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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1977)
S c h o s n - '. e a a r c p e r f O re; on l» tb r:* ry »o» Blacks call Oregon Civil Rights Division too slow, ineffective r- PORTLAND OBSERVER Votame 7 No. 16 Ihursdav, November 10, 1977 ......... 10c ter co ly ‘ ‘ * Dixson joins attorney firm Attorney Kenneth C. Dixson has joined the law firm of Robinson, Raines and Dixson, located at 3703 N. Williams Avenue. Dixson, who was admitted to the Oregon State Bar this summer, is a graduate of Lewis and Clark Law School. Dixson is a native of Los Angeles. He came to Oregon in 1964 to attend Pacific University, seeking a small college in the “wilderness". After graduating from Pacific, in 1964 he joined the Marine Corps. While in the Marine Corps Dixson had the opportunity to review the mili tary system of law, which he considered to be terrible. This did rekindle his interest in law - one of his childhood goals had been to be an attorney - so when he was discharged he enrolled at Lewis and Clark. After graduation in 1978, he operated his own business for six months and did investigatory work for Robinson and Raines. After passing the bar exam this summer, he joined the firm as an attor ney. Dixson is involved in all aspects of law but his major interest are in accident claims and criminal law. He plans to remain in Oregon, which he considers to be a place of opportunity. “There are problems here, but there are opportuni ties for change." Dixson and his wife, Lillian, have three daughters. Disenchantment with the State of Oregon's Civil Rights Division is growing as time passes and l^bor Commissioner Bill Stevenson seems unable to move discrimination complaints to a resolution in a reasonable period of time. Stevenson describes the problem as one resulting from the inactivity of the Division under his predecessor, Norman O. Nilsen. When Stevenson took office in January of 1975, he was faced with a huge backlog of cases, many of which had never been investigated and many of which had to be reinvestigated because a poor job was done the first time. “I didn't think we could catch up in a few months. I didn't even think we could catch up in three years,” he explained. Stevenson does claim that much progress has been made. The old cases have been disposed of and new cases can begin investigation in about 45 days. Stevenson has reorganized the office and added staff, which required waiting for the 1975 Legislative Session to in crease his budget. This meant that people could not be hired and trained until the late summer and fall of 1975. Cases filed with CRD have increased dramatically. During 1973, 769 new complaints were received. At the end of 1973 there was a backlog of 1193 cases. During 1974, 975 new cases were re ceived. New cases received in 1976 numbered 1830. From January through June of 1977, 1056 cases were filed. At the end of June there was a backlog of 314 cases and 908 were assigned to workers. Of the cases filed in 1977, 964 were in employment, 28 in housing, 29 in public accommodations, 2 in vocational schools and 33 for retaliation. Most community complaints against the Civil Rights Division are based on the time it takes for a case to be completed. Cases that were filed as early as 1971 still have not been completed. The most frequently mentioned prob lems are: inability to CRD to complete concilliation process after evidence of discrimination is found; lack of referral for hearing after concilliation efforts are unsuccessful; long period of time follow ing hearing before decision is made; low monetary settlements. According to Stevenson, cases are assigned and investigated within a rea sonable time. Then the case goes to one of two supervisors he has assigned to review them to insure that the case is sound and the evidence in order At this point there is a backlog of about forty cases which have been waiting for several months to complete this step. Stevenson estimates that a case review should take not more than six hours. Next the case goes to concilliation an attempt to reach an agreement between the complanant and the defendant. This is where most complainants say the process breaks down - that there is no limit to the time allotted and that if the defendant refuses to concilliation the CRD seems unable to proceed. If concilliation fails, the case is forward ed to the Attorney General's office for preparation for a hearing. The AG office presents the case, acting as the complain ant’s attorney, before a hearings officer for the Bureau of Labor. Once the hearings officer has made his decision, it is sent to Stevenson for approval. Steven son still has not received the hearings officers report in a hearing held in June of this year. During past years, approximately 15 cases per year were sent to the AG for hearing. This fall approximately 100 cases were referred, part of the process of catching up the old backlog. One of those cases was first filed in 1971, six in 1972, five in 1973, 24 in 1974, 35 in 1975 and 18 in 1976, The AG office was not pre pared to work on so many cases at one time and at this date little has