Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1981)
Portland Obaarvar, Saptambar 17, IM I Paga 3 PUREBRED Dick Bogle English Pointer Pups Last week we looked at how street prostitution in North and Northeast Portland seems to be growing and how the crim inal justice system ad mittedly seems ineffective in deter ring it. Most o f us know prostitution will never be e lim in a te d — th a t’ s why they call it the oldest profession in the world. However, when the pros titutes act as though they own the streets and no housewife or student can walk those streets w ithout har assment from Johns then it ’ s tim e for a change. First o f a ll. we have to examine what p ro stitu tion is and means. M an y o f us are inclined to say, " W e 'v e always had it, they d o n ’ t hurt anyone and it’ s not as im port ant as arresting burglars and ro b bers.” But all o f that is not true. Prosti tu tio n does hu rt people. P ro s titu tion hurts prostitutes. This hurt is both physical and m ental. M an y are at the mercy o f pimps whose only concern is how much money he can get and when he feels it isn't enough, w ill beat the girl with fists, coat hangers or any thing else he can put his hands one. There are several unsolved murders o f prostitutes in Multnomah County and Clark County, Washington. Besides physical in jury, many o f these young women suffer extreme psychological damage. W ho knows what poten tial lies deep and un tapped in a person whose entire life has become one o f being used and used and used? W e all know the crim e rate has risen and o f course part o f that is due to current high unemployment and federal, state and local budget cuts which caused elim in atio n o f many programs. The problem o f a declining qual ity o f life in North and Northeast as it pertains to what happens when the streets are owned by the hookers is being attacked on two fronts. First the system itself. Police C h ief Ron Still says, ” We need to lock up more prostitutes. W e know they move up and down the coast and into Canada and very simply if we make it tough on them here, they are going to go some where else and so are the pimps.” H e and other police also realize that no matter how many are arrest ed there is still limited ja il space for prisoners. This lack o f jail space poses tough decisions fo r judges who must a l ways consider how many spaces are available on any given day. M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty D istrict C ourt Judge L in d a Bergman says, ” We have 35 beds in this country to house women charged or sentenced for the entire county. I could prob ably f ill those beds w ith women charged w ith p ro stitu tio n . I think the C om m unity is probably better served if some o f those beds are used for people charged with serious felonies.” Presiding D is trict C o u rt Judge Don Londer says, " A ll o f us share the concerns about p ro stitu tion raised by citizens and I have met w ith C h ie f S till, D istrict A tto rn ey M ik e Schrunk, a representative o f the Public Defenders O ffic e and C ounty Corrections to outline pro cedures to remedy the situation as it exists today.” "Changes will be made now and second and third offenders will be taken o f f the street and th a t’ s as good a deterrent as we can come up with at the present tim e.” Perhaps the biggest deterrent will come from neighborhood people. Sharon McCormack is the North east coordinator for Neighborhoods Against C rim e. She and a number o f neighbors have met w ith police officials from East and N orth pre cincts, the Drug and Vice Division and the District Attorney’s office. Results are already beginning to occur as neighbors are organizing. Members o f the Piedmont Neigh borhood Association have walked the streets talking to residents and business people to enlist their assis tance in fighting prostitution. The degree o f support is astounding. Some folks have volunteered to al low police to use their homes as ob servation locations to build cases against hookers for loitering. They plan to have as many as ten pickets— men, women, young and old— march alongside prostitutes on the streets. They also have enlisted the aid o f a retired commercial artist and Pacific Power and Light C om pany. The artist is going to paint a huge sign saying, "R E S P E C T N .E . N E IG H B O R H O O D S . J O H N S KEEP O U T .” P P & L w ill supply the guy wires and poles and will have its crews in stall one across Union Avenue near Stanton for northbound traffic and another