City council was back to normal this week, with a meeting focused less on lightning-rod national issues and more on things like public art, students, and real estate development. No Hillsboro citizen felt the need to offer a public comment, and the meeting wrapped up in just 45 minutes—much shorter than the 4 hour marathon two weeks ago, when Mayor Steve Calloway declared Hillsboro a sanctuary city. The bulk of the session was devoted to a presentation by the city’s Youth Advisory Council, who spoke about their recent trip to Washington D.C. where they visited museums, met with politicians, and spoke with other youth advisors from around the country. I enjoyed meeting with the Hillsboro Youth Advisory Council today! Thank you[…]
Author: Justin Pot
Justin Pot is the founder of Hillsboro Signal, and covers City Council. By day he writes about technology for How To Geek.
Your regional headlines to start the week off: Someone stole a street cleaner outside a Hillsboro WinCo over the weekend, and tried to make a break for it. No, seriously: police deployed spikes to stop the thing. Hillsboro Police Department Mayor Steve Calloway talked to Oregon Public Radio after last week’s sanctuary city vote. Here’s the audio; it’s worth a listen: Or listen in Spanish, if you prefer: Oregon’s two biggest colleges could see double-digit tuition increases. Andrew Theen/Oregonian Ballots could become free to mail, as Oregon legislators contemplate buying postage in bulk. Ballots currently require a stamp, though in recent elections the US Postal Service delivered unstamped ballots and charged the state retroactively. Gordon Friedman/Oregonian Here’s a fascinating map[…]
Hillsboro publicly declared itself a sanctuary city last night as Mayor Steve Callaway cast a dramatic tie-breaking vote. The vote followed over three hours of public comment, and was the nail-biting conclusion to months of activism and debate in Oregon’s fifth-largest city. Councillors Kyle Allen, Anthony Martin, and Olivia Alcaire all backed the declaration; Darell Lumaco, Rick Van Beveren, and Fred Nachtigal all voted against. The mayor, who only votes in the event of a tie, voted for the measure, making Hillsboro the latest Oregon city to publicly declare itself a sanctuary city. After 3-3 vote from council, Mayor @SteveCallaway2 votes in favor of making Hillsboro a sanctuary city. pic.twitter.com/KxPKutZY7c — Claudia Ramos (@ClauRamosNews) March 8, 2017 Oregon law already[…]
Pro-immigrant activists are getting ready for Hillsboro’s sanctuary vote next week. Travis Loose/Hillsboro Tribune Meanwhile, in Portland, Undocumented immigrants protested right outside ICE offices. Casey Parks/Oregonian “Jaime Miranda saw business cut in half at M&M Marketplace, his Latino-themed bazaar in Hillsboro, after a 2008 state law required proof of citizenship to get a license.” Adiel Kaplan/InvestigateWest TriMet has a plan to subsidize fare for low-income riders, giving 50 percent off day passes and 72 percent off monthly passes. If implemented, the discounted rate would be available to households that make up to twice the federal poverty rate: $23,760 for one person or $48,600 for a family of four. The agency wants $11 million a year to implement the plan, potentially[…]
Plenty of regional and state news have impacts in Hillsboro, so we’ve going to start rounding up stories from other publications we think readers will find interesting. Here’s the first issue. Oregon schools will continue to protect transgender students, despite Trump’s recent changes to Federal policy. Casey Parks/Oregonian Latinos are statistically more likely to get pulled over than white people in Oregon, even when you account for immigration status. Kate Willson/Pamplin Media The Oregon government found $200 million under the couch’s cushions (or the economy is growing faster than expected, whatever.) Chris Lehman/OPB Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, a Republican, says there’s no voter fraud in Oregon, despite what certain presidents might say. Laura Klinkner/OPB TriMet had no policy[…]
Two weeks ago, 350 people crammed into Hillsboro’s city council chambers, many of them loudly demanding that Hillsboro declare itself a sanctuary city. The Hillsboro Tribune’s Travis Loose called it “mayhem,” you can watch the meeting yourself and decide what you’d like to call it. Last night’s meeting did not have that kind of attendance: most of the seats in the Shirley Huffman Auditorium were empty. But city officials made preparations, just in case. There was a significant police presence in the atrium before the meeting, and everyone who attended was handed a piece of paper explaining that the vote on the matter is taking place on March 7. Mayor Steve Callaway repeated the point. “We will not be deliberating about[…]
I spent the first year of my career covering local politics in Peace River, Alberta, a small town of 6,000 five hours north of Edmonton. It was a formative experience for me, and since moving to the states I’ve told everyone who will listen that local politics is the antidote to feeling jaded about the political process. Local politics is where the decisions that affect you most are made, and it’s also where you have the most potential influence. Sadly, the latest national drama has a tendency of drowning out local issues. I know it did for me, particularly in 2016. I’ve told people to care about local politics for years, but if I’m honest I’ve rarely put much thought[…]