Br. Frane..
U n iv e r s ity
R0°*
o f O r.g o - U b r
t u g « » « . O re g o n 9 7 4 0 3
PORTL4ND OBSERMER
October 15, 1981
Volume XII, Number 1
250 Per Copy
PDC arrow misses its target
Almost ten months ago the mayor
and the C ity ’ s Economic Planning
Section announced plans to target
inner northeast Portland for econ
omic development w ith a com pre
hensive investm ent strategy. The
C ity ’ s m ayor-appointed Economic
Development Advisory Committee
(E D A C ), voted its unanimous sup
port o f specifically targeting King,
Boise and E lio t neighborhoods.
Humboldt was also to receive study
for future targeting o f its commer
cial areas. A broader surrounding
impact area was to be fro m 1-3 to
N .E . 42nd Ave. and from Columbia
B lvd. to the B an fie ld Freew ay.
W ithin the three targeted neighbor
hoods, specific project sites were to
be id entified w ith e ffo rts made to
attract commercial and light indus
trial development to these areas and
with project resources and responsi
bility assigned.
At the time o f the M ayor’s second
organization o f economic planning
and developm ent, tran sferrin g all
activities to the Portland Develop
ment C om m ission, the O bserver
asked, " W h a t role will citizens o f
this area, or future targeted areas in
the C ity , have in recom m ending
projects or program s and a p p ro
priate resources designed to enhance
their c o m m u n ity ’ s w e ll-b e in g ? "
Asked also was whether the mayor
and City Council would relinquish
their authority and responsibility to
P D C for plann ing and allo catin g
C ’ty resources in economic . •velop-
ment.
A draft o f an “ Economic Devel
opment Program for Northeast Tar
get A r e a " has been circu lated by
P D C to the press and com m unity
groups. U p on e xa m in atio n , one
first notices that the boundaries o f
this document’s targeted area differ
from those approved by E D A C .
Why is it that the specific neighbor
hoods o f King, Boise and Eliot are
no longer to be the prime target o f
concern, with viable commercial/in
d u strial sites to be id e n tifie d and
targeted for m arketing e ffo rts by
PD C , as was originally proposed by
the City and EDAC?
In stead , P D C proposes to con
centrate its efforts in the Columbia
Blvd. and Lower Union Ave. areas,
both o f which were included pre
viously w ithin the proposed broad
impact area, with potential to create
employment for northeast residents.
Now these areas are to be the prime
focus o f activity by PD C .
W h ile both o f these areas have
problems, previously identified by
the City and detailed in P D C ’s plan
fo r northeast, these are areas ripe
fo r developm ent, which w ill occur
with or without P D C and other City
resources. There is nothing inher
ently wrong in addressing needs in
these areas. But to make them the
prim e focus o f their e ffo rts to a l
low P D C to escape the burden o f
addressing in a comprehensive and
coordinated manner the needs o f the
most d ete rio rate d area o f the
northeast and the city.
Though P D C notes problems in
the Columbia Blvd. and Lower U n
ion areas, its proposed plan does
little to address the identified prob
lems. For instance, one constraint
upon C olum bia Blvd. development
is said to be lack o f sewers and poor
storm drainage. But P D C offers no
solution to the problem. E D A , for
merly the funding source for econ
omic development, faces dismantle
m ent. Does the C ity intend to use
part o f its c ap ital im provem ents
budget as part o f the northeast pro
gram? This is not indicated in the
plan. A d d itio n a lly , Low er A lb in a
District problems the C ity has iden
tified include railroad crossings. No
proposal is made in the plan to deal
with this and other problems noted.
In targ eting L o w er U n io n , w ill
P D C have money to buy out owners
to assemble land, or is Lower Union
the area P D C proposes to give u r
ban renewal designation?
Preliminary City Council approv
al for developing an urban renewal
plan for the inner northeast area is
given to PD C with this plan’s adop-
(Ptease turn to page I I column I)
FBI faces minority harassment charges
Governor Victor Atiyeh visited Albina this week to receive citizer
input and to assess the effects of state programs on the citizens anti
businesses of the area
IRtoto: Rlchard j BfOwn|
was essential. And it was just
something that I would do. There
was never any doubts about it."
Yet, he in fo tm e d the N a tio n a l
In dian Education A ssociation,
meeting in Portland, to expect sub-
” antial cuts in federal funding o f
Indian education programs.
" In our recommendations there is
not a single program lhat is
untouched and some must be
sacrificed to save others more
central to our m is s io n ," he
reported. Expensive post-secondary
specialty schools such as Southwest
Indian Polytechnic Institute might
have to be closed. Boarding schools
ought have to be consolidated, with
children travellin g farth er from
home. A d u lt education w ill be
eliminated.
States might have to provide more
services for In d ian children to
compensate for federal reductions,
a though the federal governm ent
has the responsibility for education
° f In d ian people. " . . .
by
suggesting the possibility o f more
Elm er P ratt, convicted in C a lif
o rn ia in 1972, and R ichard M a r
shall, convicted in South Dakota in
1976, both say they are p o litic a l
prisoners. Both men argue that they
are victims o f "fram e-ups” — fabri
cation o f evidence and withholding
o f v ital in fo rm a tio n by the au
thorities in order to get them con
victed.
T he Am nesty In te rn a tio n a l re
p o rt, a detailed 144-page study
based on examination o f thousands
o f pages o f official transcripts and
documents, cites many examples o f
irregularities by the F B I. the major
national law enforcement agency in
the U .S ., in the cases o f activists
fro m m ilitan t groups targeted for
FBI intelligence work.