sign saying the same thing for southbound tra ffic near P o rt land Blvd. W e’ll have to wait and see the re sults o f this combined Justice Sys tem and direct citizen involvement will have but it sounds like one hel luva beginning to me. Plaasa Contact Brad Holcomb 372-2493 after 7:00 p.m. Building Materials Auction From the Capitol by Rep. Ron Wyden ers Association are currently work ing on an effo rt to provide a ffo rd able housing in N o rth -N orth east Portland neighborhoods. Under this plan, private lenders, such as savings & loans, would put up 70 per cent o f the financing for a new home at m arket rates. The group hopes the other 30 per cent would be financed through the city (with Housing and Community De velopment funds) at 3 per cent inter est. Q. With interest rates still on the rise, is it realistic f o r middle income Portlanders to hang on to the A m er ican dream o f owning th e ir own home? A . I think it is— if we look to in novative financing alternatives. For example, Oregon Fair Share, the E llio t N eighborhood Associa tion. Portland area savings A loans, area realtors, the Black U nited Front and the Oregon Home Build- g— — I I. . Builders would use various cost saving techniques— such as compact design features, common wall con struction, etc.— to keep the cost o f the completed structure down to ap proxim ately $40,000. Members o f the a ffo rd a b le housing group (dubbed (he A lb in a Inner-C ity De velopment C o rp . ( A I D ) ), have id e n tifie d 200 vacant lots in the N orth-N ortheast area suitable for this program. St. Andrew Community Center In addition to new construction, A ID is advocating rehabilitation o f existing homes in the area. Although this plan will not meet the needs o f all Portlanders, it is at least a step in the right direction. Most im p o rtan t, it represents the type o f individual initiative and in novative thinking that we must implement if the American dream of homeownership is to become a real ity for middle-income Portlanders. i Open Letter 4940 NE 8th at Alberta, Portland 281-4430 A tradition of good pricasl A benefit for St. Andrew Community Center Pacific Citizen Power o f the Week by Ron Still, C h ief o f Police I was recently asked why m ore than one police car may respond to a call. It ’s sometimes difficult to un derstand why two or more officers show up to take a 17-year-old run away into custody or to simply quiet the neighbors who are arguing. Safety is one o f the p rim a ry factors in deciding how many o ff i cers are sent on any call. T h a t 17- year-old may be 6 ft., 180 lbs. and want to fight the officers. That fam ily argument has a good chance o f becoming v io len t as most people don’t want outside interference. By sending an adequate number o f officers, it is more likely that the situation will be handled without vi olence. I f there is no violence, then the officers there should be able to handle it. We set guidelines for the number o f officers to be dispatched on calls. But because there is no such thing as a "typical” call, the dispatchers also rely on past experience and the in formation provided by the caller in addition to these guidelines. For example, we send at least two officers to a family argument, more if the in fo rm a tio n p rovided in d i cated potential violence. W e also dispatch more than one officer to crimes in progress or other situations that may involve violence. Because there are so many unknown variables, we m ake an attem pt to send enough officers to be able to control that situation. This may re sult in 2 or more cars coming into your neighborhood. Part o f those unknown variables can be answered by citizens who call in the request for the police. T ry to p rovide as much in fo rm a tio n as possible, answer the questions the operator asks and don’t hesitate to call again with more inform ation if the situation has changed. W ith your help, we can provide the assist ance you need. I f you have comments or ques tions regarding the Portland Police B ureau, send them to me through the Public Inform ation O ffice, 222 S .W . Pine, P o rtla n d , O regon, 97204. I will not be able to respond in my open letters to each and every concern, but will select those which will assist in improving communica tions and relations w ith the com munity. Schools report m inority enrollm ent increase Superintendent James Fenwick reported M o n d a y that Jefferson High School has enrolled fewer stu dents than were expected and that many o f the former