Mrs F rances Sc’ oen-’.ew spsper Poca
U n iv e rs ity o f Ores-on L ib rary
tu g s n fi, Or-ji-ort &7 jO3
Cablesystems'
minority goals
i
’
Page 1
■ 3
f f ^ B T h e Jacksons
1
Will they quit?
T. R. Dunn
An interview
SF
fc.
Page
Page5
PORTLAND OBSERMER ^5
Pending Eliot site betrayal threatens conflict
The P ortland School Board and
its adm inistration has raised com ­
munity disgust and anger as it con­
tinues to spend valuable staff time
and money studying potential sites
for the new Harriet Tubman Middle
School— the school developed at the
demand o f the com munity to serve
students o f K ing, E lio t and H u m ­
boldt attendance areas.
For the past ten years the upper
grades, varyin g fro m grade 3 to
grade 8, have been removed from
m a jo rity Black schools. Students
were then scattered throughout the
school district for what was called
“ desegregation.” The spaces left by
these children's removal were filled
by fo u r- and fiv e -y e a r-o ld white
c h ild re n — m ostly fro m the West
Side— in another effort at “ desegre­
gation.“
Tw o years ago the c o m m u n ity -
led by the Black United Front— de­
manded that the 3rd throu g h 3th
grade classes be restored and that
middle schools be provided for 6th,
7th and 8th grades. M id d le school
children were assigned to C olum -
b ia/W hitaker, Fernwood and Beau­
mont. The district also agreed to de­
velop a middle school in the com ­
m u n ity fo r the students o f K ing,
H u m b o ld t and E lio t. This school
was to be housed in the Flint build­
ing, currently a "F o llo w Through”
program d raw in g child ren from
other areas but having few resident
children.
O th e r promises made by the
School Board to avoid a school boy­
cott were that none o f the elemen­
tary schools in the community— in­
cluding Boise— would be closed.
A fte r the agreem ent was made
changes took place on the Board:
Dean Oisvold replaced W ally Priest­
ley; C h a rlo tte B eem an replaced
Sarah Newhall. The political in flu ­
ences shifted— giving Frank M cN a ­
mara, Bill Scott, Lee Rieke, Gisvold
and Beeman the o p p o rtu n ity to
change those portions o f the agree­
ment that they do not like.
There has been frequent discus­
sion, and ram p an t ru m o rs, that
T u b m an w ill never be housed at
E lio t. Among these rumors, which
have not been presented to the Black
com munity, are that the site is not
safe, that expansion is impossible,
that costs are prohibitive. Although
all o f the Black and civil rights o r­
ganizations continue to support the
E lio t site, the d is trict has never
come to their spokesmen with this
inform ation or entered into discus­
sion about alternate sites.
Board member Herb Cawthorne
said the Board seems suicidal in its
insistence on looking at options that
are im possible. " T h e y are going
through the same process they did
with school closures, getting people
all riled up beyond what is neces­
sary. To get the Jefferson communi­
ty riled up, thinking they might lose
a high school to gain a m iddle
school, doesn’ t m ake sense. A n d
there is no reason to ta lk about
Washington/Monroe or M onroe.”
Cawthorne believes E lio t, Boise
and Adams are possibilities, but the
Board is badly split on E lio t, split
on Boise, and now the possibility o f
Portland Community College using
Adams has been raised. The com­
munity would not support putting
the school at Boise and that option
would also cause much disruption
for children.
Cawthorne said he had never been
provided with informat: • showing
that the Eliot site is unt .sible. “ I
think they have some question
about the soil at E lio t, about the
school sliding into the freeway. But
they have used that b u ild in g for
years and I ’m sure that if they want
to there is a way to ensure its safe­
ty .”
“ This playing with options that
are not options will only cause prob­
lems for the district. The people o f
the Jefferson district came out and
voted in numbers greater than ever
before and they voted to support the
(Please turn io page 4 col. I )
SCHOOL BOARD CHAIRMAN FRANK McNAM ARA
Cablesystems meets hiring goals
Otto Poticha, of Unthank. Sadar and Poticha,
archltactural firm ; Bobby Davis, DAK Construc­
tion; C om m isslonar Charles Jordan; and Rich
Wiley, M inority Business Enterprise Coordinator
for Cablesystems Pacific, reviewing building plans
for the company's headquarters.
(Photo: Cathy Cheney)
Cablesystems P a c ific , which is
franchised by the C ity o f Portland
to provide cable television in the city
east o f the Willamette River, has re­
ported that it exceeded its minority
business requirem ents during its
first six months o f operation.
The com pany is required by its
contract with the city to meet a 20
per cent M in o rity Business E n ter­
prise utilization goal.
F or the first q u a rte r, ending
August 31, 1981, the company fell
short in M B E utilization with 10.6
per cent but the d efic it was o ver­
come by minority utilization in the
ren ovatio n o f new fac ilitie s on
Northeast Sandy Boulevard.
A contract was negotiated with
the M B E architectural firm o f U n ­
th a n k , Seder and P o tic h a , which
not only secured the talents o f this
firm but included their assistance in
securing additional M B E participa­
tion. They retained the engineering
com pany o f M o rris o n , Funatake,
Inouye and Andrews.
W ith the assistance o f Batiste
Managements Systems, Cablesys­
tems ensured that minority contract­
ors were in fo rm ed o f the bid
process. The prime remodeling con­
tract went to D A K C o nstru ctio n ,
In c ., and they sub-contracted to
Christian Electric, Inc. The finishes
and carpet installation were done by
R. P .& l General C o ntracto rs. The
m a jo rity o f the $690,200 building
renovation went to m inority com­
panies.
