Portland Observar M ay 21, 1961 Paga 3
From Multnomah County
By Donald E. Clark
Multnomah County Executive
P oliticians
everywhere
are
holding their fingers to the air trying
to get an accurate gauge on the
mood o f the voter. While the public
mood about government is
changing, I believe that most
politicians have misjudged it.
The Observer has kindly allowed
me to write a column from time to
time to discuss current themes in
County government. I think it is ap
propriate in this first column to look
at the fundam ental values o f our
citizens and whether they are
changing.
L e t’ s face it: we do have a
problem in Am erica. We have a
problem o f how the burden is to be
distributed, how the wealth o f our
country is to be distributed, and
who is responsible fo those in our
society who cannot carry their own
load without help.
Recent elections have brought
home the fact that Americans no
longer feel that we have unlimited
resources, and want governments at
all levels to trim their sails and
operate programs more efficiently.
But the question remains: Are
politicians reading the values o f the
American people correctly? I think
they are not. I do not believe that
our values as a society have
changed.
What has changed is the in te r
pretation o f politicians about the
mood o f the people. And I d on’ t
think that mood is to whip inflation
on the backs o f the poor.
In a recent meeting in Portland
fo r the C oalition fo r Human Ser
vices, Doug McDaniel, chairman of
the Coalition, observed that we are
not experiencing a systematic cam
paign against social programs, but
instead a concern about in fla tio n ,
higher prices and taxes.
This is an apt distinction. We as
Americans remain a good and
generous people who want to share
and to assist our less fortunate
neighbors.
Our analysis o f the proposed
Federal and State budgets show a
substantial reduction - perhaps in
excess o f $2 m illio n -- in funds
coming to M ultnom ah County for
health and other human service
programs. Loss o f that money w ill
have a d e bilitatin g impact on our
ability to serve citizens whom I call
the “ invisible poor.’ ’
The “ invisible poor’ ’ don’ t have
clout. They aren’ t organized and
aren’ t effective at lobbying govern
ment. They’ re the little old ladies
living alone, the handicapped, the
poor and uneducated. Too often, no
one stands up fo r them unless it is
government itself.
We share the re sp o n sib ility fo r
helping these citizens -- for helping
them receive health care, proper
nutrition, opportunities for upward
m obility, education, jobs. In times
o f economic distress, the problem
shouldn't be solved by taking more
from those who can afford it least.
I think the general public is not
saying that we should eliminate or
defund human service efforts, but
that we should revamp the systems
to make them w ork. The public
wants our programs to be more ef
fective and more efficient.
Take for example Medicaid and
Medicare, which are programs
designedly the Federal government
to provide health care to our elderly
and our poor. Both systems are
costly and complicated. They em
ploy the costly fee-for-scrvice
system — providing few incentives
fo r c o n tro llin g medical care ex
penses -- and are d iffic u lt fo r rec
ip ie n ts to understand.
In contrast, Multnomah County
has created Project Health to
provide comprehensive health care
for the poor and near-poor. But we
do it in a prepaid, com petition
model which encourages the health
industry to keep costs to a
minimum. I t ’ s the same objective,
but done more cheaply than the fee-
for-service system. And our clients
have the dignity o f being treated in
the same convenient system used by
other citizens.
The challenge o f governments
and private social service agencies is
to promote such basic reform . We
must make our human service
programs in to w orkable, cost-
effective systems.
Having done that, we can be
assured that the average citizen will
continue to see human services as a
public responsibility and important
fo r the well-being o f our com
munity.
r r .
From the Capitol
Q. Congressman Wyden, the ad
m inistration has defended its
proposals fo r cuts in social security
benefits as being necessary to keep
the system afloat, lio n do you feel
ubout the proposed cuts?
A. I ’ m very disappointed - and
I ’ m not alone. The Adm inistration
is breaking an often repeated
promise not to touch those benefits
and it ’ s doing so at the expense o f
one o f the most vulnerable segments
o f our society.
I'm especially concerned about
the abrupt nature in which the cuts
would be implemented. Delaying a
scheduled co st-of-living increase
from July 1982 to September 1982
and drastically reducing benefits for
those who retire at age 62 effective
January 1982, is too much, too last.
We simply cannot ask these
people who have relied on the
government’ s promises to change
horses in mid-stream. Senioi
citizens have a contractual commit
ment that entitles them to this
money - and many o f them w ill be
placed in severe straits if they don’ t
get it.
There is one aspect o f the Ad-
Congressman Ron Wyden
nnnist ration's proposal, however,
that pleases me. The proposal to
phase out the outside earnings
lim ita tio n which prevents Social
Security Security recipients from
earning more than $5,500 in outside
earnings each year without having
their benefits reduced is a good idea
that has been a long time coming.
I have long said it is unfair to
penalize seniors who prefer or need
to continue w orking. In addition,
with birth rates on the decline, in the
next 30 40 years industry will badly
need older workers just to keep
plants and factories open.
(?
