Events Archives

April 4 Panel Discussion on Mental Health, Housing, and Homelessness

View the Video of Our Zoom Webinar by clicking below.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking here.

The panel of community leaders discussed chronic homelessness as a public health issue. They explained how they are trying to provide health care and shelter to people with mental illness and/or addiction, and the need for more shelters, and supportive affordable low-income housing.

The panel included:

Jill Kahnert, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, retired from Central City Concern.

Jason Renaud, LWVPDX League member, and Voluntary Managing Director of the Mental Health Association of Portland

Scott Kerman, Executive Director, Blanchet House

Rachael Duke, Executive Director of Community Partners for Affordable Housing

This program may be viewed on public access television channels at the times listed below.

Portland Is Changing! Charter Implementation Successes and Challenges

A recorded Panel Discussion

On September 19, 2023, a panel of leading experts discussed the work accomplished thus far and work that is underway to ensure effective and fair implementation of the charter reforms approved by voters last November. Panelists:

- Melanie Billings-Yun, Charter Review Commissioner, 2020-22 (Moderator)
- Shoshanah Oppenheim, Charter Transition Project Manager
- Marcus Mundy, Executive Director, Coalition of Communities of Color
- Leah Benson, Co-Chair, Government Transition Advisory Committee (GTAC)
- Alex Zielinski, Reporter, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB)

Click on the arrow to view the video recording of the program:

Listen to the podcast of this program by clicking here.

The video is being shown on cable TV at the times listed below.

Portland Police & Alternatives

Portland Police Headquarters – Photo by Aaron Hockley

Portland Street Response logo

PROGRESS & CHALLENGES FOR PORTLAND POLICE AND POLICING ALTERNATIVES:

presented Via ZOOM: FEBRUARY 8, 7-8:30 PM

This zoom webinar was presented live on February 8, 2023, and will be available via video and podcast on or about February 15. The public and League members were invited to attend the live webinar and submit questions via the chat.

The panelists were:

Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes, Jr., Chairperson, Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform. Dr. Haynes made the opening comments, discussing police accountability and oversight and what has changed in the last 5 years.

- Juan Chavez, Project Director and Attorney, Oregon Justice Resource Center, updated the audience on the developments and challenges with the Department of Justice’s settlement agreement.

- Gina Ronning, Ph.D., M.S, Member of the Portland Police Bureau’s Training Advisory Council (TAC) and Focused Intervention Team Community Oversight Group (FITCOG). Dr. Ronning gave an update on TAC and FITCOG, with an emphasis on TAC’s program successes, challenges, and upcoming areas of focus.

- Kaia Sand, Executive Director and Columnist, Street Roots Newspaper, gave an update on progress and concerns regarding the Portland Street Response.

James Ofsink, a League member and Chair of the LWVPDX Justice Interest Group, served as the moderator.

This program was recorded by MetroEast Community Media and will be available as a video and Podcast by February 15 from links on this website. The video will also be cablecast on the public access TV channels, as shown in the schedule below.

Climate on an International Scale: Notes from COP26

LWV of Portland Zoom Panel Discussion with LWV members who were at the 2021 UN Climate Conference

WATCH THE VIDEO by clicking below!

Here is the link to the podcast of this program.

MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM: The UN’s Climate Conference—the “Conference of the Parties” or COP—is the official meeting of member states who signed the UN’s climate treaty. Every year, the parties to the treaty, including the U.S., meet and negotiate various aspects of the treaty.

Seven League of Women Voters members from around the U.S. attended the November 2021 Climate Conference in Glasgow. We heard from five of them on Wednesday, March 9. The panelists discussed:

- an Overview of COP26
- Transparency
- Indigenous Peoples
- the Sustainability Innovation Forum, and
- Finance
- Gender and Climate

The panel included:

- Robin Tokmakian, UN Observer for Climate Change for LWVUS; LWV of Portland member
- Carol Parker, North San Diego LWV
- Toni Monette, co-president of the Nebraska LWV
- Ashley Raveche, LWV California
- Cynthia Bell, Hudson Valley, NY LWV

MetroEast Community Media records Portland League programs for rebroadcast and online streaming from lwvpdx.org. Funding is provided by the Carol & Velma Saling Foundation.

Charter Review Commission Panel – Video & Podcast

Members of the Portland League have been following the work of the Charter Review Commission

Zoom webinar on Commission’s work

We invited the public to join us for the live Zoom presentation of this panel discussion on Wednesday evening February 9. If you missed the live program, you can watch the recording by clicking the arrow below.

Here is the link to the podcast of this program. You should soon be able to find it on your favorite app.

The panel for this presentation included:

- - Julia Meier, the Charter Commission Project Manager
  - Charter Commissioner Candace Avalos
  - Charter Commissioner Amira Streeter
  - Charter Commissioner Melanie Billings-Yun

During the first phase of the Commission’s work, the group has focused on two topics: form of government and city council elections. The League of Women Voters of Portland has been actively following the Commission’s work (Read more about our League’s advocacy to the Commission here.) During this webinar the panel answered questions from LWV members and the public.

MetroEast Community Media records Portland League programs for rebroadcast and online streaming from lwvpdx.org. Funding is provided by the Carol & Velma Saling Foundation. The schedule for replays of this program on community access channels is shown below.