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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 1983)
F ra Trence« Sehoen-” e«apapep Roca U n iv e rs ity of Oregon L ib ra ry UbCiMi Ccvgon UZ-U3 / Ul UJ School Board candidates Washington's election analyzed Below Della Reese shares secret Page 4 Page 9 PORTLAND OBSERVER USPS 959-680-855 I March 9, 1983 Volume XIII, Number 22 26C Per Copy <• Z-»w PuNuhing Co , /« U Cease fights Ivancie's Rocky Butte plan by Larry Baker I l ’ s a long jo u rn e y fro m P o rt land’s City Council Chambers to the flo o r o f the O regon State Legisla tu re. T h e h ig h w ay w ill soon by made wider by conflict over $41 m il lion appropriated by the legislature fo r the closure o f R ocky Butte County Jail. payers. “ This $41 million will be spent ini the p ro p e r m a n n e r,” said Rep. Cease, "and the Transportation De partm ent is not going in to the ja il business.” The $41 m illion in ques tion is part o f the federal funds paid to the state for the county jail prop erty, which is in the path o f the new highway. Last Tuesday 1-205, which connects east M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty w ith the State o f Washington, was com plet ed. T h e controversy over the new state-owned fac ility is heating up. O f the $41 m illion paid for the ja il, one m illion was used for expansion and reno vation o f the soon-to-be closed fa c ility and $33 m illio n to build the new Justice Center which will house the new jail. REP. JANE CEASE R o cky B u tte , w hich is dire fo r co m p lete closing in N o ve m b er o f this ye ar, is being p ro m o ted as a h old in g fa c ility by M a y o r F ran k Iv a n c ie — p a rt o f his “ w a r on crim e.” Representative Jane Cease, chair person o f the House Com m ittee on T ran sp o rtatio n, believes Ivancie is blowing a political smokescreen be cause there are no funds to continue Rocky B u tte ’ s o p e ra tio n beyond November without going to the tax O riginally the completion o f 1-205 and the co m p letio n o f the Justice Center were to have occurred at the same tim e, but because o f a speed up in construction o f the highway the new jail was not ready when the h ig h w ay opened. T h e ja il w ill be ready fo r occupancy in Novem ber, 1983, and the current plan is to close Rocky Butte a t 4bat lim a, Since no money has been budget ed by the S tate, C o u n ty or C ity to continue operation o f Rocky Butte, Rep. Cease is questioning Ivancie's motives in calling for continued use. " F o r years M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty grand juries have seen Rocky Butte as unsafe and not meeting the A m erican Corrections Associations’ jail stand ards, but Iv a n c ie wants to pum p taxpayers* d o lla rs in to it— money Oregon doesn't have." Even if Rocky Butte were to con tin u e in use it w o u ld have to be closed when a d d itio n a l lanes are b u ilt, possibly by 1985. W hen this occurs. Rocky B u tte w ou ld have only 90 days to vacate. Rep. Cease exp lain ed th at i f b oth the Justice Center ja il and Rocky Butte were f u ll, there w ou ld be now here to move the Rocky Butte inmates ex cept to the streets. Rep. Cease sees Ivancie’s move as “ an unplanned dem and on bucks fro m the ta x p a y e rs .” She calls it " Iv a n c ie 's ow n c o rre c tio n a l im promptu p la n .” Rep. Cease has in troduced H B 2745, w hich w ill re quire closure in November. " I f the $41 m illio n is spent fo r other than what it was intended for, we Oregonians will end up having to reimburse the federal government,” Rep Cease said. " M y First responsi bility is to the Oregon taxpayer and not to Iva n c ie’ s w eird ideas about O perating raggedy and unsafe ja ils ." Standing in the wings is Attorney G ero m e L a B a rre , whose m a jo r concern w ill be io rcprcsen i p r i soners filing law suite against noise. M p o llution and lack o f sanitation if the old ja il is to continue in opera tio n a fte r N o v e m b e r, even w ith some expensive m ajor remodeling. M a y o r Ivancie w ill soon appear Eliot Early Childhood Education Cantar student« achool'a “Calabratlon of Paopla.” before Rep. Cease's Transportation admire Indian pennant shown by Ed Elmo at the (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Committee, but Rep Cease believes his request fo r any change in the plans fo r closure o f Rocky Butte will fall on deaf ears.” (N e x t week: M a y o r Iv a n c ie 's by Larry Baker A n o ther corrections o ffic er said given up; th ere is expected to be plan.) he has never seen the morale o f the more court action over this issue. There is another jailhouse Fight in corrections officers reach such a low The County Commissioners, who M ultnom ah County but this time it point as since Pearce began his tran hold the purse strings and are re is not