On the subject o f sm all
business, you told a group o f P ort
land businessmen this weekend that
small business has been getting the
short end o f the s tick fro m the
federal government. In what way?
-I.
Small businessmen and
women provide more than 80 per
cent ol the jobs in Oregon and in
America. In addition, studies show
that small business was responsible
for creating 90 percent o f the new
jobs as many innovations per
research dollar as large firms.
J et despite these significant con
trib u tio n s to our economy, small
business gets little more than grief
from the federal government. It is
overburdened w ith paperwork,
besieged by regulation, tormented
with financial problems.
It is high time we press for a new e
conomic agenda that not only gives
small business room to breathe - but
actually encourages its growth.
At the federal level, this agenda
shuld include (among other things):
- Im plem entation o f the Paper
work Reduction Act to reduce the
m ountain o f paperwork business
people face.
- Tax relief so small business has
more after-tax p ro fit to reinvest,
modernize, expand and stay com
petitive.
- E lim ination or reduction o f
fderal estate and g ift taxes that
jeopardize the continuation o f
small family operations.
Oregon is a small business state -
as the T hird D istrict is a small
business district. It is essential that
the federal government institute
programs that will help - rather than
hurl - the small business com
munity. To a great extent, the good
health o f our country depends on
the good health o f small business.
ALL BANKS ARE NOT
CREATED EQUAL (=).
Dick Bogle
Two very im portant issues a f
fecting Black people are pending,
one in the courts and the other in
Congress.
The firs t and perhaps the most
im portant is the battle shaping up
on whether to extend a key
provision o f the 1965 Voting Rights
Act for ten years .
Some say the law is the most
im portant c iv il rights legislation
ever passed. It provided voting
rights for hundreds o f thousands of
Blacks in the Southern United
States.
For example before the Voting
Rights Act was passed, only a
relative few Blacks in the South
were registered to vote. In
M ississippi, only 6.7 percent o f
eligible Blacks were registered. By
the mid 70’ s, 67 percent were
registered.
Those who wish to weaken the
law say the law has done its job and
is no longer needed. But, apparently
a new threat to equal representation
has come on the horizon in place o f
intimidation, literacy tests, and poll
taxes. I hat threat is that some cities
and counties are changing election
rules.
The C hristian Science M o n ito r
says the two most common methods
are annexing a mostly white area to
a city or switching to an “ At Large”
voting scheme fo r councilors. At
large elections require a m ajority
from the entire city or county for
each councilor, making it nearly im
possible fo r a Black or any other
m inority to win. Minorities have a
better chance in smaller districts. ’
The present voting act targets
those states which used the old
fashioned methods o f intimidation,
plus Alaska and parts o f about a
dozen other states.
The part o f the act which rankles
its opponents the most is the section
"One man with courage
m akes a m a jo r ity ."
Andrew Jackson
In te re ste d in cu rre n t books
about Civil Rights? Visit:
JOHN REED BOOKSTORE
In the Dekum Building
519 S .W 3rd Avenue
Sixth Floor
Or celt: 227 2902
*«*.». f-
which requires that each tim e a
government from one o f those areas
wants to change its voting p ro
cedures, it must clear the change
with the U.S. Justice Department.
They must present evidence that the
proposed change w ill not weaken
minority voting.
Since the law was enacted, the
Justice Department has reviewed
more than 30,000 proposed election
changes and objected to only 815.
Opponents say the small number
o f com plaints is evidence the law
has outlived its usefulness while its
backers say the law is s till a
deterrent.
The U.S. House Judiciary com
mittee will be hearing testimony on
extension of the act until the end o f
June.
The other significant issue, the
ultimate outcome o f which w ill ef
fect Blacks, is in the courts ap
parently headed for the U.S. Sixth
Circuit Court o f Appeals and could
eventually end up in the U.S.
Supreme Court.
U.S. District Court Judge Frank
Battisti last June ruled that the City
o f Parma, Ohio through a series o f
intenionally passed laws and con
sistent opposition to low income
housing, had practiced deliberate
racial exclusion. He felt the degree
o f that wrong was so heavy that it
required a broader than usual
remedy, he ordered the city to begin
b u ilding low income subsidized
housing units at the rate o f 133 a
year.
He also ordered Parma to
establish an education program for
its o ffic ia ls , set up a la ir housing
committee, and begin advertising it
self as an open community in Black
newspapers.
U n til the Judge’ s decision, the
c ity ’ s voters only had the right to
approve any changes in Parma's 35
foot limit on building heights and to
give consent before any public-
housing projects are built.
The case began in 1973 when the
Justice Department sued the largely
white surburb south o f Cleveland.
Parma was accused o f a series o f ac
tions designed to keep Blacks from
renting or buying property amount
ing to a v io la tio n o f the 1968
Federal Fair Housing Act.
Watch for a decision on this one,
it should be in the hands o f the Ap
peals Court within the next several
weeks. And regardless o f that
court’s decision, it will likely end up
in the Supreme Court.
-.. *r
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