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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1977)
it , í r r r Thursday. ■ ¿M m to tU &Ü M We see the world through Black eyes . -V School Board must took additional adviso The Portland School District has reoched on impost - its board and staff stating that they want to provide on effective program for minority business participa tion, but their lego! counsel saying that is unconstitu tional. Some board members soy they must occept the advice of their attorney — and moke that long wait until the US. Supreme Court finally mokes a decision on the constitutionallity of minority preferences. But this is not a simple matter and the pending Court consideration of the Bokke case which concerns admission to professional schools, will not necessar ily settle the issue of contracts and employment on federally funded and assisted projects. One only has to consiaer the 1954 Supreme Court decision on segregated education and the continuing court decisions on that matter to realize that the legal implications will not be settled soon. Yet we see all around us public agencies who do proctice a policy of minority set-asides — and their number is increasing doily. Some of the federal agencies — for example the Environmental Protec tion Agency - enforce the minority requirements on projects they fund and ore not reluctant to withdraw federal money when they ore not enforced. The school district has been bound by its legal counsel's opinion since November 1st. it is unfortun ate that the district did not make its problem known to those with whom it was dealing and seek help in finding a solution. Stand-offs often occur in labor negotions and in other similar procedings - Out both sides are kept aware of the position of the other and channels of communication are kept open. This is where the school district foiled. It decided, rather, to keep the problem from those it effects most, the contractors. This delay and lack of communication has now brought the issue to a head — to a point where legal action may be the only solution although this would be an unnecessary expense in time and money for both sides. We suspect that although the district' attorney, Mark McClanahan, is a capable attorney and is an expert m many areas of the law that relate to the school district — but he is not an expert in civil rights and affirmative oction law. We suggest that Dr. Blanchard and the Board of Education seek the assistance of the expertts in this field and precede to write a workable plan. In the meantime, the Educational Center controCt has been awarded to Donald M. Drake Construction Company. It would behoove the district to find a way to insure that Drake uses a fair representation of minority sub-contractors and employees on this project. Although Drake probably is giving some consideration to this, the responsibility for this requirement should not be left to the contractor olone. The district has a legal and a moral responsibility to insure that minorities are utilized in fair proportion in this mojor building project. Try the Straub plan Governor Bob Straub s welfare proposal has much merit. Many of those involved in the administration of public assistance have long sought to eliminate the categories - ADC, Old Age Assistance, Aid to the Dtsobled, etc. Eoch of these progroms has its own special eligibility requirements and assistance levels. Some persons, who are poor and unemployed, or who are employed with very low wages, ore not eligible for any of these programs even though they obviously need help. Another aspect of this proposal - a single payment based on need rather than the multiple resources of food stamps, medical care, child care, etc. — would eliminate much of the confusion and the necessity to make application at many separate offices and agencies. A single payment based on need would also eliminate much of the paper work involved with payments, supplemental*, overpayments, etc. It approaches the system used for social security payments - regular, continuous checks until there is a change of need. The area of the proposal that will bring the most problems is the work requirement. In a period of high unemployment, people without work skids will have a difficult time finding work. Many will also be hard to place in public works projects, because they also require skills. This area is difficult to police and there are many social reasons why employment is not the best plan for some. It is difficult to justify taking a mother from her children, even if they are school age, especially if they are experiencing social or educational problems, just to occept mental employment. pion is a step toward a guaranteed minimum *W o m e - and in that aspect if is worth a try. Cigarette smoking by Y eeee Thirteen years after the first general's report on the health i ces of smoking, more than 250,000 Ameri cans are dying each year from lung cancer, emphysema, bronchitis or heart disease caused by cigarette smoking. People still ask: "Are cigarettes really dangerous to our health? I f so. what steps are being taken to require stricter regulation on cigarettes and by whom?" According to the Department of Health. Education and Welfare, the treat ment of smoking-related diseases adds over $11.5 billion annually to the national cost of health care. Medical evidence has made it increas ingly clear that the risk of disease from cigarette smoking increases with the amount of tar and nicotine a smoker inhales. I l to. in fact, the presence of tor and nicotine in cigarette smoke which to responsible for most of the harmful effects of smoking. More than 20,000 Americans will die this month from diseases caused by smoking, according to the American Heart Association. Over six million workdays will be lost while 50 billion more cigarettes go up in smoke. It seems to me that if we are serious about saving lives and protecting the health of amok Editor/Pnbbaher ■■-‘•i?, Tö tbs Editor: This fetter » w response to your Enquiries about the ear* and treatment of Mr. Bobby Jamison dunag bis incarcora two at Rocky Butte Jail. You will recall that you forwarded bis letter of complaint to ua, and appropriate investigations were conducted by the Corrections Div la respect to the November 17. 