Thread: OR: City council votes to move day labor site project forwrd

City council votes 4-0 to move day labor site project forward

Day laborers wait for job offers on an east-side Portland street.
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Story Published: Mar 5, 2008 at 1:25 PM PST

Story Updated: Mar 5, 2008 at 1:34 PM PST
By Jeff Jaeger and KATU Web Staff
PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland City Council members voted 4-0 to approve the $200,000 contract that will allow a workers' rights group to begin work on a day laborer organizing site in the city.

City council member Sam Adams, who is running for mayor of Portland, was not present for the vote.

The proposed location of the day labor site is on North Everett and North Martin Luther Kink Jr. Boulevard on Portland's east side.

Business owners who operate near the proposed site criticized the plan, saying the city did not follow rules requiring involvement of landowners near the proposed site, did not do an adequate study of the impact of the facility on the neighborhood and may also be breaking federal laws in setting up the site.

Public testimony was heard Wednesday in council chambers and one attendee, Tom MacNamara, said a person involved with the labor rights group VOZ told him that the group did not ask workers if they were in the country legally.

MacNamara, who is opposed to the project, asked the city council members to remember VOZ's actions when they voted, but it did not appear to sway the four council members.

VOZ is a workers' rights group that is leading the effort to build a day labor site where they say workers can safely get work and avoid "wage gouging" and other abuses by temporary employers.

The meeting was also attended by day laborers and their supporters.

http://www.katu.com/news/16263566.html

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Elected Officials


City Organization Chart

Elected Officials Portfolios and Liaison Responsibilities

Tom Potter, Mayor
Commissioner of Finance and Administration
City Hall @ 1221 SW 4th Avenue, Room 340, 97204
Phone: (503)823-4120
E-mail: mayorpotter@ci.portland.or.us

Sam Adams
Commissioner of Public Utilities, Position Number 1
City Hall @ 1221 SW 4th Avenue, Room 220, 97204
Phone: (503)823-3008
E-mail: commissionersam@ci.portland.or.us

Randy Leonard
Commissioner of Public Safety, Position Number 4
City Hall @ 1221 SW 4th Avenue, Room 210, 97204
Phone: (503)823-4682
E-mail: randy@ci.portland.or.us

Dan Saltzman
Commissioner of Public Affairs, Position Number 3
City Hall @ 1221 SW 4th Avenue, Room 230, 97204
Phone: (503)823-4151
E-mail: dsaltzman@ci.portland.or.us

Erik Sten
Commissioner of Public Works, Position Number 2
City Hall @ 1221 SW 4th Avenue, Room 240, 97204
Phone: (503)823-3589
E-mail: erik@ci.portland.or.us

Gary Blackmer
City Auditor
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Phone: (503)823-4078
E-mail: gblackmer@ci.portland.or.us

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a list of the powers that be in Portland. I already forwarded the mayor a letter and them US CODE from the Cornell Univ files.

Here's the reply I received from Portland's Mayor:

Dear XX. XXXXXXX:

Thank you for emailing about the day laborer hire site.

Funding to provide a day laborer hire site was unanimously passed by City Council in the fall of 2006 as part of the Safe Access For Everyone (SAFE) public safety program. A day laborer hire site offers a number of solutions to all those affected:

· Small businesses benefit from no longer having workers congregate on streets or impede business traffic.

· Law enforcement officials believe a monitored day laborer site separates criminals who prey on day laborers from those who are earnestly seeking work.

· Neighborhood associations support a hire site because a safe and sanitary site will ease traffic congestion in the areas laborers currently congregate and will improve overall neighborhood livability.

· The wages paid to day laborers diminish their need to tap social services networks.

City Council has approved awarding the seed grant to VOZ Workers Rights Education Project, a non-profit organization with a ten-year track record of working with day laborers. Many community organizations representing businesses, neighborhood associations, labor unions, religious institutions, human rights organizations, law enforcement and crime prevention experts are in support of the day labor hire site and VOZ's capacity to manage the hire site (please see list below).

A day laborer hire site represents a local solution to a problem that cannot be solved by police enforcement. Looking for work is legal, and police cannot target individuals. Currently, there are over 65 similar hire similar sites operating in cities all over the country. We look forward to mirroring their successes. Thank you, again, for emailing.

