Mrs Frances Schoen-'íews'
U n iv e r s it y o f O rejen LU
murene, Oregon 97433
y
Paulus draws Unas
PORTLAND
MSD forms Albina district
OBSERVER
In designing the boundaries of the
Portland area’ s new Metropolitan
Service District, Secretary of State
Norma Paulus sought to distribute
population and power equally
amongst urban and rural subdistricts
with
m inim al
disruption
of
established boundary and precinct
lines and in so doing retained the in
tegrity of the Black community.
MSD District 411 encompasses the
Eliot. Boise, Humboldt, King, Ver
non, Sabin, and Irvington neigh
borhoods as well as Concordia and
Grant Park — placing a large por
tion of the Black community in that
district.
Not only did she display a sense of
political balance in her construction,
but Secretary of State Paulus also
exhibited a sensitivity to minorities in
dividing up the district. Rather than
dividing the Black community along
the lines drawn by State Treasurer
Clay Myers following the 1970 cen
sus, which divided the community in
to four House districts and four
Senate districts, she kept the com
munity intact providing for an op
portunity for Black input into the
districts* political affairs.
Mrs. Paulus said she drew the
boundaries with five considerations
in mind: 1) The Black community; 2)
Neighborhood and city areas; 3) A r
terial highways and streets; 4)
Natural boundaries — most parti
cularly the Willamette River; and 5)
Building urban and rural interests.
Division o f M SD into twelve sub-
distnets involved attention to urban,
rural and suburban interests as well
as the three counties and numerous
cities involved.
The sub-districts average popula
tion is 70,907 persons. “ It was
not possible to establish twelve
subdistricts with exactly equal
population, but we came close,”
stated Mrs. Paulus.
The Multnomah Service District
will take over the responsibilities of
the Columbia Regional Association
of Governments (C R A G ), which will
be dissolved. Eventually it is expect
ed to absorb T ri-M et, the Port of
Portland and many other area-wide
functions.
Persons interested in running for
the non-paid, p art-tim e board
positions can file by 5:00 p.m .
August 29th. A fu ll-tim e , paid
executive director will also be elect
ed. Members of the board and the
executive director will be elected at
the November 1978 General Flec
tion.
VANCOUVER
PLAINS
PORTLAND
HILLSBORO
MULT. CO.
CLACK.CO
LAKE OSWEGO
KING CITY
WASH. CO.
CLACK. CO.
WILSONVILLE
Secretary of State Norma Paulus released the above map of the 12
Metropolitan Service sub-districts. Each sub-district will elect one represen
tative to the MSD board. The bulk of the Albina area is contained in District 11,
which will insure the opportunity for Black representation.
Barnett seeks MSD board seat
John Bibb, Albina Tennis Association P.R. Director,
falls away from a shot down the sideline. The 5th Annual
Albina Tennis Tournament is underway at Irving Park,
(See Page 5 Column 4)
County program attacks racism
The Community Corrections plan
adopted by the Multnomah County
Board of County Commissioners last
week includes $150,000 that is to be
used to give special attention to
minority offenders. Originally with
a separate item in the budget, the
program now states that at least
$150,000 will go to programs that
give attention to minorities, and that
affirmative action requirements will
be imposed on all contractors sub
mitting bids under the program.
The C om m unity Corrections
program will offer alternatives to
imprisonment for non-dangerous
class C felons and misdemeanants —
persons who commit minor and non
violent crimes. The emphasis on
programs for m inority offenders
stems from the study of the Com
munity Corrections Advisory Com
mittee which found that “ the
crim inal justice system in M u lt
nomah County (and elsewhere across
the nation) appears to discriminate
against minorities, particularly
Blacks and Native Americans. Mem
bers o f m inority groups have a
greater chance o f being arrested,
staying in ja il pending tria l, and
being sentenced to confinement are
much greater.”
The Advisory Committee was also
concerned about pre-trial imprison
ment. “ Incarceration is one o f the
harshest sanctions meted out by our
criminal justice system. Yet at least
one-half o f the persons in M u lt
nomah County jails are awaiting
trial and presumed innocent. “ Most
o f these people could be free while
w aiting tria l, at great social and
economic savings to the individual
and the taxpayers.”
