1
V. .
Black History Issue:
Black Music and Entertainers
Minority absence endangers Public Service Bldg.
City Commissioner Charles Jor
dan announced at a Council meeting
last week that he w ill defer support
o f future construction payments to
P a v a rin i/H o ffm a n Construction
Companies u n til MBE guidelines
are met.
requisitions totaling approximately
$4.4. m illio n dollars. Thus, the
MBE u tiliz a tio n should ap
proximate $440,000 given the level
o f construction completed to date.
However, to date, that level o f par
ticipation approximates $27,000.
As of February 19, 1981, the City
Council has authorized construction
Due to that small amount o f MBE
participation to date, and the ab
sence o f inform ation from a jo in t
venture by Pavarini/H offm an as to
how and when it w ill ensure the
required p a rtic ip a tio n . C om
missioner Jordan indicated at the
C ity
C o u n c il’ s session that
P a v a rin i/H o ffm a n ’ s response re
garding MBE p a rtic ip a tio n was
inadequate, and he would not sup
port further payment to the contrac
to r u n til it complies w ith MBE
guidelines.
Section 12 in the Instructions to
Bidders contained in the Public Ser
vice Building contract indicates the
$22 m illio n (plus) project shall be
subject to all M in o rity Business
Utilization requirements established
by C ity Ordinance No. 147629.
This ordinance, among other things,
requires a designation o f lO®zo MBE
p a rticip a tio n on capital im
provement projects w ith an
estimated value in excess o f
$100,000. Thus, the IO<7# MBE
utilization goal on the Public Ser
vice Building should approxim ate
$2.2 million dollars.
Commissioner Jordan is currently
investigating potential remedies
available to the City should the con
tra cto r elect not to com ply w ith
these guidelines.
A ll m inority business enterprises
interested in participating on this
project arc encouraged to initia te
contact with the contractor to make
known their capability and interest.
PORTWND OBSERVER
USPS 959-680-855
___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________ _______ _____________________________________
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Wacker: Asset or Liability
W A T C H IN G THE W A TC H E R S : B ariki Stephens considers her roots w h ile v iew in g C harles T atu m 's
sculpture at Black History W eek exhibit in Federal Building
(Photo: Richard J Brown)
Nigerian Legislative staff visits Salem
Hv / ungai Kumbula
Nigeria, A frica ’ s most populous
ountry gained independence from
Britain in 1960. After experimenting
with a British style parliam entary
system fo r her firs t 19 years, she
switched on October 1, 1979 to a
U.S. style constitution.
The country was divided into 19
states, each with its own governor
and state government while the
Federal government in Lagos is in
charge o f the whole country. The
change-over, adopted after a
national
referendum,
has
necessiated
a complete
re
orientation o f N igeria’ s entire
legislative machinery.
I hree legislative s ta ff members
ihey insisted that that they were not
egislators or politicians), spent the
ast two weeks studying the
sinkings o f the Oregon l.egi«tature.
hide Eferive, a lawyer from the imo
state House o f Assembly where he
s the parliamentary clerk and Fati
lman, from the Sokoto State House
o f Assembly talked with Portland
Observer A frican A ffa irs E ditor,
Eungai Kumbula in Salem this past
weekend. Rutus Faba, Ondo Stale
Governor Liaison O fficer had left
earlier.
‘ ‘ The trip was sponsored by the
State Legislative Leadership Foun
dation in Denver, Colorado and the
purpose o f the trip was for us to see
the American system o f government
at w ork,” explains Fati as she scans
her schedule.
‘ ‘ There were 38 o f us in the
original group and we went to Den
ver and Lincoln, Nebraska, belore
splitting up into smaller groups. We
visited Nebraska because it is the
only state in the U.S. that has a
unicameral legislature. A ll ot
Nigeria’ s states are unicameral. The
Federal government, though, is
bicameral.”
Jude then joined in to explain that
after visiting Nebraska, the Nigerian
delegation split into 18 groups to
visit the 18 states that had agreed to
sponsor their visit. Jude, Fati and
Rufus chose and were able to get
Oregon.
I heir two week stay in Oregon
has been quite hectic, to say the
least, they met with Governor Vic
tor A tiyeh and state Senator B ill
M cCoy and Representative Jim
Chrest. Both Portland Democrats
had visited Nigerai: McCoy in 1977
and Chrest in 1979. Also hosting the
Nigerian delegation were Ken Otto
o f the Oregon Legislative A d
ministrative and Alan Green.
