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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1982)
K p . F r e n is Schoen--;e. 8pap,P r’ c za U n 'v ?r 3 '. t y o f C r e b r i L U t v - v Legalized prostitution? Page 2 LU LU I W hat's wrong w ith Ducks 25 years in space Page 6 Page 5 PORTLAND OBSERVER October 6, 1982 Volume XII, Number 52 25C Per Copy Two Sections USES 959-680 «55 Kulongoski addresses community concerns c a n d id a te fo r G o v e rn o r o f O re gon O b s e rv e r: What w ill yo u do as G overnor to ensure that i f the eco nomy starts to turn around f o r exist ing firm s , o r when a new la b o r in tensive employer locates in the stale, blacks and o th e r m in o ritie s w ill have a real opp o rtu n ity to be hired and trained? State Senator Tad Kulongoski Is the Dem ocratic Party candi date for Governor of Oregon The following is an interview w ith State Senator Tad Kulongoski. Dem ocratic Party K u lo n g o s k i: I recognize that blacks and o lh e r m in o ritie s have been among the last hired and first fire d . E conom ic d o w n tu rn s have had a fa r greater im pact on the black and m inority community than on other segments o f Oregon. It is not enough for government to mere ly give lip service to the problem . That is whv I am committed to a ffir m ative a ctio n goals, policies and plans. That is also why I sponsored legislation to make a ffirm a tive ac tio n an Oregon state policy. I w ill fight attempts to reduce state efforts to enforce our anti-d iscrim in a tio n legislation, and I w ill w ork to add penalties fo r the vio la tio n o f those statutes. Given the legislature's attitude to w ard p ro v id in g resources to M u lt CETA reorganizes A cutback in the C ity o f P o rt la n d ’ s I raining and Em ploym ent D iv is io n s ta ff due to cutbacks in federal funding brought termination o f 22 positions, a cut from 67 to 45 positions. In the I983 fiscal year, which be gan October I, 1982, federal funds available to the C ity fro m C E T A (Comprehensive Em ploym ent and T ra in in g A c t) was cut by 43 per cent, dow n fro m $6.1 m illio n to $3.5 m illio n . W h ile 1,950 clients were served last year, only 1,250 w ill be served this fiscal year. The mission o f Portland's C E T A program is " t o prom ote economic self s u ffic ie n c y fo r unem ployed P ortland residents by id e n tify in g and developing jo b o p p o rtu n itie s and by increasing the employm ent potential o f individuals to be placed into those jo b s ." Forty participants w ill be trained fo r entry level posi tions in n o n -tra d itio n a l jo b s; 200 w ill be trained fo r entry-level posi tions in demand occupations; 400 w ill attain basic academic skills (pre- vocational). The d iv is io n w ill also pro vid e (raining and employment services to First Source Agreement employers. "W e are seeing Reaganomics at w ork in this s itu a tio n , w ith ques tionable decisions being made at the federal level about the continuation o f so many o f these critical employ ment p ro g ra m s ," C om m issioner Margaret Strachan said. " I certainly hope that we don’ t sec a further ero sion o f this program th ro u g h the passage ol Ballot Measure 3 in N o vember. I f that measure passes, the $625,(XX) o f City general fund in the T E D w ill also be threatened and what little remains o f the program may further erode.” nomah County, and specifically to Portlund, what w ill you do to ensure resource availability to the Portland M etro area? I w ill in te n sify e ffo rts to locate m in o rity business firm s and c o n tractors fo r all potential state con tracts. In my small business assist ance programs special emphasis w ill be placed on providing the manage ment assistance and inform ation to m inority firms and business to allow them to more e ffectively compete fo r those contracts. To m onitor the success o f those programs, I w ill re quire and review regular reports on their operation and effectiveness, and w ill order more effective o u t reach o p eration s to the m in o rity business community as appropriate. It is obvious (hat the Reagan ad m in is tra tio n ’ s urban policy is c u t ting out many o f the economic de velopment funds and projects t hat have helped com m unities such as P o rtla n d . Both state and local re sources are also limited, and the best hope for continuing those programs and projects lies in innovative public- private ventures. The economic de velopment program that I have pro posed w ill do that on a statewide ba sis through making venture capital more accessible. Although the crea tion o f that program w ill take legis lative action, its operation w ill un d o u b te d ly create a flo w o f funds into the Portland area because o f its p o p u la tio n and existing business and industrial opportunities. To help ensure financing availa b ility f o r new and existing m inority businesses, w ill you initiate creation o f a Venture C apital Company or a M in o rity Small Business Investment Company as you have proposed fo r the general sm all business com m u nity? What w ill you do to ensure that state governm ent supports ethnic m in o rity business p a rtic ip a tio n in state contracts, including construc tion, procurement and professional services and how w ill m onitoring be accomplished? A ffirm a tiv e A ction goals w ill be included in all parts