint in a location that he thought would be ideal.

Since opening up Reo’s Ribs Restaurant and Catering in a small retail strip on Southwest Macadam Avenue, he said that business has been good, with customers flocking to his nationally-recognized eatery to buy barbecue, fried okra, and sweet potato pie.

However, relations with the neighbors haven’t been as rosy.

Varnado cooks his meats in two large outdoor barbecues that constantly billow out smoke, to the ire of nearby residents and other businesses.

He said that conflict with neighbors has steadily escalated, but he’s determined to keep his eatery open and thriving.

Varnado, the uncle of hip hop legend Snoop Dog, originally opened up his restaurant off of TV Highway in Aloha in 1999. He received a favorable write-up in both the Oregonian and Gourmet Magazine, which called his barbecued meats some of the best west of Chicago.

After the lease expired, Varnado decided it was time to move on. He was considering a move back to his native Mississippi after having a hard time finding a suitable place to set up shop, until he came across the current property at 6141 S.W. Macadam Avenue. He and his business partner, Myra Girod, secured the property and opened its doors last spring.

Neighbors have complained to local media that the smoke has diminished the livability of their homes. According to Varnado, a wine shop in the retail strip, which did not return a call for comment by press time, has complained that customers are unhappy about the smoky flavor of their wine. Neighbors also have grips about live music played at the barbecue joint on the weekends.

“I can’t go to work happy. I have to watch my back everyday,” said Varnado, who asked the Portland police to periodically check up on him.

He said that his tires to his car have been slashed, and the barbecue has been vandalized. Varnado also said that people have entered the restaurant during business hours cursing at him and demanding money back. He claims people have tried to provoke fights with him. He also said he has been verbally harassed by passersby who say they are determined to force him out, and people will take his picture and then run off. One evening, he said, someone followed him all the way to his northeast Portland home.

The smell of smoke is present the minute you pull into the parking lot at the southwest eatery. Inside, Varnado banter with a customer about making sweet tea, while employees scurry about carrying plates of barbecue. Two large portraits of Snoop Dog adorn the walls.

Varnado has three pitch-black barbecues that he uses oak, black walnut, and fruit wood to heat, saying enhances the flavor of the meat. He seldom uses the largest of his barbecues- which is easily longer than 12 feet, higher than 6, and is adorned with an ornate “Reo’s Ribs”- because it particularly upsets neighbors.

“All hell breaks loose,” said Varnado, still wearing a hairnet and apron while taking a break to feast on a plate of fried cat fish and salad.

Stephanie Andersen, the manager of a Quiznos sandwich shop in the complex, said that the constant smoke is a health issue, particularly for people with bad allergies.

Varnado said that he’s working on making upgrades to his equipment to decrease the smoke. He also has a big folder documenting correspondence between him, the landlord, and city bureaucrats- all of which proves, according to Varnado, that he’s not doing anything wrong.

Brad Nase, who manages the property, said that Varnado is making upgrades to the barbecues, which he said are already making a difference.

Andersen said that she wants to have a more cordial relationship, and hopes that this will resolve the issue.

But in the meantime, Varnado said he’s been viciously abused by people bothered by the smoke.

“It’s just been nasty people everyday,” he said.

Varnado, who is African American, said that he suspects the harassment is racially motivated, and will continue even if the smoke issue is resolved.

Andersen said that she hasn’t heard anything about the escalation of the harassment, and denies that there is a racial component to the conflict.

But despite the problems, Varnado said that business has remains solid, and he is undaunted by the conflict.

“I’m going to keep on cooking,” he said.

Social, environment activists at work

Jeremy Hays of the group Green for All reaches out to Cully neighbors on an initiative to make the northeast neighborhood more energy efficient and create new green jobs. Photo courtesy of Christian Columbres.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

The Cully neighborhood in northeast Portland will be getting a little bit more energy efficient thanks to the work of social and environmental activists.