They have attended sessions o f
the Senate, House o f Represen
tatives, met w ith the Senate
President, Speaker o f the House,
M a jo rity and M in o rity Leaders,
Secretry o f State, and the C hief
Clerk o f Assembly. To watch the
government at w ork, they visited
such government agencies as local
governmement. Chamber o f Com
merce, Financial U n it, State
(Please turn to Page 4 Col 3)
‘ ‘ Tw o visionaries changed
some business and vocational train
ing concepts in Portland, Oregon,
and may have started a trend fo r
education delivery that could
provide a unique approach fo r
com m unity
college
tra in in g
nationawide . . . For-Goldschmidt
(Mayor Neil) the vision contained a
specific goal: an economic develop
ment program that w ould inject
some new life into the economy ol
the C ity. DeBernardis (D r. Amo)
pushed the idea to test the colleg’ s
philosophy o f having the flexibility
to meet specific needs o f the com
munity in general, industry in par
tic u la r.” So stated a P ortland
Community College news release.
In the summer of 1980, Wacker
Siltronic opened the w orld’ s most
advanced silicon fa c ility . Wacker
S iltro n ic ’ s parent company is
Wacker-Chemie o f M unich, G er
many, owned by the Wacker family
and Hoeschst AG.
Wacker Siltronic produces hyper-
, ure single silcion crystals and
polished wafers fo r the computer
industry.
A few years ago a simple com
puter weighed three tons and filled a
large room . Now that com puter
can be held in the hand. The
replacement o f vacuum tubes with
transistor, and then with integrated
circuits, made the expansion o f the
mini-computer industry possible.
Because the speed and direction
o f electricty though silicon can be
regulated by charging the atom ic
structure, silicon wafers are used to
carry intergrated circuits. Integrated
circuits are fabricated on and within
silicon wafers, which are from three
to four inches across and .020 inches
th ic k . F ollow ing fa b rica tio n , the
wafers are cut in to hundreds o f
“ chips” - each w ith thousands o f
circu it fu nctions, transistors,
decodes and resistors.
The com pany was highly
recruited by the City o f Portland, as
a labor - intensive, non-pollutive in
dustry that would bring jobs to the
city. In A pril, 1979, the bargain was
struck.
The P ortland Development
Commission pledged the following
benefits to Wacker:
1. Portland Development Com
mission w ould carry out a urban
renewal program in an area where
“ the conditions have prevented
proper development in a suitable
manner.” - “ the Northwest Front
Avenue
In d u stria l
Renewal
P ro je c t.” The project w ould be
financed through the sale o f $15
million worth o f bonds.
2. PDC w ould acquire the site
and sell it to Wacker for $14,(MX) per
acre by July 15, 1978.
3. PDC would acquire necessary
land and build an access street from
Front Avenue to the property.
4 PDC would improve access to
the site from St. Helen’ s Road by
signalizing the Front Avenue inter
section and paving Front Avenue.
5. PDC w ould construct storm
sewers to provide adequate
drainage.
6. PDC would be responsible for
site preparation by preloading an
area 500 feet by 800 feet, at the cost
o f $217,500. This w ork w ould be
done by W acker and subtracted
from the purchase price.
7. PDC w ould relocate the gas
line located on the site and te r
minate the gas line easement.
8. PDC would vacate the portion
o f Front Avenue located on the site.
9. PDC w ould provide Wacker
the right to construct a pipeline
along the portion o f Front Avenue
extending through the Burlington -
Northern rail lines and to the Pen-
nwalt property line.
10. PDC w ould acquire all in
terests in the rock quarry located
across St. Helens Road and te r
minate all quarry activités.
The C ity o f P ortland made the
following agreements:
1. The C ity would assist PDC in
carrying out the proposed N o rth
west Front Avenue In d u stria l
Renewal Project.
2. The City would provide man
power recruiting and training for
Wacker.
3. The C ity w ould send em
ployees to Germany to advise
Wacker on building code require
ments at City expense.
4. The C ity would agree that its
inspections o f the W acker plant
would be limited to “ need to know”
(Please turn to Page 2 Col 3)
Ivancie welcomes EDAC board
Welcoming the members o f the
recognized Economic Development
Committee Wednesday, M ayor
Frank Ivancie asked the committee
to be independent. "E co n o m ic
development is a high priority in the
w orld,” he said, and the City needs
to watch the national scene. There
arc bills in the Legislature that bear
watching, he said, urging the com
mittee to take independent positions
on issues and to lobby them in
Salem if they desire.
“ The economic clim ate in
Portland sets the pace fo r the
State," he added, and the City must
demonstrate responsibility to the
State. Don’ t be dependent on the
bureaucracy,” he cajoled them. “ I
want to hear from you.”
Louis Growney selected C h a ir
man at the meeting, responded by
asking the committee to oppose HB
2550 - the plant closure bill - which
he called “ very d e fin ite ly a n ti
business.” The b ill, which was in
troduced at the request o f the AFL-
CIO, requires employers with more
than 50 employees to provide em
ployers and the com m unity a one-
year notificaion o f interest to close a
plant or sig n ific a n tly reduce the
work force.