o f my economic development program, and particu la rly in p ro v id in g Oregon enter prises venture capital. I f it is more e ffe ctive to meet those goals yyjre effective to meet those goals through a specific m inority venture capital company or a m inority small business investment company, those organizations w ill be created. Do you feel Oregon has black and other ethnic m in o ritie s capable o f serving on commissions such as the P o rt o f P ortland, the Stale Trans portation Commission, and its eco nomic development commission and boards? D o yo u p la n to a p p o in t blacks and other m inorities to these and o th e r p o lic y -m a k in g state boards and commissions and to p o s itio n s as g o ve rn m e n ta l agency heads. Yes—Oregon obviously has many blacks and minorities who are capa ble to fill any position in state gov ernment. Yes—blacks and other m i norities w ill be appointed to those positions under my adm inistration. I w ill expand our affirm ative action program to cover a ll those p o si tions? D o yo u fe e l G ov. A tiy e h has a weak o r strong record in a p p o in t ments o f blacks, increasing the numbers o f blacks on state boards and commissions and on agency or department head levels? No, the G overnor’ s entire record in in c lu d in g m in o ritie s in c ritic a l state p o lic y m aking po sitio n s is lacking. It is made even more lack ing by his opposition to making a f firm ative action goals apply to state boards and commissions. O ur G ov ernor should do better. The King Neighborhood Facil ity w ill sponsor a m eeting —a Community Discussion with Ted Kulongoski —on Tuesday, Oct. 12th. 8 pm at King Neighborhood Facility. Has the m in o rity vote in Oregon been o f s ig n ific a n t im p o rta n ce in this G overnor’s race and what plans do you have to contract and hear the concerns o f Oregon's m inority pop ulations? The m in o rity citizens o f Oregon w ill be im p o rta n t to me as G over nor, and I hope that my record on support o f m inority causes and con cerns w ill in flu e n ce th e ir vote. I [Please turn to page 4 column 4} South Africa: Closet nuclear weapons proliferation by Samuel H. Day, Jr. Pacific News Service The government o f South A fric a w ill deny it, but in a safe, secure and secret place somewhere w ith in its borders, a sm all supply o f atom ic bom bs— p ro b a b ly no m ore than h a lf a dozen— has been laid away fo r use i f necessary in the final de fense o f apartheid. The bombs are fueled with urani um enriched in utmost secrecy in a fa c to ry b u ilt near P re to ria in the early 1970s, fo r the ostensible pur pose o f serving South A fr ic a ’ s peaceful nuclear programs. They were fa b rica te d outside Cape Town in the proving grounds o f a company called African Explo sives and Chemical Industries, Ltd. (A E C I), the w o r ld ’ s largest and most sophisticated manufacturer o f conventional high explosives. An early p ro to ty p e o f the bom b was successfully tested in the predawn hours o f September 22, 1979, by sci entists aboard a flo tilla o f South A fric a n naval vessels in the South Atlantic. The purpose o f the atomic stock pile is to deter South A frica ’s neigh boring black-ruled states—chiefly A ngola, Zim babw e, and M ozam b iq u e — fro m going to o fa r in support o f the increasingly serious internal struggle to overturn white m inority rule at the southern tip o f A frica. A lthough this picture may d iffe r fro m reality in a few details, there can be little doubt about the essen tials o f South A fric a ’s nuclear wea pons program , o r about its in te n tions. For f if t y days this summer 1 roamed the length and breadth o f South A frica, visiting nuclear facili ties, interview ing people in a posi tio n to know , and ta lk in g w ith scores o f South Africans about whe ther and why th e ir governm ent would risk triggering a nuclear holo caust. The picture that materialized merely added to the weight o f evi dence regarding an " A fr ik a n e r B om b" that has been accumulating since August, 1977. when South A f rica was caught red-handed prepar ing a nuclear weapons test in the Ka la h a ri Desert. P re to ria was then forced to call o f f the test by d ip lo m atic pressure fro m the U nited States and other m ajor powers. W hat the evidence dramatizes is the emergence o f a frightening new phenomenon o f the nuclear age: the clandestine proliferator. For the first three decades o f the nuclear arms race, beginning w ith the bombing o f H iroshim a on A u gust 6, 1945, the entrance o f each new nation into the nuclear weapons c lu b was a h ig h ly p u b lic event, marked w ith awe and trem bling by others, like some monstrous “ right o f passage" to superstatehood. First came the United States, then the So viet U n io n , B rita in , C hina and France. But c o n d itio n s changed a fte r May, 1974, when the explosion o f a "nuclear device" by India demon strated that clu b m em bership was a tta in a b le by even the poorest o f Third W orld countries. The sudden re a liz a tio n th a t the Bom b m ight eventua lly tu rn up anywhere and everywhere gave “ nuclear prolifera tio n " a bad name, and stim ulated international efforts to contain it. Nevertheless, today Israel is a l most universally believed to have se cretly built a supply o f nuclear wea pons fo r use in an emergency. Paki stan is