Page 4 Portland Observer, December 1,1962
EDITORIAL/OPINION
A Mayor with a vision
by Herb L. Cawthorne
Hold up there, Frank!
For many years it has been the practice o f
School Board and City Council members to re
sign before their terms end, thereby allowing
their fellow Board members and not the voters
to choose their successors. The remaining mem
bers can select someone who will fit in with the
“ clu b ” or, as form er School Board member
Jonathan Newman so aptly put it as he rejected
candidate Dr. Darrell Millner, “ a member o f the
family.”
Former appointees currently holding office
are School Board members Joe Rieke and Herb
Cawthorne, and City Commissioners M ildred
Schwab, Charles Jordan and Mike Lindberg.
Frank McNamara has announced that he will
resign from the School Board in January, six
months before his term ends. McNamara’s early
resignation sets the stage for the appointment of
a successor who will have the advantage of being
an incumbent in the March School Board elec
tion. This is an expert way either to select a fa
vorite candidate or to reject someone who is not
wanted but might feel the urge to run.
Joe Rieke, Charlotte Beeman, Dean Gisvold
and Bill Scott can select this new member. The
new member, o f course, will be expected to join
the coalition o f Beeman, Gisvold, Scott and, at
times, Rieke. Needless to say, this is a significant
problem for those who hope and work for pro
gress toward quality and equity.
McNamara’s decision might seem wise at first
glance, but actually it is a subversion o f the dem
ocratic process and a symptom o f lack o f confi
dence in the voters. Although McNamara un
doubtedly has valid personal reasons for leaving
early, he should rescind his decision and remain
on the Board at least until after the March elec
tion.
The progressive voters must quickly identify
and support a candidate who, i f not appointed
to the vacancy, w ill challenge the appointee in
April.
Additional School Board positions w ill be up
for election in A p ril—those o f Rieke, Buel and
Scott. Now is the time to organize and support
candidates fo r those positions now held by
Rieke and Scott. The time is growing short.
The real McCoy
The big question in the Oregon Senate is who
will be elected Senate President. Frank Roberts
o f Portland holds the lead but currently lacks
the votes to win.
And the bone o f contention, at least w ith
some Portland liberals including the editors o f
Willamette Week, is Senator Bill McCoy. While
all o f Multnomah County’s Democratic senators
support Roberts—who is reputed to be a “ pro
gressive, urban-oriented candidate” — McCoy
has thrown his vote to Senator C liff Trow o f
Corvallis.
W illamette Week castigates the “ unreal
McCoy” for “ teetering on becoming obstruc
tionist” and advises him to “ start worrying less
about helping downstate presidency candidates
and more about helping the state.” The news
paper did give McCoy a compliment though,
calling him a “ progressive, urban-oriented legis
lator who has conscientiously represented Port
land interests for nearly a decade.” This is high
praise for McCoy, compared to that newspa
per’s usual less favorable descriptions o f
McCoy’s work in the legislature.
We must com pliment McCoy on his stand
and trust that he will not give in too easily to his
fellow Portland legislators. McCoy explained
that he had committed his vote to Trow months
ago when Trow had successfully served as Sen
ate President Pro-Tern and sees no reason now
to go back on that promise.
There are times when it is proper to put per
sonal com mitments before politics, and fo r
McCoy, this is the time. It behooves McCoy’s
constituents to watch carefully to see if the even
tual winner takes revenge by denying McCoy
choice appointments as has frequently happened
in the past. Principles before politics, Mr. Presi
dent.
Öur president
Our president is spending his week visiting
some o f the poorest nations on earth offering
bombs not bread, war not peace, destruction
not development, anihilation not education.
This is our contribution to the world?
Weapons bring super-violence
(Continued fro m page 1 column 6)
with weapons o f much greater accu
racy and possibly higher rates o f fire
•and m o b ility. It w ill feature inten
sive electronic warfare and possibly
chem ical, b io lo g ic a l, and nuclear
weapons.”
Clearly, the prospect for survival
o f soldiers sent into combat in such
a c o n flic t w ill not be very high. In
another Pentagon re p o rt, defense
officials note that “ Because o f tech
nical advances in weaponry and the
great m obility o f armies today, a fu
ture large-scale war overseas w ill
p ro b a b ly .. produce casualties at a
higher rate than in any other war in
history.”
Based on these assumptions, the
Pentagon has estimated that in any
full-scale conflict w ith Soviet or So
viet-backed forces in the M id d le
East, the U .S. Rapid D eploym ent
Force could expect to lose 66 per
cent o f its personnel in the first 60
days o f combat—a casualty rate far
higher than that ever experienced by
U.S. forces in comparable engage
ments.
