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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1982)
Page 2 Portland Observer, February 18, 1982 Conversation with Chief Still Grassrool News, N. IT. — Over the last eight weeks various community residents had complained about the attitude and treatment they received fro m the hands o f the P o rtla n d Police D epartm ent. Detailed in an article ir. the Observer (February 4, p. 3) were incidents which ranged fro m abusive arrest patterns to handcuffing and holding a mother and her 11-year-o ld son. W e took the aggregate nature o f these com plaints to the man in charge, Portland Police C hief Ron Still. In his office downtown where he also recorded this interview C h ie f Still said that it’s hard to comment on each individual case because you need to look at each case specifical ly. “ There has been no change in policy or procedure except that there has been additional training in cul tural awareness. Now that’s one as pect o f who we are and what we are doing. Any increase in complaints. CHIEF RON STILL again have to be looked at in d i vidually.** . C h ie f S till assured those in d iv i duals who sent th e ir com plain t through Internal A ffa irs that their com plaint w ould be investigated. Y e t, the in d ivid u als w ho com plained said that the a ttitu d e re ceived from employees in Internal A ffa irs was in d iffe re n c e . “ W e ’ ll look into it,** C h ie f S till directed toward Police Info rm atio n O fficer David Simpson. Could this rash o f complaints be occurring because P ortland Black citizens are paranoid? C h ie f S till doesn’t think so. “ I t ’ s d iffic u lt to generalize. I think some people are paranoid about the police. Those in- voved in crim in al activities would be. Straight people might be because they have had little dealing with po lice officers. T h at’s why I advocate ride-alongs in police cars and volun teer work in crime prevention. Get involved with the police and learn the scope o f the jo b . You then will be able to see the real situation.** C h ief S till added that no m atter what situation a police officer finds himself in, abusive language that’s directed towards the officer has to be swallowed as ,.art o f the job. He concedes however, that an officer can get tired o f it. “ But if an officer cusseS back he will suffer repercus sions.’* Chief Still smiled as he showed us the plaque given to him by the mayor for a ffirm a tiv e action. Yet when we traveled back to the North east side, the arrogance o f the street officers and the mistrust o f the peo ple was not hung on a wall, but was all aro un d . T he men and women who com plained w ill not be reassured that the o ffic e r knew a member o f their race invented the traffic signal. A ll they know is what they perceived. They were treated unfairly and that's not right. Curl Sale — Save $ Curl Sale — Save $ Curl Sale — Save $ Curl Sale — Save $ Curl Sale — Save $ Reg. $60 — Now $35 Complete Still The Best Curl In Town At The Best Price — with thia ad butch coot H a ir D e s ig n t o r M e n S> W o m e n 1405 NE Broadway Call now 284-1897 PDC plan More questions than answers (Continuedfrom page I column 6) W illiams and Russell will be devel oped— through Urban Renewal— to provide the com m ercial center to serve this area. Although the PD C proposal does not address the need for housing development between Williams and Union, this is part of the Comprehensive Plan. The program recommended for this area is: identification, rehabili tation and expansion o f commercial or ind u strial sites; assistance in packaging for developers; financial and technical assistance for devel opers; developm ent o f an o p p o r tunity block; prom otion and m ar keting; assisting with problems such as parking, zoning, etc. Upper Union Avenue This area extends from Fremont to Columbia and includes the largest concentration o f unemployment, va cant and underutilized land, and va cant and substandard buildings. “ Problems such as prostitution, street crim e and blight have h in dered the improvement and growth o f the area and have lim ite d the number o f new firm s entering the area.” The proposal is weak and unspe cific in dealing with this district as com pared to the C o lu m b ia and Lower Union districts. “ The prob lems affecting development o f this area w ill be id e n tifie d , and those that cannot be addressed through a development program will be dealt with through the C ity Bureau Task Force, individual agencies and com m unity groups and leaders.” Eco nomic activities will include: target ing financial assistance through ex isting loan and grant funds, techni cal assistance; a p ro m o tio n and marketing program to draw busi ness; assisting with parking, zoning and regulatory problems. There is no stated commitment to select needed commercial or busi ness enterprises and recruit them to the area; there is no explanation of the requirements fo r or the funds available under the existing loan and grant programs. It should be noted that no Black-owned business has been the beneficiary o f these funds. The upper U n io n Avenue area was added to P D C ’ s proposal fo l lowing an October 20th hearing in which community spokesmen com plained that the area in greatest need — central Union Avenue— had been excluded. The new proposal does not include the Alberta business dis tric t, also o f prim e concern. A l though the original target area de scribed in the proposal included the area to 42nd Avenue, the PD C pro posal uses 7th Avenue as the eastern boundary. Community participation There is no process outlined for citizen participation and no new citizen body will be created. A city bureau task force made up o f the various bureaus will inventory their policies and programs that affect the area and will meet regularly to discuss new approaches and changes Support the t e Ü ° í5 ir n e s 4 in these policies. There is no formal process for ci tizens to m o n ito r the program or have input in future decisions. brought to you