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About Oregon mirror. (Portland, Oregon) 19??-19?? | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1962)
Page 2 THE OREGON MIRROR Jh± OREGON MIRROR E stab lish ed in March 1959 - Negro Weekly C ircu late d by Mail - Newsboys - B u sin e sse s Published Every Wednesday 4617 N. Williams Ave. AT 4-4551 o r PR 1-9884 PUBLISHER - J. M a rcu s Wellington, 111 MANAGER & EDITOR - Don Alford P l e a s e Fo rw ard Mail to - 7972 S.E. F o s t e r Rd. EDITORIAL D iiferenre Between Development Commission o n i Housing A uthority by E d g ar Williami There s e e m s to be so m e confusion in the minds of a lot of Albina people o v e r the two fed e r a lly - sp o n so r e d p r o g r a m s for community b e tterm e n t: On the one hand - - URBAN RE NEWAL; and on the o th er - - PUBLIC HOUSING. URBAN RENEWAL is the activity a d m in istere d by the PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION, and in the a r e a North of F r e m o n t Street is taking the form of a COMMUNITY REHABILI TATION p r o g r a m in which PROPERTY OWNERS a r e encouraged in many helpful ways to improve t h e i r houses. PUBLIC HOUSING is the activity a d m in istere d by the HOUSING AUTHORITY O F PO RTLAND, and in the Albina a r e a is taking the form of the development of a 58-unit, LOW R ENT, HOUSING PROJECT in which low-income fam ilies will be provided with new court apartm ent facilities at a rental they can afford to pay. The confusion in many people’s minds s e e m s to have stemmed from proposals that the P o r t l a n d d e v e l o p ment COMMISSION and the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF PORTLAND “ work t o g e t h e r ’’, in the COMMUNITY REHAB ILITATION a r e a North of Frem ont, and that the HOUSING AUTHORITY build its rental units on “ SCATTERED SITES’’ In the REHABILITATION AREA instead of in a C.OURT- APARTMENT-TYPE housing project adjacent to the Knott Street Community Center. The HOUSING AUTHORITY a c t ually “ initiated ” the idea of “ s c a t t e r e d s i t e s ” housing in Portland and strongly favors this type of public housing be c au se it can be so ideally integrated into a community. How ever, the Housing Authority’s prolonged r e s e a r c h on this subject has revealed that it would not be ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE for it todevelop a “ s c a t t e r e d - s i t e s ” project any where in Portland at this time. The reason is that “ s c a t t e r e d - s i t e s ” housing c o sts 20% m o r e to BUILD than convention al, c o u r t - a p a r t m e n t - t y p e housing, and that the cost of MAIN TENANCE and of U TILTTIESfor a “ s c a t t e r e d - s i t e s ” project is so high that it cannot be absorbed into the Housing Author ity's present total p r o g r a m within the limits of maximum subsidies available through the federal government. As the REHABILI TATION PROGRAM of the PORTLAND DEVEL OPMENT COMMISSION is in an a r e a that is not zoned for multi-family r e s id e n c e s, it is not possible for the HOUSING AU THORITY to coord inate ITS development with that of the PORTLAND DEVI I O PM EN T COMMISSION in the re h a b i l itation a re a . We c o n sid e r the PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COM- m is sion’S REHABILITATION PROGRAM an excellent one for the specific p urpose it is designed to s e r v e - - t h e uplift ing of a community through the voluntary participation of the property ow ners of the community in improving th e i r own prope rties. THE HOUSING AU THORITY’S function in the development of its 58-unit Daisy B. Williams housing project in Albina, however, is completely s e p a r a t e and distinct - - se rv in g an entirely different p urpose than that of the PORTLAND D E VELOPMENT COMMISSION in this instance. Pe rhaps a c la r if ica tio n of th es e two p r o g r a m s in two different a r e a s of o ur community can best be achieved if it is realiz ed that the HOUSING AUTHORITY is engaged ( NLY m the activity of BUILDING HOUSING fo r LOW - INCOME FAMILIES and of RENTING such housing to such families AT A RENTAL THEY CAN AFFORD TO PAY. In selecting s i t e s for our new housing p r o je c ts , we try so far as p rac tic ab le and possible u> buy property in a r e a s where low-income fam ilies are pres en tly living in d e te r io r a te d , run-down, and s u b - s ta n d a r d dwellings. This is the m ajor rea so n we selected for the Daidy B. Williams project a site next to the Knott Street Community C e n te r in Albina. Our selection of this site has met all the r e q uirem ents of the fed eral government, as recently pointed out by Dr. Robert Weaver. A d m in is tr ato r of the Housing and