Mrs Franees ?c''c
'•’ ?''r,° r Peca
U n iv e rsity of < • "on L .t. y
Committee studies police abuse investigations
Com m issioner Charles Jordan
has named a thirteen member C iti
zen’ s Task Force on Internal Affairs
which w ill review the citizen com
plaint process w ithin the Portland
Police Bureau.
C itiz e n ’ s com plaints regarding
alleged abuse or m isconduct o f
police o ffic e rs are cu rrently in
vestigated by tlie Internal A ffa irs
department o f the Police Bureau.
This fact and dissatisfaction over
investigation procedures and results
has led to com plaints that the
Bureau cannot police itse lf
adequately and suggestions that a
citizen police review board be form
ed.
Com m issioner Jordan has re
sponded by enpanelling the commit
tee fo r a period o f six months, to
review the process currently used to
determine i f it is “ fa ir, e ffic ie n t,
thorough, responsive and concerned
equally with the rights o f the com
plaining citizens and the accused o f
ficer.” The committee is also asked
to make recom m endations to the
Commissioner, i f it is determined
that changes in the process or a new
process is needed.
Com m issioner
Jordan
em
phasized that he wants the commit
tee to be objective and independent.
“ The most im portant criteria fo r
this committee is objectivity,” Jor
dan emphasized. “ The members
w ill have to be independent, see all
sides o f the issues. Internal A ffa irs
not only has to insure that the
public’ s rights are protected, but it
also has to guard the rights and the
reputations o f professional police
officers when they are wrongly ac
cused. The com m ittee w ill be in
dependent, whatever their findings
are, whether the evaluation is
positive, or whether they recom
mend change I ’ m sure the process
will be positive and beneficial to the
Bureau.”
Most o f the committee meetings
w ill be public, but some must be
closed so the committee can reveiw
investigations and discuss person
nel. The com m ittee w ill not in
vestigate charges o f police miscon
duct, but w ill review investigations
done by Internal Affairs in an effort
to judge their competency and ob
jectivity.
Committee members are: Robert
E lfc r,
Oregon
State
Bar
Association; Jeff Rogers, American
Civil Liberties Union; John Bridges,
high school student; B ill T a ylo r,
retired police captain; Johnny
Parks, In te rn a tio n a l Longshore
men’s and Warehousemen’ s Union;
Grace Gallegos, IM P A C T ; Bud
B razil, N a tio n a l Conference on
Christians and Jews; D r. Clarence
P ru itt, N A C C P ; Darlene Lem ly,
League o f Women Voters; Linda
Torrence, Urban League o f P o rt
land; Ron M a rtin , Oregon State
Prison s ta ff; attorney B radford
Shiley.
The appointm ent o f the C h a ir
man will be announced Friday at the
committee’ s 10:00 a.m. meeting at
C ity H a ll. A d d itio n a l members
might be named later.
PORTLAND OBSERMER
USPS 959-680-855
_____ __________________________________________________ ________________________________________
An Appropriate Holiday
M artin Luther King’ s leadership
gave all Americans...white. Yellow,
Black, Red and Brown...a new sense
o f worth and purpose. His leader
ship helped Americans gain a new
understanding and appreciation o f
our interdependence in the journey
toward our national goals. M artin
lifted our level of awareness that the
paths to fu lfillm e n t fo r all
Americans...regardless o f race or
co lo r...a re intersecting paths.
Establishing Dr. King’ s birthday as
a national holiday w ill especially
help American youth o f today and
tomorrow recognize the nobility and
worth o f his life and work.
Dr. K in g ’ s prophetic denun
ciation o f war as a denial o f univer
sal brotherhood and violation of the
scredness o f human personality
strengthened our alliance with
people o f peace and good w ill
around the world. His vision o f the
day when peace with justice would
“ roll down like waters” challenged
all o f us to turn from greed to
generoisty; callousness to caring;
violence to non-violence and from
death to life . His com m itm ent to
non-violence undoubtedly spared
the nation from traum a o f the
destruction that would have accom
panied the social change that might
have come through alternative
means...a change had to come.
His leadership provided the op
p o rtu n ity fo r a nation which
claimed to "tru s t in God” to tran
slate our profession in to a
procession o f ju d icia l, legislative,
and executive acts which M a rtin
clarified as moral imperatives.
His leadership brought together a
coalesence o f com m unities and
disciplines that demonstrated the
unity in diversity that portends a
greatness unparalleled in n a tio n
hood...under God.
His leadership personified the
s p irit o f a people whose historic
dedication to liberty caused them to
tread the unknown, dare to do the
dangerous, pioneer in to the
perilous...knowing that the reward
o f liberty is more precious than the
price the struggle compels us to pay.
W illin g to pay the price, M a rtin
Luther King, Jr., sought freedom
for all God’ s children knowing that
those who mind the chains that bind
(others) are also bound.
