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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1973)
Mrs Frances ?choen-':e-.-,--;ap«}r Poea U n iv e r s it y o f C r-go n L ib r a r y Displaced families suspect school board, City plot City Commissioner Francia Ivancie said of the residential area currently Ix-ing razed to provide space for a school district warehouae, " It ’a got one of the heat views of Portland's harbor and the Fremont Bridge in the city; better than any south of Broadway . . topographically people don't appreciate this site.” The area is being acquired by School District No. 1 for a central warehouse and main tenance facility. The land has been acquired over a three-year period. Some parcels of land were con demned when the residents refused to sell others are expected to lie purchased through condemnation suits. Many of the property owners, appreciating both the fart that they owned their own homes and the potential value of the property, did not want to sell. Many have refused waling for the courts to order them out while hull dozers destroy the homes around them. Ivancie advocates that the school district sell its land to developers for a hotel and convention facilities to augu ment the Memorial Coliseum across Broadway. He asked that the school district find other spare for its facilities and consider the “highest and beat use" for their land. Ivancie has asked that Mayor Neil Goldschmidt ap point a committee to deter mine the best use of the property. PORTLAND & V d . . . .1. s . . Ü Í P .,.l..d , . S ^ h , P o rtland, Oregon The school district has indicated that it would be willing to »ell the two blocks next to Mro.nlway. The sc ho«.; district is some what concerned about the ethical and political implies tion should it sell land that was acquired from private owners through condemns tion. Condemnation p ro ceedings are available to OBSERVER ___________________ ............................................................................................................. AN IO U A I OPPORTUNITY IM P IO Y U 2H j ONTY N IW S PA PIR J N ^ T M f W H O ll W IO t W O RtO public bodies in order to allow them to obtain property for the goo«i of the com munity. The property could not have been obtained in this manner by a private d eve lo p er. C ondem nation proceedings also allow the «•ourt to set the selling price, rather than let the owner hold out for what he thinks the property is worth to him THAT R tA ttY CAMS ABOUT Ih ^ . s . ^ b . ,» . IK , Thursday, Septem ber 6, 1973 P iO P U I « , p .r c . Bk- per copy Black youth allege police b ru tality Several Black teenagers have accused Portland's po lice officers with brutalizing them at an incident at the Imfierial Skating Kink last Saturday night, September 1. Bob Redman, new owner of the rink, told the Observer that one person had been asked to leave and that he saw no force used by the police. Vivian and Sherry Jones, ages 17 and Id years, went to the skating rink with a 5 year old child They observed two teenage Blacks who were sitting on the steps, refusing to leave the building. The young tnen had been told that new rules prevented them from wearing hats. The young men removed their skates and agreed to leave, but asked for their money bark. The manager finally called the police to have the two removed According to the Jones', when the police arrived they talked to the manager, then ra ile d for m ore o fficers. They told the two young men to leave or be arrested for trespassing, and when they still refused to leave, th ey w ere a rre s te d and beaten with flashlights. The Jones girls felt unnecessary force was used and that the police had not taken the time to find out what was hap pening. In the meantime, those Blacks who had observed what was happening look off skates and went to ask for a refund. So at the time the police arrived there were 20 or 30 Black young people in the hallway. David Smith, a 17 year old from the Tim berlake Job Corps, was at the rink with his older brother and his brother's girl friend. He took off his skates and went outside to find his brother so they could leave. The police were talking to hia brother, Glenn, and the girlfriend was attempting to w rite down the officers' names. A police man moved toward the girl, so David, fearing he was going to hit her. got between them. He said one policeman pushed him and three more held him. He was struck with flashlights and sprayed with something he thought was mace. He was then ar rested and placed in the po lice car. Glenn Smith, 23. said he was trying to take to the police and explain that most of the people just wanted to leave when he was grab bed. his arm twisted, and he was put in the police car. He waa later released when Ser geant Hotter said he knew Glenn was not doing any thing wrong. Vivian Jones said she was pushed against the wall with a flashlight under her throat. Sherry was pushed