Margaret Noel, Author at League of Women Voters of Portland

Voices of the Houseless – Video

Watch the LWV of Portland panel discussion with four speakers who have experienced homelessness. The panel members talk about what it was like to be without shelter, how they found solutions for themselves, and what they think can be done to help others who are homeless.

The speakers are Damian Blakley, an artist, photographer and advocate for the homeless; Melissa Castor, a resident of Hazelnut Grove tent community, which is now building tiny homes for residents; DeWanna Harris, a manager at Transition Projects, which provides services to help people end their homelessness; and Lisa Larson, a resident of Dignity Village, an intentional community for the homeless providing shelter and safety for up to sixty people every night. Click below to watch the video. More LWV News

Directory of Elected Officials!

Here’s the easy tool you need to contact your elected representatives. Complete information for contacting all of them from President Trump to your School Board or Soil and Water Conservation District. Call or write the officials who serve you and tell them your ideas and needs. The League’s DEO is easy to print or save to your computer. Click here to get your copy.

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Day at the Legislature! February 23

The League of Women Voters of Oregon invites you to a program about what’s happening in the current Oregon Legislative Session and what outcomes will affect you.

Friday, Feb. 23, 9:30 am-2 pm
Oregon State Library, Rooms 102 and 103
250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301

Advance registration is required on or before Friday, February 16.

Highlights:

Angela Crowley-Koch of the Oregon Environmental Council will speak about the Clean Energy Jobs Bill, Allison McIntosh of Neighborhood Partnerships will speak about housing issues and Legislative Fiscal Officer Ken Rocco will speak about the state budget. State Treasurer Tobias Read, Rep. Barbara Smith Warner and Rep. Carl Wilson will also join us. Registration begins at 9:30, lunch at noon. Morning coffee and pastries included in ticket price.
Click the red “REGISTER NOW” below to register online or print and mail a registration form from the same link.

Advance registration required. Click below to register.
REGISTER TODAY!

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Portland’s Pressing Problems

Israel Bayer, recent “Street Roots” executive director, and Anna Griffin, Oregon Public Broadcasting news director discussed “Portland’s Pressing Problems,” at the Portland League’s annual Media Luncheon on Jan. 16. League member James Ofsink moderated the discussion.

Problems Bayer and Griffin identified included losing our young “brain trust,” the lack of a long-term vision with one-term mayors, the opioid crisis, climate change, an overloaded foster care system, and major needs for adequate affordable housing, sustainable green infrastructure, better training for police, and innovative ideas for raising revenue.

For our affordable housing crisis, the speakers discussed increasing the Housing Trust Fund. They also said city planners must consider the needs of the future— rather than just today’s needs — and the values of young people. They agreed that more density is coming, representing the way younger people want to live and the values of the tech business community, “so let’s do it right.”

They suggested changing our current form of city government — the last of this structure among large American cities (and something LWVPDX is in the process of studying).

Finally, Bayer and Griffin expressed their hopes for addressing Portland’s problems with a new generation of potential leaders, coordinated non-governmental advocacy, and new sources of revenue. Portland, they said, is still a “young city” where we can learn, innovate, and find smart solutions.

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February 14 Program: What’s Happening at Hanford?

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2-4 pm

LWV of Clackamas Program

Oswego Heritage House, 398 10^th Street, Lake Oswego

Free and open to the public

Ken Niles, Assistant Director for Nuclear Safety of the Oregon Department of Energy, will speak about the history and ongoing cleanup of stockpiled radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Site — currently the most contaminated nuclear site in the country.

Niles manages Oregon’s involvement in cleanup at Hanford, the safe transport of radioactive material through Oregon, and emergency preparedness in the event of a nuclear accident or petroleum shortage. He currently chairs the Western Interstate Energy Board’s High-Level Waste Committee, is the State Liaison Officer to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and represents Oregon on the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-level Radioactive Waste Management, the National Governors’ Association Federal Facility Task Force, the State and Tribal Government Working Group, and the Hanford Advisory Board.

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