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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1980)
Front proposes Eliot, Kennedy middle schools The Observer has learned that the Black United Front, at its Thursday evening public meeting, will propose the development o f middle schools at Eliot and Kennedy schools. One o f the demands made by the BUF last fall, a demand included in the School Board’ s "long term " resolutions was the creation o f one or two middle schools in Albina. The School Board's plans, recently sub mitted for public discussion, suggest middle schools at Adams and the former Monroe High School, neither in Albina. The Eliot Middle School would serve children from the Eliot, King and Humboldt attendence areas. The Kennedy Middle School, located near 33rd and Killingsworth, would serve Woodlawn and Vernon. Both schools would be available to stud ents living in other areas. The bulk o f the BUF proposal, which will be presented to the com munity for discussion and approval, addresses academic matters. The School Board will be asked to appoint a principal selection commit tee, made up o f community residents and administrators, to evaluate Albina school principals. O f special concern will be the principals o f schools with academic levels below the district average. Each school would have a commit tee, chosen by parents, to review resumes and applications o f teachers and recommend selections. They would also evaluate teachers curren tly assigned. The proposal asks that Black history and culture be an integral be taught because they are ’ disadvan part o f every subject at every grade taged' the teachers will believe them. level. They also asked for the The teacher has to believe the child teaching o f science and languages in can learn in order to teach. " A ll over the country there are the elementary schools. administrators who have demon Although unwilling to discuss the strated that they can provide quality specifics o f the plan until it is pre education for Black students. The sented to the community, BUF co- district needs to begin recruiting chairman Ronnie Herndon said the right away.” key to the education o f Black Regarding teacher training, Hern children is the administration. "The don said, “ Neither the district nor administration sets the tone. As long the consultant from Portland State as administrators say children can’t whom they hired to design the teacher training had the good sense to come to the Front to discuss it with us before they started giving classes. We are very displeased. " I t doesn’ t make sense to ignore 3,500 years o f recorded history o f Black people and only talk about what happened after we were brought here as slaves. Many o f the most important contributions were made before slavery. “ It w ouk be a powerful motiva tional force to be able to tell a Black (Please turn to page 2 col. 1) „ u B ii. £ «UTNMlAt l’ Ä NIWV » ' 4H« PORTLAND OBSERVER Volum e 10 Num ber 6 February 7, I960 10Çper copy USPS 968-680 Former HAP employee wins rights suit A n r t A federal m court jury, on February . 1st awarded a former employee ol the Housing Authority o f Portland (HAP) $6,1(X) in a civil-rights lawsuit against the agency. Mr. Ronald M. Swan, a former HAP Service Coordinator of Projects in cluding Dekum Court, bought suit against HAP; it’s executive director, Dr. Lyndon Musolf; and its director o f operations, Ms. Judith Londah! Swan charged violation o f his civil and property rights and furthet charged Londahl with acts against hun that were intentional, w illful and malicious. After less than two hours deliberation, the jury found for Swan against Musolf and Lon dahl, granting him $5,100 in general damages and $1,000 in punitive damages against Londahl. Swan contended at the trial that while Dekum Court residents and the Concordia neighborhood bat tled for a playground, he was being disciplined unfairly for advocating ___ n n o a r n e o r n o r ! z x t * L»«»- z-» tenant o concerns as part of his job • to provide needed services to Dekum Court residents. Swan stated that two days after the June 19th, 1978 Dekum Court Tenant Organization meeting, at which he and Musolf had disagreement, they shook hands and Musolf agreed “ to forget the whole incident.” On the same day, however, Swan received from Lon dahl a written reprimand, which was put in his personnel file, for in subordination at the June 19th meeting and his immediate super visor, Ruth Drurey, was directed by Londahl to assign Swan to another housing project. Over the next several days he received a series of written reprimands accusing him of undermining the fiscal stability of H?