Sincerely,

Tom Potter
Mayor


Organizations in support of VOZ's grant to manage a day labor hire site:

· AFL-CIO (National)

· American Friends Service Committee

· Basic Rights Oregon

· Buckman Neighborhood Association

· Catholic Charities

· CAUSA

· Center for Intercultural Organizing

· Central Eastside Industrial Council (CEIC)

· Church of St. Francis of Assisi

· Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon

· Immigration Counseling Service

· Jobs With Justice

· Kerns Neighborhood Association

· Latino Network

· Northwest Constitutional Rights Center

· Northwest Workers Justice Project (NWJP)

· Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI)

· ONI - Crime Prevention Program

· Oregon's Farm Workers' Union (PCUN)

· Oregon Law Center

· Portland Central America Solidarity Committee and Cross Border Labor Organizing Council

· Portland Police Bureau (PPB)

· Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 503, OPEU

· Technical Assistance for Community Services (TACS)

· Tree Institute

· United Farm Workers

· University of Oregon - Labor Education and Research Center

· Wentworth Chevrolet Subaru

Every one of the "organizations" who support the labor center profit from illegal alien labor.

Looking for work is legal. Yes, if you are in this country legally, it is. If you are in the country illegally, you are forbidden to work in this country. It's a federal law.

If the majority of Portland's citizens do not want this site there, why is it STILL there?

Because the majority of Portland's citizens are NOT greedy employer exploiters of ILLEGAL cheap foreign labor!

Hey, I just know things will be different in Portland--now that the big cocaine shipment has been intercepted

44 Pounds Of Coke Found In Traffic StopPOSTED: 4:19 pm PST March 5, 2008
UPDATED: 4:28 pm PST March 5, 2008


WOODBURN, Ore. -- Oregon State Police troopers arrested a man Tuesday after they discovered 20 kilos of cocaine during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 south of Woodburn.

The approximately 44 pounds of cocaine, which has an estimated value of $400,000, were hidden in a sport utility vehicle heading northbound.

An OSP trooper accompanied by a drug detection canine stopped a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle at about 11:38 a.m. Tuesday for speed, lane change and tinted window violations.

The driver was identified as Sabas Rios Ruiz, 25, from Clackamas. Ruiz consented to the trooper's request to search the vehicle, troopers said.

During the search, the drug detection canine helped locate 20 kilos of cocaine in a sophisticated rear false compartment of the Tahoe, troopers said.

Ruiz was taken into custody and lodged in Marion County Jail in lieu of $2 million bail on charges of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance – cocaine, unlawful possession of a controlled substance – cocaine, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance – cocaine, troopers said.

On Oct. 19, two troopers seized 21 kilos of cocaine and two pounds of crystal methamphetamine valued at $500,000 on I-5 near Woodburn. The drugs were stowed in a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe with Washington license plates, authorities said. Three men in the vehicle were arrested.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 19, a trooper stopped a 2005 Nissan Armada SUV on northbound I-5 near milepost 253 for speed and lane change violations. The trooper found found 31 kilos cocaine -- 66 pounds worth $600,000 -- in a false compartment located in the rear cargo area. A 26-year-old man driving the SUV was arrested,


OSP Drug Enforcement

Do you think this will impact the "powers that be" in Portland? OR and WA have a long history to attracting illegal drug users.

Originally Posted by miguelina

Every one of the "organizations" who support the labor center profit from illegal alien labor.

Looking for work is legal. Yes, if you are in this country legally, it is. If you are in the country illegally, you are forbidden to work in this country. It's a federal law.

If the majority of Portland's citizens do not want this site there, why is it STILL there?

It's because, Miguelina, that most Portlanders are at least ill-informed on the issue - if they even care at all. Of course, the local city government is, in a lot of ways, it's own cult of personality unto itself.

For those not familiar with local stuff here, let me offer a good basic example: We have a Medical/Dental school affiliated with the Univ. of OR. (OHSU). It is a big establishment near the downtown area perched atop a nearby hill. The doctors and other staff at this place have complained for ages about the limited parking space available in this congested area where the facility is located. So, what did they do? They hatched a brilliant idea of NOT expanding parking, or increasing carpooling or even furthering their program to encourage usage of our fine bus system - oh no! Instead, they decided they would build a tram system up to the facility and allow people to park at the far end of the tram. Oh, it gets better folks! - In offering this idea to the City, they 'decided' it was important enough to solicit City 'support' (eg. $$$) to help fund the construction of it. The initial estimates of it's cost were about $13 mil, but of course, when completed ran over budget by a factor of about 4 (eg. final cost: $57 mil). Much of the initial funds were raised via city levy/taxes. So, do you think after all this, that you or I can drive to the parking lot, and jump on board to ride this thing after all this massive public investment? Oh NO! You have to PAY per RIDE ($4?) to do that ...unless, of course, you're an OHSU employee!

It is no wonder that rural folks in Oregon refer to us as 'The Great State of Portland' - and derisively, at that.