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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 1980)
Page 2 Portland Observer August 14. 1990 editorial / opin T òn This affirmative action Programs for the poor? by N. bun gai Kumbula man looks at the training as an opportunity to learn a skill for summer jobs. "He's looking ahead to many years of college to attain a long-term goal: a doctorate degree from Cal Tech in nuclear physics." A year or so ago the City of Portland took over control of its CETA programs that had previously been sub contracted to various organizations. Among the reasons for this move was to more fully control the enrollment procedures to insure that the target populations are served - the poor, minorities, educationally disadvantaged, unemployed and underemployed. This week the Observer received a press release from Portland Community College describing a concentrated course for 35 selec ted CETA students to learn word processing. The purpose of the course is to move the students into a permanent, paying career. Word processing is in demand, so the suc cessful students should be able to step into secure jobs. The students get tuition, books and $3.10 an hour while they are in the course. Among the students is a young man who "entered the program with top math skills: he was a competitor in two state high school math contests in California and is now a third year student at Reed College." The young CETA was designed to make the unem ployable employable, to train those without adequate education or skills, to provide jobs for those who will never make it in the private sector. Surely with a 9 percent rate of unem ployment in Oregon, there are some people out there who could use this program to gain skills for long term employment. There must be welfare mothers who jump at the chance to learn a lucerative trade - or young people who w ill never have the opportunity to go to college but who will have to support them selves. This misuse of money intended for the poor not only causes the taxpayers to rebell against paying for rip-offs but it deepens the resent ment in those who were promised the oppor tunity they never received. Loan fund grants more loans (( oiilinucd from Page 1 Col 6) eluding engineering, legal, grading, testing, site mapping, and related costs associated with the acquisition and preparation o f land; "B Building costs, including real estate, engineering, architectural, legal, and related costs associated with acquisition, construction, and rehabilitation of building." M inority Representative to Loan C om m ittee I he M in o rity Task Force, established in response to the suit, recommended that a m in o rity member, nominated by the minority com m unities, be added to the Revolving Loan Committee, which was made up of bankers and PDC commissioners. The Task Force also recommended an oversight Sub com m ittee o f EDAC to oversee minority concerns. I he Oversight Com m ittee designed criteria for the selection of a m in o rity member, contacted community organizations and the plaintiffs to the suit, and accepted nominations. Four persons who had been nominated were interviewed by M atthew A kom (B lack), Louis Alvarez (Spanish speaking) and Dave H unt, D irector o f PDC. Broussard was their first choice for selection, Hum berto Reyna was second I he PDC chairman created another position on the committee and named both. In July Broussard and Reyna wrote letters to the Oversight Com mittee stating concern with the loan process and with loans being gran ted They appeared before that committee, and at their suggestion Broussard spoke before the EDAC board. In response to Broussard and Reyna’ s concerns, John W ight presented a new proposal to EDAC and to the C ity C ouncil, which w ould create a n o n -p ro fit cor poration to take the place o f the loan committee. The five directors of the corporation would replace the current members o f the loan com mittee. Bourbon Street Loen , , The only minority loan presented to the Loan Review Committee was a 5225,000 (city share) loan fo r Bourbon Street restaurant and lounge Broussard opposed this loan on the basis that pay-off o f the long term equipment lease was not a good business decision and was un- necessary, and that management of the business needed to be improved to guarantee its success. The loan was denied, with the intention that it would be resubmitted. The Bourbon Street owners received notification from the Bureau o f Economic Development that the loan had been rejected but were not notified that they were to resubmit. Later the creditors met and it became evident that the loan would not have been sufficient to pay the debts and retain enough working capital to continue the business. In other words, had the loan been made, the money would have been gone and the business still would not have survived. In spite o f the financial condition o f this business, the Bureau had ap proved and submitted it to the Loan Committee, with Broussard the only member o f the Loan Committee to object. The owners o f the business had been assured by some City em ployees that the loan had been ap proved. " I t is my personal opinion that this is a ‘ p o litic a l lo a n ,’ that it would have taken the one-third sup posedly reserved for minorities, and that its failure would have allowed the write-off of the minority com munity,” Broussard told the Obser ver. "This loan, plus the two long term loans that were to fo llo w would have cleaned out the fund.” TWO M AJOR LOANS Since Broussard and Reyna asked that a moratorium on new loans be called, two major loans have been granted. A loan application was submitted by developer, W illiam Heintz, o f Clackamas, Oregon, owner o f W.R. Heintz and Son Construction, Co. He is the son and heir o f the late R.A. Heintz, the developer of a 145 acre in d u stria l park where the property is located. Heintz leases a building to the Eaton Yale & Towne Company which sells and service lift trucks and leases industrial trucks. The purpose o f this 5129,000 loan (10 years) is to provide additional space for the tenant. The loan has been approved. This loan would not qualify under current