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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1981)
PORTL4ND OBSERVER September 24, 1961 Volume XI, Number 50 25C Per Copy PDC proposes Northeast development plan In the latest in a long series o f plans to encourage development in the inner Northeast area, the P o rt land Development Commission re leased this week a draft Economic D evelopm ent Program fo r the Northeast Target Area. The report, mailed to 250 selected individuals and organizations and slated for dis cussion at community forums d ur ing the month o f October, attempts to identify areas for possible indus trial and commercial investment and thereby address the unemployment problem in the Northeast, which is double that o f the rest o f the city. The PD C identifies the Northeast Target A rea as the area from N E Broadway north to the C o lum bia R iver, and between 1-5 and N .E . 8th, including a slice o f land bound ed by the Willamette, N. Going and N . G reeley (kn o w n as Low er A l b in a). S ta ff members stress the boundaries are not definite and may be changed before a final plan is ap proved by the City Council. The d ra ft plan is one o f many studies com pleted since the inner Northeast area began to deteriorate both economically and aesthetically in the early 1960s. Some o f the rea sons fo r the decline o f businesses and neighborhoods in the U n io n Ave. area are that when major free ways were com pleted, businesses, especially auto m o b ile dealers, relocated to the 82nd Ave. area; the opening o f Lloyd Center drew other local businesses aw ay, and social unrest during the decade tended to make investment in the target area less appealing. A n increasing crime rate, caused by lack o f employment and the lack o f community cohesiveness locally owned businesses and home owner ship tend to promote, now hampers new investment in the area, and be comes, instead o f a sym ptom , a cause o f the cycle o f underdevelop ment. Like its predecessors, this latest plan bypasses middle Albina, which is in direst need o f development, in favor o f the upper and lower seg ments o f the target area, that contain larger pieces o f vacant prop erty. Emanuel Hospital, in the lower area, is expected to embark on an expansion program shortly, utilizing property it acquired in 1969 by raz Transfer policy triggers unrest by Cleo Franklin The desegregation policy estab lished by the Portland School Board states that when a school is 30 per cent or more m in o rity then w hite students can't transfer out because it would adversely affect the racial balance o f that p articular school. However, Black students can trans fer out and arc encouraged to do so. It appears that this policy is the bas is o f two days o f student unrest at Jefferson High School. According to Dr. Lawrence Ayers, principal o f Jefferson High School, fights began to break out at the school on Tuesday. D r. Ayers said that he became aw are that there was a problem when a fight broke out among a small group o f students outside o f the school building on Tuesday after school. He attributes the problems to the fact that there was an influx o f 500 new students to the school and it is a situation o f students feel ing each other out and establishing turf. D r. Ayers also pointed out that there seems to be a problem w ith non-students on the school grounds and that they might be agitating an already tense situation among stu dents. T o date there have been two adults and two juveniles arrested in connection with the incidents at the school. According to Phyllis Sandy o f the Portland School Police one o f (he juveniles had a .22 caliber hand gun. D r. Ayers stated that most o f the incidents have occurred outside o f the school building. He also stated that the faculty is attempting to deal with the problems and determine so lutions in the classroom setting. Dr. Ayers also made it very clear that he feels that there are only about 50 students who are causing the prob lems. Community workshop scheduled The N ortheast C o a litio n o f Neighborhoods is sponsoring a workshop for Northeast citizens, to be held at the King Neighborhood F a c ility on S aturday, O ctober 3, 1981. The workshop titled "Getting It Together," will be held from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm. Inform ation will be provided on emergency resources for shelter, clothing and fuel. Presentations also will be given on housing, landlord- tenant rights, parenting, child care and health care resources. Sm all group discussions are scheduled so lhat concerned citizens can look at ways to pool resources and informa tion. The W orkshop Committee urges all interested citizens to pre-register through the Northeast N eighbor hood O ffice at 248-4575. There are a limited number o f information/re- source packets. I he cost for anyone withing