I-5 Scar of Displacement Revisited

I-5 Scar of Displacement Revisited

Black History Month PO QR code ‘City of www.portlandobserver.com Volume XLVV • Number 4 Roses’ Wednesday • February 24, 2021 Committed to Cultural Diversity I-5 Scar of Displacement Revisited ODOT takes another look at Rose Quarter project BY BEVERLY CORBELL A swath Portland centered at Broadway and Weidler is cleared for construction of the I-5 freeway in this 1962 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER photo from the Eliot Neighborhood Association. Even many of the homes still standing were later lost to In June of last year, the nonprofit Albina Vision Trust demolition as the historic African American neighborhood was decimated over the 1960s and early 1970s, not sent an email to the Oregon Department of Transportation only for I-5, but to make room for the Memorial Coliseum, its parking lots, the Portland Public School’s Blanchard withdrawing support for its proposed I-5 Rose Quarter Im- Building, I-405 ramps, and Emanuel Hospital’s expansion. provement Project, which would reconfigure a 1.8-mile stretch of I-5 between the Interstate 84 and Interstate 405 the grassroots effort that began in 2017 to remake the Rose interchanges. Quarter district into a fully functioning neighborhood, em- According to Winta Yohannes, Albina Vision’s manag- bracing its diverse past and re-creating a landscape that can ing director, the proposal didn’t go far enough to mitigate accommodate much more than its two sports and entertain- the harm done to the Black community in the Albina neigh- ment venues, but with several officials, including Mayor borhood when hundreds, maybe thousands, of homes and Ted Wheeler, also dropping support for the project. businesses were bulldozed and the land was sold to make The state transportation agency, however, listened, said way for I-5, Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Veterans Me- ODOT project manager Megan Channell, and now is doing morial Coliseum and other urban renewal projects. things very differently. “Despite our good faith efforts, we do not see our en- “This was a direct response to the community input we gagement resulting in meaningful changes to the project of its anticipated outcomes,” Yohannes wrote. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 At particular issue was the potential, encouraged by Albina Vision, for buildable caps, or covers, to be placed When ODOT offered the possibility of open outdoor over certain portions of I-5 that would allow construction plazas as caps over I-5 at the Rose Quarter in a of apartments and businesses. At the time ODOT was pro- new plan to increase the lanes of travel on the jecting a cost of $795 million, but said the cost would be freeway, the proposal drew wide opposition for not significantly higher if the covers allowed buildable con- addressing the economic development needs of the struction. historic African American community which was first Pushback was swift, not only from Albina Vision Trust, displaced by the freeway nearly 50 years ago. Decorated Trimet Bus Honors Black History TriMet honors Black History Month with a newly painted bus featuring local and national leaders who have helped lead the march toward racial justice. The individuals include Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, the late Portland pastor Rev. T. Allen Bethel, Oregon’s first Black woman legislator, Margaret Carter, and Portland’s first Black woman City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. The bus will be rolling throughout the Portland metro area for the next nine months. Page 2 February 24, 2021 Named Youth of the Year TreNisha Shearer honored for giving back TreNisha Shearer, a senior at to give back to the community ship program, participated in a De LaSalle North Catholic High upon being presented the award club internship in partnership School and a youth volunteer at in late January. with the Portland Timbers, and the Boys & Girls Club in New “I have witnessed the con- created a short film, Black ‘Till Columbia, has been named nection that can be formed be- It’s Backwards. 2021 Youth of the Year for the tween club members and staff. Along with the title, Shearer organization’s Portland metro Seeing these connections and received a $1,000 scholarship area. knowing how big of an impact and will represent the Portland Shearer has been a member the club has on people such as Metro Clubs at the Oregon State of the Regence Portland Boys myself,” Shearer said. Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the & Girls Club in north Portland Over the course of the teen- Year competition in April. She for 12 years. ager’s time at the club, she has has plans to attend Georgia State She shared her motivation traveled to Atlanta for a leader- University and study business TreNisha Shearer, a senior at De LaSalle North Catholic High School, has been named 2021 Youth of the Year by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metro area. management after graduation. were runners-up to the Youth of Six other outstanding club the Year title and each received members in the Portland area $500 scholarships. Rethink Police Panel Forms Group forms to shape oversight The Portland City Council is now accepting applications for Rethink Police Accountability, a volunteer group that will shape the framework and structure of a new police oversight committee approved by 82% of voters last November. The process will be community driven and members of the group will be composed of community justice organizations, small busi- nesses impacted by community Jo Ann Hardesty safety issues, and people from must happen as we rethink over-policed communities, such community safety in Portland,” as Black, Indigenous and People said City Commissioner Jo Ann of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, Hardesty. “An important piece refugees, people living with of building trust in our police low-income, experiencing house- bureau will be a system of over- lessness, and/or mental health or sight and accountability with a substance use, officials said. structure that centers the com- Membership on the panel is an munity the police are sworn to opportunity for people who want protect and serve.” to have an impact on future poli- Mayor Ted Wheeler said its cies and practices related to police clear Portland wants a new and reform. Potential members who improved police oversight sys- are innovative, collaborative, and tem and that they want regular equity-focused or who like the Portlanders involved in making idea of building something from it happen. scratch are encouraged to apply. “The city is responding to that Those selected should also plan clear demand,” he said. I encour- for a committed minimum of age people who are innovative four hours a month and to meet and dedicated to equity to apply monthly on Zoom for 18 months, to help us construct a new evolu- officials added. tion of community safety rooted “We have a lot of work and in improved trust, transparency, community conversations that and accountability.” February 24, 2021 Page 3 INSIDE L OCA L N EWS The in Week Review page 4 METRO page 8 The Portland Street Response team doing outreach in the Lents neighborhood of southeast Portland. Street Team Dispatched First calls taken for non-police crisis unit The pilot Portland Street Re- pilot location because it is not esty, Portland’s fire commission- sponse team, an innovative supported with as many existing er and an early champion of the non-police dispatch to assist peo- resources and services. Addition- Portland Street Response concept, ple experiencing houselessness or ally, the volume of mental and said “The community asked for a a behavioral/mental health crisis, behavioral health calls in Lents non-police response to calls that has hit the streets for the first time. is outpacing the growth of similar don’t require an armed police of- It happened last week as soon as calls in other parts of the city. ficer on site and we’re delivering. the team started taking calls dis- “We all agree we need new I couldn’t be more excited to see patched from 911. and better responses to people suf- this team in action and to learn The team includes a program fering mental health crises. Port- from this pilot period about how page 14 OPINION manager, a firefighter/paramedic, land Street Response embodies to make this program the best it a mental health crisis clinician, and implements that agreement,” can be.” and two community health work- said Mayor Ted Wheeler. “Peo- Hardesty added, “It’s rare in ers. Each member trained for the ple in crisis and people who call modern times for a new branch of past month to prepare for calls. 911 will be better served by this a public safety system to be cre- The team has been walking the new option. Every call the Street ated from scratch. It’s rarer still Lents neighborhood since the be- Response team answers allows for a city department to be built ginning of the year, the pilot lo- Police to respond to other high by the people who will be benefi- cation, to introduce themselves to priority calls. The launch of Port- ciaries of the program. After many business owners and community land Street Response is a win for months of methodical outreach, members. Portland,” he said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Lents was designated as the Commissioner Jo Ann Hard- Arts page 15 Taking Aim at Gun Law Loophole ENTERTAINMENT& Charleston survivor testifies before Oregon panel pages 18 So many people are buying In Oregon, it’s up to the state CLASSIFIED/BIDS guns in Oregon these days that police to do a background check. the state police are often unable And they are warning that they are to complete background checks in overwhelmed.

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