After the sting of being labeled the least manly city, Portland has been declared the most patriotic city just in time for the Fourth of July. Men’s Health gave Portland, OR, this favorable ranking based on standards such as voter turnout and volunteerism. Things Portland is actually pretty good at.
Duffman raises a patriotic heroine at the Pedalpalooza Superhero Ride.
Continuing to bring attention to the urgent need for nature conservation is artist Skylaar Amann, showing throughout June at Sequential Art Gallery. As the International Whaling Commission discusses lifting the ban on commercial whaling, Skylaar’s show of comics, poems, and handbound books–and a pod of soft-sculpture whales moving throughout the room–constructs worlds in which the whales win. Her installation uses elements of humor, storytelling, and nostalgia to invite the viewer into the simultaneous role of biologist, archaeologist, and activist. “The Whales Are My Clients” opens First Thursday, June 3, from 6-10pm, and shows throughout June.
Sequential Art Gallery + Studio
328 NW Broadway #113
Portland, OR 97209
503-916-9293
The most prevalent argument against Measures 66 and 67 is that they will raise taxes on middle class families and small businesses. Vote Yes For Oregon has assembled the following illuminating chart. It shows not only how false that claim is, but how as recently as the last legislative session dissenting conservative groups like the Oregon Business Association advanced flatter tax increases which would have shifted the burden from the very wealthy back on to those very middle class families and small businesses they now purport to defend.
There’s a lot at stake for Oregon in this vote. As we work together to save jobs, fund public education, and maintain long term health care, those among us who can most afford to help must do so. As the above table indicates, Measures 66 and 67 are not tax hikes against the middle class, nor are they anti-business. Oregon state has the 2nd lowest business tax in the country. If we want to attract more businesses to Portland, then adequately funding education, social programs, and infrastructure is exactly what we need to do.
Ballots must be received no later than Jan. 26th at 8pm. You can find out where to drop your ballot at Vote Yes For Oregan’s site.
Some Portlanders are unwittingly representing the far-right, whites-only British National Party. Their pictures were used in campaign materials supporting the BNP for its anti-immigration stance.
The poster demands “British jobs for British workers” and it shows three smiling men in hard-hats urging people to vote BNP. But the “building workers” in the ad – which is being driven up and down the country on a BNP vehicle called the “Truth Truck” – are not even British. They are American models who posed for a general photo agency shoot in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Another shot in the same set shows a black man working alongside white colleagues – but the racist BNP didn’t use that one.
From Mirror.co.uk
Apparently nobody in the UK likes the BNP enough to pose for their pictures, or even to take their pictures. The photographer is ironically from a Mexican immigrant family.
Last month my band was contacted via Myspace by Ross Lampert, an organizer at Portland’s Musicians Union Local 99. The union has started reaching out to Portland musicians about a new campaign to establish a minimum wage for performing musicians in Portland. Portland is the flagship city for the campaign, which they’ve dubbed Fair Pay To Play. Lampert wanted to meet in person, which surprised me. After looking at the list of endorsements including dozens of local groups like Minmae and Loch Lomond and local figures like Ethos’ Charles Lewis I agreed to meet Lampert for some coffee near the union headquarters near Sandy and NE 20th.
[I should mention that before meeting Lampert, I agreed to add my band's name to the list of supporters. One of the reasons for this was that I'm a big believer of and volunteer at Ethos, and so seeing Charles Lewis' name on the list helped convince me to take the campaign seriously.]
One of the first things I asked Lampert about was what the union was looking for from local musicians in order to advance the campaign and achieve the minimum wage. One of the biggest things musicians can do, of course, is to join the union. The campaign needs money to get the word out. But this brings me to one of the Catch-22′s I’ve considered while mulling over this article. How do musicians justify something like union dues when they’re often playing for drink tickets and if they’re lucky a cut of the door? Perhaps if membership guaranteed a minimum wage.
It would cost a band of four $636 dollars per year to be members of the Local 99, and that’s if they all pay together for the whole year in January, which waves the initiation fees ($85 per member) and gives a slight discount on the quarterly dues. Membership includes perks like a free practice space (shared with other union members) and instrument repair, however it doesn’t guarantee a minimum wage, let alone job security or health insurance.
Let’s look at the pay scale the union is currently suggesting:
Just looking at that first rate for 1-star venues of $30/hr, which is per performing member, we can see this means that the smallest of music venues would have to agree to pay a band of four $120 to play for one hour. If two bands of four played for 1 hour each, that would mean the venue would pay out $240. This is in my opinion unrealistic, but it’s where the conversation starts.
Lampert believes that we can get closer to such a reality by adopting new models where fewer musicians play per night for longer periods of time. He suggested one band could play for 3-4 hours instead of several bands playing short sets and venues could become more discerning in who they choose to book. He believes changes like this would induce a “culture of quality”. More so than an interesting possibility, this shows the canyon between where the Portland Musicians Union wants to take us and where we currently are. It makes the Fair Pay To Play campaign sound meritocratic, and like the current suggested pay scale, it’s also unrealistic. Bands play sets together to pool fans, and this cross-pollination is culturally fundamental.
If the Portland Musicians Union wants to make a real difference in how local musicians are paid, then it needs to work with small bands, new and small venues, and to concentrate on much smaller transaction amounts. These bands, venues, and transactions will grow. Another change the union should make to its strategy is to start reaching out to venues now and getting them involved in the conversation — accelerating toward a realistic perspective and making some allies in the process. Finally, the star system is concise but it begs the question of whether bands should be rated by a star system as well. That’s something that will need to be addressed eventually.
Despite how far the Portland Musicians Union has to go with the Fair Pay To Play campaign, all local musicians should be grateful to them for starting this conversation. According to Lampert, joining the union isn’t the only way to help; musicians can also volunteer and be part of the campaign steering committee. And the second most effective thing to supporting the cause financially is making sure all musicians in Portland know that the campaign exists.
