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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1982)
Portland Observar, January 28, 1982 Page 3 METROPOLITAN Serving the community in style Grassrool News, N. IF .— For the last 12 years M a ria n Scott has served in various positions for the P o rtlan d D evelopm ent C o m m is sion. She retired last month on her 65th birthday and the Portland O b server reminisced with her. “ I came to the D evelopm ent Commission as an assistant to the manager. And later I became a su pervisor. I ’ ve worked in all the o f fices in metropolitan Portland and primarily in Citizens Involvement. I worked in Support Services for the projects that we funded or im p li cated. It was mostly housing renew al, street and park improvement. I worked with citizens and assisted in keeping records." P rio r to her em ploym ent w ith P D C M rs. Scott had worked with Model Cities. " M y job with Model Cities was helping to organize neigh borhood associations. I would no tify people about meetings and get materials to the planning com m it tee. We did whatever we could to get citizens involved and let them know what was going on. That job was a good learning experience for me. I became a grassrooter." Oyer the years the Portland De velopment Com m ission had run in to com m unity opposition over many o f their projects, for example, the Emanuel Hospital project, the N ordstrom Warehouse, and their latest venture, the U nion Avenue im provem ent p roject. W hy does P D C leave such a bad taste in the mouth o f the community? " M a n y years ago citizen participation was not a par, o f the process. P D C be gan to ge, blamed for many projects that it had nothing to do w ith .** Mrs. Scott concedes, "B u t I ’ ve en joyed the confidence o f most people and they know that I w ork for P D C ." Having established a track record with many neighborhood organiza tions, w h at’s on the minds o f the " H h in k a lot o f times peo ple need and want help. Bui most o f tht time they lack the patience to go an make decisions. Granted it does take a long time and everyone can’, be helped because o f a limited bud get. You know, the individuals who Organizations support Eliot site The Black com m u nity remains united in its choice o f the E lio t building as a permanent site for the new H a rrie t T u b m an M id d le School. Eliot was the site selected by the School Board in April o f 1980. Lucius H ic ks , President o f the P o rtlan d Branch, N A A C P , said when the issue came up tw o years ago the Board discussed the need for a K-8 school and a middle school to prevent the scattering o f children over the district. " O u r opinion has not changed. We still need a middle school and we have issued state ments and positions that the school be located at Eliot. We still stand by this position." As for Boise, " W e are not in fa vor o f Boise being dismantle or con nected. W e consider this to be the final assault on the Black communi ty. It is the final blow to dismantle the options— if Boise goes they will have dismantled all o f our schools." " I t is all p o litic a l and I d o n ’ t want to see people duped into taking an ill-advised position. I f they can’t bring themselves to select Eliot, then 1 think they should allow Prophet to MARIAN SCOTT (Photo: Richard J. Brown) sit through the meetings aren’t even the recipients. The attitude is to ge, it together and give me my share. N o w , this doesn’ t happen all the lim e , but this is what I'v e o b served." She says that many neigh borhood people ge, frustrated. " I t creates a situation o f them against it. We currently have more neigh borhood organizations, bu, reduced funds. So i t ’ s going to hu rt. W ith the social cuts people are com ing ou, o f the woodwork wanting and needing help." Retiring is no, in Mrs. Scott’s life style. She plans to retain part-time ns." • . .. em ploym ent. W rth hindsight and Wirh Reaganomics holding Aim- ' experience M rs. Scott defines her erica hostage, does Mrs. Scott per years w ith P D C as enlightening. ceive the Block G ran t system as “ There are some things the City just being effective? "P e rs o n a lly , no. can’, do. I f I had not been in this All states arc not the same. Coming program I would have never accept from the South I feel uptight about ed that.” tackle this as his first m ajo r chal lenge rather than inheriting a major problem.” Hicks said the B o ard ’ s task should be two-fold— to establish the middle school at E lio t and to up grade Boise by strengthening the leadership and the program. Norm Monroe, Assistant Director o f the Urban League o f Portland, told the Observer that in its January 20, 1982, meeting the Urban League Board o f Directors again endorsed the Elio, site. " A fte r two years the Board is no closer to im plem enta tion. We— the Urban League Board and Executive Director Freddye Pet it) believe the School Board is not being direct and up-front with the North/Northeas, Community. Any delay will mean that there will be no permanent home for Tubman M id dle School." Monroe said he hopes the School Board will proceed immediately ac cording to its past commitment on the decision. James Loving, long-time partici pant in Boise neighborhood organi zatio n , said he opposes the estab lishm ent o f T u b m an in the Boise building primarily because the Boise community has maintained the de sire for a K-8 grade school. "T h a t is our position; it hasn’ t changed. I don’t feel that we should change our position ju s , to accom odate the School Board’s problem.” The logistical objections now be ing raised against the Eliot site were discussed from the beginning and no new inform ation has surfaced that should deter the Board from their original decision, he said. " I think the School Board and all those sub-planning committees are injecting controversy to churn and keep the com m unity in a tu rm o il. The Board should get on w ith the business o f educating our kids and get ou, o f the business o f stirring up controversy.” Ronnie Herndon, co-chairman of the Black U n ite d F ro n t, said the Boise proposal seems to be the same old policy o f dispersal o f Black chil dren prom oted by fo rm er superintendent B lanch ard . " T h e kindergarten through f ifth grade students at