Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1982)
M rs f r a n e r ò U n iv e r s ity tu ■ S c h o o n -L 'e w a p a p er Poom o f O reg o n L i b r a r y O.-. :;on V i'iJ J Michael's career District 1 campaign Page 1 LU Page 8 Guardian Angels recruit Page 3 PORTLAND OBSERVER September 22,1962 Volume XII, Number 50 25C Per Copy Two Sections USPS 959-680-855 Buchanan, Shadburne seek County Exec post by Lam ia Duke The position o f M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty Executive D ire c to r, left open by Don Clark's bid for Gover nor, has two serious contenders: Dennis Buchanan and G ordon *Shadburne. B uchanan, SO, is c u rren tly a County Commissioner, the County Executive job is one o f the most im portant executive positions in the area. The duties arc to run the coun ty o f a day-to-day basis. He hires personnel, prepares the County budget and has the authority to veto any ordinance passed by (he Board of County Commissioners. Equally important, he appoints boards and commissions which set policies, thus giving the County Executive a strong voice in policy. DENNIS BUCH A N A N Buchanan summed up his goals. " I would improve the management o f the County, raise the level of pro fessionalism and productivity, pro vide an adequately funded correc tional facility and public safety pro gram.” Buchanan says his most impor tant task is to protect an open gov ernment. "One of our goals is to communicate with our citizens and allow them involvement in the gov ernment process." On the basis of this goal Buchanan supports citizen initiatives, a process where voters introduce legislation for public con sideration. "1 have no problem with that. It’s the law of the state. We have initiative and referendum and I hope that this process continues.” This process resulted in the El Sal vador initiative appearing before the board o f County Commissioners. Buchanan does not support this measure. “ I think the law is very clear that this is not an appropriate measure for the county ballot. We have a legal ruling which says so. I personally do not believe that we (Please turn Io page 5 column I ) In a recent interview w ith the P o rtla n d Observer M ultn o m ah C ounty Com m issioner G ordon Shadburne discussed his po litical philosophy and why he is running for County Executive against oppo nent Commissioner Dennis Buchan an. His goals as C ounty Executive would be, he said: I ) to m axim ize dollars available for services, 2) to redirect the C o u n ty ’s emphasis to ward protection o f life , liberty and p ro p erty, 3) to challenge and p ro vide leadership to people and neigh borhoods working together to solve local problems, and 4) to do these things within the C o u n ty’s income. " I have a track record in all relevant areas," said Shadburne. Shadburne stated he is running for County Executive because, since 1979, he has found that government over-regulates and over-taxes peo ple. "Governm ent isn’t a servant to people, it dictates; people want free dom ," said Shadburne. A t a time when citizens want no more taxes, he said, the C ounty must provide both human services and justice services. M ore funds are needed fo r b oth, Shadburne said. The answer seen by Shadburne is more effective leadership fo r the 1982. H e is w illin g to make the hard decisions and to ensure County government is fiscally responsible. The example cited was his w illin g ness to cut "h e a v y s ta ff salaries’ * such as the D epartm ent o f H um an Services director’s salary, "around $60,000,” to a more reasonable lev el o f $40,000, so that more dollars go to fill service needs. Shadburne said he agreed w ith President Reagan’s efforts to bring greater responsibility to local gov ernment but that he opposes deficit spending. Shadburne intends, he said, to provide leadership that is more re sponsive to small business, sayihg it (Please turn to page 10 column 3) GORDON SHADBURNE Are prisons the answer? G rassroot News. N . IP .— There are not bars, yet their movement is restricted. T heir surroundings are the same, day in and day out. These women arc told when to eat, wake up and go Io bed. They are serving time at C la ire A rg o w , the fem ale equivalent of Rocky Butte jail. The women w ill answer your "w h y" by finding fault with the sys tem. but the manager of Claire A r gow, l.t. Vera P o o l, places the blame directly on the inmates. " U n til they stop saying it's the system and say ' I t ’s m e,” they will continue io come in contact with institutions like Claire Argow. There is no d if ference between a fem ale inm ate and a male inmate, except their sex. T ra d itio n a lly , female inmates are not looked upon as being the same kind o f violent criminals as males. N o w , women are c o m m ittin g the same kind o f offenses as their male counterparts. H o w ev er, it is not publicized.” Statistics show an increase in the number o f crimes com m itted by women and l.t. Pool says there is more than one reason for this in crease. "T h e re arc a lot o f factors involved. 1 feel it's a new concept that females have adopted where they feel just as equal as men and they go out and com m it the same types of crimes. Also, it’s the temp tatio n and the o p p o rtu n ity they have at the time to commit crimes.” Women criminals seem to have a higher rate of return once they serve time. " I like to think o f it in terms o f skills. They do not have any adap tab le skills to apply to get a job. A lot o f these females are able to make quite a bit o f money by boosting, forging and taking things that do not belong to them. I f they get a jo b paying m in im um wage they would not make that kind o f money. It is the way they have ad justed their lives to live. When you talk about drugs addicts, they can not support their habits on m in i mum w age." Another factor is (hat once they are releasted they are right back with (he same peer group and pressures that put them behind bars in the first place. Lt. Vera Pool has spent the last 12 years in the criminal justice system and believes female inmates o f to day d iffe r from those who entered the system 12 years a g o ." W omen are coming in younger and their atti tude is different. Before, the kinds o f women were prostitutes, shoplift ers and forgers. They were older, at least 25 and above. When drugs be came prevalent we saw a lot more women coming in because drugs are associated with other crimes.” I t. Pool defines the system at C la ire A rgow as unique. " W e are the only female faclity in M u ltn o mah County. Our population is low er than other institutions and we can do things here that the other institu tions cannot do. We have a mature staff that has been in the system for a long tim e. T h ey know how to work with people and how to under stand people. W e are not pro-se cu rity like other in s titu tio n s . W e have our staff working right in the in stitu tio n w ith the wom en. I feel the supervision, com m unications and training here at C laire Argow are very good.” There arc no bars at Claire Argow and it reminds one o f a college dorm with locks. Where is the punishment or the deterrent for crime? " I don’t (Please turn to page 10 column 3) Clair« Argow Woman’s Facility: Not a vary friendly environment for woman inmates. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Blacks battle for position in House District 18 race by C. Eddie Edmondson Attempts by various elements and persons in inner Northeast Portland to come up with an A frican-A m eri can, or black, person to run for the newly created 18th D istrict State Representative race has resulted in one black Democrat running as an independent, one as a m inor party candidate and one as a write-in can didate. What they have in com mon, be sides color, is a desire to prevent the D em ocratic w inner o f last M a y ’ s prim ary election, Ed Leek, who is white, from winning in the heavily Democratic district. I he 18lh District was created fol lowing changes in the 1980 stale cen sus count. Most black organizations and com m unity groups strongly urged the area be consolidated to a l low blacks the opportunity to elect a candidate o f their own choosing. It is generally conceded the d istrict was developed to give black resi dents— who say the 1970 re-district ing spread th e ir p rim a rily D e m o cratic voting bloc among several pri m a rily w hite d is tricts — a greater chance o f electing a candidate o f their own choosing, p robably a black person. Five of the eight Democratic can didates were black. All o f them lost. No blacks filed for the Republican slot. Ironically, Mel Ham ilton, who won (he Republican primary unop posed, was recently sent to prison a fte r he ad m itted having oral sex with a young male who was under age. The M u ltn o m a h C o un ty Re publican Central Committee will be allowed to nominate a replacement for Hamilton. The Multnomah County Republi can C en tral C om m ittee has tenta tively scheduled a meeting Monday, Sept. 27th, at 7 p.m . at the C olis eum Holiday Inn to select a replace ment candidate for the 18th District State Representative race. Kay Durtschi, vice chairperson of the Republican Central Committee, said that so far two candidates have offered themselves as replacement candidates. They are Ken Dixon, an atto rn ey in p riv ate practice, and Chad D ebnam , a local music p ro moter. Both are black. " T h a t was an oversight by m e,” said Charles Stoudamire, one o f the five black candidates who lost in the M ay p rim ary. " F r a n k ly ,” he con tinued, " I d id n ’ t think about ru n ning as a R ep u b lican . M y b ac k ground is D em o c ra tic , but it shouldn't m atter.” W hat does m a tter is the possi b ility the three blacks hoping to upset Leek in November will repeal the failures o f the five blacks in the M ay primary. That does not bother them. Kent Ford, who is registered as an independent, says he has the sup port o f "the com m unity," as all of the black candidates interviewed for this story describe inner Northeast where most o f black Portlanders re side. F o rd ’ s cam paign is being m an aged by Rose Gangle who also lost to Leek in the Democratic primary. F o rd ’s literature notes Stoudamire as his campaign treasurer. Stouda mire says he is not Ford’s campaign treasurer. Stoudamire said he was asked by Ford to be involved in his campaign but had not made up his mind by the time Ford had to file his candidacy with the Oregon Secretary o f State’s o ffice. He allowed Ford to use his name, he said, but he is not active in F o rd ’s campaign. Stoudamire said he is unsure if he w ould support Ford or Jimmy “ Bang Bang” W a lk er, who was involved in Stouda- mire’s unsuccessful campaign. Ford said at present his campaign is oper ating without any one person desig nated as treasurer. Ford said he believes he is a more viab le candidate than any other based on his past work “ in the com m u n ity .” He said his involvement has prim arily centered around the free breakfast program for school children, when he was " in the Black Panthers” here. Ford dented that he headed the Portland chapter. Other projects included a free dental clinic for poor persons in the area. Both program s were developed in the 1970s along with the sickle cell test ing program he says he also helped initiate. The dental program recent ly ended, he said. " P e o p le know w ho is going to work the hardest for them and who worked the hardest for them in the p ast," he explained. I f he's elected Ford said he would seek to utilize the resources a va ila b le to a state representative to help the people in his d is tric t. In the past, he said, black residents were forced to go to the governor’s office for the things they needed in their district. One ex ample he cites is the Albina Human Resources center which he said was placed in the area when blacks ap pealed to the governor’s office for such a local service. Ford had intended to run in the May primary as a Democrat but be cause he was registered as an inde pendent he was unable to. H e said th a t he has always supported the Democratic Party and would do so if elected. "O nce they see the way I ’ll vote on issues,” he said, the Democrats w on’t have any reason to shut him out of assignments. " I ’m running as an independent but I ’m not going to be a m averick or try to wreck the Democratic party,” he said. Jim m y " B a n g B an g " W a lk er w orked w ith S to u d am ire ’ s cam paign. He said that none o f the black candidates in the May primary would listen to his suggestions o f how they could use the resources of the Democratic Party to assist them in their campaign. Walker said he was not bothered by the five black candidates in the primary race because " it was good and healthy— more people should have been involved,” he said. What happened was that Leek "out-cam paigned" all o f the other candidates (Please turn to page 9 column / )