\P and violation o f H AP’ s code of ethics in addition to the in subordination charge. Swan used official HAP procedures to file a grievance o f his reprimands and transfer, saying that the discipline was without cause. He fr » n c ir x t i > ■ • . was granted a hearing, but the date was set at a time Swam had said he would be unavailable and at his fu r ther request, the date was changed and written notice was given him saying he could have an attorney present. Though such hearings are generally closed. Swan requested through his attorney, Dave Ed strom, that the hearing be public. He was then told, he said, that HAP had "insufficient time to notify the public” and the hearing was can celled. Later, Swan contended, after considering his request that the hearing be public, H A P ’s Board of Commissioners wrote that his trans fer was a management decision rather than a disciplinary action and therefore, was not a griveable mat ter. And, in a second memo from the board, he was again repri manded for his speech at the June meeting with tenants and Musolf. Fred Rosenbaum, Chairman of the board, had to be subpoenaed — ■ before he would give a written deposition in the case. After several more months, during which he said he felt in creasing job frustration due to lack o f training for new assignments, a heavy caseload, and denial of the grievance hearing, Swan resigned and filed the lawsuit. He charged HAP, Musolf and Londahl with violation o f property, without due process o f law by denying hun the discipline appeal hearing which had been scheduled and in preparation for which he had incurred $485 in legal expenses. He also charged all three defendants with violation of his constitutional rights to freedom o f speech and association for disciplining him after the June 19th meeting for asking questions about the scope and finality o f the- HAP Dekum Court property sale and, later, for orders by Londahl that he not discuss with tenants at another project assignment their concerns turn iu to p page col. 4) i (Please n c a s e luru a g e z 2 COI. Family day care program wins training grant James Loving has filed for the Democratic Party nom ination to Senate District No. 8. The executive director of King Neighborhood Facility, Loving is the form er chairman of the N orthw est Coalition of Neighborhoods and was active on the M odel Cities Planning Board and w ith many com m unity organizations. The position Loving seeks is currently held by Bill M cCoy. The Albina Ministerial Alli.-i ■ >-t Fam ily Day and Night Care Program has received a $36,500 grant from the state Children's Ser vices Division to train welfare- clients, Thirty welfare recipients who are eligible for training under the WIN program will receive special training to allow them to be certified as day care providers - caring for children in their own homes. They will be qualified for work in day care centers or in some types of educational programs. ¿Training will take approximately four weeks. Also included in the grant is the development o f a list o f persons who w ill be available for in-home work - providing housekeeping and personal services. The grant will allow the develop ment o f programs using foster grandparents in family day care. A M A Family Day and Night Care, which was one of the original child care programs funded by Model Cities, provides supportive services for family day care providers. The A M A program assists day care providers in regarding USDA food payments, the purpose o f which is to insure good nutrition by paying the cost o f n u tritio n a lly sound meals. The rather coin plicated bookkeeping process is ex plained and assistance offered when necessary. Another aid is assistance with income tax records and retur ns, since family day care providers are treated as self-employed with the resulting tax benefits. Tax assistance is also provided for low-income persons and the elderly. Other services include technical assistance —• help and inform ation on child care and related subjects; a lending library with toys and some child equipm ent; educational workshops; and inform ation and referral. Persons who arc interested in training or in family day care, can contact the program t 285-0493. President proclaims Black History Month President Jimmy Carter, on the occasion o f the fifty -firs t birthday o f the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. designated February as National Afro-American History Month. Before members of the Association for the Study o f Afro- American L ife and H istory in a ceremony in the Cabinet Room of the W hite House the President issued the following proclamation: "The Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History can be ju s tly proud o f the con tributions of it’ s member to scholar ship in a long-neglected field. As you celebrate your 65th anniversay this year, you can also take great pleasure in an accomplishment even rarer and more difficult