El Salvador:
America's next war?
Gates leaves City/County Commission on Aging
Osley J. “ J im ” Gates has
resigned the position he has held for
sixteen years - Executive Director of
the C ity /C o u n ty Com m ission on
Aging.
Stating he is resigning prim arily
because he has decided that it is time
for a change. Gates indicated to the
Observer his dissatisfaction over the
progress o f programs for the elderly
in this area
For the first eleven years he was
w ith the program , under County
supervision, the C ity /C o u n ty
C ouncil on Aging planned and
operated programs, under the City,
that function was removed and the
agency became an ombudsman, ad
vocating with the various agencies
for seniors.
Gates charges that although the
City and the County spend millions
on aging programs, very little ser
vice reaches the people. “ Not a
single new program has been plan
ned or instituted in the last five
years,” he said. The City and Coun
ty duplicate services, each with large
staffs, but coordination is lacking.
“ I d o n ’ t see the com m itm ent
necessary to really serve the
e ld e rly,” he explained. “ The em
phasis is in building systems and in
s titu tio n a liz in g those systems.
Rather than serving the elderly, they
tend
to
serve
their
own
bureaucracy.”
Gates believes the C ity /C o u n ty
Council on Aging should be above
politics - that its work should be in
dependent and not influenced by
p o litic a l preferences. A ll aging
programs should be consolidated in
to one agency - rather than having
the City deal with social issues and
the County with health.
Gates has not found the interest
or commitment he would expect in
either the City Council or the Coun
ty coipmission. Gladys McCoy is the
liaison for the County. Gates says,
“ We seem to see the problems
through d iffe re n t ends o f the
telescope." Mike Lindberg is liaison
w ith the C ity. Gates, who has
worked w ith him fo r only a few
months, found him to be “ genuinily
interested.” Slow to blame in
dividuals, he sees the problem in the
system.
His role w ith the agency has
become very discouraging because
“ we have to solve the same
problems over and over. We have
come fu ll cycle and are right where
we were years ago.”
Although he is often criticized for
his constant complaint that the suc
cessful model cities Senior Citizens
Service Center, once planned and
operated by the elderly, was gutted
when it fe ll under C ity co n tro l.
Gates recalls that center as a model
used across the country. The center
pionered the concept o f providing
part-time employment for seniors to
help other seniors.
Many o f that center’ s programs -
including the telephone assurance
and handim an elements - were
(Please turn to Page 3 Col 4)
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Volume XI Number 20
March B, 1M1
2BC per copy
Hill opposes anti-union legislation
In Portland fo r a conference on
“ Right to W o rk ” laws and sub-
minimuin wage, A. Phillip Randolph
Institute president Norman H ill said
a national budget coalition has been
formed to attem pt to assure that
national budget cuts do not devastate
low and income people.
The organizers said, “ We believe
that something is basically wrong
when the programs assisting hard-
pressed moderate-income working
Americans and those living at or un
der the Federal poverty level, but
who presumably are not ‘truly deser
ving’ , are decimated or destroyed to
finance individual tax cuts benefit-
ting primarily the top twenty per cent
of taxpayers. Amercan’s minorities,
women and seniors would be among
those drastically hurt.
“ We believe something is basically
wrong when Federal budget reduc
tions simply shift the tax burden for
essential services, such as health and
human services, sewer and road con
struction, education and economic
development, to state and local
governments. No real fiscal im
provement for the nation or the tax
payer is achieved. ”
laws that make union ‘ closed shops’
illegal. “ Everyone, supporters as
well as opponents, seems to agree
that right-to-work laws are designed
w ith one in te n tio n in m ind — the
weakening, if not the total destruc
tio n , o f the labor movement in
collective bargaining.”
H ill denied that Americans are
tu rn in g away from the labor
movement, “ Most Americans firmly
believe that the labor movement is a
necessary counterbalance to the
political and economic power o f the
business community. W hat’ s more,
Americans know that trade unions,
not business groups, are the only in
stitutions devoted to advancing and
protecting the vita l interests o f
working people. In light o f this, one
can understand why the proponents
o f right to work inevitably obscure
the real issues; for in confusion and
concealment, they fin d their only
strength.”
