On Thursday, April 7, 2016, Portland Tenants United (PTU), the Portland, Oregon, based tenants’ union, descended on the Multnomah County building with hundreds of supporters. Since the City of Portland declared a renter state of emergency six months ago, organizers argue that the rental crisis in the hip urban areas of Portland has only gotten worse, with the city standing out with the fastest rent increases in the nation. After recent attempts at comprehensive renter protections were blocked at the state level from the influence of the landlord lobby and the limitations on the meager citywide rental protections established last fall by the mayor’s office, PTU and other housing and wage activists are demanding a metro-wide rent freeze and a moratorium on all no-cause evictions until a permanent solution can be put in place. They demand that these solutions be enough to tip the balance of power in favor of renters and brings rent control back to Oregon.
Speakers told stories of massive rent increases, the loss of Home Forward benefits, being pushed out of neighborhoods they had raised families in for years and the mass displacement that accompanies the reshaping of the entire region. Once inside, protesters overwhelmed the county commission meeting by sharing their frustration over the inaction of county, city and state officials to confront the increasing rents, and what organizers call an “epidemic” of no-cause evictions. Tenants on the verge of eviction shared stories about working overtime well into retirement, the sexual assault and violence seen when evictions forced them onto the streets and even the possible displacement of a critically ill woman who is joining the federal liver transplant list.
This confrontation is part of a larger campaign from Portland Tenants United, which hopes to unite renters around the demands for common protections. Rent control continues to be illegal on the state level in Oregon — a problem that activists are taking note of in states around the country. This rental crisis is not unique to Portland as the working-class constituents of growing urban areas around the country, such as Brooklyn or the Mission District of San Francisco, are being pushed out in a mass wave of gentrification.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
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Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
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