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Running Out
of Gas?
What do John McCain, Bill Bradley and Oregon truckers have
to do with whether Portland Public Schools can hire new
teachers? A lot, according to backers of the campaign to
raise local property taxes for schools.
Political strategist Mark Wiener says polls suggest that
a majority of voters support Ballot Measure 26-2, the so-called
"local option," which could raise $78 million over the next
five years to hire teachers, buy books and revive arts programs.
The problem, however, is that the votes won't count unless
a majority of registered voters return their mail-in ballots.
That's because a 1996 ballot measure requires a turnout
of at least 50 percent to pass taxes.
By floating a ballot measure in the May primary rather
than waiting for the general election in November, the district
gambled on high interest in the presidential primary race
and controversy over the gas tax to draw interest. Last
month McCain and Bradley dropped out of the presidential
derby, and last week proponents of the gas-tax measure,
backed by the trucking industry, called it quits.
"First the presidential primaries turned into a non-event,"
Wiener says, "and now they've pulled the plug on the gas
tax."
While the gamble to put the local option on the May ballot
now seems risky, school board member Ron Saxton says that
waiting until November would have forced the district to
compete with several other ballot measures and pushed any
extra money into another school year.
As it stands, volunteers at the Portland Public Schools
Foundation are wearing out phones and will soon be going
door-to-door to get out the vote. "I'm less worried about
whether people will vote 'yes' or 'no,"' says Saxton, "than
I am about whether they'll vote at all."
--Nigel Jaquiss
Keeping Their
Perch
At the one-year anniversary of the Eagle timber sale tree
sit, the protesters show no sign of coming home soon. Since
Earth Day weekend 1999, a loose-knit coalition of direct-action
greens has been staffing the trees in an attempt to prevent
logging in a remote section of the Clackamas River Watershed.
But last week, Harv Forsgren, the new head honcho for the
Mount Hood National Forest, said logging will go on as planned
this summer. That was a blow for the tree people, who had
pinned their hopes on the new boss. Just before the decision
was made, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and Reps. Earl Blumenauer
and David Wu sent a letter to Forsgren, reminding him the
decision was in his hands and urging him to reassess the
sale.
The Eagle sales were purchased by Vanport Manufacturing
Inc. of Boring under the notorious salvage rider in 1996,
which shielded sales from legal challenges. Since then,
environmentalists have tried every available tactic to protect
the virgin forest. Vanport owner Adolph Hertrich has postponed
cutting in some of the more sensitive areas because he wants
out of the sale as well. Now, however, his contract with
the Forest Service may force him to log.
That's because after reviewing the sale, Forsgren determined
that it was a good example of the 1994 Northwest Forest
Plan and shouldn't be canceled.
For their part, the protesters have pledged to continue
their vigil. Last summer, in addition to the tree sit, there
was a massive blockade on an access road and several teach-ins.
"This decision means we're going to continue to do what
we do best," says Cascadia Forest Alliance spokesman Donald
Fontenot, "and that's to shine the light on forest practices
on public lands."
Cascadia is holding a noon rally in Pioneer Courthouse
Square on May 12. There will be music by Pink Martini and
a speech by City Commissioner Erik Sten, who wants the sale
canceled. At this point, however, it isn't clear what can
be done to stop the logging, short of an order from Congress.
--Patty Wentz
Wobblies Topple
Harry's Mother
The Industrial Workers of the World have scored their first
Portland certification victory in almost 20 years, defeating
that noted paragon of capitalism, Harry's Mother--a nonprofit
homeless shelter.
The April 7 certification vote was not an outright victory
for the IWW, a.k.a. the Wobblies, who are dedicated to the
abolition of the wage system and the overthrow of capitalism.
Although the union won the election at Harry's Mother by
a margin of 7 votes to 4, it also lost a vote 9 to 8 at
the Street Light Youth Shelter. Both shelters are run by
Janus Youth Programs, a local nonprofit social-service agency
targeting high-risk adolescents, which employs 175 people.
Unsurprisingly, the issue in both elections was money,
money, money. Substitute workers at Harry's Mother are paid
as little as $7.50 an hour, according to union supporter
Bill Bradley, while full-time counselors are paid between
$8.25 and $9 an hour. Bradley and other supporters say that
a living wage in Portland is at least $10.60 an hour.
As WW went to press, management officials at Harry's
Mother were unavailable for comment. But the union drive
appears to follow a recent trend in the social-service world,
with similar efforts at the Parry Center, Central City Concern,
Mental Health Services West and several group homes for
the mentally disabled.
--Chris Lydgate
No Free Park-ing
The Portland Public School District may finally be getting
serious about its surplus buildings--and it could cost the
city money.
Pam Brown, director of facilities for the schools, says
the gyms, classrooms and buildings it allows the city's
Parks and Recreation Department to use cost PPS $2.8 million
a year in maintenance, utilities and depreciation. The schools
don't get a dime in return. What's more, says school board
vice-chairman Marc Abrams, the city charges some of the
people who use the donated school space. "They're making
a profit off of us," Abrams says.
