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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1978)
Uro Francea Schoen-^awspj U n iv e rs ity of Oregon Llbr tu g e n e, Oregon 97403 31 Was King Tut Black? 2 PORTLAND O B SER /ER Volume I No. 38 Thursday. September 7,1978 10c per copy OSPIRG study finds bank 'redling’ By com paring the num ber o f mortgage loans in different districts o f the metropolitan area. OSPIRG found that, in 1976, certain areas were receiving a disproportionately low number o f loans. For example, in Northeast Portland, no mortgage loans were made by W illam ette Savings and Loan Company which has a branch o ffic e on N .E . Killingsworth with deposits o f about $5 million. To help keep P ortland livable OSPIRG is asking the City and the area financial institutions to do the following: — Banks and savings and loan organizations should eliminate ap praisal and underwriting standards which discriminate against inner city housing. — M inim um loan amounts and age of housing requirements should be eliminated. — Membership o f the Portland Metropolitan Loan Review Commit tee should be increased and the authority and activity of the Com mittee should include looking at terms of loans as well as granting o f loans. — The C ity o f Portland should deposit its money in financial in stitu tio n s which have a proven record of serving the needs o f the community. — Loan production offices should be located where regular banking ac tivity takes place. — Loan production offices should be located where regular banking ac tivity takes place. The OSPIRG results and recom mendations follow a two-year study during which lending activity o f eight financial institutions in nine residen tia l d istricts o f the P ortland m e tro p o lita n area were studied. OSPIRG compared the number o f Ioan banks and savings and loan companies made in each area to the number o f houses sold in those same areas. “ People who have been discriminated against when applying for a home loan may never know the reasons their loan was denied,” ex plained C h a rlie H a rris, form er OSPIRG attorney who did the study w ith M ichelle Haynes. Most per sons don’ t realize they have some recourse when they are turned down such as review o f their application by the P ortland M e tro p o lita n Loan Review Committee.” Harris said existence o f the Review Committee should be more widely publicized and lenders should be required to inform persons who have been denied loans that their ap plication may be reviewed by the Committee. However, the OSPIRG represen tatives said that the Committee needs to be expanded to include more members o f the community. Present ly, the Portland Metropolitan Loan Review Committee includes seven representatives o f lending in stitutions, one non-voting member o f the Portland Office o f Planning and Developm ent and tw o non voting citizen representatives. The loan review com m ittee now has authority to consider loans that have been denied but does not review terms o f loan agreements that may be discriminatory such as a shorter time payment or the charging o f a higher interest rate. Harris said another way fo r the C ity to encourage more lending within Portland would be to have the M e tro p o lita n Hum an Relations Commission monitor bank loans. I f a lender is not meeting its legal obligation to meet the credit needs o f the community, the City could with draw its deposits from that particular bank or savings and loan company. The Community Reinvestment Act o f 1977 requires that financial in stitutions serve the convenience and needs o f the communities in which they are chartered to do business. Section 804 o f the Federal law says that institutions w ill be judged by their record o f meeting the credit needs o f “ the entire community, in cluding low - and moderate income neighborhoods. . . ” O SPIR G said the C ity should require banks to make underwriting c rite ria and appraisal reports available to loan applicants and other interested parties, and that they should also make available to the public the number o f loan ap plications by neighborhood. These requirements are currently in effect in Seattle. In California, a law was passed in 1977 which allows the state to force a bank to make a loan where the state finds that the borrower was turned down because o f geographical or other discrimination. Out o f eight banks studied, only one, Oregon Mutual Savings Bank (OMSB), came close to making the expected number o f loans in Port land inner city neighborhoods. For : exatnple, during the tim e period ""*■ studied, OMSB made 42 home loans in Inner Northeast Portland when their expected share o f the financial market would have been 31 m ort gages. On the other hand, F irst National Bank o f Oregon, with an The School Board is scheduled to expected 65 loans for that area, ac reach a decision on whether tu a lly made only th irty loans to Beaumont Elementary School is to homebuyers. In contrast to loans become a middle school next Mon made in the city, F irst N ational day, September 11th. The Area III wrote mortgages for 480 homes in C itizens A d viso ry C om m ittee W ashington C ounty d u rin g that recommended a middle school last same time period. The number o f June, follow ing the advise o f the loans First National might have been Beaumont Local Advisory Commit expected to make in Washington tee. In a community vote, parents County was 335. narrow ly favored a middle school The six other banks studied and residents voted overwhelmingly showed lending activity sim ilar to to keep a Kindergarten through 8th First National. In the Inner North grade school. east section o f Portland Far West The Advisory Committee recom m endation came a fte r several Federal Savings and Loan made 52 m onths o f c o n flic t in the com out o f 61 expected loans; Equitable Savings and Loan, 26 out o f 50; The munity, several heated mettings, and Oregon Bank, 1 out o f 3; Willamette o rg anizatio n o f groups fo r and Savings and Loan, 0 out o f 16; Fred against a middle school. Meyer Savings and Loan, 3 out of John Beck, then principal, warned 12; and U.S. National Bank, 14 out the parents that if Beaumont were o f 50. not reorganized into a middle school, Lending a c tiv ity fo r a ll those declining enrollm ent w ould necessitate drastic cuts. Among the financial institutions was much more changes to be expected were to be: active outside the c ity lim its . W ashington C ounty loans made larger classes, sp lit classes (tw o during the study period were Farwest grades in a room ), reduction o f Federal Savings and Loan, 382 out physical education, home o f 311; Equitable Savings and