We are a great city. And we are a city of inequality.
Without adequate shelter, people on the streets are criminalized by local government. African Americans are faced with staggering unemployment. Latinos and other immigrant neighbors are forced to go underground and hide family members and friends for fear of being deported. Refugees from war-torn countries are told to integrate into a new culture, language and economy on a dime. The LGBTQ community and others are faced with hate and intolerance, including being denied the rights of marriage. People with disabilities and the elderly are rarely employed. The list goes on, entrenched from generations before us.
It has been a hard fought battle for marginalized people in this city to get a seat at the table, to be a voice in the conversation. But who among us can say with any confidence that we have even come close to striking a balance?
There’s no question that Portland must move forward on a new Office of Equity. With more than a quarter of our city being people of color, and thousands of people sleeping outside or living in extreme poverty, upholding equity is a civic priority.
Merging the office with the Office of Human Relations is a logical pairing. The Office of Equity could focus on clear goals and objectives on important matters internally at the city, and externally with the addition of the Human Relations Commission.
Street Roots also believes there needs to be action steps moving forward that will help eliminate discrimination and create a pathway for social justice in our community. That means giving the equity agenda the teeth to be independent and transparent. The office should report to the entire city council, instead of one commissioner.
We agree with Commissioner Dan Saltzman when he says that we shouldn’t create a debate club. Street Roots, as a grassroots nonprofit — along with many others — simply doesn’t have the capacity to waste any of it on rehashing tired rhetoric in countless meetings when the missions of our own groups are stressed beyond our limits.
We need action, simple as that. This office will provide the structure — a civil process with a range of people involved. Time is short and the recession is breaking us apart. The Office of Equity can help facilitate real solutions, and give non-profits and other community members more capacity to get things done.
We also agree with Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Amanda Fritz in pushing this agenda forward and helping build an impressive grassroots coalition: a coalition that will one day, with the help of the Office of Equity, produce solutions to so many problems we already know of, and many more we must be prepared to address.
To put things into perspective, this week the county lost another $11 million dollars, mostly for mental health and elderly services. That, on top 13 years of budget cuts. The state has gutted the human services budget for the past two budget cycles. The feds are cutting their support of human services, housing, and more, while tens of millions of dollars in revenue decline for affordable housing is happening in the city.
We are becoming more imbalanced than ever. The Office of Equity could not come too soon.