been done to meet the situation. Attorneys for CRD are provided by the Attorney Generals’ office. Although Stevenson believes his office should be allowed to hire its own attorneys, he is satisfied with the quality and commit ment of those assigned by Redden. Another complaint is the size of the settlements received. Twenty-four con- cilliations were completed in September of 1977, ranging from $193.80 to $3,509.60. Fifteen were for $1,000 or less. Of ten “Pre Determination Settlements" made during September, two were for $4,500 and $3,537.90, and the remaining eight were under $350. One of the most common charges made is that complaints of sex discriminations are more vigorously pursued than those charging racial discrimination. Steven son denies this allegation, stating that if any employee were guilty of such favori tism "they would be immediately termi nated." Stevenson has no statistics to indicate whether different types of cases receive equal treatment, but he is under the impression that they are. When he took office, sex and race cases were handled by separate units, but he had cases reassigned so that each investigator carries all types of cases. “Every group thinks others are getting better treat ment. We get complaints that woman’s cases are not being dealt with as quickly as race cases." Stevenson believes sex discrimination is as difficult, or more difficult, to concilliation as race cases, and that most employers would be less likely to admit sex discrimination than racial discrimination. Stevenson says that great progress has been made in the Division during the past three years, but emphasizes that two and a half or three years is too long to wait for resolution of a charge of discrimination. Although accepting Stevenson’s ra tional for the slow progress, many mem bers of the Black community are impa tient with the progress being made and question Stevenson’s commitment to Civil Rights. One citizen complained, “We don't think he’s against Civil Rights, we just don’t think he’s giving it a very high priority. He didn’t just get there. He’s been there three years. He should take firmer control of the Civil Rights Division - do whatever needs to be done to get things moving.” The Bureau of Labor, which includes the Civil Rights Division, has 155 em ployees. There are six Black males and four Black females on the permanent full-time staff, with seven of these in the CRD. Minorities make up 12.1 percent of the permanent full-time staff. ATTORNEY KENNETH DIXSON NAACP plans national convention Jordan Strengthens police Internal Affairs, citizen input The Portland Branch of the NAACP is planning for the 69th Annual NAACP convention that will be held in Portland from July 3rd to 7th, 1978. The convention, the theme of which is “Till Victory is Won", will be the first presided over by the NAACP’s new executive director, Benjamin Hooks. According to Reverend John J. Jack- son. Branch President, the convention is expected to attract between 5,000 and 12,000 persons from all parts of the nation and is thought to be the largest to be held in Portland during 1978. Annual conventions have four pur poses: 1) to develop resolutions which set NAACP policy; 2) to nominate candidates for the Board of Directors, select the site of future conventions and pass policy legislation; 31 to provide training and educational opportunities; and 4) to pro mote fellowship. The impact of the week-long conven tion, the first to be held in the Northwest, will be significant in the Portland area. Resides bringing business to the com munity, the convention will bring large numbers of Black people to the city and should enhance the prestige of the NAACP in Oregon. As the host branch, the Portland Branch is responsible for coordinating pre-convention activity and for basic logistics. The majority of the convention events will take place at the Memorial Coliseum and the headquarters will be located at the Hilton Hotel. The Convention Committee are Bobbie Nunn, Thomas Kennedy and Philip Mur ray. City Commissioner Charles Jordan, who is Police Commissioner, has notified the Police Bureau that he intends to strengthen the Bureau's Internal Affairs Division, which investigates complaints against police officers. One of the greatest detractors from public confidence in the Police Bureau is the allegation of police brutality, unpro fessional behavior and improper attitude toward citizens. Jordan hopes to insure that internal investigation of these com plaints by citizens will not only be fair and impartial, but will enhance the relationships between the police and the community. "No one holds as much potential for abusing the rights of another, under the guide of representing the interests of the community, as does the police officer. An officer can suspend, through his actions, almost all of our rights, such as the right to eat. sleep, work and play where and when we want.” The Internal Affairs Division formerly was commanded by a Lieutenant, who reported ''.e findings directly to the Chief. Jordan has created a panel that reviews the findings and makes accom modations to the Chief. Jordan said that based on his own analysis of the operation of the Internal Affairs Division, it is doing a good job in protecting the rights of citizens and of police officers, but he believes the func tions of investigation of the complaint and of resolving the complaint should be separate. He further clarified procedures for investigation and discipline so that police officers and the public can be aware of their rights and responsibilities. Jordan has recommended the following steps be taken: 1. Procedures for complaint processing and discipline must be rewritten to be so clear and precise that there is no element of procedural surprise for officers or citizens. 