Oregon law allows citation in lieu
o f arrest and other non-custodial
alternatives, but only 21 percent o f
persons charged with misdemeanors
were cited rather than arrested by the
Portland Police Bureau. The County
Sheriffs office used citations for 55
percent. About o n e-h alf o f those
arrested and jailed are released
within 24 hours, but may have lost
employment by then. Over 80 per
cent o f those arrested and held in jail
before trial end up being found not
guilty or are not sentenced to jail.
These statistics demonstrate that
nearly all persons charged with
minor crimes could be cited and not
booked into jail.
In Portland, while 21 percent o f
the persons charged w ith misde
meanors were cited instead o f arrest
ed, only seven percent o f Blacks
charged were cited — the other 93
percent arrested.
Besides those who should be cited
rather than arrested, there are a large
number of persons who when jailed
must remain overnight or over a
weekend because courts are not
available to arrange their release.
The chance o f being found guilty
by a jury is greatly increased if the
person is in jail before and during the
trial, policies discriminating against
Blacks add to the racial imbalance in
the persons and jails.
The Community Correction A d
visory C om m ittee recommended
detention used for persons charged
with misdemeanors and class C
felonies only in aggravated cases and
recommended changes in pre-trial
processing. This would require that
police issue citations to appear in
(Please turn to Page 3 Column 2)
Nick Barnett, Executive Director
o f the M etro p o lita n
H um an
Relations Commission, is seeking a
seat on the new Metropolitan Service
District board to represent District
12.
Barnett, who is a resident of the
Piedmont neighborhood, gives two
main reasons for seeking this office.
“ Most o f my training has been in
community development and plan
ning,” he explained. “ While attend
ing the School o f Social W ork at
Fresno State, I majored in community
development. When I came to Port
land I worked w ith P A C T , the
southeast Portland Community Ac
tion Agency. In addition to other
neighborhood planning projects, I
designed a com m unity health
program.
“ A t Lewis and Clark College, as
director of the University Year for
Action, I had an opportunity to help
students combine their academic
program with community programs.
During that period I was one of the
founders o f the Piedmont Neigh
borhood Association.
“ A ll o f this has made me more
aware of the need for planning on an
area wide level. While working with
the neighborhood association and
later with the City Planning Com
mission it was evident that many of
the problems we were working with
couldn’t be solved on the local level.
Things like air pollution, water, traf
fic, solid waste, can’t be confined to
one area. A ll the neighborhoods and
p o litical sub-divisions have in
terrelationships and in planning
these have to be considered.”
Barnett’s concern for the less for
tunate is the other deciding factor in
his choosing to run for this position.
Explaining that the poor and
especially minorities are the most ef
fected by poor housing or shortage
of housing, by highway relocations,
by failures in community services.
Barnett said, “ I ’m sure I would run
even if I weren’t a minority person.
As government expands and
becomes more complicated there is
an even greater need for government
officials to represent the needs of the
disenfranchised.”
Although he lives in and will run in
District 12, and not in District 11
which includes most o f the Black
com m unity,
B arnett
praises
Secretary of State Norma Paulus for
protecting the integrity of the Black
community. “ Other observers and I
are encouraged to note that Ms.
Paulus’ careful considerations in this
regard was a strong effort to correct
past insensitivity to inner city needs,
while at the same time making a
positive contribution to promoting
collaboration among populations
that might not have typically taken
cognizance o f how much their in
terests are in common when viewed
from a regional perspective.
“ W e take special note o f Ms.
Paulus’ courage in giving con
sideration to the needs o f the
minority community for represen
tation on so significant a level of
regional government and applaud
her efforts on our behalf.”
Center holds open house
The Grace C ollins M em o rial
Community Center will hold an open
house on August 7th in honor of the
birthday o f the center’s founder and
administrator, Evelyn Collins.
The Community Center operates a
child care program for infants
through five years, w ith classes
designed to stimulate children to
reach their potential. The program
includes swimming, field trips and
much outdoor play. The success o f
children who have had the oppor
tunity to participate in this program
is well known in the community.
Miss Collins also attracts older
neighborhood youth to Bible Classes
and other activities. A t times as
many as 150 youngsters are involved
in the Center’s programs.
The center is undergoing m ajor
remodeling, so the open house is an
opportunity to see these changes as
well as the day care program in
operation. The open house will be
held from August 7th through
August 11th from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m.