197«. inodeat alleging misconduct on the part of Corrections Officers in removing Mr. Jt mison from a dormitory at Rocky Butte Jail, a complete internal investigation was conducted. The results of the investigation revealed that some of Mr. Jamison's allegations were accurate, and appropriate disciplinary action was token against a staff member involved. The investigation did not, however, suhetan tiate abuse in the nature or degree alleged by Mr. Jamison in his original complaint. Mr. Jamison's complaint about an excessive delay in receiving a disciplinary hearing was also sustained. Under existing rules, such bearings are to be scheduled within 96 hours after the filing of a misconduct report. That deadline was not met in the incident involving M r. Jamison. This occurred for two reasons. One. be was unavailable because of court ers and nonsmokers alike, ( be willing to stand up to the tobacco lobby. Yea... dangerous to our health. Congressman Robert F. Massachusetts recently i bills deabng with this issue. First, the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act would act to improve and the Cigarette Labeling and ; Act of 1965 in several ways. It would require all cigarette advertise ments to carry stronger warning labels than at present. It would require that the tar and nicotine content in both absolute and relative terms be printed on every package and in all advertisements. Fur thermore. ft eliminates control by state* of cigarette advertising and labeling and require» that exported cigarettes carry a warning label in the language of the recipient country. Second, the Federal Nonsmokers Pro tection Act is the first federal legislation to protect the rights of nonsmokers. The issue of Donsmokers' rights has gained increasing prominence during the last few years as numerous localities and more than 30 states have enacted laws to protect the nonsmoking majority against sir contaminated by tobacco smoke in confined public places. To 34 million Americans with heart Publishers Association substantially beyond the period of delay, and he was credited with the time in separation prior to bis bearing. In respect to your editorial of February 26.1977. you can be assured that no farm of bruataT behavior is or will bo condoned in our jails. As you may recall, my first official act as Chairman of tbo Board of County Commissioners was to dose down the "Hole." In addition, a number of other changes have been implemented in the Corrections Division by its Administrator to improve the conditions at Rocky Butte Jail. I am enclosing for your information a report of the Corrections Division that outlines« those changes and other efforts toward providing care far those entrusted to our custody. This report is also available to any of your readers who wish to review ft. On a whole, as your editorial correctly indicated, our Corrsctoms Officers are sincere, and perform their job in a proper manner. To the extent this is not the case we have in the past, and will continue to susceptibility to tobacco involuntary smoking is not just Third, the Health Protection Cigarette Tax Act would eat a h iih a graduated scale e f federal excise tax rates on cigarettes depending ea ta r and nicotine content. Each brand of cigarettes will be taxed with the lowest ta r and nieotine cigarettes being exempt from the health protects» tax and the highest ones being taxed at the highest rates. The purpose is to encourage a shift in consumption patterns toward leas harm ful cigarettes with no net change in total N e A Í p A p ER accept our responsibility to take corr tive action. Please be assured that your concern about Reeky Butte Jail is appreciated Sincerely Donald E. Clark Chairman InMnsitiv« Dear Sir: The slave aucticn reported in the March 11.1977, Oregeuba reveals a most insensitive and backward condition in human relations. There must be enough intelligence in the Gladstone High School to find a fund raising project that is associated with worthy aspects of human dignity. I t to ironical that the President of the United States to trying to achieve international respect for human rights while the Gladstone High School faculty and students make a mockery of human suffering. Are students being educated for life in a real world? We look to the schools for a measure of Enlightenment about the historical condi tioo: mockery of suffering to not enlight Sincerely (Mrs.) J. M. Gatee Blanchard state* his position To the Editor: I was shocked to read the article which appeared at the top of png* 1 in your issue of March 3.1977. entitled "Contract ors call school board stall." The article completely misrepresents the facts and appears to intend to misrepresent our efforts to develop a truly effective affirm ative action plan to promote employment of B la cks and other minorities an the construction and renovatioa projects of the district. The article refers to a legal opinion by an attorney far the district which con cerned the legality