2. Training should be developed so (Please turn to page 6 column 1) Radford finds the mark at OSU by Ron Sykes Betty Stephens, back row left, joined women from across the country in a seminar on forest resources National Council of Negro Women. Women study forest management, resources Hetty Stephens of Portland was one of a group of women from across the nation who recently spent three days in the Western Washington woods. The workshop, demonstrating the con nection between forest management and life in the city, is one of a series entitled “Our Stake in Natural Resources" spon sored by the National (Council of Negro Women. The group visited forest lands owned by a private corporation, by the State of Washington and by the U.S. Forest Service. They saw nurseries with mil lions of two-year old seedlings ready for planting. These trees will be harvested about the year 2020. The group visited acres of trees plant ed within the last ten years and acres containing old growth forests in which many trees are dead or dying. The group also visited a high altitude site where trees were being logged. A highlight of the trip was a helicopter ride across the mountains. The trip began with a visit to sawmills and plants where wood and paper pro ducts were being manufactured. The National Council of Negro Women is in the process of developing a “third voice" on natural resources questions. According to Dorothy I. Height, national president, most natural resources ques tions are debated and settled with just two viewpoints being heard: those whose self-interest is utilization of the re source, and those who favor stopping or restricting that utilization. “We feel it's time for people who will be ultimately affected most by these decisions to be heard as well," she says, “But what is said must be based on knowledge," Miss Height adds. She says the tour and the workshop, the first in a series around the country, will concentrate on forest resources is sues because of the key role of wood and paper products in the everyday life of every American. Later, other natural resources issues will be explored. The tour was conducted for workshop leaders by American Forest Institute, the information and education arm of the forest products industry located in Wash ington, D.C. Also participating were the Weyerhaeuser Company of Tacoma, the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Washington and the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. “The transition from high school bas ketball to college is like night and day,” says Mark Radford, 6*3”, former Grant Hi All-State, now performing for Coach Ralph Miller and OSU. Already the young freshman has been> tagged by Coach Miller as the freshman that has progressed the furtherest. Oregon State went after and landed the top three prep players in Oregon last year. Ray Blume, 6'4", Parkrose stand out, Jeff Stoutt, 6'5”, Lake Oswego flash, and Radford. "I spent a lot of time this summer playing basketball and I'm hoping it will pay off,” said the talented Radford. If Radford’s performance against a strong USSR national team was any reflection on his ability, then his future is very bright. Radford entered the game with 13:58 showing on the first half clock and imme diately went to work. He first scored on a fifteen footer from the top of the key, after putting a spinning turnaround move on his USSR opponent. After hitting a baseline jumper, he closed out his scoring by canning two free-throws. “My defense is the thing that I'm most concerned with, and in this game my man wasn’t too involved in their offense, he was just running around, which caused me to lose my concentration,” Radford said. "But defense is mostly concentration and I’ll be okay there.” Before choosing Oregon State Univer sity, Radford seriously considered Wash ington and Santa Clara. “At one point I was almost ready to sign with Santa Clara. I enjoyed the beautiful campus there, and was quite impressed with coach Williams,” he says. Did anyone influence his decision to choose OSU? “No not really. The final decision was mine.” Although his dad favored Santa Clara, Radford chose OSU because of the comradeship displayed by the current OSU players. “I’m from Seattle originally," Radford said, “and Washington naturally was tempting.” Radford said that he's happy to be with Mark Radford, OSU freshman and graduate of Grant High School, shows his form OSU and very pleased with Ralph Mill against strong Soviet team in his first college game. (Please turn to page 2 column 1) i 1
