I recommend: stop wasting tax dollars

Recommendations of the Immigrant and Refugee Task Force
Convened by Mayor Tom Potter

1. Create an office of immigrant and refugee affairs, with a multi-ethnic staff...
New city department that will take money from police, roads, etc.

2. Establish a multicultural community center that... offers opportunities for people of different ethnicities to mingle.
Because if government doesn't make a "multicural community center" then people will not have any opportunity to "mingle."

3. Provide additional resources for immigrant and refugee organizations to train or support their constituents in civic engagement.
Give tax dollars to La Raza for "get out the vote" efforts.

4. Conduct a professional evaluation to (1) assess the City’s current Human Resources (HR) policies and practices, and (2) recommend changes that would result in the recruitment, hiring, and retention of multilingual and multicultural staff...
Professional evaluation = someones campaign contributions get rewarded with a consulting job, the rest is just code for "don't hire white males who speak English."

But it doesn't stop there folks, in addition to these valuable recommendations the task force has a list of "what's working" and "what's not."

Working:
The City is attempting to diversify its workforce, it is taking more of an interest in helping immigrants and refugees, and it is more frequently funneling funding directly to immigrant and refugee communities, rather than through a third party.

Not working:
In addition, Portland’s immigrants and refugees may be hesitant to interact with someone outside their own culture or to make use of services or facilities that do not exhibit some degree of racial or ethnic diversity. For some immigrants, not seeing someone “like themselves” suggests that the facility, activity, or service is not for people like them.
Not wanting to interact with people "like themselves"... what's that called again? Oh yeah, racism.

Some immigrants and refugees in Portland are dealing with addressing their basic needs for food, clothing, housing, and health care and do not have time and energy to focus on civic involvement, leadership development, or community advocacy.
You know, if I couldn't feed, clothe, house, provide medical care for my family I also wouldn't have time for "civic involvement" (or this blog) because I would BE OUT LOOKING FOR A JOB!

Cost estimates: (keep in mind "the tram")
#1
The task force recommends that the office be staffed by a program manager, three program specialists, and a senior administrative specialist, at an annual cost of approximately $418,000. Annual costs for materials and services would be approximately $93,000, and one-time start-up expenses would be about $29,000.

#2
Costs for the visionPDX community gathering center have not yet been estimated.

#3
In 2007, the City committed $315,000 to the Diversity and Civic Leadership Academy, Diversity and Civic Leadership Organizing Project, and Neighborhood and Community Engagement Initiative. The task force recommends that the City continue to support these and similar programs...

#4
For this recommendation to be effective, it may be necessary for the City to hire an
outside consultant... (campaign contributor or your cousin) to cost approximately $150,000.

Also notable:
In 2007, PDC sponsored six different community home-buying fairs at a level of $10,000 each. The fairs were designed to promote home ownership opportunities to first-time homebuyers, people of color, and—in most cases—non-English speaking households.

This nonsense will be presented in one week:
Immigrant & Refugee Task Force Presentation to City Council
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - 6:00 PM
Jefferson High School
5210 N Kerby, Portland