every week Budget AMERICAN STATE BANK The budget is confusing and non specific. New money and existing programs are mingled so it is d iffi cult to determine what new commit ment the city plans to make. Oddly enough, the office of the Wall Street Journal is NOT located on W all S treet, but on C ortlandt Street in New York. Commercial investor rehabilitation loans George Gershwin wrote his popular song "S w a nee" in less than 15 minutes. This existing program provides low- interest loans for rehabilitation o f commercial buildings. The 5200,000 is alloted to U nion Avenue and St. Johns, with no specific amount des ignated for Union Avenue. During the R evolutionary War, some Am erican leaders wanted to abolish English as our language and use German or Greek as the official language of theU .S Economic development revolving loan fund 5216,722 is available city-w ide; 5210,000 fo r m in o rities. This existing loan fun d has made no loans to m inority businesses in the target area. W ill any specific amount o f the minority set-aside be designated for the Target Area? For Union Avenue? Industrial site development loen fund 5419,425 has been earmarked for the N ortheast T arget area. This fund is used for industrial sites only. W h at are the p riorities? W ill the money go to Columbia, or will some be retained for Union Avenue? The PD C budget for 1982-1983 to implement the Northeast Economic Development Program is 5871,204. O f this, 5144,090 is for personnel— but is this existing downtown PD C staff? Or does P D C plan to provide additional staff for this project? Budget for program elements In c u b a to r b u ild in g : 5100,000. This building w ould provide con venient, low cost rent and services for small business. Although includ ed in the PD C budget, this building is already in the planning stage and will be funded by the Bureau o f H u man Resources. The question is, which bureau will manage the build ing and will small business have to deal with two bureaus? L a n d b an kin g : 5 15 0,0 0 0. This would allow PD C to purchase about 36 o f a block to facilitate develop ment o f light industry. W ill this be used for the Incubator Building or is it to be a separate development? Commercial/industrial district as sistance: 525,000 is for direct assist ance in support o f economic devel opment activities carried out by for mal organizations. W ill this money go to River East, the organization designated by the city to assist eco nomic developm ent in N ortheast; w ill a new o rg an iza tio n be developed; or will existing commu n ity and neighborhood o rg a n iza tions be funded? M a rk e tin g : 5 1 5 ,0 0 0 fo r devel oping and distributing information about opportunities in the area. A l though this is an in sig n ifican t expenditure, more money and ener gy is often spent on recruiting new businesses than in aiding existing business. It is a commonly accepted p rin cip le that healthy existing business will draw new business. M in o rity business developm ent p ro g ra m : 55,0 00 . W here w ill the money g o — to a p a rt-tim e em ployee? I f the C ity is interested in devel oping minority business why doesn’t it implement its own M B E policy? We do not do business with South Africa American State Union Avenue under construction J P D C does not c u rre n tly have an M B E policy and the C ity Council has not imposed one. Yet implemen tation o f an M B E program by PDC would be the largest in the state’ s histo ry. P D C is in the process o f spending 5300 m illion in construc tion; a 10 per cent set-aside would mean 530 million for minority busi nesses. M in o rity business loans: P D C will seek 550,000 for business loans for working capital. The guidelines o f the existing Revolving Loan Fund allow loans for working capital and the money is available, yet loans for w o rkin g cap ital have never been made. I f there is now a commitment fo r w o rkin g c a p ita l, why not use that 5471,000? City bureau task force: 55,000 for coordinating city bureaus active in the target area. Parking lots: 5332,000 for federal Economic Development A dm inis tration funds to be used to develop parking lots on Union Avenue. Are parking lots the top p riority o f the businesses on Union Avenue? There are many questions the City Council should ask: Except for the parking lots, all of the funds for this project will come from Housing and Community De velopment (H C D ) funds. Proposals for H C D funds, which will be cut by 15 per cent next year, will go before C ity council M a y 19th. I f those funds are not made available to the Northeast Target area, will the plan meet an early death? W h at are the im p lication s o f Mayor Frank Ivancie’s appointment o f his a d m in istra tive assistant, M ark G ardner, to head H C D , the only discretionary funds available to the City? What is the M ayor’s com mitm ent to working with the com munity? What is his commitment to Northeast? Housing is not mentioned in the proposal although it is a priority of the community. High rise and other housing will develop in the Lower Union area, but what about Upper Union? Can commercial enterprises be drawn into an area that does not have a strong residential area to sup port them? The proposal does not specify who will operate the project. W ill P D C run the p ro ject fro m the downtown office? W ill it be a pro ject at all, or will it be fragmented pieces? W ill the P D C Union Avenue office be retained? Much is being made o f the M ay o r’s plan for targeting Northeast for econom ic developm ent. W h at is P D C ’ s budget for economic devel opm ent c ity -w id e , and what per centage will go to Northeast? Is this commitment? (Next week: Neighborhood Hire) AN IN D EPEN D EN T BANK Head Ottica 2737 N. E. Union Portland. Oregon 97212 hair designs f f Presents Revlon Platform Artist Marie Edwards from: Paris London Los Angeles Have yo u r hair styled by one o f the best... hair designs f fá¡( HOURS: TUESDAY THRU S A TU D A Y , 11 am-B pm. X. 526 S.w . Park Ave. Portland, 241-i theMorgan-Park Huilding