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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1973)
Page 2 Portland/Observer Thursday, October 25, 1973 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WE SEE THE WORLD THROUGH BLACK EYES Congratulations _ . . . . fillir g a m o a n t Dear Publisher Henuerson: EDITORIAL FOCUS What affirmative action? On S e ptem ber 25th, a fte r charges o f d is c rim in a tio n had been file d a ga in st the Portland D e ve lo p m en t C om m ission, Tom Kennedy, PDC's D irector o f C o m m u n ity Services, m et w ith James A. G a rfie ld , Equal O p p o rtu n ity D irector fo r the HUD o ffic e in P ortland, to discuss PDC's a ffirm a tiv e a ction record. In this m e e tin g the a llo tm e n t o f contracts fo r housing re h a b ilita tio n and h om e re p a ir in the M o d e l C ities n e ig h b o rh o o d w e re discussed a nd the re g u la r w e e k ly re p o rt o f August 3rd su bm itted as e vid en ce. No w ritte n record o f a ffirm a tiv e action in e m p lo y m e n t w as su bm itted , nor w e re statistics on the a ffirm a tiv e a ction status o f contractors and sub-contractors. Yet PDC is responsible not o n ly fo r its o w n e m p lo y m e n t practices and the le ttin g o f contracts to in c lu d e a nd assist m in o rity business, but is also resp o n sib le to see th a t its contractors also pra ctice e q u a l o p p o rtu n ity in e m p lo ym e n t. This inclu de s n ot o n ly contractors but professionals such as architects, p la n n in g consultants, attorneys, etc. On O cto b er 11th, K ennedy requested a w ritte n e v a lu a tio n o f PDC's e q u a l o p p o rtu n ity p rogram . M r. G a rfie ld im m e d ia te ly re p lie d : " In e x a m in in g yo u r reports o f NDP jobs co m p le te d from A p ril 9, 1973 to August 3, 1973, I le a rn e d that 10 o f 20 contractors in v o lv e d w e re m in o rity contractors. " I w as p a rtic u la rly g ra tifie d to learn that in your H ousing R epair Program fo r the Fourth A ctio n Year, e ig h t o ut o f n in e contractors, or 92.5% w e re m i n o rity businesses." U n fo rtu n a te ly , G a rfie ld 's a rith m e tic is incorrect. A cco rding to th e rep ort, o n ly 7 o f the 20 NDP con tractors a re m in o ritie s and o n ly 6 o f 9 contractors d o in g the H om e Repair Program w o rk are m i n orities, or 66.6%. This e v a lu a tio n does not in d i cate the p ercen ta ge o f jobs a c tu a lly a w a rd e d to m in o ritie s or the p ercen ta ge o f d o lla rs earned. G a rfie ld goes on to state, "A lth o u g h w e d id not at this m e e tin g e x a m in e yo ur w ritte n A ffirm a tiv e A ctio n Program w e d id learn th a t 33% o f PDC p erson ne l are m in o rity g ro u p m e m b e rs ." N o w w e m ust w o n d e r if THIS a rith m e tic is ac curate. W h e re are these e m ployees? The m a jo rity seem to be in th e co m m u n ity service unit in A lb in a , w hich , if cu rren t plans are ca rried out, m ig h t soon be a b o lish e d . W hat are th e ir roles and salaries and h o w do they co m p are to those o f the w h ite em ployees? H ow m uch d e cisio n -m a kin g p o w e r do they hold? Do Tom Kennedy and Ben W ebb re a lly m ake decisions or do they carry o ut orders? Does PDC even have a w ritte n A ffirm a tiv e A ction A g ree m e nt? If so, h o w does it co m p are to th e ir p erform an ce? There are m an y questions that com e to m in d — but a p p a re n tly G a rfie ld was satisfied. He goes on, "W e a p p re cia te the sp irit o f co o p e ra tio n th a t you and yo u r co lle a g u e s e xte n d e d to us at our first m e e tin g and loo k fo rw a rd to a lon g and p ro du ctive re la tio n s h ip ." Does this in d ica te th a t this is the b e g in n in g o f HUD's e ffo rt to "c o u n s e l" PDC on its a ffirm a tiv e a c tio n re q uirem en ts? W here are the re q u ire d re g u la r a ffirm a tiv e a ctio n reports? W h ile PDC has been sp e n d in g m illio n s o f HUD d ollars, has if been fre e to set its o w n req uirem en ts? If this is the typ ica l HUD e v a lu a tio n , no w o n d e r the contractors d o in g HUD jobs laugh at the w ord "in v e s tig a tio n " . Is this w h y PDC has been assured no a ctio n w ill be ta ken a ga in st them ? A nd w h a t is PDC's m o tiv e in this m ove? C ould it be th a t G a rfie ld is set up to be the " f a ll g u y "? Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201 North Killingsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 9720* Telephone: 283 248«. Subscriptions: $5.25 per year in the Tri County area. $6 00 per year outside Portland. Second Class Postage Paid at Portland. Oregon The Portland Observer's official ,M*sitiori is expressed only in it's Publisher's Column (We Sec The World Through Black Eyes). Any other material throughout the pa|*er is the opinion of the individual w riter or submitter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer. inemliei Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association MEMBER Blacks written out! A c o m m itte e a p p o in te d by M ayo r G o ldsch m id t has just re w ritte n th e P ortland H o m e to w n Plan. The Plan w as o rig in a lly w ritte n in 1970 in response to