Rhodesia’s psuedo-settlement
byN . Fungai Kumbula
On the 3rd of March this year, Ian
Smith, Bishop Muzorewa, Reverend
Ndabaningi Sithole and Jeremiah
C hirau sat down and, together,
signed an agreement that is intended
to bring majority rule to Zimbabwe
by the end of this year. This would
appear like a major breakthrough in
an issue that has plagued the world
for the last thirteen years ever since
Smith declared U D I. However, what
on the surface looks like the square
deal that the Africans have been
fighting for for so long turns out to
be nothing more than a phony that
promises more than it can deliver.
The agreement calls for ‘free’ elec
tions on a one person, one vote basis
— all adults eighteen and older, the
abolition of petty discrimination, the
release o f all political prisoners, set
ting up an independent judiciary and
non political armed forces and civil
service. The reason Smith and his
cohorts have suddenly changed their
minds about majority rule (until as
recently as this year, they were in
sisting ‘ Never in a thousand >ears.’)
is primarily because o f the deterior
ating situation in Rhodesia.
Analysis
‘ White flight’ — over the past two
years, 40,000 whites, or 15.2% o f the
total white population have fled the
country, and this in spite o f the
stringent currency restrictions that
allow them to take out o f the country
no more than $4,000. The morale o f
his soldiers has been dipping steadily
over the past few years as they suffer
more and more reverses and heavier
losses and as they finally realize that
they are fighting a lost cause. With
each success, the guerillas are getting
bolder.
Already the country is divided into
two zones: the forty percent that is
liberated and the sixty percent that is
still being contested. The draft (for
the whites) has been extended again
and again with the result that the
economy and other areas are suf
fering. Sanctions are taking a heavy
toll. W ith a critical manpower (per-
sonpower?) shortage (due to the
draft) and the lack o f foreign capital
and the war costing a staggering $1
m illio n a day, the economy has
really been strait jacketed.
So, the purpose o f the agreement
were to stem the ‘white flight’ and
restore white confidence, to stop the
war, to establish a government that
would be acceptable to the outside
world and have sanctions lifted. To
that end, the interim government has
failed miserably. Not one govern
ment has recognized the interim
agreement, sanctions are still in ef
fect and the war has intensified,
rather than de-escalated.
The reasons for the government’s
failure are not hard to find. A casual
look at the agreement reveals some
glaring weaknesses. While extending
the vote to all adults, there is a very
serious qu alificatio n . In the 100
member Assembly that the new
majority government would have, 28
seats would be reserved for the
whites — that’s 28% representation
for the whites who make up only
about
fou r
percent
of
the
population. And even though the
new government would be 'non-
racial’, Blacks would vote for Blacks
and whites for whites because, as
Smith explained it: “ Whites elected
by Blacks would be seen as stooges.”
C o n s titu tio n al changes would
require 78 votes and since voting
would strictly be along racial lines,
whites would have effective veto
power for ten years. Also, with the
Black vote split three ways, and
Chirau tending to be more pro-white
than pro-Black, we would really have
a cumbersome situation on our hands.
Chirau, a creation of Smith, is said
to have bristled at Smith’s reference
to “ stooges.” The agreement does
not even address the Lard Tenure
A c t, that notorious document
whereby fifty percent of the country
is reserved for 6.1 million Blacks and
the other fifty percent fo r the
233,000 whites, giving each white
twelve times as much land as his
Black counterpart.
An independent judiciary sounds
fine. The only problem is that this
means that the same judges who have
been condemning to death all Blacks
who dared to talk about freedom,
justice and equality of all people
would continue to serve. Would they
suddenly become impartial? Do they
even know the meaning of the word
“ justice” ? The police and the army
that have terrorized Blacks for 87
years . . . would they suddenly turn
around to "protect and serve” these
same people?
The same army is currently in the
process o f killin g the very same
people it will be pledged to defend.
How much leeway would this new
government have with this army over
which it would have no control?
Here, a recent incident comes to
m ind. A few weeks ago, Byron
H ove, the Black c o -M in iste r o f
Justice, Law and Order was fired af
ter he made and refused to retract a
very simple statement about the
present makeup o f the armed forces.
He had decried the discrimination
prevalent throughout the army and
the police force and had called for
more rapid advancement of Blacks
to rectify the situation. The big brass
in the army and the police force
demanded that, either he retract his
statement or be fired, failing which
they and all their men would go on
strike. Hove refused to retract his
statement and he was fired, demon
strating once and for all who wields
(Please turn to Page 3 Column 2)