His leadership taught us that
re vo lu tio n a ry change can occur
w ithin the context o f non-violence
when a people inspired and
motivated by a sense o f justice and
the efficacy o f love are so deter
mined.
Yes, the designation o f Dr. King’ s
birthday as a national holiday w ill
do deserved honor to him, and will
likewise honor the nation and the
fam ily o f m an...and I respectfully
urge and support its immediate im
plem entation. Such an act could
very well be the force that launches
nationally a new and urgent journey
toward brotherhood. Believe me,
the nation needs such leadership
today.
Yet, I am compelled to say that
such legislation...isolated and apart
from the continuing enactment o f
measures that co n trib u te to the
goals delineated by King’s life and
“ dream ” ...w ill ring w ith hollow
sound, and echo the fru s tra tio n
which currently enfolds us.
In 1970...20 m onths fo llo w in g
M artin’ s tragic death, Black family
income reached as high as 61<?o o f
white fa m ily income. Today,
however, 1 am saddened to report
that Black fa m ily income has
declined to 57-59<^o of whites, which
is only slig h tly better than 1957
when SCLC was founded and M ar
tin Luther King, Jr. led the begin
ning o f that historic movement.
Black unemployment today is o f
ficially indexed at 2 and '/) times the
rate o f white unemployment. It is
more inaccurately stated at J to 4
times higher. So to be tru ly
m eaningful...as im portant and
urgent as it is ...th is legislation
designating Dr. King’ s birthday as a
national holiday must be enacted as
one o f many important steps in an
accelerated march tow ard the
realization o f the dream o f this great
and martyred American.
A dream which is in essence the
American dream: That this land will
tru ly become the land o f the free
as well as the home o f the brave.
The bravest o f w hom ...as did
M a rtin gave their lives fo r the
dream .. .not realizing the promise
themselves but having seen it
afar...so willed it for their brothers
and sisters, sons and daughters that
they lay down their liv e s ...in the
hope that we w ill carry on the
struggle tow ard the day when
“ every man might sit under his own
vine and fig tree and none need be
a fra id ” ...nor hungry., nor unem
p lo ye d ...n o r ill
housed...nor
w ithout adequate h e a lth ...n o r
educational opportunity...
In the hope that we w ill carry on
the struggle toward that day when in
M a rtin 's
words
“ empty
stom achs...w ill be fille d , and
brotherhood will be more than a few
words at the close o f a prayer, but
rather the lirst order o f business on
every legislative agenda..."
In the hope...that we will carry on
the struggle toward that day when in
the halls o f social and economic
ju s tic e ...c o lo r w ill be irrelevant;
toward that day when Black will not
be asked to get back; when Brown
can stick around; Red can get ahead
and white will act all-right.
Cawthorne loses chairmanship
In a surprise move Monday night,
School Board member W ally
Priestley denied his vote to Herb
Cawthorne and after several split
votes, Cawthorne w ithdrew his
candidacy fo r another term as
Chairman of the School Board.
Priestley explained that his
refusal to vote for Cawthorne was a
result o f Cawthorne’ s support o f a
successful move to postpone selec
tion o f a new Superintendent until
lanuary of 1982.
The m otion, offered by Sarah
Newhall, removes the responsibility
o f appointing the new Superinten
dent from the current School Board
and places it in the hands o f the
board that will be elected in March.
Robert Blanchard was terminated
in July by a vote o f fo u r school
board members - Cawthorne, Buel,
Priestley, and Newhall. W ith the
selection o f the new Superintendent
taking place this Spring those four
members would have had a strong
in luence, if not a deciding vote, on
tl.i selection o f the new Superinten
dent. Priestley expressed his opinion
U-nt this board most closely
'^presents the genetal public - the
students and parents o f the district -
and would select a Superintendent
with an educational philosophy and
administrative style that would best
serve the people.
Postponement o f the decision
means that Priestley, who does not
plan to seek reelection, w ill not be
on the board when the selection is
made. It is possible that Sarah
Newhall, who faces election in
M arch, also w ill not be on the
board. The expected result o f the
election - which traditionally draws
few voters - is that Priestley’ s seat
and possibly New hall’ s w ill go to
p o litic a l allies o f the Scott - M c
Namara - Rieke faction.
I f that happens neither Cawthor
ne nor Buel w ill have an effective
voice in selecting a new Superinten
dent.
C aw thorne’ s seat is also up for
reelection but no one has filed for
his position.
W ith Priestley denying Cawthor
ne his vote, Buel made an im
passioned plea to B ill Scott, Joe
Rieke and Frank McNam ara to
support Caw thorne, stating that
Cawthorne had been a good chair
man. He reminded them that
Cawthorne had been careful to in
clude them in all board deliberations
and committee assignments.