The “Changing the Climate in Cully” initiative, sponsored by the Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good- a network of 17 labor, faith, and community organizations- seeks to connect residents of the area with a program that will lower their energy bills while creating decent jobs.

Clean Energy Works Portland, a pilot program launched by the City of Portland, helps homeowners make upgrades to their houses that conserve energy, while lowering their energy bills and impact on the planet. Since last month, the activists have been working to connect residents of the Cully neighborhood with the program.

“We are not an environmental organization, we are a social justice organization,” said Mary Nemmers, the lead organizer with the alliance.

Nemmers explained that her organization was particularly interested in Clean Energy Works Portland for several reasons. Workers who make houses more energy efficient do so by putting in new insulation, and better furnaces and water heaters. They also make living wages and receive health benefits while for doing the work, which is an aspect of the program that the alliance found appealing, according to Nemmers. The program has already created jobs for 17 people and sustained another 16.

Nemmers said that her organization targeted the neighborhood because it has many houses that were built before 1995, and it also has many middle-income households. According to a survey conducted by the Cully Neighborhood Association in conjunction with researchers at Portland State University, 21 percent of residents in the neighborhood make between $35,000 to $49,000. Multnomah County has a weatherization program for low-income people, leaving little help for middle-income people.

“We knew that it was a neighborhood that didn’t have a lot of targeted benefits,” said Nemmers.

Homeowners who use the program can finance the costs of the energy upgrades by adding them onto their energy bill, which will decrease because their homes will use less energy.

Kathy Fuerstenau, the chair of the Cully Neighborhood Association, said the program is a great opportunity for residents, and the association has helped out by mentioning it in the association’s newsletter. The association also helped sponsor a kick-off event for the campaign late last month that drew 300 residents.

“We wanted a neighborhood-based approach,” said Nemmers.

The Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good has put door hangers on every door in the neighborhood promoting the program, and volunteers regularly canvass. An informational session is held every Tuesday from 7-8 p.m. at Riggler Elementary School.

Clean Energy Works Portland and the Changing the Climate in Cully initiative both had some help from Green for All, a national organization seeking to establish a green economy that will lift people out of poverty.

According to Jeremy Hays, director of special projects for Green for All, helped facilitate the stakeholder process with Clean Energy Works Portland, partnering it with it organizations that would help train and hire minority and disadvantaged people into jobs retrofitting houses.

Hays, who was in town for the Cully initiative kickoff, said that about 30 percent of work was being done by disadvantaged people.

“It’s a leading light for the rest of the country,” said Hays of the program. “Portland’s really out in front.”

He said there is no shortage of older homes in need of weatherization, calling it “a problem that we’d be glad to have.”

In addition to weatherization, Hays said that there are other fairly simple things that can be done to create green jobs. He pointed to the Solarize Northeast project, where residents buy solar panels for their homes in bulk and split up the installation costs. He said that installing bioswales, which absorb storm runoff water, are also a good way to reduce costs associated with treating water while creating more jobs.

“This transition to a green economy is going to be a lot of work,” he said.

Explosive gang violence prompts action

Police said a man was shot in the face around 1 a.m. on Friday in the vicinity of North Interstate Avenue and Skidmore Street . It was the ninth suspected gang shooting over a wide geographical area of north, northeast and southeast Portland over a three day period. Photo by Mark Washington.

In response to nine shootings in which three people were shot and injured over a three day period last week, Portland Mayor Sam Adams has proposed a set of ordinances intended to keep illegal firearms out of the hands of offenders and off the street.

Police suspect the shootings in north, northeast, and southeast Portland were gang related. Eight of them occurred in the course of 24 hours.

Adams said he began preparing the initiatives shortly after taking over the Portland Police Bureau last spring. They would impose a curfew for juveniles who’ve violated gun laws in the past, create the new crimes of failing keep firearms from children and failing to report the loss or theft of a firearm, increase the penalties for the possession of a loaded firearm in public, and exclude people who have been convicted of illegal firearm use for areas of the city where the problem is particularly acute- with some variances.

