Portland/Observer
-Getting
Smart
themuskmachine
BY WALTER L SMART
Executive Oiiector
National Federation ol Settlements
and Neighborhood Centers
P A K T 11
In our previoua rolumn.'we
disrunaed the abuse of the
F H A 221 (d )(3) housing
enactment, which provided
funds for low income apart
ment complexes controlled
by non profit organizations.
We saw how developers used
nonprofit organizations to
reap profits and effectively
control a housing project.
In the example I cited, the
tenants were prohibited from
maintaining a washing ma
chine in their apartments.
On the other hand, the
laundry facilities provided in
the development were woe
fully inadequate (two washers
and dryers) for the 120 unit
development. Women found
themselves waiting in line
for six or more hours to
w ash t h e i r c lo th e s .
Of
course, the system broke
down and ten an ts began
washing clothes in th e ir
apartments and stringing a
line in the kitchen, some
times the living room, on
which to dry their clothes.
Yet, in another develop
ment, controlled under the
same program, hut where
the local corporation repre
sentatives were informed and
involved, each housing unit
contained a washer and a
dryer.
Equally, if not more im
portant, however, is the re
lationship that is developed
between tenants and man
agement. In those develop
ments where the non profit
organization turns over the
management function to the
developer, with no real in
volvement from community
representatives, the landlord
tenant relationship is very
lim ilar to that which exists
oetween slumlord and tenant,
>ne of the most dehumanizing
relationships one could ex
perience.
In those few instances
where the non profit organi
zation has assumed the man
»gement role or played a
vital role in the management
function, the tenants have
s tr o n g ly s u p p o rte d and
worked cooperatively with
management.
In those instances where
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non profits have done poorly
in management, the key far
tor was lack of expertise and
failure to secure that ex
pertise. It was not a rase of
lark of interest and intent.
Good intentions cannot run
and manage an apartment
complex. There is a definite
need for the training of per
sons to coordinate such com
munity Iwsed projects.
Approximately one year
ago President Nixon imposed
a moratorium on all federally
subsidized housing with the
exception of those projects
which had already received
some level of federal ap
proval prior to the mora
torium. To some, the pitfalls
of the 221 (d)(3) program ef
forts may now seem moot.
We now have the oppor
tunity. during this period, to
reevaluate our efforts in
community training so that
the same mistakes do not
recur. The government must
also realign F H A 221 ldl(3)
guidelines so that community
people receive the desper
ately needed counsel to make
great opportunities like this
flourish, reaping a new urban
America.
We are, indeed, faring a
housing crisis. If we remain
static, our situ atio n w ill
steadily get worse.
The
housing m o ratoriu m must
end
the sooner the better
for the poor of this land.
Bike group
meets
The re ce n tly organized
Advisory Committee on Bi
cycles will hold its first
regular meeting at 10:00
a m. on November 18th in
Room 321 of the Capitol.
Committee members were
sworn in on October 31st by
Governor Tom McCall. Mem
bers are Don Stathos. Jack
sonville; Mrs. Dennis Ross.
Hermiston; M r. John Bas
com, Eugene; Winslow C.
Brooks. Tigard; Glenn Gregg,
Portland; Larry Hook, Port
land; Ernest Drapela, E u
gene; and Rick Seres. Salem.
Taxes
collect
interest
1’agv 3
Conference studies Mekong Delta economy
Hom eow ners m ust pay
th e ir p ro p e rty taxes to
county tax collectors within
the time limits set by law in
order to avoid interest on
late payments, said Charles
H. Mack, director of the
Oregon Department of Reve
nue.
U n d er the new home
owners' and renters’ property
tax refund program, home
owners apply directly to the
D e p a rtm e n t of R evenue,
after January 1, 1974, for a
refund on property taxes due
November 15, 1973.
“Refunds are based on the
amount of the taxpayers'
household incomes and prop
erty taxes, not on when the
tax liability is paid," Mark
added.
Property tax refund claim
forms will be part of the
income tax packet which will
be mailed to all Oregon
residences about the first
half of January.
The World Affairs Council
of Oregon and Portland State
University jointly are spon
soring one of four conferences
to be held in the United States
this fall on the .Mekong River
Basin Project in Southeast
Asia.
The conference
"Me
kong Basin: A Rich Future
for Southeast Asia and the
World" -
is scheduled lor
November 9th at the Shela
ton Hotel in Portland. H ie
cost is $20.
All four members of tjie
Mekong Committee, which
oversees development of the
rich Mekong Basin, will key
note the conference.
They
are Khy Taing Lin of the
Khmer Republic. Houmphanh
Saignasith of Laos, Boonrod
Hinson of Thailand and Bui
Huu Tuan of Vietnam. The
executive agent of the Com
mittee, W .J. van der Oord,
w ill accompany the four
members.
Since 1957, through wars
and revolutions, the repre
■tentative» of four govern
ments
South Vietnam,
Laos. T h a ilan d and the
K h m e r R epublic (Cambo
dia)
have been engaged
in a joint study ol the de
velopnr.ent possibilities of the
Ix>wer Mekong Basin with an
eye to harnessing the river
for hydroelectric power, flood
control and irrigation.
Some observers say the
area potentially is the "bread
basket of the world".
The direct responsibility
."or the project lies with the
four riparian countries, but
already some 25 nations, 12
United Nations agencies and
numerous foundations and
firms have contributed man
The first dam in the master
plan for development of the
region
the Pa Mang
would be built on the Laos
Thailand border about 20
miles above Vientiane, the
capital of Laos.
