Mr» Fronces Schoin-Xewspapor Roca
! v a r s i t y
an L ib r a r y
n 97403
Grand Jury frees Multi-ServiceCenter of criminal charges
The Grand Jury that wm
impaneled to in v e stig a te
charges of minus«' of fund»
and fraud by the Albina
Multi Service Center found
no evidence of criminal acti
vity. The center was also
investigated by the state
fiscal department, the State
Police, and lh«' Multnomah
County District Attorney's
office.
The investigations
began as the result of coni
plaints by a welfare rase
worker unsigned to the ceil
ter.
The Grand Jury found a
lack of clear lines of author
ity and a lack of proper
financiul procedures, but en
dom ed the Multi Service
('enter concept and its philo
sophy of service to the
people of the community.
The Grand Jury found that
. the Albina Multi Service
Center is a new ronc«'pt
lucking any clear precedent
to define its operation; and
therefore, to some extent,
the Center has had to learn
from mistakes as it went
along. We further recognize good one. By coordinating
that any new organization of the services of many state
this sort, ex,M-nding sizeable agencies under one roof and
amounts of money for social avoiding the problem of
services, will always be sub
clients with real needs wan
ject to controversy.
This dering back and forth across
report does not claim to be a the city from one agency to
definitive study of the entire another, the Multi Service
Multi Service Center or even Center serves both the client
of the entire Center Ad and the taxpayer more ef
ministration. Inevitably new ficiently. It is with the hope
questions will be raised and and belief that the Albina
new criticisms made by some. Multi Service Center can ful
But the Grand Jury unani fill these goals in the future,
mously agrees that the idea while avoiding the confusion
of a Multi Service Center is a and waste which have oc
PORTLAND.
Volume 3, No.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Portland. Oregon
Harper charges police
('larence Harper, Jr. ac
cused the Portland Police
Bureau and the Multnomah
County Sheriffs office of
brutality.
Harper told his
story as follows:
On Saturday evening, Sep
tember Hth. he had his car
washed at the Bub A Dub
car wash on Union Avenue.
The car window was left
down when the car was sent
through the wash, so Harper
talked to the manager. Dur
ing the argument that fol
lowed, the manager picked
up a wrench and threatened
him. He intended to call the
police, hut just then a squad
car drove up. He went to
the Black policeman, Officer
Newman, and started to ex
plain what happened. This
officer said, "You’ve had it."
His while partner put hand
ruffs on Harper and put him
in the police car. As another
squad car drove up. he
sprayed Harper with mare.
Ilar|»>r reacted by swearing
and saying. "You don't have
to do that." The officers from
the second car left their car
and got in the car where he
was held and drove him to
the Multnomah County Court
House.
( LARENCE HARPER
On the way to the Court
House the officers called him
names, used racial slurs, told
him they were going to sex
ualy use Black women, etc.
When he arrived at the
Court House, he was told to
sit down. As he turned to
look to find the chair, he was
I Please turn to pg. 3, col. 41
Bill Cross sues Edgefield
William E. Cross has filed
charges against a former
employer. Edgefield Iaidge,
and its director. Dr. Buell E.
Goocher, for libel.
He is
asking $52,000 damages.
Cross was employed by
Edgefield Ixslge. a treatment
center for disturbed children,
as a Child Guidance Coun
selor from June of 1968 until
March of 1973.
He left
Edgefield to accept a position
in the affirmative action divi
sion of the Oregon Stale
Employment Service.
The
program in which he worked
for the slate ended on June
30, and nt that time he began
looking for employment.
Cross applied for a number
of positions and felt that for
some he was the most quali
fied applicant. He was of
fered a position, and when
nothing transpired, he asked
for an explanation. He was
told that his recommendation
from Edgefield Lodge was
unsatisfactory. At about the
same time he found that
another prospective employer
had received an unfavorable
reference.
He obtained a
copy of one of the letters.
The letter was from Dr.
Goocher and began by prais
ing Cross' work with children
anil their families. However,
he went on to say, "Mr.
Cross' relationship with the
agency was less desirable.
Something I you can count on
a t the Benj. Franklin
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however, and ran be charac
terized as a continual tug of
war over rules of employee
conduct.
Mr. Cross was
chronically unable to get
himself to work on time and
was threatened with sus
pension on several occasions,
although I am not certain
whether suspension actually
occurred.
Mr, Cross re
quired three leave of absences
for medical reasons, varying
from vague, undiagnosed to
an injury to the Achilles
tendon."
"He is highly selfish in
manipulating his social en
vironment to his own ad
vantage and one is never
certain what one is letting
oneself in for when Mr.
Cross asks what appears to
be an innocent enough ques
tion."
"There have been allega
lions of the misappropriation
of agency equipment, but it
must be said that no sys
tem atic investigation was
ever carried out and cer
tainly there is no concrete
evidence of misconduct, if
any occurred."
Goocher went on to say
that he could not in good
faith recommend Cross.