None of this would matter if the schools weren't perennially
short of cash--and also under heavy pressure to rationalize
their real-estate holdings. Even though enrollment has dropped
25 percent in the past three decades, the district operates
nearly the same amount of square footage.
School board member Ron Saxton argues that the picture
is complicated by heavy community use of school properties.
The city "has filled those buildings with programs that
make them very difficult to close," Saxton says.
Since 1984, the schools and the city have shared parks
and buildings under a joint-use agreement, but now district
officials want a full review of that arrangement to make
sure it's fair.
In each of the past six years, the city has come forward
at budget time with millions to cover school-funding shortfalls,
but there's no indication that such money will be available
in the current budget cycle.
Abrams says much of the city's contributions were actually
payment for school district lands. In any case, district
officials are weary of groveling for cash while subsidizing
community use of the district's buildings. "It weakens us
to be perceived in that fashion," Abrams says.
Saxton says the district simply cannot afford to continue
subsidizing so many buildings. "A year from now, I personally
would favor closing four to five schools--or getting someone
else to pay for them," he says.
David Judd, a top aide in the city parks bureau, acknowledges
the schools' funding crunch but says that facilities sharing
is a two-way street. "We provide swimming pools and fields
and facilities to the schools' athletic teams," he says.
"For every service that they offer, we offer something in
exchange."
--Nigel Jaquiss
Plenty
of Blood in the Water
Just two years ago, the car title loan business was so
new to Oregon that regulators didn't keep track of how many
loans the industry made ("Shark Attack," WW, Sept.
2, 1998).
But after recently compiling the numbers for 1999, Jim
Krueger of the state's Department of Finance and Corporate
Securities could barely believe his eyes: Title lenders
doled out 30,825 loans last year, totaling nearly $13 million.
"I was stunned at the numbers," Krueger says.
Part of the reason for Krueger's surprise is that the title
lenders charge crushing annual interest rates--as high as
300 percent. Several legislative attempts to limit short-term
lending rates got torched in the 1999 legislative session,
and Krueger faces strong opposition to various rule changes
that he has proposed.
As impressive--or depressing--as the growth in title lending
is, the industry has a long way to go to catch up with so-called
payday loans, which are short-term, high-interest advances
against borrowers' paychecks. Last year, according to Krueger's
figures, such loans totaled nearly $64 million in Oregon.
Short-term lenders say the growth in their industry simply
proves there's a big demand for their services, but Jason
Reynolds of the Oregon Consumer League doesn't see it that
way. "It's not a service if you're charging someone 300 percent
interest," Reynolds says. "It's economic slavery."
--Nigel Jaquiss
Murmurs
HEARSAY
AND IDOL GOSSIP
Is Portland Parks Director Charles Jordan heading
to Baltimore? The weekly Balti-more Press reported
that a city-appointed parks committee there wants Jordan.
"That's news to us," says Jordan aide Zari Santner. So it
must just be a coincidence that Jordan will be strutting
his stuff in Baltimore at the end of the month, when he
will speak at a national conference on urban parks.
Local legend Obo Addy has made the Smithsonian.
He's one of five musicians featured on Safarini in Transit:
Music of African Immigrants, a new compilation from
culture-chronicling powerhouse Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
Gail Achterman, the environmental lawyer from Stoel
Rives who has made a career of challenging environmental
regulations for business, is looking to switch sides. Achterman,
briefly in the running for secretary of state last year,
has applied to be director of State Parks and Recreation.
She told Murmurs that the state parks can be an example
of fish stewardship, and she wants to switch teams to work
on the positive.
As promised, City Commis-sioner Dan Saltzman is
getting fired up to refer three charter reforms to the November
ballot. One would give commissioners authority to fire bureau
managers hired after 2000--clearly a reaction to his inability
to oust 911 boss Sherrill Whittemore. The other two would
be a tougher sell because of inevitable police and fire
union opposition. One would bring new cops and firefighters
into the state, rather than city, retirement system. The
other would require city employees filing mental-health
or stress disability claims to do so within three years.
When state utility regulators dinged US West for
overcharging earlier this month, it was good news for consumers,
who will get a credit of $118 apiece. But it was also bad
news for the City of Portland, which saw its utility-tax
revenue reduced proportionately. The company had asked for
a $6 million rebate, but officials think it should be much
less. Now US West wants to let a court decide.
Tax Day Drama (True Story!)
As last-minute taxpayers drove up to University Post Office
curbside station to drop off their returns, a protester
clad in robes and kaffiyeh brandished a shepherd's crook
and a sheaf of flyers.
Shepherd: (Gesturing to taxpayer to roll down the
window) Do you want to learn how to never file taxes
again?
Taxpayer: (Grimly) No.
Shepherd: OK, the fleecing station's over there.
(Taxpayer drove off.) Have you seen the movie The
Matrix? Go see The Matrix, then you'll understand!
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