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
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283 2486
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
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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.