know n to be w ell along to ward its first atomic bomb. Taiwan and South Korea are said to be next in line, w ith A rg e n tin a and B razil not far behind. Since 1974 no nation has openly jo in e d the nuclear weapons clu b , however, even though the spreading technology for peaceful nuclear pro grams (especially uranium enrich ment and p lu to n iu m p ro d u c tio n ) has put bom b-m aking capability in the hands o f an ever-growing num ber. The d iffe re n ce now is th a t b o m b -m a kin g has gone under ground. C lub membership has be- (Please turn to page 9 column 4) Debnam seeks District 18 House position ( had Debnam was named by the M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty R epublican Party last week as its nominee fo r House D istrict 18. Debnam joins a fu ll field: Ed l.cck won the Demo cratic Party nom ination in the May primary; Kent Ford is running as an Independent; Jimmy Walker is run ning for a New Party; John Jackson is u w rite -in candida te; and Paul Watum is the lib e rta ria n Party can didate. Observer: There arc five c a n d i dates in this race, three o f them black. Whey did you enter the race at this point? Debnam : I was asked by a group o f citizens w ho meet F riday m orn ings Io discuss e co n o m ic issues to seek the R e p u b lic a n n o m in a tio n . M r. l eek, M r , W a lk e r and M r l o rd had met w ith the g ro u p . M r. I cek told them that blacks can only seek employment from the federal government and that nothing can he done about the rape o f Union Aven ue. I noticed that neither M r. Walker nor M r Ford addressed economic issues and that neither had the a b il ity to debate the issues w ith M r. Leek. I hesitatingly sought the nom ination, since I am used to being in the background and pushing others. Fortunately, perhaps, the R epubli cans were looking for someone. O bserver: W hat arc the m a jo r concerns in District 18? D ebnam : N a tu ra lly econom ic development is very im portant. To create jobs we must actively market the inner N ortheast area and the Union Avenue corridor. I am in fa vor o l lax incentives to draw busi ness, but I believe much o f the prob lem is one o f image. Serving in Salem w ould provide an a tm o sphere, an opportunity to work with developers, to seek employers from throughout the stale and from out side the state. I don't believe we have to wait for the w hole to gel the parts; we can start w ith the parts and b u ild the whole. I believe that is math. I don't want to wait for the "tric k le d o w n " theory—-to see i f it w ill w o rk —but to create a "tric k le u p " process. C rim e is closely telatcd to jobs. People in the neighborhoods can de velop programs such as "ne ig h b o r hood w atch" to plug into state and n a tio n a l crim e -p re ve n tio n p ro grams. C om m unications between the police and the community could help to alleviate some o f the p ro b lems, to create a sense o f coopera tion rather than combativencss be tween the people and the police. Developm ent o f U n io n Avenue w ith a series o f sm all businesses w ould create a ctivity on the street and perhaps cut down on the prosti tution problem. I would like to see a 6 m onth study by the highway de partment, the city traffic people and police, and the business people to see i f p u ttin g p a rkin g back on U nion Avenue would help business and pet haps elim inate some o f the prostitution. The lack o f parking is a serious problem for businesses on Union Avenue. Education continues to be a high p r io r ity . 1 w o u ld lik e to see high technology education at PCC-Cas- cadc and Jefferson, as well as com puter training in the middle schools. 1 understand there is some computer tra in in g already, but this could be upgraded and made available to more students. Housing is another serious prob lem , especially fo r low er incom e families. We must find a way to get people in to home ownership. Per haps some o f the federal subsidies now used fo r rentals could be used fo r lease-option arrangem ents. Home ownership stabilizes commu nities. O ur elderly people arc still over looked. 1 w ill lobby for senior c iti zens’ program s so that our elder people w ill have the resources to live in dignity. I support "operation in dependence,” support services Io el d erly in their own homes, a skills bank, and part tim e w ork fo r seniors who want to w ork or who cannot a ffo rd not to w ork There are manv places the skills o f senior citizens can be u s e fu l— in the schools, day care centers, sm all businesses. Racism is still a problem in O re gon. I w ill work w ith the A C LU and other interested groups to write a ra cial harassment bill that w ill be con stitutional. H ealth care is a m a jo r problem for senior citizens as well as others. 1 fa vo r a nationa l health insurance system fo r a ll persons and w ould support a state system u n til a na tional program is adopted. O ur youths are another problem. We need to fin d wavs to help them transition from school, or from the street, to m eaningful w ork and to help them become a part o f the com m unity. M any feel le ft out, value less, with nothing to contribute. Observer: W hat is your position on Measure 3, the I Vi per cent tax lim itation? D ebnam : I am opposed to this measure. It w ould harm our schools, c ity services, e tc., and (Please turn to page 4 column 4) CHAD DEBNAM
