Portland Observer M ay 14. 1981 Page 3
From City Hall
From the Capitol
Congressman Ron Wyden
(E ditor's Note: This week
Congressman Wyden discusses the
next step in the budgeting process
anu funding problems for the han
dicapped.)
Q. Congressman Wyden, what
happens now that the House has
approved the President's budget
proposal?
A. All the House has done so far
is approve the firs t budget
resolution for fiscal year 1982. This
resolution sets broad targets fo r
federal spending and revenues for
the coming year. Although this is an
important first step in the budgeting
process, the precise tunding levels
for specific programs have yet to be
decided. Thus, a good deal o f our
work remains to be done.
As we set about making the fund
ing decisions for specific programs,
l w ill be guided by two m ajor
priorities. First, 1 am committed to
ensuring that the proposed cuts are
both fair and cost-effective. 1 w ill
not go along with cuts that tighten
the belts o f senior citizens who can
a ffo rd only two meals a day, but
don’ t touch large tobacco growers
who receive huge subsidies or
defense contractors who can’ t
manage costs on big projects.
Second, I believe we must come
up with a tax cut that encourages
Americans to save and invest in the
future o f our country, while at the
same time p ro vid in g re lie f from
runaway inflation. We must remove
the barriers to work that are present
in our current tax code, such as the
marriage tax penalty, and create in
centives for small businesses to grow
and increase productivity.
Q. While addressing a ra lly o f
handicapped persons this week, you
said the adm inistration is treading
on shaky econom ic ground by
proposing certain cuts in programs
to the handicapped. What specific
cuts do handicapped Oregonians
face and why do you th in k those
cuts are fiscally un wise?
A.
Under A d m in istra tio n
proposals, handicapped Oregonians
would be asked to sacrifice a num
ber of programs which provide them
w ith the modest assistance and
training necessary to live indepen
dently. For example one proposal
would elim inate $869,000 from
a program which supplies a rtificial
limbs, wheelchairs and braces to the
handicapped.
Letters
(Continued from Page 2)
Media coverage biased
Dear Editor:
1 am writing to express my anger
and profound concern regarding
media coverage o f the A p ril 4
March Against Racism sponsored
by the P ortland Black United
Front (BUF).
Portland newspapers presented
more or less balanced coverage,
though some did not provide
enough depth and prominence in
their coverage. The P ortland
television stations, however, showed
dangerous bias and extreme dis
respect fo r the M arch by their
coverage. They focused 9O9/o o f
their coverage on a verbal and
physical fig h t between the RCP
(Revolutionary Communist Party)
and the BUF. C ertainly this in
cident, which reminded many o f us
o f the M cCarthy era, was s ig n ifi
cant. But it was allowed by the
television news to completely ob
scure the March itself. The March
was, after a ll, a M arch Against
Racism, and the issues raised —
police harassment, welfare cuts, and
the A tlanta murders — warranted
far better depth o f coverage than
they received.
I seriously question the objec
tiv ity and the ethnics o f television
stations that decided that it was far
more im portant to focus on the
fight with the RCP than to show the
anger and concern expressed that
day over the issues o f racism. Not
only did the television coverage con
tribute heavily to the McCarthy-like
“ red-baiting” by its emphasis on
the incident, but it expressed by its
lack of balanced coverage an almost
complete disregard o f the fact that
(at that time) 22 Black children had
been murdered in Atlanta!
We do not need television news
that contributes to red-baiting and
helps promote racism by presenting
biased and sensational news. We are
in d iffic u lt and dangerous times.
The coming days w ill require the
best that people can offer, and that
hopefully was not evidenced by the
news coverage o f the March Against
Racism. I f that is the best we can
do, we w ill not make it through the
times ahead.
Catherine Smith
United Feminists
Against the Right
Favors Jefferson/Adams merger
Dear Editors:
A ll o f the recent emotional o u t
rage over the possible closure
an d /o r merger o f Jefferson High
School makes me wonder if the
com m unity has really tried to be
rational and sensible over this issue.
I would like to see some energies
directed tow ard m aking this
possible change have a positive im
pact on the community.
The follow ing suggestion is fo r
the consideration o f both the com
munity and the school board: keep
Eliot as an early childhood center,
move the new m iddle school
(Harriet Tubman) into the Jefferson
High site, and merge Jefferson with
Adams on the con d itio n that the
school board leaves the magnet arts
program intact and put the com
puter sciences magnet program at
the site also.