to order lunch is $3.50. For further inform ation call the Northeast Neighborhood Office. Seniors dedicate new van Dedication o f a completely reno vated Pacific Power and Light util ity van will take place at the Urban League Senior Adult Service Center on Thursday. Conversion o f the van was paid for entirely from donations from business and p rivate individuals. Continued maintenance will be han dled the same way. The recent location to new quar ters at 1700 N .E . A lb erta has brought into being a Drop-In Center open daily where elderly residents may meet for coffee, crafts, pool, tours and other educational and re c rea tio n a l activities. Potlucks, B IN G O games, health clinics in cluding blood pressure and weight arc also part o f program activities. ing and /o r relocating housing under been done. the E m anuel H o s p ita l U rb an R e " W e would lik e , fo r cred ib ility newal Plan. reasons, to get some concrete things Further north, additional devel done up there, but it’s going to take opm ent could be planned fo r the tim e ," says Steve Peterson, P D C ’s Columbia Boulevard Industrial Dis director o f economic development. trict, located between N E Lombard Petersen adds that w ith the econ and the Columbia River, east o f 1-5 omy the way it is "w e ’ll be lucky to and west o f the airp o rt. A lthough get two things done." located on a flood plain and divided One thing that managed to get into parcels held by many different done was the Union Aven -e Arterial owners, the district is in a prime de Reconstruction P ro ject, inanced velopm ent area between the tw o through M t. Hood Freeway transfer Columbia River bridges. funds in 1976. The Union Ave. pro None o f this, however, will help ject adopted by the C ity C o u n c il the area in m id d le A lb in a where was only one segment o f the original run-down businesses and vacant lots Union Avenue Redevelopment Plan sit begging fo r develo pm en t, and proposed in 1973. That plan would unem ploym ent is staggering. In have included m ajo r economic in 1979, an industrial site survey iden vestment, as well as urban renewal tifie d 66 acres o f land as vacant, designation for the avenue and im most o f them o f less than one acre. provement o f community and social Many o f these contain vacant build service program s. It was not en ings, often held for real estate spec dorsed by either the council or the ulation by absentee landowners. P D C , and consequently never saw T he P D C s ta ff recognizes the the light o f day. skepticism felt by many Northeast The street construction and " im business people, especially minority provements” that have been done business persons, that the city w ill on Union Ave. have not pleased all ever really produce any actual re Northeast residents, however, main sults from all the studies that h a X l y because the work removed most on-street p arkin g th a t local busi nesses depend upon p ro vidin g for their customers. The Northeast Bus iness Boosters are currently studying the problem and have recommended five off-street parking lots to allevi ate it, but there’s no guarantee P D C will fund them. " W e m ay be able to do one i f th e re ’ s a co n cen tratio n o f busi nesses,” P D C ’s Petersen says. Even if the money comes through, it must be approved by both the City Coun cil and the Economic Development Administration. T h e question comes to m ind: W hat has the P D C funded in order to enhance business development in the U nion Ave. area? Besides pro posed projects and small-scale econ omic development loan funds, the majority o f which have gone to bus inesses in o th er parts o f the c ity , what actual funding has occurred? One technical assistance contract for $21,636 was signed w ith River East Progress, In c ., to prepare a plan for U nion Ave. parking, pro mote the area to prospective busi nesses and develop a program pro viding financial incentives, includ ing financial package assistance, to businesses considering investment in the inner Northeast area. Petersen describes River East as a private cor poration o f 19 members, including m in o rity representation. The con tract runs for five months. Compared to P D C activity in the downtown core area, where devel opment projects run into the hun dreds o f m illio n s o f d o lla rs , that isn't much, and the city knows it. So now, with this newest program, and h o p efu lly w ith c om m u nity group and local business support, attempts are again being made to revitalize the c ity ’ s most eco n o m ically de pressed area. “ W e’ll be out trying aggressively to make things w o rk ,” Petersen as serts, but adds, “ there’s not a guar antee in there.” The P D C staff will submit the lat est plan to the C ity Council within 60 days, and " p ro b a b ly come up with a concrete project in 30 days” after that if it’s approved, Pe’ ersen