requirem ents. The Loan Fund is not to be used fo r speculative purposes defined as, the acquisition of land or buildings, but w ith no on-site, long-term jobs created or retained directly by the borrower. The loan carries no First Source Agreement as required, and an ticipates the addition by Eaton, Yale and Towne o f fo u r to eight em ployees. Current requirements are that each 510,000 o f C ity money generate one job - or 13 jobs for the loan. This loan is personally guaran teed by William Heintz. Broussard and Reyna voted against it. On July 18th, the Oregonian reported that Nel-Tech planned to move from T u a latin to U nion Avenue and T illam ook, and that L a rry Jackson, chairm an o f the Inner Northeast Economic Council, expected Nel-Tech to receive a 5250,000 low interest loan. This business, 75% owned by John Gray, is projected to gross 52.5 m illion in 1980. At the time this report appeared* in the Oregonian, the loan package had not gone to the Loan Commit tee Subsequently, it was presented and was granted. The company projects the ad d ition o f 20 jobs when the plant opens, and 72 by the end o f 1982. There is no First Source Agreement as required. The 10 year loan is per sonally guaranteed by John Gray, the vote was 2 to 2, with Broussard and Reyna voting against. This is not a proper use o f the Revolving Loan Fund," Broussard said. "Rather than being offered a revolving loan that is for small and m inority businesses, Gray should have been insured an industrial loan to make him an anchor in an in dustrial park. “ Tecktronix, Floating Point and other large companies should be pursued so they - along with the smaller minority businesses - would create jobs and housing in the com munity. Instead, we have a band-aid approach to Union Avenue.” The loans made therefore do not fit the C ity C o u n c il’ s goal “ to provide a Revolving Loan Fund to help eliminate the special barriers that face businesses which are women - and m inority - owned.” "T h e re are q u a lifie d m in o rity businesses that could u tilize this money to expand job opportunities in the Northeast area if the Bureau would approach them with the same enthusiasm it has the large white businesses.” PORTLAND OBSERVER The Portland Observer IU SPS 959 680) is published every Thurs day by Ene Publishing Company, Inc . 2201 North Killmgsworth Portland. Oregon 97217. Post Office Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland. Oregon Subscriptions 57 50 per year in Tri County area 58 00 per year outside Tri County area Postm aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P 0 Box 3137 Portland, Oregon 9720B The Portland Observer t official position is expressed only in its Editorial column Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion Of l/ie individual writer or submitter and does not neces sanly reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer 283 2486 ALFRED L. HENDERSON Editor/Pubiisher N ational A d vertisin g R epresentative A m a lg a m a te d Publishers. Inc N e w York MfMSU Assoc,«non - founded 1SSS ■XI M S I ■ 1st Place Community Service ONPA 1973 1st Place Best Ad Results ONPA 1973 5th Place Best Editorial ONPA 1973 Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award NNA 1973 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 1975 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 1978 Jeff lives on Jump Street. Jeff is ten years old. Jeff is Black. Like most Black children at his age, he is beginning to take a very serious look at the world. To say what he sees is disillusioning would be the under statement of the decade. A t the moment he is w alking around bleary-eyed because he could not sleep again last night. Matter o f fact, he cannot remember the last time he had a restful night's sleep. Police sirens and screeching tires scream past his door every hour on the hour twenty four hours a day. The police virtually live in this neighborhood; this must be the most "p o lic e d ” neighborhood in the world, he thinks to himself as he nods on the park bench. Jeff comes from a solid home. Mom and dad have instilled in him all the values o f this “ C ivilized” society. They are both w orking, honest and upstanding citizens. Above all, they have tried to instill in him a love o f and faith in the educational system. " G e t an education, son, and you can be anything you want to b e ." J e ff w ould like to believe this as he would like to believe everything else his parents tell him. The problem though is that he has begun to look around, to stop, think, question and analyze. This is what he sees. Both mom and dad work 9 to 5 everyday. They work hard to try and maintain a family and to keep their heads above water. Anybody looking, however, can see that they are barely making it. The money crunch has hit and hit hard. Down the street lives Slick, who has all the things that J e ff’ s little black and white TV tells him anybody who’ s "m aking it” has got to have. The thing though is that Slick does not work; at least not at your ordinary nine-to-five. Slick has some shady scheme going; whether i t ’ s pim ping or dealing in dope no one is quite sure. He has been in and out of the pen a few times but he always seems to get right back to his high style o f living. Jeff remembers all too well the day he was invited to see the inside of the pad; place had everything and his little eyes were almost popping out o f their sockets. Immediately, o f course, his little mind begins to question society's whole value system: Mom and dad work so hard and what do they have to show for it except bills, bills and more bills? This " c a t " here has never worked a day in his life but look at himl A t school Jeff is trying very hard to learn but he gets very little help from old and tired Miss Sloe. She has been teaching for a long time; so long in fact that, far from the pleasure that it should be, teaching has became a chore and a boring one at that. She w ill, therefore, wade through each schoolday doing as little as possible and only waiting for the time when she can knock o ff and go tutor her two little daughters. "G et an education, son, and you can be anything you want to be:” How can