Besides the hum an tragedy in
volved, such casualty rates w ould
tend to low er the th re sh h o ld at
w hich ta c tic a l nuclear weapons
w ould be used. A nd once that oc
curred, it would only be a short step
to the outbreak o f all-out thermonu
clear warfare.
A ll this suggests that the distinc-
tions between d iffe re n t types o f
warfare—localized and global, con
ventional and nulcear—are rapidly
breaking down. Therefore, involve
ment in any type o f c o n flic t in
volves the risk o f escalation to all-
out nuclear war.
M ost im p o rta n t, it suggests that
the Reagan A dm inistration’s plan to
enhance U .S. security th ro u g h a
$1.6 tr illio n m ilita ry b u ild u p and
stepped-up arms sales to allies w ill
produce little real protection so long
as the p ro life ra tio n o f nuclear and
conventional arms continues, and
th a t o n ly a vig o ro u s program o f
both nuclear and conventional arms
control w ill improve our chances o f
survival in an era o f super-violence.
& P A C IF IC NEW S SE RVICE 1982
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A m alg am ated Publishers, Inc.
There’ s some jockeying going on
at C ity H a ll. W hich o f the present
C ity C ouncil members w ill run for
M ayor? Y o u r guess is as good as
m ine. The fact is m any, m any
people in this city think that the pre
sent M ayor, Frank Ivancie, needs a
good challenge. Then, i f the people
o f Portland elect him again, they de
serve what they w ill get.
Lo o kin g through the d ictionary
fo r w ords to describe P o rtla n d ’ s
present M ayor, one w ould choose
such words as contentious, abrasive,
insecure, and p a ra n o id . P u ttin g
w ords together to make phrases.
Ivancie w ould be described as
‘ ‘ lacking in vision,” “ unable to co
o rd in a te w ith o th e rs ,” and as
having a ‘ ‘ p o litic a l ch ip on his
shoulder."
Recently, M ayor Ivancie sought
C ouncil approval to include in te lli
gent. detective type dogs in the Po
lice Bureau’ s arsenal. The proposal
got bogged dow n in the C o u n cil
proceedings. Why? M ayor Ivancie
refused to grant his fellow Council
members the sim ple p rofessiona l
courtesy o f consultation or the basic
respect that comes w ith the legisla
tive re sp o n sib ility o f the C o u n cil.
C onsequently, the w hole a ffa ir
looked like a cartoon—with Council
members slin g in g m ud across the
Council chambers, the M ayor com
plaining w ith d irt on his face, and
the people wondering what the con
troversy is all about.
The M ayor docs not understand
the process. He’s impatient and self-
centered. He ignores the fact that
P o rtla n d does not have a strong
he wants the city to go. Therefore,
mayoral system. It requires cooper every issue is fought as a major bat
a tio n , c o o rd in a tio n and a special
tle. every disagreement becomes the
brand o f leadership. In this regard,
vicious ’ ’ enemy” w h o ’ s out to get
Ivancie has been prom oted far
him.
beyond his level o f competence.
The people o f Portland w ill have
W hen Ivancie proposed a wage
to think carefully about the kind of
freeze fo r city employees, it was a
mayor needed to revitalize our po
good idea, tim ely and responsive.
tential. M ayor Ivancie is, perhaps,
But his surprise announcem ent
the most undesirable force Portland
caught his colleagues o ff guard. It
could have in these times. Our City
was down hill from there.
Council is made up o f people with
The crime rate in Portland has ris
rather average a b ility. Coordinated
en over the past few years. The
and working in harmony, they have
M a y o r’ s response was a W ar On
a chance to be outstand ing. They
Crime program that makes the crim
are not “ o u ts ta n d in g ” as in d iv i
inals laugh in the streets. Nothing to
duals, but i f they worked together as
deal w ith the elderly being ripped
a team, they could do Portland
o f f d a ily , n o th in g to deal w ith
pro u d . T eam w ork is impossible
drugs, nothing to deal w ith violent
with a quarterback who changes the
crim es. A sim ple p u b lic relations
plays at the line o f scrimmage with
campaign. But even in so simple a
out te llin g any o f his teammates.
program the M a yo r ignored all
Coordination is the key to the effet-
sense o f process, he did not consult
tiveness o f this present C ity Coun
with the very members o f the Coun
cil, and coordination is Frank Ivan
cil who were required by law to ap
cie's weakest suit.
prove his new ordinances. Had he
As the race begins to lake shape in
consulted, taken suggestions, organ
these early stages, let it be known
ized a jo in t venture among the
that P o rtla n d needs a leader as
C ouncil, his W ar on C rim e m ight
M ayor. We need a leader with vi-
have been introduced as more than a
sion, and the courage to express it,
comedy act.
defend it, and persuade others of its
The Mayor lacks vision. Pure and
correctness. We need a Mayor who
simple. A sound vision does not a l
respects his colleagues— i f not on
ways make friends, but when enem
their merits as politicia n s, then qn
ies are made, they are the result o f
the simple fact that he depends on
regressive action tow ard a specific
their voles to guide the city toward a
end. Ivancie's actions make enemies
better future.