e f an August 10.1976, draft of a proposed plan which would have involved "set-asides and prefer ences" for minority contractors The moot distrubing passage of your article to the one that sutes that after Eugene Jackson of the Northwest Minority Coo- tractors Association had been told on October 20.1976. that a legal opinion had been requested: "Jackson subsequently received an other draft of the proposal, dated November 1.1976, stating in part. T h e Board of Education has determined that the following conditions are con trary to sound public policy for the expenditure of public funds end materi ally interfere with the attainment of its educational goals pertaining to the equality and dignity of all individuals: (S) The continuation of a public con tracting system whereby a dearly disproportionately low number of its public contract awards are made to “ T had no idea that they had decided the program was illegal.’ Jackson aaid." «. In the first place, November 1. 1976, was the date of the attorney's opinion. Second, with that opinion tbo attorney furnished his “D raft NoT dated Novera her 1.1976, which proposed and endorsed as legally proper the very language you have quoted, except the last five words of your quotation namely, “owned by cer tain minority individuals." Those five words have never been a part of any draft prepared by the district or any of its staff or any of its attorneys They ere a complete fabrication. What the Novem ber 1.1976. draft had said in the passage involved wee that ft was contrary to sound public policy and the goals of the district for so many awards to be made to "business enterprises failing to eaapley certain minority individuals in adequate proportioos." I t did not refer to busi nesses "ewned by certain minority in- • _x | ee « (BVMlUaiS. Please immediately inform me of how you came by a document that waa so dose and yet so different in these few words. As you know, we had declined to furnish a copy of the legal opinion, the legal torney’s pr o p osed draft, because the administration had not finished he evalu ation of ft. Redrafts to the proponed policy were being made in order to further promote the geal qf minority i district projects end we yet in a poaftion to make a to the Board of Educa tion. C o p ie s of these documents were refused you under authority of section 192.500 of the Oregon Revised Statutes which indudes the following Observer replies 1977. to! “(21 The exempt from 192.410 to 192.500: ORS “(a) Communications within a public body or between public bodies of an advisory nature to the extent that they cover other than purely factual materials and are preliminary to any final agency determination of policy or action. This exemption shall not apply unless the public body shows that in the particular instance the public interest in encourag ing frank communication between offic iais and employees of publie bodies dearly outweighs the public interest in It was our strong belief that the public interest in encouraging frank communics- tioo was best served by not publishing the opinion until we were prepared to make a recommendation to the Board of Education. For your information, the attorney who authored the opinion had previously advised us that he had no personal or other objection to disclosure of the entire but left the i to us in view of our la view of the fact that you already have a version of the November 1. 1976. Draft N o X refusing disclosure would no longer serve the above purpose. Your article will not prevent us from working hard to develop what we hope will be the best and moet effective, but legal, plan of affirmative action In this area. Cooperation, i by organisations like •at us in reaching that goal Very truly yours. Robert W. Blanchard Superintendent Portland Public Schools r r h . ____ _____ ____ t. that the ring that the 1 draft had bee failing to « apley certain minority inch viduals" to ' eweed by certain minority individuals" then you are admitting that same or previous to November 1, 1976, the federal govern the school district has bad no inteutaou of ment has a d ear responsibility to meet a minority business enter plan. people to atop smoking, provide incen during that period, from tives for the use of lees deletnous November 1 until the present, the North cigarettes by those who insist on eontin ern Minority Contractors Association uing their habit and protect the rights of (NMCA) had been led to believe that the the majority of Americans who do not district was working on a minority smoke. I don’t suggest that the tobacco business enterprise program. industry should be eliminated overnight To review the chronology: or that the government should prohibit 1) On October 13. 1976. the NW CA smoking altogether. requested in writing a legal opinion from But at the same time, we can no longer the district in response to staff comments turn our becks on the mountain of about "reverse discrimination". scientific evidence providing that ag ar 2) On October 20. 1976, M r. Culp wrote ette smoking is dangerous to health. the NM CA stating that a legal question had come up and that Mr. McClanahan's opinion had been requested. "We are Is ti advised and fully expect a full written opinion from legal counsel before month ONPA 1973 end for staff assessment and submission Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company. 2201 to the Board of Ed-jeation for prompt 1st Place North Killings worth. Portland. Oregon 97217. Mailing address: action." lest AdReeuRs P .0. Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 97206 Telephone 283-2466. 