for serious scholars - you have sparked public awareness and broadened the knowledge and interest o f all Americans in ther history. “ Since your founder, Carter G. Woodson, initialed Afro-American (Black) History Month, this annual observance has become an impor tant tra d itio n throughout the nation. By making people aware o f the achievements and contributions o f Black Americans from the earliest history o f our people, you have helped to correct the record and brought all Americans a belter understanding o f their past. " T o understand the present, to solve its problems and meet its challenges, we must understand our history. Through this annual obser vance, you have helped give young Black people the knowledge of then roots and the facts o f their proud heritage. "The history o f Black Americans is the record o f Am erica’ s battle with itself to establish the principles o f justice, freedom and equal op portunity on which it was founded It is a record o f perseverance and anonymous sacrifice by both Black and white Americans over many years. It is a record of calm convic tion that overcame the power o f hatred and ^*ar and entrenched ignorance. It is a record of human fa ilu re and cruelty, but also o f human courage and commitment. It is im portant that all Americans (Please turn to P. 12 Col. I) Killers testify innocent man convicted A convicted killer, mob gangster and FBI informants confessed to a 1974 murder in Marion County C ir cuit Court last week, but the man convicted of the crime may have no recourse through the courts. In 1975 Rod Addicks was convic ted o f the murder o f his business partner, James Turel. Central to the conviction was the testim ony o f Dennis Cartright, who testified that he and Addicks com m itted the crime. Later, Floyd Forsberg, who claims he and not Addicks took part in the murder. For the first time, Forsberg was allowed to take the stand and tell his story - but Judge Duane Ertsgaard ruled the testimony is not admissable. Assistant Attorney General Scott McAlister objected to admission of testimony o f Cartright and Forsberg in Addicks post conviction hearing, saying the hearing was to consider only possible denial o f con stitutional rights: "there is nothing unconstitutional about a witness testifying untruthfully.” Judge Lrtsgaard ruled that Car tright and Forsberg could testify for the record, but that he could not consider the testimony in making his decision. He said that the use o f purjured testimony could not be considered, that the only issue was whether the State had acted to deny due process. Addicks has charged that M ult nomah County Deputy District A t torney Joe Rieke and Deputy Sheriff Rod Englart withheld in formation from Addicks with his at torney that would have aided his defense, and that they knowingly allowed Cartwright and others to give false testimony. Dennis Cartwright testified that Forsberg, and not Addicks, was his partner in the crime. Cartright said that he testified in Addicks’ trial that Addicks was involved because he had been promised immunity or a light sentence. Asked by Addicks’ attorney, Robert Donaldson, whether the police were aware that he was lying - - he replied, " I believe tl did.” He said Englart "to ld me what to say,” and " I knew they couldn’t convict him.” Cartwright maintains that Deputy Sheriff Engiart told him that the state was not interested in him, only in "getting Rod.” Turel, a business partner with Addicks in the Columbian Bookkeeping Company, was bludgeoned and choked to death in August 1974. Addicks and Car twright were arrested the following March« Cartwright testified that he wan ted to kill Turel because he planned to cancel a $30,(XX) painting con tract that would have prevented Cartwright from earning 110,000. F e said he asked Forsberg to help Irm in return for $6,000 in cash that Turel always carried, but Forsberg «as not interested. When Car- t vright later offered addresses of FBI agents. Forsberg agreed to do tfce job, (Cartwright told how he and Fors- Nrg had planned to wrap Turel in a urp and bury him - so he would usappear They went to Mt. Hood ti find a place, and while there Car- right found the rope they later used o k ill Turel. They then drove to leno to get the dark green Dodge vtn Forsberg had stolen in Stcramento for a bank robbery. The plan did not go as expected, aid they killed Turel in his office - bating him and choking him. While doking Turel, Cartright noticed the endow shades open and instructed brsberg to go and close them. (This elates to a wit net* having said she Please turn to page 9 col. I) Jackson Raider. Lisa Channel 1731 drives to the basket showing the form and poise that helpad her score 23 points against the Jefferson Demos. The final score was Jackson 49 Jafferson 41. (Photos: Richard J. Brown)