It would
have a capacity of four
Bonneville Dams. The target
date for completion is 1985.
The Mekong Committee's
stop in Portland is the only
one on the west coast during
a week long stay in the
United States. The trip was
arranged by the Asian So
ciety of New York.
The registration fee for
the conference is $20.
Re
servations may be made by
mailing the $20 to Mekong
Basin Conference. 101 Public
Service Building, 920 S.W.
6th, Portland, Oregon 97204.
The conference is open to the
public.
For more information, con
tact the World Affairs Coun
cil of Oregon at 229 3049.
s
power, expertise, equipment
and money to the project.
The proposed magnitude of
the developm ent exceeds
similar projects in this coun
try including the Tennessee
Valley Authority. Though no
dams have been built on the
main stem of the Mekong
River yet, long range plans
indicate that by the 21st
century there could be 12
dams on the main river and
more on tributaries.
The price tag could reach
$12 billion.
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Diggs effort brings
DC Home Rule
Thanks to the effective
leadership of Representative
Charles C. Diggs. Jr., and
intensive lobbying, the citi
zens of the nation’s last
colony, the District of Colum
bia, now have home rule, at
least in part.
I t was through the calm,
sagacious negotiations and
political m aneuverings of
R e p re s e n ta tiv e D iggs, as
chairman of the House Dis
trict of Columbia Committee,
that saved the home rule bill
from certain death.
Over
whelming passage came after
a hotly contested floor de
bate. Diggs and supporters
of the home rule bill had to
fight off last minute attempts
by opponents to amend the
bill "to death".
Diggs, who is the ranking
Black congressman on Capitol
Hill with 18 years of service,
became C h airm an of the
House District of Columbia
C o m m itte e last Ja n u a ry,
after the election defeat of
staunch home rule foe, Rep
resentative John McMillan of
South Carolina.
Not openly mentioned by
opponents of home rule for
D.C. was the fact that the
city is 70 percent Black.
DC welcomes Brown
Many of the elite among
Federal and local govern
ment leaders and represents
lives of national private or
ganizations g ath ere d
on
October 23 to officially wel
come Ronald H. Brown to
the nation's Capital. Brown
became director of the Na
tional Urban league's Wash
ington Bureau on September
1 of this year.
T he 32 ye ar old Bureau
director was formally intro
duced to some 150 select
guests at the Washington
Hilton Hotel by Donald H.
M cGannon, the League's
president, and Vernon E.
Jordan, Jr., the executive
director.
Paying high tribute to the
new director, Jordan said
that he would serve as the
organization's principal rep
resentative and spokesman
in the nation's Capital with
responsibility for monitoring
and analyzing Federal legis
lation, administrative guide
lines and appropriations, and
preparing testimony for de
livery before congressional
committees. He will also ad
vise the N a tio n a l U rban
League of the potential im
part of such Federal actions
on the national Black and
minority committees.
Brown, who served as gen
eral counsel for the League
in New York before coming
to Washington, gave a brief
talk to the group in which he
noted the crisis situation in
Washington precipitated by
the firing of Special Prose
cutor Archibald Cox.
He
added that "crisis situations
are not new to Blacks and
minorities of this country."
For the most part, he said,
"they live their lives in one
crisis or another.
That is
what the National Urban
League is all about -- the
reason for its existence for
63 years."
Thursday, November 8, 1873
He promised to work with
selected Federal officials and
p riv a te sector re p res en ts
lives in assuring that Blacks
have adequate opportunity
for input on important social-
economic issues, and invited
those present to seek out the
expertise and experience of
the League before making
im p o rtan t derisions and
recom m endations affe ctin g
minority America.
The intensive lobbying ef
fort» were led by a coalition
of national organizations, in
cluding Common Cause, Na
tional League of Women
V o ters . A F L C IO . U A W
L eadership Conference on
Civil Rights, the National
Council of Churches, and the
D.C. Self Determination Co
alition, headed by Richard
Clark, also of Common Cause.
D.C. delegate at large Wal
ter E. Fauntroy was also
active in garnering support
for the bill.
ONE WOMAN DRAMATIZATION OF
Now appearing in:
L A D Y SINGS T H E B LU ES
THE
UJQRLD
OF MY
AMERICA
and LOST IN T H E STARS
Lost in the Stars was made
in Oregon with citizens from the
Portland community including
Clara Peoples.
H o w e v e r, congressional
leaders and the Washington
newspapers have attributed
the success of the home rule
legislation to the personal
leadership and political savvy
of Representative Diggs.
The Washington Star-News
stated in an editorial ". . . this
(the passage of home rule)
was an immense* legislative
achievement, for which the
city is indebted chiefly to
District Committee Chairman
Diggs . . . "
The Senate passed a home
rule bill earlier this year, and
now the House passed bill
goes to a joint House Senate
conference committee to iron
out differences between the
respective home rule mea
sures.
Under the new bill, D.C.
residents would have the
right for the first time to
elect a mayor and 13 city
council members. However,
a provision in the bill allows
Congress to retain its control
over the D.C. budget.
Mayor Washington, Dis
trict of Columbia mayor, was
jubilant over the home rule
victory. And so were thou
sands of other D.C. residents
who have waited for so long
for their own "self determi
nation".
NOVEMBER 17 th
7:30
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Featuring
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a m atu re ta le n t
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