Production o f false evidence, mis
Speaking o f Schools
BIA Secretary projects
Indian education cuts
Kenneth
S m ith ,
Assistant
Secretary for Indian Affairs, credits
education with his successes in life.
I rom the earliest I can remember,
it was always instilled in my mind
lhat an education was necessary. It
Amnesty International has called
fo r an in q u iry in to the effects on
U .S. trials o f abuses by the Federal
Bureau o f Investigation (F B I), par
tic u la rly in the convictions o f a
Black m ilita n t and an A m erican
Indian now serving life sentences.
In a new re p o rt, the w orldw ide
human rights movement called on
the United States Government to set
up an independent commission o f
inquiry into the influence o f FBI ac
tivitie s on the c rim in a l justice
system. It said the inquiry should in
clude the cases o f E lm er P ra tt, a
leader o f the Black Panther Party,
and Richard Marshall, a member o f
the A m erican In d ia n M o v e m en t,
both convicted o f m urder a fte r
being targeted for F B I intelligence
action.
state p a rtic ip a tio n , I am not
suggesting the ab d ic a tio n o f the
f ederal responsibility for assuring
the provision o f their education."
Sm ith emphasized the p rim a ry
responsibility o f trib a l groups for
the social and economic well being
o f the people on reservations, saying
it is very im portant that the Indian
community accept and recognize the
p rim a ry resp o n sibility fo r the
education o f Indian children. The
federal government and the states
have
roles
but
the
In d ian
com m u nity
must
make
the
decisions, p rovide the leadership
and shape the education Ind ian
children receive.
" T h e reductions in Federal
fun d in g , consequently cannot be
used as an excuse for not trying - or
not succeeding."
Sm ith was raised on the W arm
Springs Reservation and attended
boarding school there. He attended
public school from 6th through 12th
grade, then graduated fro m the
University o f Oregon with a BA in
accounting
and
business
administration. After graduation he
w orked to r the W arm Springs
I ribes, becoming business manager.
He also served on the Oregon Stale
Board o f Education.
1
l)r. M a tth e w Prophet, Superin example school closures— there’s
tendent o f the Lansing, M ichigan way it could have gone well exc<
public schools, is a candidate f o r the by accident. So you have to be «
position o f Superintendent o f the countable for planning.
Portland Public Schools. Following
The third item is that whatev
are excerpts fro m his replies to ques you plan and whatever you deliv
tions o f the Superintendent Citizens in terms o f instructional quality h
Advisory Committee. *
to be supported and you have to c
ganize your whole support system
m ake sure both instructional su
Accountability. I know that there port and non-instructional suppo
arc five things that need to be done. are there.
The first thing is that some program
O f course you have to be accour
or some form o f managerial special a b l e .. .to evaluate what you d<
ty is established to ensure that there And the evolution has to take pla<
is a q u a lity edu catio n al program in three d im e n sio n s .. .the evalui
taking place and that o f course. . .is tion o f people. Education can nev
my first and principle responsibility, be more valuable than the people ii
to ensure that every single aspect of volved because education is peopl
every single activity or program on Second, o f course, is organization,
going in the P o rtla n d school dis e v a lu a tio n .. .and third is prograi
trict, or any school district for that evaluation.
matter, is in fact the highest quality
Racial fairness: To me racial fai
lhat can be offered anywhere.
ncss translates in to those factoi
The second thin g, o f course, is that im pact on equal education«
that we have to have accountability opportunity.
for planning. I think that many of
The very people who ought to b
the problems that districts run in more involved in the formulation c
t o . . . ! thin k that many o f your policy that govern the schools ar
problems have come too from what the ones moat likely to be left out be
I perceive to have been a lack o f cause you generally find when yoi
planning. A n d there’ s no way for form committees the perpetuation o
you to have been accountable in the same kind of involvement o f peo
some o f the other areas when the pic who traditionally for the last 151
whole aspect o f planning for global years are involved in schools. Yoi
issues you were dealing w ith — for (Please turn to page 10 column I)
statements about F B I action, h ar
assment, in filtr a tio n o f defense
teams by inform ants and failure to
make available in fo rm atio n which
the defense might have used are all
shown to have occurred. The report
does not com m ent on ju rie s ’ de
cisions on the basis o f the inform a
tion given them , but says an inde
pendent, overall inquiry is needed to
determine whether the basis o f fair
tria l was underm ined. It stresses
that Amnesty International has not
tried to judge questions o f guilt or
innocence.
Some o f the abuses documented
were part o f the F B I’ s C O IN T E L -
PR O program, aimed at disruption
o f target organizations, which o ffi
cially ended in 1971; but other mis
conduct took place long a fter that
under investigation programs.
The report, entitled Proposal f o r
a commission o f inquiry into the ef
fe c t o f domestic intelligence activi
ties on crim inal trials in the United
States o f A m erica, says the inquiry
should try to d eterm ine whether
m isconduct w hich judges m ight
have treated as isolated irregularities
formed part o f a pattern. Amnesty
International, it points out, does not
assume that a defendant should au
tomatically be acquitted if FB I mis
conduct is shown. "B ut there comes
a p o in t,” it adds, "w hen the num
ber or type o f measures taken
against members o f a political group
suggest that it may be impossible to
decide whether a particular case has
been affected by law enforcem ent
(Please turn to page I I column / )