Adams students (hat were assigned to Jefferson have enrolled elsewhere. By the third day o f school, Jeffer son had enrolled 1,306 students, 274 short o f the 1,580 predicted. A p p ro xim ately 90 students, mostly Black, transferred from Jefferson to SOLE DESIGN OF PORTLAND 6800 NE Union c y \0 £ SB Portland. OR. , q O^- T«L 287-0893 ^ 0 ^ save UP to g 15.00/BMR AOIOAS TOP TEN HI TOP • BEST IN ITS CLASS « 4 as S$ SAtt M S5 SAVE <10.00 PUMA HI TOP AU t-FATHER RB4 S M 5 J A l t SAVE SS S5 <15 00 CONVERSE LEATHER Ml -T O P TH E DR 41 15 SAVE SALX U S S < |0 0 0 CONVERSE LEATHER LO - TOP RB4 a s S5 SAVE 5AIK 3 0 S5 « 9 00 FÏEE POSTER FOR EACH PAIR OF SHOES pUR( HASED Lincoln. Also, there appear to be a sizable num ber o f w hite students, who formerly attended Adams, who have not registered at Jefferson . Jefferson currently has 54.5 per cent minority enrollment. Racial composition o f the student population is 26.6 per cent minority, compared to 24.2 per cent last year. Black students make up 14 per cent (6 ,8 2 1 ); Asians are 8 .9 per cent (4,339); N ative Americans are 1.8 per cent (894); and Hispanics are 1.7 per cent (831). The total enrollment is 4 8 ,5 6 2 , dow n nearly 3 ,0 0 0 stu dents from last year. M in o rity e n ro llm e n t has in creased in several com m unity schools. Boige is at 86.3 per cent m inority; Irvin g to n , 42.7 per cent; H u m b o ld t, 72.2 per cent; Vernon, 65.9 per cent; W oodlaw n, 61.9 per cent. Other neighborhood schools are: Eliot, 47.7 per cent; King, 64.0 per cent; Sabin, 51.4 per cent. Tubm an, still located at the old M onroe High School building, has 61.1 per cent m inority enrollment. Other schools with more than 50 per cent m inority enrollm ent are Ball, w ith 50.2 per cent, and Rice, with 66.1 per cent, m ostly Southeast Asians. D ifferences o f o p inion over the im p lication s o f these enrollm ent patterns were expressed by board members H erb C aw th o rn e and Frank McNamara. Cawthorne is not concerned with racial percentages, but considers the issue to be the education o f the chil dren who are in the schools. " T h e percentages d o n ’ t mean anything since we haven't considered that when deciding school closures and o th e r things that caused the increase.” Frank M cNam ara’s primary con cern is also education, " b u t that does not m itig ate my o th er con cerns. I f there is a trend toward sep arate schools that concerns me and to the extent that there a^e controls we can exert, we should exert them .” Steve Buel added that if the Board really believes that all schools with 90 to 95 per cent white students are more segregated than those that are 60 per cent Black, and that A ins worth is the most segregated school in the district, then they should ask fo r a list o f those " p r o b le m ” schools, not just fo r a list o f the schools with high m inority popula tions. *9* ■ y A fa m ilia r face aro un d the neighborhoods o f N o rth and N o rth east P o rtla n d is that o f Sharon M c C o rm a c k . M rs. M c C o rm a c k is c u rre n tly co o rd in a to r o f the Northeast Neighborhoods Against C rim e program where she provides crim e prevention in fo rm a tio n , home locks and currently is working on the issue o f prostitution and street safety for women and children. A m o n g M rs. M c C o rm a c k ’ s volunteer con trib u tio ns are serving on the boards o f the A m erican Friends Service C om m ittee Education P roject, the Piedmont Neighborhood A sso ciatio n , the A F S C Regional C o m m u n ity Relations Committee. She formerly served on the boards o f the Northeast C oalition o f Neighborhood Organizations, the Union Avenue Redevelopm ent C o m m itte e , the Econom ic Developm ent Prom otion Committee o f the Inner Northeast Council, and the N o rth Branch Y M C A . She is a precinct person for the Democratic Party. Mrs. McCormack volunteered for four years w ith-the N eighborhood Options in C h ild Care and for three years w ith V illa St. Rose, a treatm ent center for girls. She is c u rre n tly chairing the planning com m ittee for the N E Community Leadership Workshop. She also finds time to be active in Holy Redeemer Church and School. Mrs. McCormack and her husband. Bill, have four children, ages 6, 13, 16 and 18. Mrs. McCormack was born in Texas, moved to Yakima, and came to Portland to attend the University o f Portland. After graduating, she taught French for two years. She has been a resident o f the Northeast area for 22 years. B R O U G H T T O Y O y BY Pacific Power )