Opponents o f the closed shop -
shops with union contracts where all
pay dues -- say the closed shop brings
compulsion, that millions o f workers
must jo in unions against their w ill.
H ill explained that no one is com
In his talk at the conference, he pelled to jo in or to remain in a
addressed ‘ right to w o rk’ laws — union. U nion shops, where a
m ajority o f the workers have voted
to establish a union, require only
that each employee pay dues after 30
days or more on the job.
If there is compulsion in the labor
relations system, he explained, it is
the compulsion that the union rep
resent all workers, members or non
members.
One o f the common myths is that
union workers lose more than they
gain through the strike process. For
the economy as a whole, the percen
tage o f total working time lost direct
ly to strikes during the past twenty
years has never been greater than
one-half o f one per cent.
H ill also opposed the sub
m inim um wage fo r teen-agers,
saying it w ould create a class o f
workers who earn less than others;
that when the teen-ager comes o f
age he w ill lose his jo b to another
teen-ager who can work for less; that
in a tim e o f high unem ploym ent,
teei.-agers w ill take jobs from adult
workers.
“ It does not help the fa m ily to
have the teen-ager take the job from
his father.”
H ill blamed the high unem
ploym ent rates among m in o rity
youth on racism, rather than on the
minimum wage.
African Bishop receives Nobel nomination
Spring brings out the blossoms, and the plcnlcers in downtown Portland.
(Photo by: Richard J. Brown)
South A frican Bishop Desmond
M pilo Tutu has been nominated by
the Am erican Friends Services
Com m ittee fo r the Nobel Peace
Prize o f 1981.
The Quaker organization as co
recipients o f the 1974 Nobel Peace
Prize, is entitled to make a
nomination each year.
Bishop T utu presently is the
General Secretary o f the South
A fric a n C ouncil o f Churches
(SACC).
“ He speaks out courageously
against the system o f apartheid, so
abhorrent to the world community.
He shows his great compassion for
those both Black and white who
are caught in a repressive system,”
said Asia Bennett, Executive
Secretary o f the American Friends
Service Committee.
She added that “ while Bishop
Tutu is only one among many
leaders in the movement for trans
form ation, we feel that in naming
him at this time, the Nobel Com
mittee would greatly strengthen the
position o f Tutu and the work o f the
South African Council o f Churches
and gives hope to other leaders.”
Born in 1931 in the Western
Transvaal, Desmond T utu was
o rig in a lly trained as a teacher.
When his career was blocked by the
Bantu Education A ct, he began
training for the ministry in Johan
nesburg and continued at London
U niversity where he attained a
Master’ s Degree in Theology. After
parish w ork in England, South
Africa and Lesotho, Desmond Tutu
became assistant dire cto r o f the
Theological Fund o f the W orld
Council o f Churches. He was ap
pointed Dean o f Johannesburg and
then Bishop o f Lesotho. Since 1978
he has been the leader o f the SACC.
Speaking about the South African
Council o f Churches, Bishop Tutu
said, “ As a council, we see ourselves
existing to w ork fo r justice and
peace and reconciliation in that or
der. There’ s no use tryin g to cry,
‘ Peace, peace!’ where there is no
peace.”
In his own efforts to realize peace
and justice in South A frica, Bishop
T utu looks fo r an end to govern
ment violence, e.g., police brutality
and a “ cruel pass system which
divides families.” A t the same time
he condemns opposition violence
in the struggle for liberation, urging
“ Let us condemn all violence.”
Asia Bennett closed her letter to
the Nobel Peace Prize Committee
by saying “ We hope that the Com
mittee w ill honor Bishop Desmond
M p ilo Tutu as a symbol o f all the
courageous and dedicated people of
all races who are striving for a basic
tra n sfo rm a tio n in South A frica n
society towards peace and justice.”
Judge Mercedes Deiz answers her c ritic s _____________ _
By Nyewusi Askari
(In part one, Judge Mercedes
Deiz talked candidly about her
migration from New York to Port
land; her early years as a law stu
dent; tria l lawyer; d is tric t court
Judge; w ife and m other. In this
fin a l installm ent, she answers her
critics who charged that, although
she is a good judge, she is also
prejudiced.)