The proposed expenditure o f 1.5
to 2 million dollars to renovate Eliot
School into a middle school could
be used to update facilities at Jeffer
son as a middle school. A portion
could also be used to offset in
stallation costs o f the computer
sciences program and improve the
arts program in the new Jefferson/
Adams High School at the Adams
High location.
This proposal w ill benefit the
community in several ways:
1. The com m unity w ould then
have three schools to service its
student popula tion - an early
childhood centre, a new m iddle
school, and a relatively new high
school.
2. The middle school at the Jef
ferson site w ill accomodate future
student population growth. Accord
ing to the school board's p rojec
tions, the E liot school site w ill be
filled to capacity when opened as
the Harriet Tubman Middle School.
To spend 1.5 to 2 million dollars on
this site is not exercising good plan
ning or foresight and the com
munity as taxpayers can ill afford
this senseless expense.
3. The academic offerings at the
Jefferson/A dam s High School
would equal if not exceed the
programs in other parts o f the city.
A computer science program would
really prepare our students fo r the
technological age o f the eighties.
The magnet arts program could con
tinue to offer a creative outlet for
gifted students.
The above proposal has many
other merits that could be beneficial
to the com m unity and the school
d is tric t, there fore, I hope it is
seriously considered fo r the
possibility o f study and feasibility.
Sincerely Yours,
Grayce Kennedy
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Proposed cuts would also lead to
closure o f W oodstock House, a
Portland in stitu tio n which serves
severely disturbed deaf individuals
and the loss the h a lf-a -m illio n
dollars fo r two independent living
programs for quadraplegics and the
chronically emotionally disabled in
Portland and Eugene. In addition,
the cuts would mean cancellation of
plans to b u ild two mental health
clincs in southeast and west P o rt
land; servere curtailm ent o f a
University o f Oregon program for
multi-handicapped children; and the
loss o f $153,(MX) for programs which
serve the emotionally disabled.
It does not take a genius to figure
out that it is neither equitable nor
cost-effective to cut out support
programs o f this nature. We may
save a little now, but if the result is
increased institutionalized and in
creased dependence by handicapped
individuals, we’ ll find ourselves in
an even worse financial situation
further down the road.
(unity.
Bruce Broussard, the publisher o f
Early estimates that city govern
the P ortland Observer, has asked
ment simply would not have enough
that I write a regular column for this
money to m aintain existing
paper. 1 welcome this opportunity. I
programs at their current levels.
hope to w rite about subjects o f
special concern to the readers o f the This meant that I had to either
propose increasing taxes or cutting
Observer in this column, and I want
programs.
to encourage you to write or call my
I do not believe that the city
office with suggestions for topics.
should ask the voters to increase
As you kn o w , P ortland city
their taxes. In fla tio n has already
government operates a wide variety
forced many Portland fam ilies to
o f services and programs. They
range from road repair to economic tighten their belts. The last thing
development. A lthough very d i they need is another tax increase. 1
sincerely believe that government
verse, they are all funded by budget
appropriations approved by the full
can save money while improving or
maintaining services, and I designed
C ity C ouncil in open, public
meetings.
a proposed budget to prove it.
Simple, across-the-board budget
The Council just completed work
on next year’s budget. I want to give 1 cuts were out of the question. I con
you an overview o f the new budget sider some services, like police and
in this column and discuss specific fire p rotection, too im p o rta n t to
programs o f concern to the readers cut. So I concentrated my cuts on
a dm inistrative overhead.
My
o f the Observer in future columns.
Preparing and passing the new proposed budget called for a reduc
budget was the greatest challenge 1 tion o f 101 general fund positions,
have faced as M ayor. But I also most o f them supervisory or ad
look at it as my greatest oppor- ministrative in nature, for a savings
o f over $2.5 million.
I proposed to cut to ta l general
fund spending by $5 m illio n and
overall spending by $63 m illio n .*
Many o f these cuts would have oc-
cured anyway because ot reductions
in federal spending. But I remained
convinced that Portlanders should
not be asked to increase their taxes
to make up the difference.
The C ity Council considered my
budget for over three weeks. Many
City Hall observers commented that
the hearings were among the most
peaceful in recent memory. Some
changes were made, o f course, but
in the end the Council approved the
vast m a jo rity o f my recommen
dations.
These include the changes in the
C ity ’ s econom ic development
programs that have been discussed
in the Observer. I am convinced that
these changes w ill im prove P o rt
land’ s e ffo rt in this field and help
create new jobs in coming years.
I w ill discuss how I believe this
will happen in my next column.
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