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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1979)
t-u g e n e , O regon 97403 Legislature considers Commission on Oregon Blacks L I111 C 7 O n l 11< i a l I Ft«« Senate Bill $79, i introduced at the request o f the Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs, calls for a Commis sion on the Status o f Blacks in Oregon. The bill provides that the Gover nor appoint an eleven member Com mission to study past and current legal, economic, educational, social and p o litic a l status o f Blacks in Oregon, and make recommendations for appropriate actions based on the findings. At least eight o f the members are to be Black and the others public o f ficials. No more than two members, other than the public officials could k. _ f ___ * i- ■ . « be from the same city and there would be two from each o f the four congressional districts. Among the duties o f the Com mission would be to: I. Study state laws, county and city ordinances, and ascertain to what extent they may be discriminatory. 2. Analyze the status o f Blacks under existing statutes in their application to civil rights, contracts, income and pro perty. 3. Review the working condi tions and union representation o f Blacks in the employment force. 4. Examine o p p o rtu n itie s open fo r Blacks fo r education, and fo r retraining and guidance which may . * lead to increased opportunities for employment, thus enabling them to make constructive contributions to the social, political and professional responsibilities of all the citizens o f Oregon. 5. Work toward full employment opportunities for Blacks through an analysis of employment policies and practices o f employers and labor or ganizations, both public and private. 6. C om pile and d istribute in fo r mation on the past and current status o f Blacks in Oregon. 7. Develop and sponsor programs to make Blacks’ wants and needs known to public and private agencies, the activities o f which aftect Blacks. 8. Encourage and support public and private agen cies described in subsection (7) o f this section to expand and improve their activities affecting Blacks. 9. Develop and sponsor, in cooperation with Black organizations, programs to inform Blacks o f services available to them. 10. Assess piograms o f stale agencies providing benefits to Blacks and make recommendations to the appropriate agencies fo r the im provement o f these programs. II . Report annually to the Governor and the President o f the Senate and Speaker o f the House o f Representa tives on all matters o f concern to Blacks o f this state and recommend appropriate action. A public hearing on the bill will be held on March 26th at 8:30 a.m. in hearing room A o f the Capital Build ing. SB 579 is introduced primarily by Senator Ted Hallock and C lifford Trow. An identical bill, HB 2749, was introduced in The House by Representatives Sandy Richards and Jim Chrest. The current bill is similar to SB 850, which was sponsored in the 1977 legislature by the fo u r N A A C P Branches — Portland, Salem, Cor vallis and Eugene — and the Urban PORTLAND OBSERVER League o f Portland. That bill was w itte n for the sponsors by Calvin O.L. Henry, who is now president of the Oregon Assembly for Black A f fairs. 1 he 1977 bill died in the Ways and Means Com m ittee when the co- chairmen, Representative Vera Katz an J Senator Jack Ripper refused to let it come to a vote. The new bills are substantially the same as the final version o f SB 850 but they add more strength to the Commission by mandating that it not only research the stature of Blacks in Oregon but make recom mendations for action. Volume 9 No. 11 Thursday. March 22, 1979 10C USPS 959 680 First graduate opens doors by Gregory Gudger Despite the compactness o f her petite, four-foot, eleven-inch frame, it wasn’ t hard to miss Beverly Thomas at last week’s Winter Term Graduation at Portland State Uni versity; the 21-year-old Bachelor o f Business Adm inistration represent ed 100 per cent o f all Black women and 33 *6 per cent o f all Blacks in the 200-odd member Class o f ’ 79. But the real significance o f her confirmation was known by only her mother, Ethel; brother, Gregory, and someday little Lawrence, her nephew — all engulfed in the throng o f well-wishers. You sec, Beverly is the first college graduate in the history o f her family. In this era o f genealogy-consciousness, in spired by Alex Haley’s “ Roots,” (if not always) setting the pace for future generations to aspire and ex ceed is very important. “ I never really looked at myself as strictly a role model,’ ’ said the 1974 graduate o f Grant H igh School, “ But I do see my value as one.” Since she entered her first insti tution o f higher education — Port land Community College at Sylvania Campus — other members o f her family have followed. ” 1 have cousins in Kansas who arc now entering college. Before I went, everyohe just went to work straight out o f high school,” she said, add ing, “ So I do think I ’ve had some sort o f im pact." Her primary reason for going on to college after graduating from Grant her junior year was ” 1 didn’t want to be a secretary.” Not that it’ s such a bad occupation but, “ 1 want ed a lot more out o f life .” Illustrative o f her determination, Ms. Thomas has worked during both her high school and college career. Up until her ju n io r year at PSU, where she transferred in 1976, she worked as a trainee at the Internal Revenue Service. When graduation loomed one year away, she quit in order to. devote all her time to her Beverly Thomas, graduate of Portland State University in Business Administration, still carries her books, as she looks forward to a new cereer. schooling. dle m yself vo ca tio n a