According to Cross, he had
two medical leaves:
once
when he was in the Vet
eran's Hospital, and again
when he tore his Achilles
tendon and had his leg in a
cast.
During the second
leave, in the spring of 1973,
he was paid $300 a month
special compensation.
He
was under the impression
that this was an unusual oc
currence and that most staff
members did not know about
it.
During that period he saw
Dr. Goocher several times
and was assured that he was
eager to have him back on
(t’lease turn to pg. 3, col. 8)
casionally marred its past,
that the Grand Jury makes
this report and the recom
mendations it contains."
The Multi Service (,'enter
was established iri 1909 as an
experimental program. The
center was operated under
the Governor s office until it
was transferred to the De
p a rtm e n t ol Human Re
sources in 1971
The first
renter of its kind in Oregon,
the renter was a pilot pro
gram to test the feasability
of housing many social ser
vice programs under one
roof.
The Center Administration
has the duty to coordinate
the activities of the various
agencies to see that services
are available to the clients,
but the center director has
no authority over the in
ternal operation of the agen
cies. The Grand Jury found
that ''the Center and its
Administration were a new
concept without precedent
and lacking clearly defined
guidelines for their opera
OBSERVER
I'hursday
September 13. 1973
10c per copy
PDC rehab fails homeowners
Mrs. Josephine Franklin
will fare another winter with
mud and water at her back
door as the result of the
Portland Development Com
mission's home rehabilitation
project. Mrs. Franklin re
ceived a grant and a loan to
repair her home. The bid
was awarded to A 1 Western
Builders by PDC.
Mrs. Franklin received lin
oleum in her bathroom, but
she was not consulted as to
the color she preferred. She
was told that the cheapest
grade was used and that
they had to use what they
had in stock. In the kitchen,
the linoleum was not in
stalled properly and is coming
loose along the seams. White
paint was dripped over the
red trim. The painters came
back and patched up the
paint job, but there is still
paint where there shouldn’t
!><■
After a new back door was
installed, it wouldn't close.
She asked that this be re
[»aired. It was, but now the
3-
person might not fit within
the established guidelines of
Welfare or Employment or
whatever, but some way
would be found, or inno
vated, to help anyone with a
problem.
The Adminislra
tive staff w ere not ac
countants, many were not
experienced in adminislra
tion, and many were new to
state government. All these
factors combined to create
unusual pressures on that
Administrative staff to place
the im m ediate pleas and
needs of community clients
above the abstract need to
verify the legitimacy of client
claims and to establish clear
guidelines and rules of ac
countability for Center pro
jects.
From the Center's
inception in 1989 until the
present year, state govern
ment conducted no thorough
audit of the Administration
or its projects. Under these
circumstances the Grand Jury
does not find it surprising
that a good deal of confusion
and controversy acconqi.innd
the first four years' operation
of the Multi Service Center."
The Center Administration
has assumed responsibility
lor the operation of a variety
of projects which function
independently of the agen
cies. Some of these projects
arc. the Supplemental lawn
Fund, Photo If) Center. Vol
unteer Program, Day Care
Center. Portland State Uni
versity Learning Center, and
the Crisis Unit.
The allegations in v e sti
gated by the (train) Jury
concerned charges of mis
handling of funds in the
Volunteer Program, the Ix»an
Fund, and the ID Project.
The Grand Ju ry found
that there were numerous
examples of mismanagement
and insufficient supervision
among employees of t h«-
Multi Service Center.
Ad
ministration projects often
spent money without prear
ranged guidelines and with
iPlease turn to pg. 2. col. 5)
Toran announces for State Senate
door doesn't close properly.
Mrs. Franklin was more
concerned about a puddle of
water by her back steps.
The puddle wouldn't drain
because one area of the
driveway was sloped wrong.
Mrs. Franklin explained to
the co n tractor w hat was
needed, but when she came
home one day they had re
moved all the concrete in the
solid area of the driveway in
front of the garage. They
put in new concrete and put
in a drain. But they had not
touched the area where the
water stands, so there was
still a puddle.
Several days later Mrs.
Franklin came home and
found that all of the grass
had been removed from be
tween the two tracks of the
driveway, not just in the
area of the puddle of water,
but clear out to the street.
For nearly a year she has
been trying to get the grass
replaced, but A 1 Western
tells her that replacing grass
is not part of their job. She
has planted seeds but nothing
will grow.
Mrs. Franklin also com
plained that the contractors
did not clear up their garb
age as they are supposed to
(Please turn to pg. 5 col. 5)
tion."
"Due to the pilot program'
nature of the Center, and
perhaps due to frustration
from a lark of coordinative
authority, some members of
the Multi Service Center Ad
ministrative staff has placed
primary emphasis on their
duty to 'innovate'. The pro
jects discussed above have
been termed 'innovative' and
'experimental'; and therefore,
it has been suggested that
such projects could only de
velop guidelines and rules of
accountability as they went
along, often derisions had to
be made on an ad hoc basis,
and mistakes were inevitable.