between the prisoners and the sition. "P e arc e is trying to protect sponsible to the taxpayers, are con guards. It is between the guards and his own people, and doesn't give a cerned about the battle. th eir boss, M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty damn about us,” he said. M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty E xe cu tive T h e m ovem ent holds a sum m it Sheriff Fred Pearce. Robert Slapper, who was recently Dennis B uchanan said the moves conference every three years and Last week the M u ltn o m a h appointed by Peaicc io head M u lt being made by Pearce are an a t holds frequent meetings o f the fo r County Correctional Officers Union nomah County's corrections depart tem pt to save jobs in the S h eriffs eign m inisters o f the m em ber n a sought a court in ju n c tio n , seeking ment re ad ily ad m itted that he has and Corrections Departm ents But tions. Its decisions set a pattern for to prevent Pearce fro m replacing had no expertise in operating jails, C .O .s believe it is a form of discrim most o f the T h ird W o rld . U .S . o b c o rre c tio n a l o ffic e rs w ith deputy but he looks fo rw a rd to the ch al ination. servers say the decisions o f the sum sheriffs in key positions such as in lenge because he believes the County mit meetings in economic and disar the courthouse and in transporting has some o f the most dedicated cor mament matters are reflected almost prisoners. rections o fficers in (he profession. 100 percent in U nited Nations v o t By a vote o f the people last year, He had no comment on the injunc An anti aalaa tax rally will ba ing while decisions on political mat the C o rre c tio n s D e p a rtm e n t was tion. bald on March 12th at 11:00 a.m. ters are follow ed 95 percent o f the placed under the elected S h e riff. D u rin g recent years blacks and at tha Stata Grange Headquart time. N o w the union believes Pearce is women have made studies in c o r are, 1313 8.E. 12th (at Madlaon) Most o f the developing nations of trying to make the corrections o f rections in M ultnom ah C ounty, be In Portlant. A fr ic a , A sia and L a tin A m e ric a , ficers "tu rn keys" in the corrections ing u p-g raded to positions o f re Legislative leadera plan to plus Yugoslavia, Cyprus and M alta, facilities and placing his deputies in s p o n s ib ility . T h e same cannot be placa a ealas ta x -w h ic h dispro and the P .L .O . are mem bers. E u said o f the S h e r iff’ s D e p a rtm e n t, the "choice” jobs. portionataly affacts lower-ln ro p e’s four neutral nations— A us As one corrections officers put it, w hich re p o rte d ly has tw o black coma paople -on the ballot. tria, Sweden, Sw itzerland and F in “ I ’ve worked 15 years to get the po officers. Tha rally Is sponsorad by the land, are observers. sition as a court guard and now I am S h e riff Pearce has won the first Oregonians to Stop the Sales W ith the g ro w th o f the N o n - being ’ bum ped' back in to the jails round. The court ruled th at, in his Tax (OUSST) a coalition of con Aligned M ovem ent and its increas and losing my week-ends o f f w ith transition plan, Pearce was not dis earned organizations. ing opposition to U.S. policies, U.S. my fa m ily — som ething they have crim inating against the corrections (Please turn to page 4 column / ) looked forward to for many years.” officers. The C .O .'s union has not Corrections officers fight transfer Non-aligned Movement meets The M o vem en t o f N o n -A lig n e d Nations is meeting in New Delhi, In dia this week— the largest gathering of heads o f state the w o rld has seen. India's Prime M inister Indira G an dhi expects 71 heads o f state or heads o f government to attend. The o rg an iza tio n has 97 members and expects to add Colum bia, the Baha mas and Barbados. During the conference P .M . G an dhi w ill assume the chairm anship, held for the past four years by Fidel C a s tro , president o f C u b a . The ch airm an sh ip goes to the country where the sum m it meeting is held. This year the meeting is being held in India rather than in Iraq , as fo r m erly scheduled, because o f the Ir a n -Ir a q w ar D e legation s fro m both Iran and Iraq are expected to attend. T he n on -alig n ed m ovem ent in cludes most o f the independent na tions o f the T h ird W o rld . A m ong the subjects o f discussion and reso lution will be Nam ibia, colonialism, disarm am ent, the econom ic crisis, the proposed New Economic Order, and the M iddle East. The movement was established by In d ian P rim e M in iste r Jaw aharlal N eh ru , Egyptian President G am al A d b u l N assar, and Y u g o slav ia's Marshal T ito , and evolved from the former "A fro -A sian Bloc." a group that came from a meeting o f Asian and African nations at Bandung, In donesia in 1955. The purpose of the movement