down by the police. Sergeant Potter of Fast Precinct said that when he arrived on the scene the two young men were sitting on the steps at the skating rink refusing to leave. The police were asked by the manage ment to put them out, and since the police are responsi ble to p ro tect p ro p e rty rights, they asked the youths to leave. When they re fused, they a rre s te d one without incident. The second resisted arrest and force had to lie used to get him into the car. Sergeant Potter said he did not see force used against anyone else. He released Glenn Smith because he knew he had not done anything, but did not release David Smith because he had not seen him. Potter said he felt his officers had been pro voked by pushing and some of the Black women spitting at them, but he was sure no brutality was used. One of ficer did not have a name tag, but this was because it was broken. He thought the m anagem ent of the rin k might have been able to handle the situation in a better manner, but once the police were called, they had (Please turn to pg. 5, col. 51 PDC gets program - with monitor Member« of the Model Cities Citizen Planning Board expressed a concern that the M«xlel Cities Agency is being f-ontrolled by C ity H all. James Ixiving has recom mended that the board "re group. g rt strength and con trol the program." He said the Board has not carried on a dynamic post for the past year and a half, but has allowed the city administra lion to take control. Harry W ard accused board mem bers of "sitting like bumps on a log" while the city makes the decisions. This followed a heated discussion of the Portland Development Comm ission's management of the Housing R e h a b ilit a t io n P r o g r a m , which is not a Model Cities program but for which Model Cities often gets the blame. PDC also administers the Model Cities Housing Repair Program. Community rest dents maintain that work done through the PDC ad ministered program is poor in quality and that the home owner's wishes are often not considered. Hoard members Ella Mae Gay and James Cruzon discussed “shoddy" work done on their own homes. The consensus of opinion was that PDC has no adequate quality control and that no one else has re UMW, CISCO unite for jobs The United Minority Work era and the Chicano Indian Study (.'enter of Oregon have joined forces to insure that minority workers are hired on federally funded construe tion jobs in Oregon. U M W and CISCO are ne gotiating with the Todd Con struction Company for em ployment on the federal build ing in Eugene. Todd has been swarded the contraet for the project. U M W and CISCO alleged that Todd had included their organizations in the contract compliance agreement with the govern ment to show that they were seeking minority workers, but had not contacted the Mitchell resigns Aaron Mitchell, owner of Mitchell Plumbing Company, resigned from his position as acting president of the Al bina Contractors Association. S o m e th in g j y v o o u u c a n c o u n t on a t th e BÍenj. Beni. F ra n k lin ELECTRONIC CALCULATOI Fits in pocket or purg -fo r home, office, school or shopping Adds, subtracts, mull plies, divides Floatin decimal, constant key clear entry. Complete w batteries and case. AC adapt $4 extra. Offer limited while supply lasts BIG DISC O U NTS FOR SAVERS $29.95 with $5,000 deposit $34.95 with $2,500 deposit $44.95 with $1,000 deposit $49.95 with $250 deposit B enj.® Franklin Robsil H Haren. Prss . 22 Ollies« • Phone 248 1234 Home O llies Fianklin Bldg , P oilland . Oregon 87204 sponsihility or authority to withhold funds until the work is satisfactory. The Board approved the Housing Equalization Ixian P ro g ra m G r a n t ( H E L P Grant) with PDC as the operating agency, but with the program monitored by the Albina Contractors As sociation. The program will be funded at $113,914, with $3.914 of this for PDC Ad minislrative costs. No funds were allotted ACA for moni toring. HELP-G rant will provide grants of up to $1,000 to persons receiving Public In terest Lender (P IL ) loans. In order to qualify for a g ra n t, the o w n er-res id e n t must receive a loan of the same amount as the grant or more, and the combination of grant and loan must be enough to bring the home up to city code and property re n e w al standards estab lished by M odel C ities. Homeowners who have al ready had 315 loans, 115 grans, or a Housing Repair grant will not be eligible lor H E L P G ran ts. H o w e v e r, families whose incomes are above the eligibility require ments for other rehabilita tion programs may be eligi ble for HELP-G rant. THOMAS K E N N E D Y PDC appoints director The Portland Development Commission announced re cently the appointment of Mr. Thomas Kennedy. 