I get an education when there is not only no one to teach me but also no one to turn to for help? Asking himself this question remin ds him o f the tim e he went to Oregon State Penitentiary to visit Uncle Jack. Jack was his favorite o f all the adults he knew. He was more like a big little friend, actually. One day, the police had come bursting into their house with guns drawn and taken Uncle Jack away. Jeff had never been so terrified. He was crying as the police threw Jack to the ground, stuck a big foot on his back, pointed fo u r ernomous guns at him and threatened to blow his brains if he should make the slighest move. When Jeff went to visit him in the pen, he was so heart broken. His big little friend was a broken man; moody, irritable, sickly and a lttle mean too. He also had this big ugly gash above his left eye and he refused to say how he got it. Jack had been accused o f robbing a con venience store and, for six months, he languished in OSP. It was later discovered that he had been falsely accused. He was released but prom ptly left the state in bitterness. Apart from the shock of seeing so many people penned in like animals, the one other lasting impression the place left him with was that it was the only place he had ever been that seemed populated exclusively by black Folk He heard one o f the in mates say, "This is the only place where they so aggressively pursue affirmative action. This affirmative action we can do without.” Jeff is learning but it is a bitter lesson. Already his analytical little mind is telling him that he will have a rougher struggle making it than his father did fifteen years before. If the trend continues, his son w ill have it even rougher. The number of Black folks sliding into poverty has been increasing rather than decreasing. The number o f oppor tunities open to Blacks have also been dwindling. At the same time, though, i t ’s an election year and there are promises galore. As he sits there thinking, another police car cruises by and his tired eyes are drawn to the legend on the door: " T o protect and to serve.” He laughs rather mirthlessly. In this neighborhood, I know a lot o f people who think that legend should be changed to "T o occupy and to repress,” he thinks as the police cruiser circles the block. Notes from City Hall By Charles Jordan Commissioner o f Public Safety ' ’ You and several o f your friends are among a crowd o f 50 or more in the park. You notice peace officers approaching and alt heads turn. The officers proceed through the crowd and make a gambling arrest that you (the crowd) feel is unnecessary. "The arrestee screams to you (the crow d) f o r help while resisting arrest. To secure the arrest, force is used and you (the crowd) decide to come to that person’s aide. " I n anger, you curse, spit and throw bottles tow ard the officers. M ore police units arrive. M ore arrests are made. " This scenario is one that has been repeated recently in our parks, namely Alberta Park. It is difficult to know all the elements that spark such responses but this is an appeal to youth and parents of youth who might be involved. When an arrest is made, you are not made privy to the basis for that arrest. You only see what appears to be the basis for that arrest whether it is positive or negative. For instance, in the above scenario, although gambling was one offense, you may not have know n that a greater charge such as the sale o f drugs was another. Most calls made to the Bureau are from Black citizens demanding that something be done about the drugs, the gambling and the tra ffic con d itio n at the park. Instead o f cooperation to eliminate many o f their concerns, park residents have met w ith much o p positio n fro m young adults who frequent the parks. The young frequent the parks more than the adults and my con cern is that those who are not in volved in the gambling and drugs, are exposed to it. I cannot allow those activities to continue because they are not acceptable. I often ask why it is that we allow so few to perpetrate such negative images and behavior? M ost prejudices are based upon these same negative connotations and are derived from such negative encoun ters regardless whether they are physical, visual, verbal, direct and indirect. Gambling and the use and sale o f drugs in the park in the full view o f others, all tend to create a set o f negative values that the majority o f us have been trying to counteract. There is a critical need for us to speak out against those who exhibit such behavior who at tempts to destroy what has taken years fo r most o f us to build. I f there ever was a time when you were needed, it is now. Our youth not only need to hear you but they need role models - they need to see you. There is only one way that I, as Police Commissioner can eliminate the negatives, the undesirables and that is to police the parks on a con tinuous basis. O f course that does not have a lasting effect and that is why we need to come together. I am not asking you to enforce the law because that is my responsibility, but 1 am asking that you speak out and that you speak to your young who frequent the parks and par ticipate in anti-social activities. For many reasons I am opposed to policing the park on a continuous basis because such an approach is aiso a negative. In my opinion, con tinuous policing is visual proof that there is something wrong with the health o f a community. 1 want to m aintain our neighborhood livability and preserve the parks for use by all citizens, should they desire. This situation is a " n o - w in ” situation for me. Many citizens are saying that I would not tolerate these activities if they were in other neighborhoods and still others say that I am harassing them. A decision has to be made at some point and I’ ve made mine. With or without a victory, 1 will be satisfied to know that the majority who have expressed concern w ill feel safe in their parks, their homes and feel good about their neighborhoods. I, and 1 also speak for the Police Bureau can only be as effective as the com m unity w ill allow us. No matter what the challenge is, com m unity support always make the tasks easier to overcome.
