Portland Observer, July 7, 198?
page 3
METROPOLITAN-
Kay Stepp: Corporate Vice President
by Nathaniel Scott
From her office on the 14th floor
o f the W illa m e tte Center B u ild
ing, PGE Vice-President o f Human
Resources Kay Stepp has a sweeping
view o f the W illamette River. On a
clear day she can sec M t. St. Helens
and M t. H o o d , tug boats, barges
and last-cutting speed boats as well
as an isolated fisherm an o r tw o.
D uring rain or overcast weather—
the beauty o f the view changes, pro
ducing reduced sizes o f people and
autom obiles in contrasting shades
that add to the spectrum o f life .
And, you would think, induce nos
talgia periods o f fantasyland. Not
so, Ms. S t e p p s u iu . “ I e njoy the
view but I do things other than s it
ting back daydreaming.” Kay Stepp
is PG E’ s only wom an V ice-P resi
dent.
Ms. Steppe’ s jo b includes the
areas o f people—em ploym ent, la-
b o f re la tio n s , developm ent and
tra in in g , health and safety, equal
o p p o rtu n ity . She supervises more
than 65 people including four man
agers who report directly to her.
In her endeavor to hack out a
“ c a re e r,” w hich she said “ .. .is
progressing towards goals in terms
o f what you want to achieve,” she is
also serious about p a re n tin g . “ I
guard (he lim e w ith my c h ild re n
c a re fu lly ,” she said. “ I make sure
that time has p rio rity .” Ms. Stepp is
a 37-year-old divorcee with two chil
dren, a daughter 14 and a son 11.
She is also a service oriented per
son. “ I feel better about my work
when I am in vo lve d in m aking a
c o n trib u tio n to the c o m m u n ity ,”
she said. People should have goals
to aspire to. And also, they should
know how to turn those goals into
reality. I t ’ s im portant to know how
to get to our long range goals, she
added, so i t ’ s im p o rta n t to have
short and intermediate range goals
too.
Ms. Stepp’s concern for making a
"c o n trib u tio n for the com m unity”
encompasses national issues such as
ERA and the disadvantage o f m in
orities.
“ I have mixed feelings about the
process E R A went th ro u g h ,” she
said. “ I don’ t think we should have
a rtific ia l barriers that w ould keep
people fro m reaching th e ir goals
. . . .M y concern is that the E R A
movement seems to have lost the fo
cus. Our real focus should be devel
oping people—men, women and m i
n o ritie s.” She also mentioned that
changing “ attitu d e s” w ill happen
over a period o f time by competent
men and women.
Ms. S tepp’ s concern included
dual career families, which she said
are real challenging but once you
nave made a choice as an adult, you
accept the re s p o n s ib ility o f it.
"H in d s ig h t is wasted energy,” she
added.
W hile not being subjected to and
considering herself “ fo rtu n a te ,”
she has heard o f business women
w ho in some circles are labeled
"outcast.”
" I feel real good about w orking
for PGE,” she said. “ I f I expect my
peers to respect me, I fir s t o f a ll
have to do my jo b .”
Ms. Stepp has also noticed the
disproportionate number o f women
and m inorities in the cra ft areas at
PGE. The craft areas include lines
man and all the other crafts that re
quire apprenticeship programs, she
said. “ The craft areas are weak fo r
minorities and women.”
“ We (PGE) are fin d in g out that
women can be excellent engineers,
accountants, architects and so
fo rth .”
Ms. Stepp is involved in numerous
civic activities and iias won several
awards including awards fo r women
in communication on four different
occasions. A nd, she is physical. “ I
do physical things to unw ind. Phy
sical things to me are a way to regen
erate.” She likes squash, running
and things o f th a t nature. A gain,
Kay Stepp is P G E ’ s o n ly wom an
Vice-President.
KAY STEPP
¿Mollgúnjob 4F torre t
Ethics board dismisses complaint
The Oregon Governm ent Ethics
C om m ittee dismissed a com plaint
against State Treasurer Clay Myers
filed by the People for Southern A f
rican Freedom (PFSA). The group
charged that M yers violated State
law by accepting an expense-paid
tr ip to South A fric a . Oregon law
forbids state officials accepting gifts
w o rth more than $100 fro m any
source having an economic interest
in that official's actions.
PFSA charged th a t, as State
Treasurer, Myers is involved in the
investment o f state funds in corpor
ations (hat do business in South A f
rica. The Southern A frican Forum,
w hich funded M ye rs’ tr ip , repre
sents large white corporations that
support the apartheid system.
In addition to his o ffic ia l role in
state investments, Myers twice testi
fied against legislation that w ould
have prohibited state investment in
co rp o ra tio n s doing business w ith
South A fric a . The PFSA alleged
that the testim ony and anticipated
testimony in the future was the p ri
m ary reason fo r the in v ita tio n to
visit South A frica.
Although the vote to dismiss the
charge was unanim ous, there was
considerable discussion and some
jo in e rs grotti Hnlluinooò
members o f the Commission wanted
M yers to te s tify . A lth o u g h Myers
did not appear, Deputy State Treas
urer Fred Hansen te s tifie d that
Myers does no, have direct control
o f state investments. An A ttorney
General's opinion states that invest
ments can be based only on risk and
rate o f return.
I n YAW S R esta u r a n t
2005 N.E. 40th
Portland, OR 97212
249-1888
D ouglas Ferguson, an Oregon
State University professor, testified
that between $200 an $800 m illio n
o f P u b lic Em ployees R etirem ent
System funds are invested in corpor
ations doing business w ith South
A frica.
We Deliver
Anywhere
IN I
STATE TREASURER CLAY MYERS
Pause with Pepsi............
.............and step into history.
Maggie
Lena
Walker
(1867-1934)
George King watches as Lawrence Gill and Tim
T yler, su m m er y o u th e m p lo y m e n t w o rk e rs ,
remove litter from his street.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Summer program provides jobs
M ayor Frank Iva n cie ’ s summer
em ploym ent fo r teens program
KILLS
FLEAS,TICKS!
(SET) pul its first teenagers to work
Tuesday picking up litter in a N orth
east P ortland neighborhood. The
Mayor called the program " a bit o f
an oasis in today’s employment des
ert. I l ’ s a good introduction into the
world o f work and wage earning for
any teenager.”
The $250,,MM) program w ill em
ploy 410 Portland teenagers over an
eight week program. Youth w ill per
form a variety o f civic improvement
tasks, such as park and roadside
clean up, city property maintenance
and tr a il b u ild in g . Some being
placed w ith public and private non
profit agencies w ill be assigned cleri
cal and general assistance work.
PHIL'S
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Born into poverty in Richmond, Virginia, she became executive secretary-
treasurer of the Independent Order of St. Luke in 1889, and founded the St.
Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1902. Later she served as V irginia state
president of the National Association of Colored Women, and established a
newspaper, the St. Luke Herald. In 1924 she spurred an inter racial group of
women to develop an active community center in Richmond, Virginia.
Take The
Pepsi Challenge.
Let your taste decide.