36, as the Commission’s new D irer tor of Community Services. Kennedy's appointment fills a vacancy crested in April by th« resignation of Hazel G. Hays who accepted a position in private industry. Prior to his appointment, K enn ed y was actin g as Deputy Director for External Affairs with the Washington State Human Rights Com mission in Seattle. He has also worked as Affirm ative A ctio n O ffic e r, M in o rity Group Specialist and Eastern Washington Manager with the Human Rights Commis sion. Prior to his employ ment with the State of Washington. Kennedy served as Human Rights Consultant to the President of W hit worth College, and for 13 years was employed by the Boeing Company. He at tended the University of Washington. Kennedy has been active in the Seattle Model Cities Program, having served as Chairman of the Model Cities Physical Planning. Environ m ent and Housing Task Force and as a member of the Model Cities Advisory Council. He is a member of the N A A C P . and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge Masons. Kennedy assumed his posi tion with the Development Commission on September 1. or to the buyer. Because it was able to acquire the property through rondemna tion and the threat of con demnation, the school district should he able to sell the property at considerable pro fit. Most of the home itwnrrs have believed all along that the school district would never use the property, but that they were using it for sp«-«-ulation. They were told by school officials that when they told the Holladay school building, they were advised by the City Planning Com mission to look at this site. The property owners made an agreement that no indi vidual would sell unless the entire area was purchased. The school district contacted the absentee owners and owners of rental property first and got them to sell. Before the resident owners knew what was happening, homes were being destroyed arouno them. The first parcel of land was purchased for $ .95 a square foot, but later the selling price went up to $1.25 per foot. Although the property had been zoned for light industry, the property was purchased at residential property value. Most homes with 50 x 100 foot lots sold for $9,000 to $12,000, al though Beacon had recently purchased c 50 x 100 lot for $55,000. The L aw re n c e A lb e r ti family is typical of the fami lies who have been dislo cated. The Albertis lived in an older home on Ross Street, which they purchased 27 years ago. The home was paid for and was within walking distance of down town and Lloyd Center. Lo cated on a quiet, dead end street, the Albertis and their neighbors had w e ll-k e p t yards, gardens, and they lived a quiet and happy life. They learned of the school district's acquisition when a bulldozer with the words “Home W recker” painted on its side, began destroying two houses across the street. The Albertis were active in the Eliot Association and sought to stop the property acquisition by appealing to the school board, the city commissioners, and attending numerous meetings. Although some neighbors decided to stay and fight through the courts, after 3 years of fighting, the A l bertis finally decided to go. They were told that the re (Please turn to pg. 5, col. 4) Residents, administration talk two organizations. C itize n s of the model Cities board members fear U M W and CISCO are de neighborhood met with Com that when the Model Cities manding that 2 out of 6 missioner Mildred Schwab program terminates the em employees on the federal and the Bureau of Human ployees will be left without building job be minorities. Resources Director Ira Bla jobs. Blalock said the depart Todd has not signed that lock to express their con ment has given preference to agreement, but agreed that cerns about the relationship Model Cities staff members, th e re would be m in o rity between the Model Cities but the people demanded workers on the job. Agency and the Bureau of that Model Cities staff be Russell Rogers, Regional Human Resources. able to transfer into city Director of Civil Rights for One m atter discussed at positions without competing the General Services Ad some length was the problem with other applicants. Model ministration, said he feels i of hiring for the Human Re Cities staff are city employ the 2 out of 6 figure to be source Bureau arid the ab ees but are not under civil fair. It is the policy of GSA sorption of Model Cities em service. Ellis Casson pointed that all contractors have ployees into city employment. via"ble com pliance ajjre e out that government bodies Many residents and Model usuallv allow for the transfer ments that meet the needs of the minority community. He said contractors in Oregon have never really complied with the intent of the law, hut have always said that they were unable to find minority workers. Now they are able to go directly to U M W and CISCO to obtain workers, so will not have this excuse. Also, if workers are not available in a particular trade, they will be able to show this. He also expressed his belief that the reason minority journeymen are not available in all