3) On November 1, 1976. M r. MrO sna- ONPA 1973 han's opinion waa written, along with the Subscriptions: 17.50 per year in the Tn-County area. 66.00 per November 1 proposal. Sth Piece year outside Portland. 4) N M CA waa not informed that Mr. Best Editorial McClanahan's opinion was that minority N NPA 1973 “set asides" are unconstitutional, but the November 1 draft dealt only with minor The P ortia»! Observer s official position is expressed only in ity — p li y m ia *. k Editorial Award its Publisher's column (We See The World Through Black Eyes). 5) N M C A was assured that the Novem NNA 1973 Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the her 1 draft was amended to read "owned individual w riter or submitter and does not necessarily reflect by certain minority individuals". the opinion of the Portlsnd Observer. 6) Although informed that a new draft, the March 2 draft, would be delivered to them by March 4. N W M C has not received this draft to date. NewYerfc Apparently, according to your letter of March 9. the change to the November draft waa never made official. This raises Meati« the question: Was this a case of “bad O re g o n faith" or was a subsequent decisioo made Newspaper not to make the change, but without advising the NMCA? Surely you are aware that there are I and. two, i as part of the Disciplinary Board away from the facility. It should be r , that the delay did not (italics mine) Portland Observer A L F R E D L. HENDERSON Investigation finds jail abusa The 4 inet issues: 1) the right of minor nets to particípete hi publically Ry projects; and. 2) the right of minority workers to pubieally funded projects. Your November 1 and March 2 propos als deal with the issue of empleymawt but no* with arieertty Madness enterprise. I t woo shocking to rand the statement of M r. McClanahan that ownership io irrele vant in this capitalist notion. "Ownership without employment seems irrelevant to the "disadvantaged" nought to be ad dressed." (Please be assured that minor ity owned firma are not exempt from the requirement to practice affirmative ac tion in the employment of mmorities.) The proposal's definition of "Minority business enterprise" os a business or asperete division of a business entity (1) 50 per cent or more of whose executive or management group or skilled craftsmen consist of minorty individuals or (2) whose total personnel consists of at least 20 per cent minority individuals, measur ed by man hours . . . io incredible. This definition would include aa minority enterprise the plantation with its slaves or teh corporate farm that employs Chicano farmworkers. Are minorities fitted to be employees but not employ ers? In your letter of March 9. you state "our efforts to develop a truly effective affirmative action plan to promote am- pieymewt of Macks and other minorities on the construction and renovation pro ject« of the district." (underscoring mine) That. D r. Blanchard seems to be the problem. The Northwest Minority Ceatrneters Association has been requesting a minor ity enterprise program for at least two years and were assured in October that ft was jus* a few weeks away. They Ha»» and yon have not provided evidence to the contrary, that at no time were they informed that the goal of a minority enterprise program had been dropped and a minority employment program substituted. On February 23. Gloria Fisher re quested of Dr. Kliner the legal opinion written by M r. McClanahan. D r. Kliner denied knowledge of the opinion but said he would inquire and call back the M a t morning. Nothing was hoard from Dr. Kliner until ha was called again on March 2. On that date he stated that the district had docidad not to release the opinion; that ft was a m emo from aa individual in M r. MeClanahau's office; that ft waa hwom pl eto and contained some sugges tions that the staff was persuing. Asked why M r. McClanahan considered “set- asides" to be illegal when they are practiced by other public agencies, ha explained that the problem stemmed from federal laws and regulations apply ing only to school districts and that these laws and w y i lHu»» . yTTC hldsd the schuvi dwtriet’s using rrt asidirt. Ha said ha believed the staff was «till working closely with N M C A but when informed that the NM CA had indicated otherwise, he aaid be would inquire. A t no time did he invoke ORS 192.500. We do not believe you have met the requirement af ORS 192.500 “Thia ex emption shall not apply unless the public body shows that in the particular in stance the public interest in encouraging frank communication between offieals and employees of public >^dies clearly outweighs the public interest of dis clousure." Since we had already acquired the material we had requested, we did not push the issue. Having acquired the material, we found no mention of federal regulations or laws applying specifically to school districts. Neither is this an "unfinished" memo, but ft clearly delineates M r. McClanahan's opinion that set-asides are unconstitutional and that the school dis trict must limit its plan to employment. Having obtained the material and found the information provided to ua by the district to be misleading or inaccu rate. the dacMfon as to whether the pubUe was beat served by secrecy or disclosure became ours. W e believe we "»»4. g * correct dedsfoa. We believe the Board of Education is concerned with justice and equality and now that thia problem has been brought before them, they will work hard to adopt an effective and equftabfo program. Please be assured that our goal is not to misrepresent your efforts but to help you enhance them. We wish you every suocoss. Very truly yours, Alfred f
