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O BSERVER
PO H T LA N D
Volum e 3, N o . ^ P o r t la n d , O regon
THE O N IV
NEWSPAPER IN
AN E O U A l OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD THAT REALLY CARES A»OUT
PEOPLE
T h u rs d a y M a r c h E l 9 7 3 1O< p e r copy
>
State debates equal opportunity
U illia m Jones is a Black
man who owns his own dump
tru ck.
He is also the only
m in o rity dump truck d riv e r
in Oregon. Two weeks ago
Jones had a hearing before
the StatePublicl u litie sC o m -
rr.ission on his application fo r
a license.
Before buying his truck,
Jones researched the dump
truck txisiness in Oregon and
found that there are no Blacks
o r other m in o rity people in
this business. He also found
that Executive O rder 11246
requires that
all federally
funded o r federally supervised
projects are required to hire
Blacks at all levels of em
ployment, and that contractors
in Oregon were unable to ob
tain Black dump tru c k d riv e rs
fo r th e ir jobs. None of the
dump truck companies employ
Black d riv e rs .
Indecision, confusion
M ayor Nall Goldschmidt (left) visits the opening of Chuck’ s
St. Johns Cyclery at 7017 N. Lombard. Charles Cruse (center)
Is the owner of the Northwest’ s only Black owned cycle shop.
Clinics aid taxes
The Oregon Tas Project is
sponsoring lax climrs which
offer free preparation of tax
returns to low and moderate
income groups in the Port
land metropolitan arcs. The
Project is a citizens' effort to
help people with their indl
vidual tax problems and to
provide tax payers with in
formation about the present
tax structure.
"The tax climes will oper
ate out of the existing facili
ties of various community
organizations, neighborhood
centers and churches." ex
plained Bill ('roes. Project
Coordinator.
T h e urgent
need for such clinics is em
phasized by a Department of
Health, Education and Wei
fare study of the 1971 forms
in which they concluded that
in order to completely under
stand the tax instructions
the taxpayer would have to
read at the level of a college
graduate.**
Present plans encompass
the operation of six clinics
d u r i n g weekday evenings
and Saturdays from March
15th to April 16th.
The
clinics will be staffed by
volunteers who will have
completed the V o lu rteer In
come Tax Assistance course,
a training program designed
by the Internal Revenue
Service.
The training pro
gram quickly equips assistors
to handle ninety percent of
the problems they are likely
to encounter in assisting low
and moderate income tax
payers.
The Oregon Tax Project's
volunteer staff of profes
sional accounting consultants
will handle the more complex
tax problems as well as
assist in the auditing of tax
forms.
Cros.i indicated that ad
ditional professional and clinic
volunteers for the program
are needed.
For further
information, call the Oregon
Tax Project at 222 1118.
The 4-C funded child care
programs and the families
they serve are awaiting word
from the State Children's
Service Division as to when
new state policies
Rule
10
will go into effect.
The confusion mounts as
C S I) continues to be unable
to give concrete instructions.
As the Observer goes to
press Wednesday evening,
the Metropolitan Area 4 C
Council expects to hear from
CSD the morning of March
8th. In question are: Which
children will be eligible for
federaly subsidized child care
and which children will be
dropped from programs and
which families will have to
pay. when, and how much.
Mrs. Edie Kyman, Acting
Director of the Metropolitan
Area 4 C Council, said 4 C
will take no action until
directives are received in
w riting from Don M iller.
Director of the Children's
Service Division.
A number of conflicting
orders and directives have
been received from CSD
staff members during the
past few days and there
appears to be either con
fusion or conflict within CSD.
Rule 10 was filed and put
into effect on February 15th,
however, the effective date
was postponed until March
1st so that a public hearing
could be held on February
26th.
Child care agencies
were then told that the
effective date w o u l d
be
March 1st.
Parents were
informed and had to deter
mine whether they would be
able to pay fees, would place
their children in less expen
sive private child care, or
woud have to quit jobs or
drop nut of school.
Then on March 3rd parents
and day care mothers of the
Albina Ministerial Alliance
Family Day and Night Care
Program, j o i n e d by con
cerned parents and citizens,
met with M ayor Neil Gold
schmidt to express their con
cerns over the stringent state
regulations and high fee scale
and to request assistance
from city revenue sharing
money.