lly. Every Finding joblessness somewhat un business needs good managers.” com fortable after having oriented It seems oddly appropriate that herself to being employed, she accept Ms. Thomas missed the first showing ed a positio- as Research Assistant, o f “ Roots" because she spent many and later, Supervisor, w ith the o f her evenings in class or running Associate Community Development computer programs — but that does not Association in July, 1978. stop her from solidifying her own; to Although she got to use what she set a trend in her family to reach for considers to be her greatest skills — the heights and excell. management and organization — “ Understand, though that I found Ms. Thomas feels that her other college to be the best way for me to business skills and potential are not get ahead. My younger sisters, neices being actualized. "Foremost on my and nephews (in Portland), even the mind now is getting established,” she kids in my Primary Sunday School jays, “ preferably with one o f the Class have to decide what’ s best for local financial institutions." them,” she said, adding, “ I at leas, Does the tight job market scare have shown that the o p tio n is her? “ Not really, because I can han- available to them.” School Board candidates invited to community A candidates' fair for candidates to the Portland School Board w ill be held at King School, 4906 N.E. 6th, on Tuesday, March 27th at 7:00 p.m. Each candidate w ill speak on four issues: I) background and qualifi- cations; 2) school desegregation and the Coalition proposal; 3) minimum competencies; 4) role o f the Board, Superintendent and public. An op portunity for questions will follow. The program is sponsored by the Northeast C oalition o f Neighbor hood O rganizations, the A lb in a Voter Registration and Education Project (AVREC), and the NAACP, Portland Branch. The public is urged to participate. Fred Meyer upgrades Walnut Park Fred Meyer Company will renno- vate the grocery-produce department o f its Walnut Park store in an effort to upgrade services and attract cus tomers. Si Green, Fred Meyer president, told the Northeast Coali tion o f Neighborhoods that he is “ trying to make it effective for the people o f the neighborhood.” The rennovation is, at least in part, a response to complaints by local business people and residents about the stores general rundown and dirty condition. The W alnut Park store was opened in 1935 and the current build ing was built in 1962. For decades, through the I95O’ s, Walnut Park was one of the chain’ s most successful stores. Then it began to decline and in 1970 suffered a small loss. The losses have continued and for the last six or eight years the company has considered closing the store. Along with the decline in profit came the removal o f services. The “ Eves” restaurant, which was used fo r com m unity meetings, was removed and later the apparel sec tion also was removed. Green said that although there are complaints that the store does not have the variety o f goods that other Fred Meyer stores have, it does carry the same items in the areas it serves. For example, in housewares, auto, and hardware it should stock the same items as other stores. If the items are not there it is a “ manage ment p ro b le m .” He adm itted management problems in the variety section. Produce, he stated, is o f the same quality that the other stores carry but because o f fewer customers and smaller quantity sold, the produce does not turn over as fast and can be come deteriorated. In that case it is to be replaced and if it is not it is be cause o f poor management and not because o f company policy. Green admitted that the store had reached an all time low last July He then made a commitment to continue the store and to upgrade its condi tion. He began meeting with commu nity groups, customers, managers and employees to determine what should be done. First they made a commitment to keep the place clean and to do necessary maintenace w ith in a reasonable time. The building was painted and the paint is to be kept clean. "W e are trying not to let it become the seat o f mess and d irt.” Approxim ately $200,000 w ill be spent to rennovate the food section. The shelving will be replaced and will run from front to back. The refriger ators for frozen food will be replaced w ith the new upright type with doors. The wet produce cases and meat cases will be replaced. The deli and check stands will be refurbished. This work is expected to be com pleted by June 1st. There is no interest in opening a restaurant, but there has been an ef fort to lease the space to another res taurant. This failing, the upstairs will be refurbished to provide a free com munity meeting room. This facility, seating 100 persons, w ill be avail able to the public by A pril 1st. Green said there is a high loss from theft. The number of shoplifters ap prehended by guards is about equal to other stores. Theft that is deter mined from empty cartons is greater, about $10 a day in the food section and $250 a day in variety. This equals about five percent o f sales. “ Perhaps remodeling w ill bring respect,” Green observed. “ This is an indication that there is not a great deal o f respect for us.” Fred Meyer is in business to make a profit and the company hopes to draw more customers by making the Walnut Park store a good place to shop. Deckard heads expanding YMCA Project Move YMCA North Project Move is fo cussing on a new and exciting pro gram o f activities . . . some under way now at the King Neighborhood Facility, and others planned for the summer and coming year. Announcem ent was made that YM CA North Project Move w ill be directed by Yvonne Deckard o f Waco, Texas, who comes to Port land with a background