fe d e ra l re q u ire m e n ts th a t cities e ith e r w rite th e ir o w n plans to in c lu d e m in o ritie s in the construction trades or h ave a p la n im posed on them . The pla n was w ritte n by contractors, unions a nd c iv il rights groups. U n fo rtu n a te ly , the pla n w as never fu n d e d or enforced. The n ew p la n , w h ic h is not s u b sta n tia lly d iffe re n t than the o rig in a l, w as w ritte n by a c o m m itte e o f fiv e a p p o in te d by the M ayor. Three o f those p e rs o n s a re fr o m th e M a n p o w e r A re a P la n nin g C ou ncil a nd tw o fro m the M e tro p o lita n H um an R elations C om m ission. The one Black, C harles Moss, is a city e m p lo y e e a nd an o ffic e r o f the M u n ic ip a l Em ployees U nion. F o llo w in g th e M a y o r's suggestion that re p re sentatives o f th e m in o rity c o m m u n ity be selected by the c o m m itte e , th re e persons w e re add ed a C hicano, an In d ia n a nd a Black. W e do not k n o w th e q u a lific a tio n s o f the C hi cano or the In d ia n , but it does seem strange that LeRoy Patton w as chosen to represent the interests o f Black contractors, construction w orkers and a p prentices. W e w o n d e r h o w he w o u ld k n o w a n y th in g a b o u t the p ro b le m s fa ced by these groups. It also seem s strange th a t m in o rity contractors a nd w orkers w e re not in clu d e d m ore fu lly in the w o rk in g s o f the c o m m itte e A fter a ll, the e n tire purpose o f th e H o m e to w n Plan is to assist m i n o ritie s, a nd w h o w o u ld k n o w b etter than they w h a t road blocks are th ro w n in th e ir w a y by the contractors a n d the u nions w ho thus fa r have done a goo d job o f e x c lu d in g them . Yet the A lb in a C ontractors w e re in v ite d to o n ly o ne m e e tin g and w h e n th e ir re p re s e n ta tio n co uld not a tte nd they w e re not in v ite d a g a in . The U nite d M in o rity W orkers a tte n d e d one m e e tin g . N e ith e r g ro u p was in fo rm e d a b o u t the a p p ro x im a te ly ten m ee ting s th a t w e re h eld. ACA has not re c e iv e d a copy o f the n e w Plan, a lth o u g h it w as supposed to have been sent to a ll interested parties. S om ehow the Black press w as o v e rlo o k e d also. A ll o f this m akes us w o n d e r w h a t interests the H o m e to w n Plan is w ritte n to serve The M a yo r and his C o m m itte e should re a liz e that days are gone w h e n p lans can be w ritte n fo r, ra th e r th an w ith , m in o ritie s . On this, the week of the third anniversary of the Port land Observer, let me extend both personal and professional congratulations on behalf of O NPA, its 116 Oregon news paper members, and its board of directors. Your colleagues in the newspaper industry realize the difficulties you and your s ta ff must have encoun tered - and overcome in establishing a local news paper for the people within your circulation area. You can be doubly proud of your achievement: your j membership in ONPA re flects a fulfilling of basic Journalistic membership re th ie fasta* Responsible social worker ia quirements: and this feat is overshadowed by an even more important accomplish ment acceptance by and support of the community you serve. A free, unfettered press was never more important than it is now, nor has the role of the community newspaper in shaping "grass roots" opin ion and catalyst for neighbor hood action been as conse quential as today. Again, during this momen tous week, my best and most sincere congratulations to you and the Observer staff. Best regards, Rogert W. Williams Executive Secretary Manager. Oregon News paper Publishers Aaooriation * Dear Mr. Henderson: When elected officials fall short in meeting their re sponsibilitias the media often bring such shortcomings to the attention of the Elec torate. and rightfully so. I believe those who demon strate honest attempts to be responsive to com m unity needs ought to bo pointed out and commended: that as their records warrant, they may retain public support. Ms. Mary (W endy) Rob erts. freshman State Rep resentative from Multnomah County, is such a person. A social worker. Ms. Roberts is very much aware of com munity socioeconomic needs and problems. She and others, recognizing that there are some youth who cannot live in their own homes or in foster homes, sponsored a bill which became law author izing independen* living ar rang em en ts for persons meeting specified criteria. It is a forward step and will permit us to better plan for a segment of our youthful pop ulation who previously would be left to drift and hustle for themselves for lack of re sources. Ms. Roberts addressed a meeting of the Model Cities District. Children's Services Division staff to explain the rationale of the measure as well as legislative intent. 