construction trades is discrimination in the apprenticeship program. "A t the rate the apprentice ship program is proceeding in Oregon, it will lake 550 years to train enough Black journeymen." U M W and CISCO said If Todd does not accept the 2 to 6 ratio and If other con tractors do not make real efforts to hire a fair number of minorities, they w ill seek Students register at Vocational Village, a are welcome here. Students take career courses injunctions to stop the build vocational school that is part of the Portland ing and will use any .legal including auto shop, electricity, heating and air Public Schools. Students who have been conditioning, clerical, nursing and marketing. m e an s to e x e r c is e t h e ir expelled or dropped out of standard high schools rights. of employees from one agency or department to another. A pile of rubbish is all that is left of this family home in the district's warehouse site. school This home stands alone where a neighborhood once thrived. Surrounded by empty lots, the owners still hold on to their property. Bulldozer waits for its next victim. Black teacher reaches 5th traasplaat year On August 24. 1968, Louis James Ixiving advocated that Russell underwent the 34th rather than even wait for heart-transplant operation applications, the Human Re ever attempted. In the 11th sources Bureau should be floor surgical suite of the drafting Model Cities staff. Medical College of Virginia, H arry Ward recalled that D r. Richard Lower performed Model Cities gave the city the surgery which gave Rus $50.000 to help establish the sell the heart of a 17 yearold Bureau and that it has also boy who had been shot and kvaned staff. He called this killed earlier that day. "insurance for a piece of-the As Russell approaches the action." fifth anniversary of the oper Blalock and Commissioner ation. he is not only the Schwab admitted that trans world's longest living heart fer could be a possibility and transplant patient, but prob stated that they would give ably the most active. the idea consideration. Bla In the past five years lock said the department Russell has returned to his job now has about 25 employees, as Industrial Arts teacher at 10 of which are Black. He an Indianapolis junior high did not know how many school, re roofed his house, were temporary employees. completely finished his base Loving pointed out that ment, spent some time on the Model Cities had been co lecture circuit and helped his operative in the formation of wife, Thelma, launch her suc the Bureau, but has not cessful dress shop. received jobs for its staff, A school dropout at 18,, where the Portland M etro Russell served for two years politan Steering Committee in World W ar II, later worked fought the Bureau, yet per in the foundries of Terre sons associated with PMSC Haute, then went back to have been hired. Erma Hep school under the G I Bill, burn of PMSC was appointed taking a BA and an M A at assistant to Blalock. Carl Indiana State University. Simington. James Unthank, In 1984 Russell had the first and Tom Darby were with indications of what he thought the Concentrated Employ were "stomach pains" and ment Program, a PM SC pro "indigestion". A massive gram. and Rita Clinton was heart attack followed and he on the PMSC board of direc barely survived. loiter that tors. year, as the pain again Eddie Moss asked if the became intense, they started transfer of employees from thinking about a heart trans Model Cities could be ac plant. com plished under the a f “We knew that he eould not firmative action agreement. live much longer, but we were Charles Jordan asked for a bit uncertain about heart transplants”, his wife recalls. (Please turn to page 5 col. 5) "Many of the patients had died and we had to face that possibility." Charles Russell, oldest of the four children and a law student at Indiana University, helped make the decision to go ahead with the transplant. “Dad lived from day to day on hypodermic needles and while we thought that he probably would not survive the heart transplant, we refused to think about it." Once the d e c i s i o n was made, Russell, his wife and two daughters, left for Rich mond to wait. Less than a month after he was checked into the hospital, the opera tion was performed. Now, five years later, Rus sell is the longest living heart transplant patient. Seniors ride free Beginning on October 4th. persons who ar 65 years and older will be able to ride T ri Met buses free on week ends, holidays and from 7:00 n.m. to 5:00 a.m., and during ther off peak hours they may ride for 10 cents. During the hours 5:00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. the fare will remain at 35 cents for a single zone. To obtain the free rides or reduced rate, senior citizens can show t h e i r Tri Met Hon ored Citizen or Medi Care cards. The legally blind and disabled with Social Security cards also will benefit from the new fare structure.