Home Finance Agency in Washington, D. C. We feel that the 58-untt. Daisy B. Williams low-rent housing project in Albina will s e r v e to r a i s e the m o r a l e of the Albina community, give hope to the people of the community that Albina is startin g to move forward instead of f u r t h e r de te rio rating, and provide decent, safe, and sa n ita ry housing for at least a few of Albina’s low-income fam ilies who would p r e f e r to continue to live near their friends and relativ es in Albina. Wednesday, March 21, 1962 L E T T E R S TO THE E D IT O R To the Editor: As a Wil liam s Avenue bu sinessm an, I am naturally in te res te d in the Housing Authority’s pro g ram , and doing anything po ss ib le to uplift the Albina a re a . I have been quite concerned fo r s e v e r a l months with the opposition that has been voiced in r e g a r d s to this project by the people who st a te they a r e speaking for our community. I have discu ssed this with n um erous c u s t o m e r s of mine and s e v e r a l cle rg y m en from this a r e a and find that a m a j o r ity of the people who live in this a r e a a r e in full support of the a u th ority ’s p r o g ram . I am at a loss to understand how the D em o cratic Party, through th eir two o r g a n i z a tions - - Central Com mittee and the Young D e m o c r a ts — can a r r i v e at a conclusion such as they indicated through the p a p ers without taking tim e to d i s c u s s this with the people who live in the Albina are a. Neither I nor ot her b u si ne ssm e n in this a r e a had been contacted by e ith e r group. The re p r e s e n ta t iv e s on this c o m m ittee who indicated that they a r e speaking for the peo ple in this a r e a to my knowl edge never have r e p r e s e n te d the people in this a re a, nor am I personally a w are of them trying to get the pulse of the people involved. SAM HOOSON, 2636 N. Williams Ave. To the Editor: It is q u e s tionable that much of the op position to the low-cost ho u s ing should come from one s e l f - styled lead er whose res idency in Portland is less than two years. As a taxpayer and bu siness woman of the Albina a r e a for many y e a r s , I am quite c a p a ble of evaluating this s i t u a tion. In any c a s e I would h e sita te to be swayed by the opinion of anyone coming from an environment where the s u n light of dem o c rac y was in eclipse. Since the D em o cratic C o m mittee has decided to take a stand in the issue, I would like to know just where were they when the p ro p erty owners e x p re s s e d t h e m se lv e s at the public meeting held by the Housing Authority at the Knott Street Community Ce n te r? I did not know that providing standard housing for low-in- com e groups was to become a political football, o r e ls e many meeting en m as se . I feel that so m e of the lea d e r s of the opposition to the Daisy Williams pro jec t a r e not i n t e r e s t e d in t h e l e s s fortunate, but only in t h e i r own egoism. I co ngratulate the Housing Authority for t h e ir stand. MRS. VIVIANE L. BARNETT, 1810 NE 1st Ave. To the Editor: F o r o v e r 18 y e a r s I have belonged to the Im m aculate Heart Church. Having lived, worked and r a i s ed my children and g r a n d child in the Albina a re a , I feel that the Urban League, NAACP and o th ers a r e m ak ing a mountain out of a mole hill. They a r e using the Daisy Williams p roject to split a community and c au se confu sion in the a re a . When the I m m acu late Heart p ro p erty was spoken for, not a word against the p roject was heard. This site, had it been chosen, is located in about the s a m e section. However, this si t e cost m o r e than the P o r t land Housing Authorities could pay; for this r e a s o n they s e lected the p r e s e n t site. Then the r a b b l e - r o u s e r s got busy. All we have heard sin ce is t h e i r pet t h e m e —segregation. Strange, it was not mentioned before. Since E. Shelton Hill, John Holley and H a r r y Ward se em to be the in stig a to rs of this c o n troversy, I feel t h e i r o r ganizations would make be tter p r o g r e s s without them. T h e ir resig n atio n s would be a p p r e ciated by a n um ber of the peo ple, as it s e e m s they have outlived t h e ir usefulness. Since trained p e rso n n el s e lected the p r e s e n t si t e I am in favor of the p roject being placed where they feel it is most needed. Had the Im macu late Heart Site been selected, I would not have opposed placing it th ere . I believe low-cost housing is needed and wanted in this a r e a ve ry much. ETOILE H. COX, 5526 NE J e s s u p St. WATTIER’S WEEK END SPECIALS Thurs. Fri. Sat. 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