“The illegal use of firearms is a long-standing community in the City of Portland. Changes to federal and state gun laws are needed,” said Adams in a prepared statement.

Adams mentioned that firearms are primarily regulated at the state and federal levels, leaving local governments with few resources. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Chicago’s ban on hand guns was essentially unconstitutional, significantly limiting the ability of local governments to regulate firearms.

“In the meantime, due to lax gun safety law, cities like Portland get caught in the crossfire: literally and tragically,” Adams added.

For the next two weeks, Adams will be soliciting input for the initiatives before drafting ordinances that will be drafted into ordinances and brought before City Council. During that time he is soliciting public comment, which can be sent to mayorsam@portlandoregon.gov by Sept. 3.

Shortly after Adams made the announcement, the Oregon Firearms Federation released a particularly venomous statement opposing the initiatives. Calling the mayor’s proposals a “PR stunt” that violates state law, the organization predicted that they would backfire.

There is already a law on the books that places a curfew on teenagers.

Although the exact language of the initiatives is still being hammered out, the City of Portland has run into problems in past years with drug or prostitution-free zones that attempt to exclude anyone associated with those activities from a given area. Critics have decried that approach as not only ineffective, but unconstitutional, and challenged them in court.

It’s unclear if the initiative that excludes people who’ve violated gun laws from areas suffering from high gun crime could be similarly challenged.

Guide is resource for novices and experts

Controlling stormwater runoff and directing it to home landscaping sites can produce beautiful “rain gardens,” like the landscaping above at the Humboldt Gardens housing site in north Portland.

If you have a lemon, make lemonade. In Oregon, if you have excess rainwater, make a rain garden.

The Oregon Rain Garden Guide, produced by Oregon State University, is the state’s first stormwater management resource for both novices and expert landscapers.

An increasing number of Oregonians are disconnecting downspouts, building rain collection barrels and planting rain gardens to harvest water from their businesses, schools and front yards. Rain gardens are sunken beds that absorb and treat stormwater runoff from rooftops, driveways and other paved surfaces. The landscaping intercept runoff to reduce floods, recharge drinking water – and filter oil, garden chemicals and other pollutants. Rain gardens also provide wildlife habitat.

“Rain gardens are the workhorses of low impact development,” said Robert Emanuel, an OSU Extension specialist who co-authored the rain garden guide.

The 44-page publication is available for $4.95, but it is also available for free online.

Cyndi Lauper final act in zoo series

The Oregon Zoo summer concert series, presented by NW Natural, ends with a fun-filled performance Wednesday, Sept. 1, when Cyndi Lauper takes the stage as part of her national Memphis Blues tour.

Lauper burst onto the music scene in 1984 with her instant hit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” and has since been wowing fans and critics alike. She became the first female artist in history to have five Top 10 singles from a debut album with “She’s So Unusual,” and she has been nominated for 13 Grammys, two Emmys, two American Music Awards, seven American Video Awards and 18 MTV Awards.

“After more than 25 years, Lauper’s music is still fresh and exciting,” said Krista Swan, the zoo’s event coordinator. “This Memphis Blues tour will introduce fans to a whole new side of Cyndi.”

First known for her new-wave, postpunk pop hits, Lauper has evolved into a multifaceted renaissance woman. In June, she released her 11th studio album, “Memphis Blues,” a bold collection of blues covers featuring appearances by Allen Toussaint, B.B. King, Johnny Lang and others.

Blues-harp legend Charlie Musselwhite will open for Lauper. Musselwhite, largely credited with inspiring Dan Aykroyd’s Elwood character in the Blues Brothers, is a harmonica virtuoso with 26 albums and more than 40 years of performing under his belt.

Tickets for the concert can be purchased at the Oregon Zoo for $27 each. Tickets can also be purchased (with service charge) at all Ticketmaster ticket outlets.