" O u r success to date w ith the
M BE program has been possible be­
cause o f the number o f competent,
qualified and well-equipped M B E ’s
willing to compete for and perform
the services required,” Frank Nues-
sle, Cablesystems’ general manager,
said. “ We recognize that continued
success is dependent on our ability
to increase M B E awareness o f the
o p p o rtu n ities in the cable indus­
try.”
Cablesystems has surpassed its
m in o rity and female em ploym ent
goals in some categories, but failed
in others. O v era ll the goals have
been exceeded.
Forty-three per cent o f the o ff i­
cials and managers are m inorities,
far exceeding the 22 per cent goal.
This has created a sensitivity to m i­
n o rity h irin g on the departm ent
head level which assures growth o f
m inority participation. The 20 per
cent minority participation in office
and clerical help also exceeds the 19
per cent goal; operatives, at 33.3 per
cent exceed the goal o f 20 per cent.
Falling short o f the goals are profes­
sionals and technical. The company
explains that the s h o rtfa ll in the
technical department is due to a na­
tio n al shortage o f m in o rities in
cable television technology and the
fact the installers are not yet hired.
Participation o f women is below
the goal in officers and managers
and in professionals.
Because the numbers o f m inori­
ties and women in the Portland area
with skills needed for the cable in­
dustry are few , Cablesystems will
develop an in-house training pro­
gram to facilitate its affirm ative ac­
tion. Among the areas identified for
early training are Customer Service
Representative, Sales Representa­
tive, and some technical positions.
T he com pany also has a contract
with the C ity o f Portland agreeing
to employ CETA-eligibie residents.
C allin g Cablesystems P a c ific ’ s
performance a model for other busi­
ness, Commissioner Charles Jordan
praised the company’s commitment
to reaching its goals. “ It is rather
significant that Cablesystems has
met the goals set by its franchise
with the City. We have been told for
many years that it is impossible to
meet m in o rity business enterprise
goals and minority hiring goals and
still come out ahead. Some have
even said meeting these goals is
impossible— that it is impossible to
find qualified people.
"Cablesystems has proved it can
be done and that it is im p o rtan t.
Their success will be used as a model
to show what can be done if there is
commitment."
The lottery: Is it the answer?
Fourteen stales supplement their
incomes w ith state lo tteries. For
these states revenue ranges to $23
million per year. In some states, as
in New Y o rk , lo tte ry p ro fits are
earm arked for education or other
essential social programs.
Oregon
has
not
seriously
considered a lo ttery but declining
revenues fro m
incom e taxes
resulting from a recessed economy
and fear o f a “ property tax revolt”
will combine to make it an option to
be considered.
The ra ffle is part o f A m erican
history; during the colonial period
and the early l8(X)s raffles funded
many public works. A nti-raffle laws
came in the 1830s when p rivate
raffles rivaled the state lotteries and
absence o f regulation led to corrup­
tion.
Lotteries exist even where illegal.
The "numbers games" o f the major
cities turn over millions o f dollais,
all tax free. In O reg o n, where all
form s o f gam bling except non­
p ro fit organizations’ bingo games
are ille g a l, at any one tim e an
estimated 1,000 illegal raffles are in
progress — operated by churches,
social and service clubs, youth
groups.
G len d a D u rh a m , a P o rtla n d
a tto rn e y , proposes a small step
tow ard legalization in O regon, in
the 1981 legislative session she
proposed legislation that would
have allowed raffles by non-profit
o rg an izatio n s and draw n strict
regulations
fo r
charitab le
fundraising promoters. N on-profit
organizations could organize their
own raffles, but if they chose to use
a pro m o ter, that prom oter would
have to be licensed and his activities
and commission would be regulated
by the state Recent investigations
have revealed tht unscrupulous
charitable fundraisers often receive
more o f the p ro fits than the
charities to which the donations are
intended.
The Reagan A d m in is tra tio n ’ s
cuts in budgets fo r the arts,
hum anities and social services
spiked M rs. D u rh a m ’ s interest in
the lo tte ry . ‘ ‘ W ith the economic
re ality that we cannot depend on
government any longer, the raffle is
a good solution for the non-profit
service agen cy,” she explained.
“ A nd current Oregon law makes
this illeg al. It is a poor law that
makes crim inals out o f Shriners
attempting to raise money for their
crippled children's hospital.”
W h ile many social agencies,
especially churches, use Bingo as a
fund raiser, Bingo has a high
overhead — rental o f space and
equipment, personnel, etc. Raffles
a d d itio n a l housing, using local
have low overhead — some
contractors
and employees. These,
printing and possibly advertising,
in turn, could be raffled with the
and the prizes if they arc not
* procedes used for further economic
donated.
development — industrial buildings
M rs. D u rh am found much
and job training facilities. Millions
interest and support in Salem but
o
f dollars could go to all types of
her b ill failed to pass from the
needed social services, all through
House Judiciary C o m m ittee. She
voluntary participation.
now is in the process o f circulating
“ R affles
are
completely
petitions to ammend the state
v o lu n ta ry ,” she explains. U nlike
C o n s titu tio n to allow ra ffle s for
added taxes, no one is forced to
n o n -p ro fit org an izatio n s. (These
participate.
can be obtained by calling 228-
M rs. D u rh am is not ready to
1393).
promote a state lottery in Oregon at
M rs. D urham has set her sights
this fime. She believes in one step at
high. She would like to ra ffle o ff a
a lime - starting small and proving
house — perhaps in A lbina — and
it can be done.
use the procedes to develop