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Portland City Hall Comes to Aid of Dreamers
The Portland City Council is preparing to spend up to $50,000 to help undocumented immigrants who arrived in this country as children stay in the U.S. The money would help immigrants seeking to renew their reprieves from deportation granted under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program before the Oct. 5 deadline the Trump administration created when it announced plans this month to phase out the program. The resolution, proposed by City Commissioner Nick Fish, is expected to pass next week. "You can feel so helpless," says DACA recipient Mariana Garcia Medina, 22, a staffer in Fish's office who helped prepare the resolution. "It's nice to know there's something we can do within our limited power." Garcia Medina, who grew up in Tigard after arriving in the U.S. at age 3, is currently awaiting a response to her own application to renew her DACA status.
Nightclub Owners Sue City Over Sprinklers
Landlords of 14 Portland nightclubs, including Dante's, the Dixie Tavern and Silverado, filed a lawsuit Sept. 25 against the city of Portland, alleging it overstepped its authority in imposing a 2013 ordinance mandating sprinkler systems, and then compounded the damages by applying the ordinance inequitably ("Hot in Here," WW, July 6, 2016). The lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on behalf of the three club owners, their companies and other nightclubs, claims the city's actions were "uneven, unfair, unpredictable, arbitrary and capricious," and seeks $750,000 in damages. The City Attorney's Office declined to comment.
Portland Meadows Still Playing Poker With State
The battle over the legality of commercial poker in Portland continues. The Oregon Lottery and Portland Meadows remain at loggerheads over the racetrack's desire to host poker and remain a lottery retailer. In July, the lottery canceled the contract that allows Portland Meadows to have 10 video poker terminals, more than any other location in the state. The cancellation came after Oregon State Police investigations found Meadows' poker games appeared to violate state and local gambling laws ("Burning Down the House, WW, March 22, 2017). Meadows now has until Oct. 30 to agree to follow all laws, appeal that cancellation in court or give up its lottery contract, which in 2016 generated $1.83 million in revenue for the state and nearly $350,000 in commissions for Meadows.
Condo Owners Stage HOA Coup
Condo owners in the Cedar Mill neighborhood have won a reprieve from the new fees that many feared would drive them from their homes ("Trouble in the Village," WW, Sept. 20, 2017). On Sept. 21, at the annual meeting of the Westlake Village Condominium Homeowners Association, the group calling itself Save Westlake Village took over all five positions on the HOA board. They intend to rescind the fees the previous board imposed to pay for a $6.4 million renovation project for the 200-unit complex.