Boise would surely have to go out o f the neighborhood be cause there is not room for them in the neighborhood schools.” The com m u nity o rg anizations originally supported E liot because there are o n ly between 40 and 50 neighborhood children there and the rest are bussed in . Th ey could go back to their neighborhood schools. "Th is talk o f dollars and cents is upsetting. How do you measure the lives o f families that are disrupted; Sporting a Black United Front "Now la The Time" button on his lapel during the Monday night School Board m eeting, board member Steve Buel supported the Eliot site for Tubman Middle School. how do you measure the cost to mothers who cannot participate in PT A and other parent activities and children who cannot be involved in sports and after-school activities; how do you measure the cost to fam ilies that are s p lit, w ith th e ir children going to different schools? How do you put a price tag on peo- • pie’s lives?” D r Fenwick proposed Jefferson H igh School last year, Boise this y ea r— and perhaps he w ill turn to the Education Service Center next year, Herndon predicted. The changing roles of women by Bonnie Seal work force. In 1975, 46 pci cent o f the women who were eligible to work were w o rkin g . This has in creased by approxim ately one per cent with each passing year, and is expected to reach 60 per cent by 1990.” How w ill women manage to d i vide their tim e between jobs and families, and still maintain quality in both areas? The key to doing this is adequate preparation, according to Ms. Gaudry. The working mother needs to be prepared for crisis, such as a child's sickness or a car that w on't start. She needs to cover all bases before something happens. I f your child comes down with the chicken pox at 7 a.m. on the day when you have an interview with the governor, what can you do? Have a plan ready to pu, into e ffe c t,’ ’ she emphasized, adding that a sound back-up system should include two or three plans. W hat do chicken pox, executive meetings, and role-playing have in common? They all appear in the lives o f a new and rapidly growing breed o f people in our s o c ie ty - working women, who must fill more than one role on a full-time basis. " O n e re-occurring problem o f women is their in a b ility to blend their roles o f wife and mother with that o f employee or business execu tiv e ," according to C arolyn Gau- dry, vice-president o f the Portland C ham ber o f Com m erce. G au dry spoke to a crowded workshop o f the Institute o f Managerial and Profes sional Women Wednesday night. She is the Chamber’s firs, female vice-president, and co-owner o f a small business, C arbon D io xid e , Inc. Using herself as a role model, she drew upon personal experience as a full-time mother, business exec utive, and volunteer. I, is im portant to do both roles " A great deal o f the growth in the well, without sacrificing or neglect work force in the next few years is ing e ith e r, she stressed. " I an, a going to be from women," accord strong believer in quality rather than ing to Ms. Gaudry. "Eighty per cent q u a n tity ," she explained, stating of the men in America that are eligi that the way a woman's time is spent ble to work are at this point w ork w ith her child is m ore im portant ing,” she explained. "This is no, go than the am ount o f tim e she can ing to change in the next fifteen spend, if that time is not well spent. years. What is going to change is the To assure enough time with both number of women who will join the fam ilies and w o rk, she suggested that women eliminate less unportai activities in their lives. A working mother is a lole mod lor child, said Ms. G au dry. Usin het daughter H eathei as an e, ample, she explained that this ca help to build the child's confiJenci since seeing her mother as a carer woman, she will tend to believe shi loo. can have a career. In addition to being a buxines woman and a mother, Ms. Gaudr has aiso been a civic leader and volunteer. "Those who feel volui tecrism is not important arc missir the b o at," she said, explaining lh< her own volunteerism w ith tb C ham ber o f C om m erce had dor much to enhance her career. O th er topics discussed in clu i goal-setting, the need and ability t get away from the job temporarily and the quality and availability < child care, as well as the important o f m aintaining and using connet tions and netw o rkin g both whil working and looking for work. F o rty-eig h t per cent o f all job come from group and personal cor tacts, and on the management levi it is as high as 80 per cent, accordin to Alice Armstrong, director o f th Institute for Managerial and Prole.« sional Women, who sponsored th session. Seminar explains financial plan A seminar on basic financial plan ning w ill be presented at the King N eighborhood F a c ility , 4815 N E 7th, room 142 on Tuesday. F eb ruary 2, at 7:30 p m. The seminar w ill be repeated every Tuesday through March 30. The seminar will be free of charge and open to the public. It will cover such topics as: the financial risks of life we all must face; con tro lling your financial future; your savings account in B altim o re, M ary la n d ; flexibility to meet and beat change; understanding in flatio n and its e f fects; lax deferred and tax saving techniques; I.R .A . and your fin an cial independence; the role of life in surance In basic financial planning; the basic forms o f life insurance and their comparative costs; alternative growth opportunities; what your in vestments need to earn just to break even; the characteristics o f a good investment. The seminar will be conducted C liff Cam pbell, an executive in t financial services field. Campbi suggests that "n o matter what yo age or how much or how litt money you are making, it is a nec< sity, in our ever changing econom to be well inform ed to effective plan your future for financial su vival and success. This seminar w assist you in achieving your person financial objectives.” THIS SALE IS WHITE HOT. Its all these phones,all at savings up to 23% during our White Sale, now til Feb. 7 C om e get ’e m while they're hot. (PhoncCentct^gtore @ Downtown 208 S W Fifth • Mall 205 • Clackamas Town Center • 1237 Lloyd Center • Jantzen Beach Center i 'w»s*vt Visa and Masit* C«W art « (**! *«e< •