1 commend Ms. Roberts and hope that other legisla tors will follow her example of establishing and main laming 'grass roots' contacts. Very truly yours, Lewis L. Winchester, Director. Model Cities District We have been robbed Dear Sir: Apology accepted? Dear M r. McCrea: Thank you for your letter of September 27, 1973 in which you apologized to members of our community for badly chosen words quoted by a reporter of a w hite daily. It is unfortunate that at times our words do not properly trans mit either our judgments or our feelings and it is disas trous whenever the news media distributes such in formation to the public. Your responsibility to the community is vast and since you are answerable, state ments for which you will be held accountable should be made with caution. Of par ticular concern is the possible negative effect such remarks may have upon your students' personal growth. High status, positive image or just feeling good about, yourself is hard to come by for minority people and experiences which tend toward the opposite ought to be avoided. You of course know that we stress quality education (formal and ex periential) and will as indivi duals and as a community take proper courses of action to insure the welfare of our children both within and without the academic world. Y our re g re tta b le ex p e r ience is now history with which you must live, and your acknowledgment of er ror denotes that you are a man of strong character with whom we can work and move forward from this point on. Let us concentrate upon the future and having learned from a negative experience move on to positive exper iences. Possibly you may feel some need for either my or our agency's assistance as you carry out your mission. Keep in mind that I and we are here to help you and when ever you feel such a need, a telephone call or a visit will bring you a helping hand. In the past five months the P.S.IJ. Educational Center, located at 2611 n . e . Union Avenue, has been hit be a series of four break ins. In all over $1.000 in equipment has been stolen and damage to the office has also oc currcd. The staff of the Educa tional Center emplores the community to help protect th e ir educational fa c ility . The Educational Center is a community project. It was established some five years ago to fulfill the educational desires of the community, so when the Educational Center gets ripped off. the com munity gets ripped off! The Educational Center has the potential to do a lot for the community in terms of offering college courses at a minimal fee. We ask that you be concerned enough to help protect the Center. If you see any unusual behavior after closing time or es pecially on the weekends, please act! Very truly yours, Phyllis Benton, Acting Director. PSD Educational Center P o rtlan d O b se rv e r on y o u r 3rd H IIC tW M IN M i l , C M M O ÍIM P aige’s Pharm acy Sincerely. Cleveland Gilcrease Executive Director. Portland Metropolitan Steering Committee 2701 N . E. 7 th 2 8 4 -4 6 5 6 Parent awareness Student elections reveal lefinite aspects of student human relations and peer re I have just finished read spect. In a student body of ing the editorial in the Oc approximately 2.000 of which tober 4. 1973 Portland Ob there are approximately fifty server, which arrived by five Afro-American students, mail today. many resident and transfer As a Cleveland parent, I students have been outstand can say that a complete pic ing in school, city, state and ture of the Cleveland at national activities including mosphere is lacking. If the academic and extra curricular Observer has not already competition. During the past done so, I suggest that a eight years, Cleveland stu visit be made to Cleveland dents have elected two Rose High School to determine the Festival princesses who were more predominantly positive Afro-Americans. During the aspects which prevail. When past four years, Cleveland facts are not presented in students have elected two perspective, a community dis Afro American students to service is performed. Ob compete for student varan jective, on site visits are cies on the Area I I I C iti therefore essential. zens Advisory Board. Afro- American students have also been elected to significant re p re s e n ta tio n in student government including Stu d e n t C o u n c il p r e s id e n t . Other student elections have honored “the most valued member" of the Cleveland Forensics team, outstanding athletes, outstanding scho lars, etc. . . . I t seems ap propriate that these facts be known and also the strong academic program. I feel it is approprate to m ention c e rta in Cleveland teachers who serve beyond the call of duty: Mrs. Mason. Mrs. Svobixla, M r. Pugh, Mr. Durrell, Miss Ireland, Mr. Bruce Johnson, M r. Robert Kearns, and a former teacher Mr. Howard Siegel. Mr. Glen Hill, Principal, is sensitive, p erc ep tive and communicative with parents and students. I believe it is im p o rta n t to g iv ^ c re d it where credit is due. Cleve land problems, in their per spective, do not currently outweigh the positive stu dent and faculty performance evident in day today rela tions. Has the Observer, in fact, determined the cause of Cleveland problems? Dear Sir: Sincerely, Mrs. Osly J. Gates N e 9Í p A l PER Auoclalion - Founded TM5 la n H C O e Y R lO M T © l9 7 3 D, “ Let me make this perfectly clear." sa 8'a m a, IFditor's Note: The edi torial of October 4 slated nothing negative or positive about Cleveland High School | Hardy Best Wishes On a successful 3rd Birthday BANK W h e re b a n k in g is a v e ry personal thing