News UPDATE: The Parks Budget Advisory Committee released its slightly revised list of proposed cuts Thursday afternoon. Notable changes include moving the closure of Hillside Community Center to the 6 percent-cut scenario and the cut to parks workers into the worst-case scenario.It’s possible that next August, when families flock to Portland’s parks to play, picnic and cool off, they may have to u...   More

News Wearing face masks and latex gloves, Portland police and parks bureau employees after daylight began cleaning up the remnants of the Occupy Portland camps at Chapman and Lownsdale Squares. Most protesters had left by 9:30 am. ---Parks & Recreation Bureau Commissioner Nick Fish says he has no estimates yet as to what it will cost to repair turf damage at the parks, which weeks of camping have l...   More

News Portland City Hall is taking steps that will likely accelerate a confrontation with the Occupy Portland camp one block away. ---Yesterday, the Bureau of Development Services, which is responsible for building code enforcement and answers to Commissioner Dan Saltzman, sent a notice of code violations to Portland Parks & Recreation, which is responsible for maintaining the land on which Occupy P...   More

News City Commissioner Nick Fish has pulled his Parks and Recreation employees out of the Occupy Portland camp out of concern for their safety, leaving the Occupiers with no public toilets, no trash pickup and no park security.---Fish tells WW the damage to Chapman and Lownsdale squares has gone too far, and city employees have found that Occupy campers have cut down branches from the historic elms.&nb...   More

News The Portland Housing Bureau says it's received $1.365 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help fund rent assistance, employment services and permanent housing for homeless people with HIV/AIDS.  Portland is one of only eight communities chosen to receive federal money from HUD, beating out 38 other cities.  City Commissioner Nick Fish calls the new grant ...   More

News City Commissioner Nick Fish has named a top official of Central City Concern, a local social service agency that deals with homelessness and addiction issues, as the city's new director of its Bureau of Housing. Traci Manning takes over the bureau as Fish is promoting his new anti-housing discrimination plan and is struggling to overcome the fallout from a flawed audit paid for by the city that mi...   More

News Members of local civil rights organizations turned out by the dozens to support the proposed Portland Office of Equity at Wednesday night’s City Council meeting.In public testimony, advocates called out numerous areas of social and racial disparity in Portland, citing statistics and disparity studies as evidence of the city’s need to move forward with the ordinance.Supporters told the council ...   More

News In May, Portland got smacked in the face with embarrassing news: Nearly two of every three times they sought   More

News Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish has released the names of the owners and managers of 26 apartment buildings where a recent audit found evidence of housing discrimination. The documents list the properties where the Fair Housing Council of Oregon audit found evidence of discrimination based on race or national origin. One document (PDF) lists specific incidents discovered by investigators, a...   More

News Last week's print edition of WW looked at 10 earmarks Mayor Sam Adams and city commissioners wanted in the mayor's upcoming budget. Today Adams unveiled his $400-plus million spending proposal for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Here are the winners and losers from among the 10 groups we highlighted last week.Winners:Oregon Food Bank: Adams upped Commissioner Randy Leonard's $75,000 request fo...   More