Almost the entire Adminis
trative staff was drawn either
from the community which
the Center was designed to
serve and/or from persons
with experience in social
service work. Some of these
staff members have enun
ciated the philosophy of
never turning anyone away
with 'no' for an answer. A
Lillie Florence shows unsatisfactory work just completed
rotting post and lattice work: rail til fasten«?d to post with
putty and sticks; poorly fitting supports (2).
John Toran has announced
his intent to run for the
Oregon Senate, District #9.
District #9 extends from
Union Avenue to 122nd Ave
nue and from Columbia
Boulevard on the north to
Burnside Street in the eastern
end of the district and to
Fremont in the western end.
The d istric t encom passes
House districts #16 and #17.
Senator Tom Mahoney has
served this district in the
past, but the new law pro
viding that legislators reside
in their district makes him
ineligible for re-election.
Toran, who is currently
Treasurer of the Multnomah
County Central Committee,
was an unsuccessful candi
date for House District #16
in 1972. his first bid for elec
tive office.
Toran told the press he
chose to run for the Senate
because "I want to be in
volved in helping make deci
sions which will affect the
lives of Oregon children; to
be involved in preserving the
best the state of Oregon has
to offer to its people; and to
be involved in correcting
those things which are not in
the best interest of the
people of District #9 and the
State of Oregon. My love for
the people and the State of
Oregon, coupled with my
experience, demands that I
try to have some influence
on what happens here.
Toran, a practicing attor
ney, is a graduate of the
University of Oregon and
Northwestern Law School.
JOHN TORAN
He received the Oregon Edu
cation Association and B'nai
B'rith Human Rights Award
in 1971. He served as ad
ministrative assistant to the
Senate Committee on En-
vironment, chaired by Sena
tor Ted Hallock, during the
1973 Legislative Session.
Toran and his wife. Kay,
live at 4510 N.E. 16th Ave-
Mrs. Franklin's grass was removed and nothing grows (D;
puddle remains (2); panel falls from garage door (3>.
Washington Schools hire Black
A 45 year old Black woman
from Evanston, Illinois has
been named superintendent of
schools in Washington, D.C.
by a 7 to 3 vote, with one
abstention, by the D.C. Board
of Education.
The appointment of Bar
hara A. Sizemore, an asso
riate secretary of the Amen
can Association of School
Administrators in Rosslyn,
Virgina, makes her the first
Black woman superintendent
of a major school system in
the country.
The appoint
ment is contingent upon an
agreem ent betw een Mrs.
Sizemore and the School
Board on a contract and a
letter of understanding list
ing goals and a timetable for
carrying them out.
The former director of the
W oodlaw n E x p e rim e n ta l
Schools Project, a federally
funded community involve
ment program involving three
schools and 3,200 students on
Chicago's impoverished South
Side, Mrs. Sizemore said she
hopes to decentralize the
D.C. school system, eneour
age more community involve
ment, and make full use of
the “teaching learning pro
cess" in order to help the
students in the predonn
nantly Black school system
reap maximum benefits.
She also said she wants to
organize an administrative
team of "exciting agents of
social change, people with
creativ ity and innovation"
who can implement change in
the classroom so that the
"teachers don’t feel oppressed
by the administration,” and
provide more in service and
pre service training for the
teachers.
Of the three finalists, two
of whom were men. for the
position, Mrs. Sizemore, the
mother of three children,
was the dear-cut favorite of
the community, as well as a
majority of School Board
members. Many had been
excited by her low keyed
articulation of the problems
of D.C. schools as she, and
many of her listeners, saw
them and how she would
seek to solve these problems.
During an 11-hour public
interview , Mrs. Sizem ore
often drew on her many ex
periences as a 26-year vet
eran of the Chicago school
system, where she worked as
both a teacher and a princi
pal in the elementary and
high schools.
"I learned that if the goals
you set for people are not
compatible with theirs, then
you're wasting your time.
And if you think that talking
is teaching, then you're a
prize nut," Mrs. Sizemore
said at one point.
(Please turn to p.2 col. 7)
Piedmont project hires minorties
The site of the old Pied
of Glaser-Wall work and C’o.,
mont car barns is steadily the project will consist of 17
being transformed into a two-story buildings each with
modern 1.3 million dollar four townhouse apartments
townhouse apartment com plus a recreation building
plex. The 68 two and three which will also contain laun
bedroom townhouses are lo dry facilities and the man
cated at 5802 N. Michigan ager's office. Every effort
and the completion date is has been made to preserve a
set for November, according neighborhood character in the
to J.M. Miller, President of design and construction of
Ross B. Hammond Co., the the townhouses which fea
general contractor.
turc private fenced in patios,
Designed by Howard Glazer 5 equipped play areas for the
children and extensive land
scaping.
The housing complex is
financed by the FHA 236
loan program designed for
m oderate income ten an ts.
Hammond Development Cor
poration supervises the de
sign, construction and man
agement of similar projects
in Salem, Eugene, Newport,
Prineville and P o rtlan d .
Othes are under construction
(Please turn to pg. 6, col. 4)