D eiz: ...I d on’ t understand the
story the Oregonian wrote about
me. The overwhelming m ajority of
lawyers don’ t understand the story
because they have called me, written
me, and told me in the courtroom,
that they don’ t understand why the
Oregonian claimed, through one o f
their reporters, that this Judge
(Deiz) receives A ffid a v its o f Pre
judice more than other Judges.
Firs, o f all, the story isn’ t true.
Second o f all, the meaning o f an A f
fid a v it o f Prejudice has nothing of a
layman’ s meaning. It doesn’ t mean
that I am prejudice against people.
That’s stupid! But, the headline said
that, which leaves a te rrib le im
pression on anybody who read it.
I do a lot o f w ork in domestic
relations, which is fa m ily law,
people getting a divorce, people
fig h tin g over getting custody o f
th e ir children. I, as well as three
other Judges do a great deal o f tha,
work in Multnomah County, so, it
has been the custom o f lawyers,
since the time in M em orial, in
cluding myself when I was a lawyer,
to try to find out which Judge you
are going to ge, to hear a given case.
The lawyer is given the rig h t, by
statue, to file an A ffid a v it o f
Prejudice merely saying tha, that
Judge is prejudice against my client,
even though the Judge doesn’t know
the client, doesn’ t know the lawyer,
doesn’t know anything.
The reason is, the lawyers are
“ judge shopping” , which is wha,
any good lawyer should try to do,
but we Judges try to prevent them
from “ Judge shoppin g.” Let me
back up.
I f I heard a case, before the
people go, a divorce, in le t’ s say
September, where the father and
m other came in to co u rt, fig h tin g
over the custody o f the children,
temporarily, and I’ ve listened to the
testim ony and decided that the
children's best interest w ill be me,
by their remaining with the mother,
then clearly when it comes time for
the divorce itself six months later,
the father might say, “ I don’, wan,
Judge Deiz. She already doesn't like
me. Get me another Judge.” So, he
doesn't really mean that I don't like
him as a person, but that he thinks
my mind is already made up because
I did it last September. The over
whelming majority of lawyers know
this, so they’ ll come right back to
whatever Judge handled the case
initially, to decide on the property,
decide who gets the house, whether
the children should or should not be
w ith mom or dad. I t ’ s ju st a
question o f the attorney always
using his judgm ent as to who he
likes.
I f a Judge is known fo r being
really hard on sex crimes, the attor
ney w ill do his best to try to avoid
having the case tried by that Judge,
who most lik e ly , i f the person is
guilty o f the sex crime, w ill give a
maximum sentence. So th a t’ s just
good common sense.
But why the Oregonian chose to
w rite an article about me being
prejudice, when it’s simply not true,
I don’ t know and I have no inten
tions o f going after them because it
would be fruitless.
They didn’ t name a single lawyer
to support their accusation o f
prejudice against me. It was all,
“ they say, she say, they say, he
sa y...” There was no name o f
anybody and I have no idea i f
anybody said any o f those things.
I f it were true, in any kind o f way,
then I'd assume that I'd be sitting in
this department with no work to do,
which is the exact opposite. I ’ m
always w orking u n til 6 o ’ clock,
always fille d up w ith all kinds o f
cases.
The article was insulting...it hurt
because I know I am a good Judge. I
__
am not showing o ff. There are
things I am not all that great in.
When the people asked me to come
and teach at Harvard Law School, I
said, “ Oh God, I d o n ’ t have that
brillance o f the people I assume
went to H a rv a rd .” M y husband
said, along with every Judge in here
when they heard I ’ d been called
said, “ D on’ t be silly. Y ou’ ve got
lots o f experience. You are going to
teach them wha, to do in the court
ro o m .” And i t ’ s true, I go, ex
perience... I 1 years o f it.
The article said I was a humane
Judge, a good Judge, she knows the
law, bu, she is prejudice, sometimes
against men, sometimes against
women. Why didn't they say dogs,
cats and canaries. Reallyl There’s
only two kinds of people.
The article was unfair, uncalled
for and unjustified.
i
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