Loan, economics, shop, music; elimination 400 out o f 255; The Oregon Bank, 10 o f science and math specialists; elimination o f algebra; limited op out o f 16; Willamette Savings and Loan Company, 80 out o f 83; Fred p o rtu n itie s fo r high achieving Meyer Savings and Loan, 87 out o f students and reduced instruction for 61; and U.S. National Bank, 288 out students with learning problems. o f 256. Charles Kakvasil, Beaumont’ s new principal, does not see such drastic problems. Nakvasil, who is in his first year as a principal, views his role at Beaumont as th re e fo ld : bringing unity to a divided com munity; upgrading curriculum o f ferings; and improving discipline. Nakvasil explained that dropping Miss Mary Holden, age eighteen, enrollment has necessitated five split was crowned Miss Tan at the Tenth classes this year. One second grade Annual Miss Tan Pageant, Sunday room has three fourth graders; a night, September 3rd, in the presence fourth grade room has four third o f an enthusiastic audience o f about graders. Another class is more evenly 300 supporters at the H ilton Hotel. divided with ten fourth graders and Miss Holden is a sophomore it seventeen fifth graders. There are Lewis and Clark College majoring in also classes split between grades 6 English and Drama. Miss Holden is a and 7 and 7 and 8. Most classes have native o f Pottscamp, Mississippi. 27 children, with the first grade the She w ill receive scholarships amount largest currently with 29 students. ing to $1,000, a TV set, and a cloth W ith in a few weeks N akvasil ing certificate. hopes to upgrade the curriculum o f T hirteen young women p ar fered the 6th, 7th and 8th grades, ex ticipated in the Pageant. First run plaining that it is a concern o f the ner-up was Miss Dana Easly. The com m unity that the upper grade event was sponsored by the Jimmy “ Bang Bang” Walker Youth Foun program be strengthened. He plans a dation. fu ll time home economics teacher, a School Board addresses Beaumont Holden crowned Miss Tan Loa Angeles Dodgers superstar Reggie Smith named National He Chairman of the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle Cell names Smith LOS ANGELES . . . The National Association for Sickle Cell Disease, Inc., has named Dodger superstar Reggie Sm ith as its N ational Honorary Chairman for 1978-79. In m aking the announcement, NASCD Executive D irector, Ms. Dorothye Boswell said, “ We are delighted that Reggie has joined our team at the national level in our an nual public awareness campaign about sickle cell disease.” Ms. Boswell added that Smith’ s appointment marked the first time that the National Association has named a national honorary chairper son. “ He is a true superstar with an exemplary character both on and o ff the field and is truly admired for his concerns in the com m unity. His association with us, and ours with him, will prove highly beneficial at local and national levels in advancing (Please turn to Page 6 Column 4) shop teacher, a rt and band and possibly a foreign language. This would be provided with the existing staff and supplementation with extra personnel due the school since a recent staffing policy change. In a July 13 memo to Dr. Blan chard, Area Superintendent Ray Steed cautioned, “ W ith the flight in search o f better education, racial balance at Beaum ont is tip p in g though still within policy guidelines. While the school as a whole remains well under 30V#, the upper grades may be moving to m ajority black.” A p p ro x im a te ly fo rty students living in the Beaumont area have transferred to other schools - Sabin, Alameda and M t. Tabor, which is to become a middle school. Although the transfer o f the children deprives Beaumont o f at least one teacher, Nakvasil expressed the opinion that parents should be allowed to send th e ir ch ild re n where they wish. Although contrary to school district policy, which states that parents tra n s fe rrin g th e ir children fo r reasons other than fo r racial desegregation must provide tran sportation, a bus is provided fo r those students who attend M t. Tabor. Between 70 and 80 Black students from Sabin attend the 6th, 7th and 8th grades. W ith the closure o f Sabin’ s upper grades, Beaumont has become th e ir “ neighborhood school” . N akvasil estimates that from 20 to 25 tier cent o f the students in the upper three grades are Black, but he does not know at this time the effect o f the tranfers on racial balance. Steed has recommended that, because o f community opposition to a middle school, Beaumont become an “ upper grade center” with grades Kindergarten through eighth grade. Additional personnel and resources would be directed to the 6th, 7th and 8th grades. This w ould involve recruitment o f upper graders from Alameda as well as encouraging Beaumont parents to send younger children to Sabin and Alameda. This is the option granted to the Wilson district, after parents rejected plans for a middle school. Gray and Bridelmile became upper grade cen ters, while they and the other schools w ill maintain their lower grades. In discussion o f the m iddle school throughout the school district, as well as in Beaumont, many prents have preferred that their schools retain the early grades rather than transferring younger children. The School Board faces a dilemna, having already determined that mid dle schools provide better educational opportunities. Yet the Board has maintained a policy that middle schools w ill be initiated only with community acceptance. Board members have adm itted th e ir preference that Beaumont become a middle school — yet they are unsure as to how to procede in the face o f oppostion. The School Board w ill make its decision on Monday night and the bets are placed on Beaum ont becoming the district’s next middle school. The Portland School Board has scheduled several meetaings of special importance to the Black community. On September 7th at 6:30 the Board will consider a "M inority Business Enterprise" program of fered by Gladys M cC o y. The proposal is opposed by the Nor thwest Minority Contractors and the Associated General Contrac tors. September 7th at 7:30 p.m. the five finalists for appointment to the School Board w ill be in troduced. will speak and will be questioned by the Board. They are: Dr. D arrell M iljn e r, Ben P ad ro w , Evie C ro w ell, Father W illiam W etzel and Dean Gisvold. Septem ber 11th at 7:30 p.m. the Board w ill consider the proposal to make Beaumont a middle school. September 11th. following the regular meeting, the appointee to the School Board will be selec ted. Septem ber 12th at 7:30 p.m . the newly appointed Transpor tation Advisory Committee w ill meet. All meetings are held at 831 N.E. Clackamas.
