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.
BROGUES
Full Grain Leather
Double Composition Sole
Regular Price $8.99
SPECIAL
$6.99
Sizes 1 to 6
A to D
SHOIS
IOI
BOYS
White Buck Oxfords
Heavy Rubber Soles
Genuine Bucks
Sizes 2 • 6
$4.99
M|N
BOYS LOAFERS
GIRLS CORDS
All Beautiful
Pastel Colors
Washable
Sizes 4 to 10
$2.99
Close Out Of
Discontinued Numbers
Several Styles But
Not All Sizes
Values To $8.99
NOW $5.99
Sizes 3 to 6
Open Mon. & Fri. Till 9:00 P.M.
WATTIER’S SHOE STORES
WALNUT PARK — Union & KiUingsworth