in psycho logy and speech education. Program plans for the year include a variety o f activities, with an em phasis on new areas o f interest for young people and adults in the North east community. “ Purpose o f the North Project Move YM CA is to create an educa tio n a l, cu ltu ra l, and recreational program related to adults and young people,” notes Ms. Deckard, who has established a committee to work directly with the staff and the inner- city community. Credibility and visi bility has already been established in the community. Serving on the committee for the next six weeks w ill be Betty Hardy, Ira Mumford, Estella Ehelebe, Jim Loving, and Edna Robinson. The ro tating committee w ill meet every Thursday, from 4:00-6:00 p.m., at King Neighborhood Facility, 4815 N.E. 7th, Portland. Two positions on the committee are to be filled by young people, be tween thirteen and eighteen years of age. Anyone interested in serving the YM CA in this advisory and planning position, or who would like to sub mit the name o f a candidate, is asked to contact Ms. Deckard at 287-2523. Activities in progress at the King Facility under sponsorship o f the YM CA, include a d rill team, meet ing Monday and Wednesday, from 5:00-7:00 p.m.; open gym sessions each Tuesday, from 7:30-10:00 p.m., and volleyball and basketball, Thurs days from 6:00-10:00 p.m. The Northeast Invitational, a three man city-wide basketball tourna ment will be held March 31st and A pril 1st at the Portland Commu nity College Cascade on Northeast (Please turn to Page 3 Column 3) Church listens A great deal o f attention is given to the neighborhoods’ relations to various instutions - the Planning Commission, the Police Department, the School District, etc. Another in stitution that needs to involve the neighborhood is the church. M allory Avenue Christian Chur ch, 126 N.E. Alberta, w ill ask the neighborhood how it can best serve the community at its morning wor ship service, March 25th at 11:00 a.m. Bob Nelson, active in the com munity for some 25 years, will speak on “ The Church and the Neigh borhood” . Discussion w ill follow. The public is invited to take part. School Board, Position 6: Administrator vs. teacher The Portland School Board elec tion is set for A p ril 3rd and the most h o tly contested race is that fo r P osition 6, now held by Beverly York. Mrs. York, who was elected four years ago, has been concerned about school n u tritia n and getting junk food out o f the schools. Other than that, she has contributed little to board decisions. The position is sought by B ill Scott and Mike Verbout. Scott, a form er assistant to M ayor G old schmidt, is vice president o f the Nor thern Energy Resources, Co., a sub sidiary o f Pacific Power and l.ight Co. Verbout is a teacher with the Portland Public Schools. Bill Scott A cornerstone o f Scott’s campaign is advocacy fo r a strong, active Boatd that would be more responsive to the citizens. Scott explains that the current Board's role seems to be to protect the administration. The administra- tion sets the Board’s agenda and de fines the Board’ s limits. A more suit able posture would be for the Board to provide a challenge to the admini stration — to make policies and con tinuously prod the administration to perform better. The Board also has a poor relationship with the public. Its at tempts at citizen participation are superficial. Scott explains that the Board has placed the citizens ad visory com m ittees in a position where they act in much the same fearful way that the School Board does. They allow their role to be de fined by the area Superintendents and spend more time discussing and complaining about the limits o f their responsibility. He believes those ad visory committees, as well as the school advisory committees, should determine their own course o f action and lesponsibility, decide on their own organization and their meeting times. (Please turn to page 2 col. 1) “ Teaching is my life,” said Mike Verbout, “ And that is why I am a candidate for the Portland School Board. An emphasis on good teaching would solve many o f the problems the district is facing.” The School Board, Verbout says, pays too little a ttention to education and leaves the decisions relating to teaching to the ad m in is tra tio n . Because the board members themselves know little about education, and because they always defer to the administration, they do not get involved in decisions regarding teaching methods, program s and cu rric u lu m . The Superintendent and administrative staff he believes are so out o f touch that they do not know what is hap pening in the classrooms, yet the board relies on them for making all educational and a d m inistrative decisions. This lack o f attention to education he considers the basis o f many o f the d istrict’ s problems. Ten years ago, he explains, Portland schools had an excellent reputation. They have declined to the point that many parents w ould rather have their children go to Beaverton, David Douglas or other suburban schools, so they leave the city. W hile the district is now concerned about the detrim ental effects o f a rapidly declining enrollm ent, Verbout blames that decline on the School Board itself. “ A ll parents want the best education for (heir children and they w ill go where they w ill get that education. I f the Portland schools were teaching ch ild re n , fam ilies would stay in Portland.” The question o f desegregation also relates to teaching. “ I f the district really wanted to integrate Jefferson, they would not have built a dance program at Jefferson. They would have b u ilt a strong academic program, a prep school for college bound students, and parents from all (Please turn to page 2 col. 2) Mike Verbout