says. " W e aren ’ t going to do any more studies.” Next week: Who gets the money? Solidarity Day: The march on Washington by Cleo Franklin An estimated crowd o f 240,000 to 250,000 union members, civil rights activists, w om en’ s rights activists and environmentalists marched on the nation’s capital Saturday for a Solidarity Day protest against Presi dent Reagan's economic and social policies. A F L - C IO o rganizers recruited trad itio n a l unions and more than 200 non-labor groups, including the N A A C P . the N a tio n a l C ouncil o f Churches, the N atio n al G ray Pan thers, and the N atio n al O rganiza tion for Women. Also included were several other civil rights and pro gressive organizations. The recent air tra ffic controllers strike forced sympathetic organizers to cancel m ore than 60 chartered flights for the rally but the organ izers q u ickly replied that bus and train charters absorbed much o f the demand. Also, the A F L -C IO O f fi cials paid $65,000 to lease M e tro ’s subway in Washington, D .C . to al low rallygoers and ordinary subway passengers to ride without charge. The P ark Service o ffic ia ls said union organizers have shown them com puterized lists and other data that indicate that as many as 5,000 buses, mostly carrying from 40 to 50 people each, were expected to roll into Washington. A m trak officials said they scheduled 10 special trains with each train scheduled to carry I .(MX) persons. Rally organizers said they expected about 35 per cent o f the crowd to come from the Wash ington area. The day-long event included live entertainment, a picnic at the Wash ington Monument and a long list of speakers that included Coreita Scott K ing, w idow o f M a r lin Luther King, Jr., Benjamin L. Hood, exec utive director o f the N A A C P and Douglas A. Fraser, President o f the United Automobile Workers. Reagan had planned to ignore the d em on stratio n and lik e R ichard N ixon during the 1971 a n ti-w a r demonstration, spend the weekend at Camp David, M d. In a statement issued in Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan’s behalf, special assistant Earl G . Cox said: " T h is a d m in istra tio n wants to work with all Americans to improve the economy. And we want to work closely with the leaders o f organized lab o r. But we c an ’ t do that when they put on their partisan political hat and set out to oppose our pro gram indiscriminately.” The rally was named S o lid arity Day to pay tribute to Polish workers who are fig h tin g fo r trad e-u n io n rights in their country. The Reagan adm inistration con tinues to discuss budget cuts in o r der to balance the federal budget but can still find room for political appointments. In a recent example, Audrey Scott, a Republican, lost to Democrat Steny Hoxer in a special Prince G eorge’ s C o un ty congres sional election last M ay. A few days later Scot, go, a call from the Rea gan administration, extending their safety net and offering to find her a job in the administration. Last week Scott's po litical appointm ent be came official when she was sworn in as special assistant to the assistant secretary o f H U D for com m unity planning and economic develop ment. The position entails working with small cities on the department's com m unity developm ent block grant program. A ccording to congressional sources additional budget cuts for fiscal 1982 are: •$500 million reduction in federal revenues passed on to local govern ments. •$3 00 m illio n reduction in the federal work force. •$ 5 b illio n savings by delaying cost-o f-livin g increases in e n title ment programs under which pay ments are mandated by law. •$2 billion savings by shaving pre viously planned increases in defense spending. •$ 1 .5 m illio n in reductions in such entitlem ent benefits as M ed i care, M edicaid and aid to lo w -in come families with dependent chil dren. $7 b illio n in "d is c re tio n a ry ” funding that is appropriated annual ly for government programs and op erations, rather than being locked into law. In an interview released by the National Journal last week. Budget D irecto r D avid Stockm an said it and income support programs passed in the 1960s. " S u b s ta n tia l parts o f it w ill have to be heaved overboard.” was clear to the Reagan administra tion that “ we can’ t fund the Great S o ciety,” the package o f w elfare The gathering o f the participants by the A F L -C IO for the Solidarity D ay ra lly is the first e ffo rt by the union fed e ratio n to regroup its forces to stop the decline o f labor’s political influence in Washington. (Please see photos on page 12.) J" s? Mo*r W GHTS ¿ X ' ' jobs m i w Charleston, South Carolina contingent prepares for march from Washington Monument to Capitol Building. An empty White House looks over the thousands who gathered for Solidarity Day. (Photoe: Cleo Franklin) 1
