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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1979)
i r a Francea Schoon-Newspaper Room U n iv e rs ity of Oregon L ib rary tu g e n e, Oregon 97403 Racism wins in Oregon; House rejects D.C. vote An impassioned plea by House M ajority Leader Gratton Kerans ap parently fell on deaf ears as the Oregon House o f Representatives refused to vote to ratify a U.S. Con stitutional Amendment that would give the citizens o f W ashington, D.C. the right to elect U.S. Senators and Representatives and voted, in stead, to send the issue to the people for an “ advisory vote” . Kerans told the House: My collegue from Ashland (Rep. Kip Lombard) said there is no com pelling reason for haste. In his last year. The Reverend Martin Luther King said, “ On the road to freedom, make haste. Make haste.” I f you w ill look at the history o f the federal Constitution, if you w ill look at the history o f the Supreme Court o f the United States, you will find this issue at the heart o f the debate that has taken place through out 200 years of the history o f the United States. The 15th Amendment, in which we said the ballot shall not be denied because o f race, color or previous condition o f servitude adopted in 1890. The 17th Amendment in which w- allowed for the direct election o f U.S. Senators. The 19th Amendment in which over one half o f the population of this nation were given the ballot at a single stroke, the women. I might add parenthetically, how well would that have done as a referendum to the men o f this state in 19187 The 23rd Amendment to allow D.C. residents to vote for president and vice president. The poll tax. Then if you look at the Supreme Court look at what we have taken away: the free-holder test, the literacy test, Baker vs Carr, the right to an equal representation vote. Less than 6 per cent o f the entire federal work force lives in the Dis tric t o f Colum bia. The residents o f the D istrict o f C olum bia pay more federal taxes than do eleven states. The federal D istrict o f Columbia has a greater population than that o f seven states. The District of Columbia receives less per capita federal aid than do seventeen states. Only 30 per cent o f the entire work force o f the federal District is on the federal payroll. There is one other figure which my heart tells me I must bring to this debate and this is something in which the District o f Columbia also exceeds us. The District of Columbia count ed for more war dead in the Viet nam war than that o f ten states. There were more killed per capita in the District o f Columbia in the Viet nam conflict than there were in 46 states. But that is just a statistic. 1 have a list of some o f the Gold Star parents o f the District o f Columbia. These are American men and women who gave their sons and daughters for freedom - and this Amendment is for them. It is for M r. Alexander Cam pbell; it is fo r M rs. Verdie Jones; it is for Mrs. Susie Johnson; it is for Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Smith; it is for Mrs. Christine Brown; it is for M r. and Mrs. George Gardner. You recognize what I have done. These are the names from this partial list that match the names o f this Legislature. How do you say that a person who gives her child up for freedom and for independence and who bears the same names as we shall not have representation? Tell me today! They PORTLAND OBSERVER are all there in this - all the names, the names o f Am erican history. James McCormack, John Kleninson, John G ordon, W in ifre d Page, Magnolia Plunkett, LeRoy Wash ington. They ask fo r one thing from this body. They ask for simple justice. They ask for representation in the only way we can give it. In the survey o f the rights of B ritish Am erica w ritten in 1774, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “ The God who gave us life gives us liberty at the same time.” And each day we stand and call on that same God and pledge to the flag a pledge o f allegiance, “ One n ation, under God, indivisible with liberty and (Please turn to Page 2 Column 5) Volume 9 No. 16 Thursday, April 28,197910C USPS 968 680 Pickets hit Sears \ picket sponsored by the May Day Committee, a coalition o f con cerned organizations, will join others across the nation in protesting the Sears civil rights suit. The picket will be held in front o f the 524 N.E. Grand Avenue store from noon until 1:00 p.m., Saturday, May 5th. Sears sued the federal govern ment in January in an effort to de stroy its affirm ative action/equal opportunity requirements. In a class action suit brought for all other retail companies affected by c iv il rights requirem ents. Sears alleges that those requirements have created an “ imbalanced workforce” and conflicting regulations. Sears, the world's largest retailer, employs more than 400,000 people. In 1973 the EEOC charged Sears with discrimination on the basis o f race, color, sex, national origin with respect to recruitm ent, selection, hiring, job assignment, transfer, pro motion, training, layoff and recall, compensation, benefits and other terms and coaditsoas ot- em ployment. In A p ril 1977 the EEOC found Sears had discrim inated against Blacks, women and Spanish- sumamed. In January o f 1978, Sears’ model a ffirm a tiv e action plan was ap proved. This week the government notified Sears that it w ill conduct an on-site review o f the plan. Sears de clared it will no longer do business with the federal government because o f “ harassment,” an action that will relieve it o f meeting contract com pliance requirements. A court decision favorable to Sears would eliminate affirmative ac tion; eliminate protection o f the em ploym ent rights o f m in orities, women, older workers and youth; eliminate veterans employment pro grams; and prevent any person or agency from seeking damages based on the above regulations. The picket will be held as a cele bration o f May Day. May Day is an international workers’ holiday with a history o f strikes, marches and de monstrations. Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) is a Mexican national holiday celebrating a defeat o f French im perialist troops in the 1860*s. Attention Portland Opportunities Indus trialization Cantar (POIC) Is cele brating Its tenth year of providing services to the unemployed and under employed. Dr. Leon Sullivan, national OIC director, will ba the speaker at a banquet to ba held at the Rad Lion Inn at Jantzen Beach, April 28th at 7:00 p.m. (For information call 287-1271, ext. 210). Volunteering a way of life for McElroy Howard J. McElroy, a tailored, successful businessman o f 40, lean ed back in his chair, propped a foot on his desk and put a match to his pipe. Speaking slowly and thoughtfully, he reflected on the years he’ s spent helping others as a volunteer in Port land, Minneapolis, Detroit and else where. “ There’s a wide gulf in this coun try between the haves and the have- nots,” said the Southwest Portland resident. "Volunteers at all levels are neces sary to improve living conditions o f the less fo rtu n a te ,” he added. “ Those who understand both sides can play a major role in closing the gap” McElroy grew up with six brothers and six sisters in the steeltown o f Youngstown, Ohio, which was af fected constantly by layoffs, strikes and activity in the automobile in dustry. “ I also lived in Cleveland and D etroit,” he added. “ In those kinds o f communities, the disparity is ac centuated. I th in k that same disparity is here.” As vice president o f personnel for Lipmans in Portland, McElroy has attempted to close the gap he sees by working with the United Way, U r ban League, YM C A, the NAACP and Little League. He was elected recently to serve on the board o f directors and executive board o f the United Way o f the Columbia-Willamette, which raises funds for 87 human service agencies. He’s also a board member of the C olum bia-W illam ette Y M C A , a United Way agency, and is lay chairman o f its Project Move, which provides counseling, recreation and leadership fo r “ street teens” and other young people who need help. With the Portland Urban League, McElroy has been involved in a pro gram that offers career counseling and job placement for high school students. “ A common thing among these agencies is that they deal with people development,” McElroy explained. “ They try to improve a person’ s sta tus, performance and level o f living. “ Each o f them deals with getting yauog people ready for participation in the competitive environment we live in.” McElroy has been interested in “ people developm ent” since graduating from college with a ba- chelor’ s degree in education. He taught school for 1H years. “ In many cases, the principles o f education enabled me to be suc cessful in business,” he said. “ One o f the keys o f human development is the ability to transfer experiences and knowledge between fields. “ The essence o f education and management is having the ability to w ork w ith and tra in people,” M cElroy continued. "T h e quicker you can get someone to learn and execute responsibilities, the better leader you are.” McElroy, who also has a master’s degree in educational adm inistra tion, sees a lot o f parallel principles between personnel work and volun teer work. The principles include motivation, identifying goals, execution o f goals and o b tainin g feedback, said McElroy, who worked seven years in personnel fo r the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, Lipman’ s parent com pany in Minneapolis, before moving to Portland. “ Be it a company or any other in stitution, people make them go,” McElroy said. “ Helping people im prove their individual development affects the overall performances o f HOWARD McELROY an organization.” McElroy also worked to increase the participation o f minorities in bu- (Please turn to Page 2 Column 5) Black organizations ask court to hold City federal funds Six Black organizations have re- filed a suit against the City o f Port land, this time including the federal government. The suit, filed against the Department o f Commerce, the Economic Development Agency and the City, charges that the City failed to comply with regulations requiring minority participation. in and denied the benefit of Defend ant’ s investment strategy under the CEDS program and will not be af forded the opportunity to present a minority perspective on proposals in a llocation o f these Economic Development Agency funds toward the goal o f remedying unem ployment in the City o f Portland.” The suit charges that the City has received over $12 million " fo r the purpose o f remedying unemploy ment in defendant’ s (C ity’ s) private, revenue producing economy” and that “ said funds have been expended fo r certain o f those economic development projects w ithout soliciting participation or input from plaintiff (the Black groups) as to an appropriate investment strategy.” The suit was filed by the North west M in o rity C ontractors A ssociation, the N A A C P , the Oregon Association o f Colored W om en’ s Clubs, the A lbina W om en’ s League, the A lbina Ministerial Alliance and the Black United Front. According to Eugene Jackson, executive director o f N M C A , the group will seek an immediate injunc tion and temporary restraining or der to stop the City from spending the money until a final determination on the suit can be made. Following the initial filing o f the suit a minority task force was ap pointed and held public meetings to try to identify projects in the Black community that could be funded. According to Eric Hovee o f the C ity ’ s o ffic e o f Planning and Development, no viable projects The City was required to comply w ith regulations “ establishing requirements for affirmative action programs for minorities as well as m in o rity representation and em ploym ent on public planning organizations.” EDA requires the input o f “ all interested community groups” . The suit charges that the C ity’ s failure w ill cause the organizations “ to be precluded from participation were identified. Hovee told the Northeast Coali tion board that all projects for the current year have been selected and that a list o f potential projects for the coming year have been iden tified. Selection criteria included the production o f long term jobs and the fact that the engineering and costing o f projects has to be completed already so they can be ready to begin on October I, 1979. The only projects for the coming year that directly affect Albina are an Inner Northeast Economic Study and inclusion in a revolving loan fund and industrial site develop ment. The advisory committee proposed that one-third o f the loan fund be reserved fo r m in o rity business but that the money could be re-allocated by the City Council. The industrial site development w ill be no target areas to develop for expansion o f existing business or industry, prepare the sites and sell them at nominal cost to business and industry. The Inner Northeast, Northeast-air port, Central Eastside and Lower Albina will be targeted. The inner Northeast Economic Study, done by an Inner Northeast Council to be appointed by May 15th, w ill study the extent to which rezoning o f the Union Avenue area is necessary and to identify commercial and industrial sites. The City staff hopes that after the study is com pleted there will be funds to carry out its recommendations, but it is expected that after 1979-80 funds w ill be sharply reduced. Th current projects are: Northwest F ront Avenue, Swan Island, Rivergatc Sewage Pump Station, C entral Eastside In d u stria l Development, East Side Produce Row, revolving loan fund, industrial site preparation, technical assistance. Next year’ s proposals include: a d m inistration and planning, revolving loan fund. Lents Development Assistance, indus trial site development, Union Pa- cific /S o u th e rn P acific Eastside Power Switch, Northwest Industrial Street Improvement, Produce Row, N .E . 3rd and Davis, and C ivic Stadium Rehabilitation. The suit is an effort to allow mi norities and minority organizations a voice in determining how the federal economic development money will be spent and how it will impact their communities. School Board abandons three-area organization plan The Portland School Board voted to eliminate one o f its three area of fices and consolidated in to two areas. Along with this reorganiza tion, some services previously per formed by the area staff will be done on a district wide basis out o f the cen tral office. BASKET WEAVING WITH CHINOOK INDIAN TECHNIQUES was de monstrated by Scout Troop 70 at 1979 Scoutcapades at Washington Squara April 21st 22nd: Alonzo Jamison and Joe Wondarlick use w illo w and clem atis vines to form baskets according to Indian methods Baskets will be used in McIver park project In which a full- sized replica of a Chinook plank house will ba constructed using the same kinds of tools and techniques known 160 years ago. Troop 70 is sponsored by Alameda PTA. Those services that w ill now be done district wide include special education, curriculum development, and career education. Functions re maining in the area offices will in clude: supervision o f buildings, bud get development, supplies, instruc tional support, staffing, staff input, redress, adm inistrative transfers, planning fo r reorganization, and citizen participation. Organization into three areas was accomplished as a part o f Dr. Robert Blanchard’ s “ Schools for the Seven ties” plan. Area offices have operated nearly autonomously in many ways. For example, each area selects textbooks and determines curriculum and teaching methods. D r. Blanchard explained his recom m endation by stating that times have changed and the public wants a standardized curriculum. He said that ten years ago the people wanted the curriculum and the way it was presented determined by the in dividual neighborhood schools. They wanted a loosening o f the traditional practices and wanted to try alterna live programs. The s ta ff wanted more input in decisions. Now, he explained, the public has expressed a greater concern for ac countability and standards. They are more interested in having the same basic curriculum in all schools. Placing more reliance on the students has resulted in lower test scores nationally. Blanchard defended the decentra liza tio n decision made in 1970, saying that it served well to identify successful programs and that now some of those programs can be adopt ed district wide. Dr. Blanchard added that there is a substantial public request for re duction o f adm inistrative costs. Board member Jonathan Newman added his opinion that the three area decentralization had been wise, pro viding for diversity and for more citi zen participation. He preferred to retain the three areas but could ac cept going to two areas. Forrest Reike said teachers he had spoken to had preferred more uni formity across the district. Having different curriculum in the schools makes it difficult for children who change schools. He also expressed the opinion that the administrative structure hasn’ t lent itself to plan ning and that a more sim plified process fo r public p a rticipation should be devised. Wally Priestley recommended that all three area offices be abandoned and that their functions be carried out through the central administra tion. The Board will consider that option at a later date. Elimination o f one area office will save an estimated $519,573, which includes twelve administrative posi tions that will be phased out through retirements and promotions,