was to avoid domination by the super-powers and to achieve influence through a voting block. T h e firs t sum m it m eeting was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia; f o l lowed by C a iro . Egypt in 1964; Lu- saka, Z a m b ia in 1970; A lg ie rs , 1973; C o lo m b o , Sri L a n k a , 1976; and Havana, Cuba in 1979. Nine candidates seek Portland School by Robert Lothian W h ile at least one P o rtla n d School Board candidate feels that the p o litic a l b attles w hich have w racked the Board in the past are o ver, others th in k th at issues like taxation and budget, busing, school citing and closures, equality o f edu cational o p p o rtu n ity , flig h t o f the m iddle class, top heavy school a d m in istratio n, academic quality and discipline are very much alive. Positions four through seven are being contested in the special elec tion scheduled for M arch 29. AU po sitions are c ity w id e — th at is, all P o rtla n d voters w ill vote in each race, and the term o f o ffice is four years. This article is about the amaz ing nine candidates running for po s itio n n um ber fo u r , and a subse quent article w ill cover the rem ain ing three races. W hy have nine candidates ju m p e d in to one race? Because Frank M c N a m a ra resigned earlier this year, and those seeking his posi tio n w ill therefore not have to run against an incumbent with name fa m iliarity, as is the case in the other contest. D r. Frank Shields, pastor o f Sun nyside United Methodist Church in SE Portland, said his interest in edu cation developed out o f experience as a high school teach er, w o rkin g with Sunnyside C om m unity School and by getting involved in the E lio t/ Boise/Tubm an M idd le School con troversy. Shields said he helped organize a c o a litio n o f th irte e n c o m m u n ity groups to support the Black United F ro n t in pressing the Board to re consider its decision to relocate the m iddle school site. " T h e o rig in al decision to keep T u b m a n at E lio t was the right o n e ,” he said. " I ’ m not in the business o f giving a blank check to a n y b o d y ,” he said, " b u t when there's an obvious injustice against an ethnic m in o rity — black, Jew or Indian— I need to be there.” Shields said one o f his priorities is to encourage " a comm unity based, grass roots d ia lo g u e w ith people ___ I'm interested in working with people, building consensus, creating c o m m u n ity. I'm not interested in building a political career.” O n e so lu tio n to fin a n c ia l and budget problems, he said, would be oard vacancy to re-channel m oney fro m the a d m in is tra tio n 's $7 m illio n c o n tingency fund. " D o we really need $7 m illion for contingencies?” Fat could be trim m ed fro m m id -le v e l m anagem ent, and a t tr itio n — not h irin g new s ta ff w hen someone leaves— could be a n o th e r way to save money, he said. Shields said that “ a very carefully delineated sales tax, with voter input fro m b oth e n d s ," is possibly the most eq u itable so lutio n to the tax problem short o f another measure 3, "w h ic h is bound to re tu rn ,” he said. H e also m entio ned the School Board elections process as a hidden issue which needs a tte n tio n . C it y wide elections, he said, mean an in e q u ita b le re p res en tatio n o f the wealthy S. W . H ills area. Three out o f seven o f the current Board mem bers are from that area, while only 14 percent o f the c ity ’s population lives there. Depending on the o u t come o f the upcom ing election, as many as five board members could come fro m the Southwest, he said. T o rem edy the s itu a tio n , Shields th in ks the c ity should be d ivid ed in to re p res en tative d istricts and Board members elected fro m each o f those districts. Sam Weiss, a systems analyst for N ike. In c ., and resident o f the L in coln H ig h d is trict, is the man who designed the video schedule m o n i tors at the transit mall. He wants to bring a systems approach to solving the com plex m o d ern izatio n p ro b lems facing the district. A high pri ority for him would be to introduce systematic achievement testing, es pecially in science. " T o determ ine w hether o ur subjects a n >eing taught effectively is imports o an ed u ca tio n a l system . I f you d o n 't know w hether it's w o rk in g , you can't fix it,” he said. Weiss also supports a " d is tric t- wide guaranteed basic cu rriculum " which would match the progress of all students at each grade level, re gardless o f their neighborhood, with just the right am ou n t o f teachers, a d m in is tra to rs and special p ro g ram s, e lim in a te wasted e ffo rts , keep teachers in classroom s and save a lot o f money in the long run. “ Some of the current members do not understand th is ,” he said, and (Please turn to page 2 column / )