Cawthorne withdrew. Buel voted
fo r Priestley; Priestley voted fo r
Buel. The others, including
Cawthorne, voted for Rieke.
Scott nominated McNamara for
vice chairman; Priestley nominated
Buel. Newhall, Priestley and Buel
voted fo r Buel w ith Cawthorne
joining with Scott, Rieke and Mc
Namara to elect McNamara.
In more im portant business the
Board gave Buel the authority (con
firm ed the a u thority given by the
voters) to research the P ortland
d is tric t’ s dropout problem , in
cluding talking with staff, parents
and students and reading student's
files. Currently approximately one-
third o f the state’ s students do not
complete high school.
Following the meeting Priestley
said he is fond o f Cawthorne and
HERB CAWTHORNE
has no complaint about his perfor
mance in his first term as Chairman,
but his vote to postpone the
Superintendent was not responsive
to the needs o f the district’ s students
and especially the students o f North
Portland. “ Unless his direction and
his votes are clearly in the interest of
the working class student and parent
- those who supported him and put
him in office - then it doesn’t matter
who is Chairm an and I felt no
obligation to vote for him .”
(From testim ony o f Joseph
Lowery, President, SCLC, to the
Senate Judiciary Committee)
House committee holds meeting
The Com m ittee on Aging and
M in o rity A ffa irs o f the Oregon
House of Representatives will hold a
public meeting at the King Neigh
borhood Facility on January 20th at
7:30 p.m.
According to com m ittee chair
man Wally Priestley, the purpose of
the meeting is to alllow members of
the community to share their issues
and concerns w ith the committee
members and to discuss possible
legislation.
Among the issues expected to be
discussed are: m aking M artin
Luther K ing's b irthday a state
holiday; the Washington D.C., con
stitutional amendment; the Black
and Hispanic Affairs Commissions;
making racial harassment a felony;
and re-apportionment.I
All interested persons are urged to
participate.
During the afternoon o f the 20th,
from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., the commit-
tee w ill meet with senior citizens at
Smith Center Auditorium, Portland
State University. Persons with ideas
or
in fo rm a tio n ;
prospective
legislation or law changes are urged
to attend the meeting.
The committee will also meet with
other m in o rity groups during the
Portland visit, which is expected to
be the com m ittee's only meeting
outside Salem during this session.
Artists honor Martin Luther King
A tribute to D r. M artin Luther
King Jr., will be celebrated through
the arts at the Cosmopolitan Hotel,
1030 N .E . U n io n , Thursday,
January 15. from 8 to 11 p.m.
Sponsored by the M inority Artists
Consortium, the tribute w ill feature
art exhibits by local artists depicting
Dr. King and his historical period,
an historical period, an historical
program by Charles Tatum and a
special perform ance by Thara
Memory and his Creative Jazz En
semble.
An admission charge o f $6 will be
dedicated to the development o f a
visual and performing arts center in
Northeast Portland.
Artists Bobby Fouther, Chonitia
Henderson and Henry Frisen w ill
contribute to the program events.
Henry Frisen is one o f the artists
who painted the m ural on the
Albina Human Resources Center.
Dr. K ing’ s birthday celebration
on Thursday, January 15, the actual
day o f his birthday, is to bring at
tention to the effort to declare the
Nobel Peace Prize winner’ s birthday
a state holiday.
Representative member* of the Governor’*
Commission on Black Affairs pose after swearing-
in ceremony at the State Capitol: Frank Wilson.
Pat Creai. Pearl Spears-Gray, Matthetta Williams
Bruce Broussard.
Black Commissioners take office
Nine members o f the Governor’s
Commission on Black A ffairs were
recently sworn in to o ffic e by
G overnor V icto r A tiyeh. The
Governor signed executive orders
creating a Black and a Hispanic
Commission on September 30th
fo llo w in g several months o f
hearings and discussions by a
Governor’ s Advisory Committee on
M inority Affairs.
The Commission on Black A f
fairs will monitor existing programs
and laws designed to meet the needs
o f the Black population; w ill iden
tify and research problems and
issues that affect Blacks; w ill make
recommendations to the Governor
including prospective legislation;
will act as a liaison to the Governor.
Members o f the Commission on
Black A ffa irs are: Pearl Spears-
G ray, C hairm an, Oregon State
U niversity a ffirm a tiv e action o f
ficer; Geraldine C h ristia n , phar
macist; Thomas Kennedy, manager
o f the U nion Avenue Project fo r
PDC; Bobby N unn, P ortland
Public Schools; Barbara P atrick,
City Bureau o f Human Resources;
Frank W ilson, U.S. A ttorney’ s o f
fice; Bruce Broussard, publisher,
Portland Observer; Pat Creal, Lane
County Com m unity College; Mat-
thette W illia m s, State Farm In
surance Company.
I