M a y o r Goldschmidt ex
plained that he cannot change
the slate policy, but that he
is in favor of continuing child
care at its current level.
He will not commit the city
to financing child rare until
the council is able to deter
mine which social programs
are loosing federal funds and
which should be continued by
the city.
The State Children's Ser
vice Division, u n d e r Rule
10. w i l l
eliminate many
families from the federally
funded 4 C child care pro
grams. Only those families
earning 133 per cent of
welfare standards (welfare
standards are set at 85 per
cent of the estimated cost of
a menial standard of exis
tence) would be eligible to
receive 4-C child rare.
Of
those eligible for child care,
many would be expected to
pay fees higher than they
would have to pay for pri
vate care.
The parents were ci
cerned that without child
(Please turn to page 8 col. 2)
Tired of jive people?
Berkeley mayor visits
by Rosemary Allen
Mayor W arren Widener,
first Black Mayor of Berkeley.
California, received a warm
welcome in Portland Tues
day evening at the home of
M r. and Mrs. Paul Harris.
There to greet him were
various residents of Port
land, among them M r. and
Mrs Paul Knauls, M r. and
Mrs. Aaron Brown Jr., and
M r. and Mrs. C h a l m e r s
Jones.
M ayor W idener was in
Oregon for a speaking en
gagement at W'illamete U n i
versity, February 28.
He
spoke primarily about the
student role in government
and the "Berkeley Experi
ence".
A former city councilman
in 1969. M ayor Widener com
mented on his new position,
acquired in 1971.
He ex
pressed that in his position
as the only Black mayor in
California, he is looked upon
by Blacks in Oakland. San
Francisco, etc., as "Their
Mayor".
Mayor Widener
feels that he is a Black
•nayor. coming from a Black
experience.
However, he
knows he must deal with all
problems. The issue that he
feels is of grave importance
nationally to Black people
now is the relationship of the
N ix o n
Administration to
Black people. He feels that
Black people must plan now
or have our future planned
for us.
by Rosemary Allen
Tired of community rip off
programs?
Fed up with
empty promises and starved
to feel anything for real?
I'm w ith you; 1 feel the same
way tool
But I think I've
come up on something on the
for real side in my recent
visit to POIC.
"This is s training center,
not a school." explained M r.
Washington. Public Relations
man and Operations Manager
for POIC. "Our concept is to
train people f o r
employ
inent." There are 105 O IC s
across the USA and in 7
other countries.
The main
headquarters is in Phil«
delphia. 50% of all trainees
in these programs are from
the target area, the other
Every day
is pay day
with true daily interest.
At the Benj. Franklin, interest
on passbook savings is compounded
constantly, from day of deposit to day
of withdrawal. For maximum earnings
on your savings, pay yourself first in
a safety-insured account at the
Benj. Franklin
5$
Passbook S avin g «
par annum
C e rtific a te » o f D e p o a lt
per annum com pounded daily
and paid quarterly «ft OOO
m inim um for ? year«
Franklin
a.v.M .. • . . . .
. . . m
Robsil H Haisn, Prss . 21 O iliest * Phons 248 1234
Home O llie s Franklin Bldg Portland. Oregon 87204
50% consisting of low in
come, unemployed, students
put out of public schools, etc.
POIC is not an ethnic group
organization, although it is
run basically by experienced
Blacks."
“W hatever is required to
get a job," is what is taught
at PO IC .
Courses range
from mechanics to G E I) pre
paration; from speedwriting
to consumer («duration. Each
course is taught on an indi
vidual basis.
There is no
bulk teaching.
Now, after hearing that
their basic concern was to
get people a job, I knew they
were for real. Learning how
to help yourself is the only
way you're going to survive.
Forget about "making it”.
So as M r. Washington con
tinued our tour, I saw the
Consumer Education c l a s s
where people of all ages
were being taught how to
compare prices in the com
munity with those of stores
the suburbs, and how to buy
from stores like Cohn Bro
thers, Lampus, etc. Then I
had a talk with clerical
teacher assistant Cheryl O li
ver, w h o
explained how
trainees can learn how to
type 20 to 25 words per
minute in only two weeks.
Robby Harris, adult basic
e d u c a t i o n instructor ex
plained that his course con
sisted of English, Math, His
lory and English Literature.