Staling that Oregon does not have
a good w ork clim ate (social and
political factors affecting industry),
Growney said the committee should
work on the business clim ate. He
called this bill so bad that business
would not come to Portland.
A fte r some discussion, in which
Phillipa Harrison, and Bill East o f
the M arine Engineers explained
that the purpose o f the b ill is to
protect workers from unscrupulous
employers, the m otion to oppose
passed. Greg Batiste voted against
the m otion and Luis Alvarez ab
stained.
Rather than work in economic
development for the entire C ity, or
fo r its lagging areas. ED AC w ill
concentrate on the Northeast area
to attempt to determine its needs
^nd opportunities. They w ill work
with Portland Development Com
mission to inpact all economic
programs, w ill work with Training
and Employment D ivision to seek
(Please turn to Page 8 Col 5)
land. Aaron Brown was in my class,
Mayfield Webb was in my class, so
there were two Black men and
myself. A couple o f years before us,
two Black men became lawyers in
this tow n; Belton H a m ilton
(pause)...and...I can’ t think o f the
other one’ s name...so this state o f
ours had very, very little in the way
o f m in o rity professionals in the
legal industry.
I became a lawyer and naturally
couldn't find anyplace to go to work
w ith any firm . They weren’ t
discriminating so much against me
because I was Black; I ’ m positive
they were discriminating at that time
because Ihey simply didn’ t have any
women working in their firms. But,
that didn’ t bother me. I was use to
setbacks.
I opened my own practice and
fellows came to me and asked could
they become associates. I was in
private practice fo r about eight
years, was a trial attorney, tried lots
of cases in court and then became a
Hearings O ffic e r, which is now
called an Administrative Law Judge
w ith W orkm en Compensation
cases. There, you preside over cases,
the same as you do in a regular cour
troom , except fo r the area o f in
jured workmen.
Tom McCall was the Governor by
that time, and he called me in 1969,
at work, early in the morning. I had
known Tom McCall long before he
became G overnor when he use to
w ork fo r KGW . He asked me i f I
was interested in being a D istrict
Judge and I was flattered! (smile)
and honored and flabbergasted! He
appointed me with the abomination
that he would feel horrible to 1 hink
that the citizens o f this state, par
ticularly Multnom ah County, were
so prejudiced that they woul J not
elect me to the o ffic e because I
(Please turn to page 4 col. I)
MERCEDES DEIZ
Mercedes Deiz goes to Court
By Nyewusi Askari
( In 1969, Oregon's Governor
lo m McCall appointed Mercedes
F.Deiz to the position o f D is tric t
Judge. Four months later, she was
elected overwhelm ingly by voters
during the primary. In the first part
of an interview granted the Observer
she talks openly and frankly about
her early years, her fam ily and the
state o f the nation)
Observer: For those o f us who are
u n fa m ilia r with who you are, it is
appropriate to ask, ju s t who is
Judge Mercedes F. Deiz?
Judge Deiz: I ’ m an old New
Yorker, that's where I was born. I
was raised in Harlem and I came
West, as people know, in 1948
essentially to get a divorce,
assuming that I was going back to
M anhattan. W ell, I d id n ’ t realize
that 1 had to live in this town for a
whole year because there was no
jurisdiction to get a divorce unless
you had lived in a place for a year. I
didn’ t know anything about things
like that because I had never had a
divorce.
So, I lived here, got over my
home sickness, and loved it, so I
stayed. Then, the important things
for me happened; 1 met Carl Deiz,
we got m arried, had a couple o f
children. The next great thing was
the fact that I got a job as a Legal
Secretary. A man whom I had
never heard o f, called me at home
when G ilbert was about 9 months
old and said, “ Belton Hamilton told
me to call you. I understand that
you’ d like to get back to work and
you have a new baby.” I said, "Yes,
that’ s true, and I am sick and tired
o f staying home.” He informed me
that they were interested in hiring a
Legal Secretary. 1 said, well, I don’t
know anything about being a Legal
Secretary, but I am a good
secretary. He said, “ I ’ ll come out
with my associate and visit you, so
you won’t have to spend money on
getting a baby sitter.”
I thought to myself, man what a
poor guy! I ’d never heard o f anyone
coming to you, to see if you fit their
needs. So Graham Walker, the first
time I had ever met him, came to my
home and hired me! I was good at
what I was doing in those days. He
suggested after I had been working
for nine months, that I ought to go
to Law School, which was a thing I
had wanted to do anyway. He paid
for my first semester, my husband
encouraged me to go, and I got
really good grades. The idea was to
see how I would manage it. I wasn’t
all that young, about 34 years old. I
did very well and stayed for 4 years.
I was the only woman in this night
graduating class, at Northwestern
College o f Law, right here in Port-
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