*h c re none are necessary. He cre
As the race begins to take shapejn
ates a heated debate on issues on
its early stages, let itb c known that
which he can achieve unanim ous
what P o rta l"*
i d,u~
agreement. He doesn’ t know where
nc
Lett
R.eturn N'
On December 12, 1982 at 4
p.m. in the Vancouver Avenue Fir
B aptist C h u rch , the P o rtla n _
Branch o f the National Association
fo r the Advancem ent o f C olored
People w ill have its annual election.
This time there w ill be a choice and
not an echo. Mrs. Hazel Hays, pre
sent chairman o f the Oregon Parole
Board has been nom inated to run
against Bernard B. R ich a rd so n ,a
public relations man fo r Portland
General E lectric Power Com pany.
This w ill be a contest to return the
Branch to the people.
Portland Branch N A A C P leader
ship fo r the last ten years has come
from those who want a business-like
approach, w ho w ould have the
Branch enter most o f the movements
in the city as members o f a c o a li
tio n . F u rth e r, at tim es it has
seemed that money has been more
im portant than members. The con
test between M rs. Hays and M r.
Richardson is a philosophical one.
M rs. Hays and her supporters feel
that the branch has lost identity in
Portland over the last several years.
W ho know s what the N A A C P
stands fo r here in Portland today?
M r. Richardson has expressed inter
est in the N A A C P ACTSO program
fo r young people. We arc all in te r
ested in ACTSO. It is probably the
best program fo r young people the
N A A C P has devised in many years.
PGE, PP&L, and other business in
terests have been most generous.
But we are sure the w hite business
com m unity w ill continue to interest
themselves as long as o u r young
people have a good program and ex
ceptional contestants.
What Portland Branch needs now
is a progrm addressing N A A C P ’ s
longtime and only jo b —civil rights.
M rs. Hays is prepared to provide
that kind o f leadership. When she
was Chairman o f the Branch Labor
C o m m itte e in 1968 the Branch
“ cra cke d ” d is c rim in a tio n at the
U.S. Post O ffic e , in em ploym ent,
p ro m o tio n and salary. In fact the
P o rtla n d Branch received a T hal-
heimer award fo r this effort because
this case not only affected Portland,
but the labor policies o f the Post O f
fice in the entire United States.
M rs. Hays has served N A A C P
since she was a young person, and
plans to continue to do so whatever
the outcome o f the election. She has
shown by her actions that she is a
real N A A C P -er, ready to fig h t fo r
Error reflects attitude
7o the editor:
The O regonian should be com
mended for its efforts to portray the
various facets o f P o rtla n d ’ s black
com m unity. The series o f articles
were w ell balanced and th o u g h t-
p ro v o k in g . T o o o fte n the black
c o m m u n ity is taken fo r granted
both politically and economically.
U n fo rtu a te ly , The O regonian
made what am ounts to a g la rin g
mistake to those o f us that are mem
bers o f the black co m m u n ity. On
Tuesday, N ovem ber 16, 1982, on
page B3, there appeared tw o p ic
tures o f P o rtla n d ’ s leading black
businessmen, H enry S cott, presi
dent o f Coast J a n ito ria l Services,
and Venerable Booker, president o f
A m erican State Bank. The name
under each picture mistakenly iden
tifies each man as the other person.
Some people w ill say that such a
m is p rin t is no big deal and we in
“ the com m unity” should be grate
fu l to have had the article and pic
tures printed. I disagree. Does this
misprint reflect a lackadaisical a tti
tude toward even the most respected
members o f the black community?
Or is it simply a misprint by a copy
person in the basement who did not
know any better? O r d id n ’ t care?
C ertainly, you would never confuse
a picture o f Frank Ivancie and Jack
Ramsey.
As a Product Manager fo r a ma
jo r corporation in Portland, I real
ize the responsibility o f a company
lo r the quality o f its product. I f we
drop the ball and deliver less than
the expected quality, consumers o f
our product w ill waste no lim e in
bringing the matter to our attentioh.
As a customer o f The Oregonian.
I was elated to read about the feu
lure scries, but truly let down to sec
the previously noted m is p rin t,
which represents in one word “ care
lessness.” I am sure the audible
groan I could not suppress was
voiced th ro u g h o u t “ the com
m u n ity." Nothing has changed.
Baruti L. Artharec
The Observer presents:
Community Forum
"The Legislature and You”
Senator Bill McCoy
Rep. Ed Leek
Rep. Wally Priestley
Rep. Gratton Kerans
Decem ber 4
10:00 a.m .
The Rustler
Grand Ave.