Another course taught there
(Please turn to page 8 col. I)
Jones,
who had driven
trucks fo r his uncles firm in
Los Angeles, McNeal T ruck
ing, applied to ttie Teamsters
Union in Portland forem ploy-
ment as a d riv e r. He was
sent to the hiring hall by
Team ster o fficia l L a rry M ill,
but was told at the hall that
no work was available but
that his name would be plac
ed in ;be «Atra lis t . He never
heard from the union again.
He then went to the P ort
land A irp o rt, where the P o rt
e r Yett Company was build
ing. He was told by a cle rk
that his name would be taken
fo r the employment lis t, but
the foreman would not place
him on the lis t. He did not
see Blacks working on that
job, federally funded and under
the auspices of the P o rt of
Portland.
Hoping to buy his own truck
and begin a business, Jones
went to the Small Business
Adm inistration. His applica
tion was not accepted and he
was told to go to Media, that
they were set up to assist
Blacks. Jones said he knows
that the average white man
can go to SBA and obtain a
business loan. But that Blacks
are refused without even the
opportunity to apply.
Jones saved money from his
job as a building contractor,
traded in his w ife's car and
bought a second-hand dump
tru ck. He obtained a tempo
rary p e rm it which allows him
to work only two firm s , Hoff
man Construction and A lert.
If one of these firm s does
not have work fo r him, the
truck sits idle.
Jones has now applied fo r
a Stale license thatwould allow
him to accept trucking jobs
anywhere in Oregon. State
law requires
that anyone
applying fo r a perm it, prove
the need fo r additional trucks.
However, this law was made
at a time when all trucking
companies were White and
it perpetuates on all-W hite
industry.
However, Joies
believes
he has complied with the re
quirements of the law in prov
ing the need fo r additional
dump trucks. Before apply
ing fo r the license he attended
a meeting of the Oregon Dump
T ruckers Association andwas
urged by them to apply. How
ever, 15 members of that
association, supported by the
association’ s
attorney, at
tended the hearing to protest
his application. These dump
truckers testified that they
earned from $20,000 to $25,
000 a year, working part tim e.
They do not work full time,
and claimed there is not work
fo r them, yet they do not ad
vertise o r lis t in the yellow
pages. They said there is
not enough work, yet buy new
trucks fo r $30.000.
Jones claims that there is
available work and thatduring
the peak season there are
not enough dump trucks a-
vailable to meet the needs of
the construction companies.
The Public U tilitie s Com
m ission must
now decide
whether Jones is to belisenc-
ed.
A decision against him
would place the State of Ore
gon in the position of perpe
tuating an a ll White indus
try .
When Jones receives his
lisence he plans to buy an
other truck and hire a second
d riv e r. As the business grows
he w ill be able to hire other
m in o rity employees. He does
not see his business as just
a lucrative income fo r him
self. but as a way to get
Blacks into this trade which
has been closed to him.
Benson students build houses
Career Education building
and construction program at
B e n s o n Polytechnic High
School has taken on a new
look since its beginning a
little more than a year ago.
Students in the Career
Education cluster are using
updated techniques to learn
building a n d
construction
trades while keeping the
cost of instructional mater
ials down.
Sophomore students in the
program can elect a number
of courses which help them
get exposure to building and
construction trades.
Stu
dents in the finish carpentry
class re use the forms and
most materials as they learn
interior carpentry.
Bv use
of the new technique, four
groups of students or about
90 a day can work on dry
wall, l a y o u t
techniques,
painting, roofing and floor
covering. When the project
is completed at the end of
the 9 week grading period,
the sements are taken down
and re usable materials are
stored until the next class
comes ill to start the project
over again.
Currently more than one
half of the members of the
sophomore class are enrolled
in the project, according to
Sterling Borquist. chairman
of the shop department at
Benson.
Borquist said there are
some 85 students in junior
and senior classes building
two houses.
He said the
class is working in groups
framing the buildings near
the school.
Upon comple
lion, they will be taken
down in panels and assem
bled on foundations at the
permanent location.
He said that perhaps in
the future, students will be
able to work on a modular
constructed home. This will
provide the students with
the same experience as the
framing does, but will also
offer additional finishing ex
perience, Borquist concluded.
Dan Hartzong, son of M r. and M rs. Ernest Hartzog, was
appointed by Representative B ill McCoy to be an honorary page
at the House of Representatives on March 14th. Dan, who Is
14 years old. Is a student at Wllson High School.
t