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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1983)
■ n Francea Sehoen-Newapaper Roo« U n le e rg lty of Oret-on L ib ra ry tugcno, Oregon 97403 LU LU City supports disvestment Easter Services Houston No. 1 Page 14 Page 13 Page 11 PORTLAND OBSERVER USPS 959-680-855 March 30. 1983 Volume XIII Number 25 250 per copy C E mit PulUa/ung Co.. IWLI Kafoury, Panaretos join School Board; Buel loses A lm a G o rd o n , a re g u la r p a tro n of th e A lb in a Branch library, signs a petition protesting possible c lo s u re o f b ra n c h e s as M a ry A v e ry w a tc h e s . Dem onstrations and petition signing took place at th e m a in lib ra ry and b ra n c h e s th ro u g h o u t th e county as the libraries rem ained closed the w e e k of M arch 28th. (Photo: Richard B rown) Patrons protest library closure Urassroot News, N .W .— The public libraries find themselves in a budget crisis and sm aller branches like the Albina Branch face possible closure. B arbara G o rte r, lib rarian fro m the A lb in a Branch explains: " T h e C o u n ty C om m issioners re quested that the Library Board sub mit a budget with a cut o f 26 percent to go into effect in July. The smaller branches are the most vulnerable. Albina is not going to be closed as of yet. The Commissioners will have a hearing A p ril 18, at 3:00 p.m . at the Court House. W e urge the com munity to come out during this time and tes tify in b e h a lf o f sm aller branches like A lb in a.” T o awaken the public to this crisis and save money all the libraries in the M ultnom ah County system were closed during the week o f March 28 A pril 2. They expected County em ployees to fo llo w suit but this did not happen. Bobbi Jackson, c le rk -lib ra ria n fo r over fiv e years at A lb in a Branch, explained what the closure o f the branch w o u ld mean to the black c o m m u n ity . " T h e A lb in a Branch is first and foremost a chil- d ren 's lib ra ry . They are the ones w ho w ill s u ffe r. W e are a place where they come for movies, to do their homework and read books. I f we were closed the next closest branch is N o rth P o rtla n d and not everyone has a car. N o t everyone has bus fa re ." Freddye Pettet, executive director o f the Portland Urban League, as sessed the social impact o f closure o f the A lb in a Branch: " I t means a loss o f services fo r young people and for our seniors, also for people who have no place to go. It is a loss o f resources for people who live in North Portland. I think it is appall ing that the C o u n ty is lo o kin g at closing lib ra rie s in the inner city com m unity where libraries are one o f the few remaining things that are available to people with little or no incom e." Ms. P e lle t was not surprised to learn that the Albina Branch was the only library in the public library sys tem in a rented building. " I t is typi cal of how our community is treated by (he overall structure o f the local governments. Logic w ould dictate the County moving to close the A l bina Branch first. A t this point the community should get involved with some sort o f protest process and not a llo w the A lb in a Branch to be closed." D o ro th y A le x a n d e r, fro m the Friends o f the M u ltn o m ah County L ib ra ry , is p art o f a cam paign spearheaded to counteract the bud get crisis faced by the public library. " W e are try in g to m ake people aware o f the budget crunch and Ihc impact it has on library services. We are also looking at alternative ways for funding the lib ra ry ." The local grapevine says the rea son why the library system finds it self so vulnerable is the lack o f ag gressiveness displayed by the head lib ra rian , Jim Burghardt. M rs. A l exander doesn't agree with this o b servation. " I l is far more complex than th a t. Jim m ig ht have some p ro blem s in being aggressive but there is only a certain amount he can do when his budget is controlled by the County Commissioners.” M argret Behe, Vice-President o f Friends o f the Library, calls the pos sible closure o f some branches "s in f u l.” " I t is sinful that the libraries have to close down for a w eek." Form er state Senator Steve K a fo u ry d efeated eight o th e r c a n d i dates to win election to the Portland School Board, the seat recently va cated by F ra n k M c N a m a ra . K a fo u ry , a fo rm e r Je fferso n H ig h School and A lb in a Y o u th O p p o r tunity School teacher, was sworn in to o ffic e d u rin g the W ednesday. May 30th, meeting. Defeated was Steve Buel, one o f the tw o rem aining members o f the Board c o a litio n that re w ro te the District's desegregation policy and term inated fo rm er superintendent Robert Blanchard. A n elem entary school teacher, Buel's main empha sis was upgrading o f teaching and is sues that relate directly to the class room Buel joined with Board mem bers Herb Cawthorne, W ally Priest ley and Sarah N ew hall to steer the Black United Front's proposals for educational equity through months of heated debate. Buel was defeated by Basil " B ill" P an areto s. P an a reto s, w ho ca m paigned on "competence,” was sen ior vice-president o f the C olum bia P a c ific Bank w hich fo ld ed tw o weeks ago. Panaretos was chairman o f the School C losure C o m m itte e .which recom m ended closure ol Adam s and W ash in g to n H igh Schools and suggested closure o f Jackson High School. STEPHEN KAFOURY Kafoury, who represented N o rth east Portland in both the House o f Representatives and the State Sen ate, left his Senate seat for an unsuc cessful bid fo r the C ity Council op posing Frank Ivancie. K afoury has long been identified with liberal and urban issues. His wife, M arjo ry , is a member of the M etropolitan Service District Board. K a fo u ry drew 27 percent o f the vote. MHRC challenges business leaders The M e tro p o lita n H u m an R ela tions Commission today challenged (he Portland business leadership to initiate programs to deal with the 66 percent unem ploym ent rate o f m i n o rity yo u th . A c o n tin u in g and worsening problem, not resulting di rectly fro m the current recession, em ploym ent o f m in o rity youth in m eaningful careers requires a com m itm e n t and investm ent by em ployers. A rm a n d o L a G u a rd ia , M H R C chairman, said the business commu nity must accept the fact that much minority unemployment is the result o f two factors: stereotyping m inor ity yo u th as poor em ployees at "high risk ," and discrimination. M in o rity youth unemployment in the Portland area is so severe that it warrants immediate concern and at tention, a Metropolitan Hum an Re latio n s C om m issio n study stales. C om prehensive program s beyond those that arc provided through the H u m an Resource B ureau's Youth Training and Employment Division must be established. •T h e u n e m p lo ym en t rate o f m inority youth between the ages o f 16 and 19 in the Portland M etropol itan area is 66.4 percent compared to the overall rate o f 27.4 for young people in that age range. •A p p ro x im a te ly 4 ,0 0 0 o f the 6,000 minority young people are un employed. • In past years the majority of em ployment opportunities for minority yo u th have been p ro vid e d by the C ity ’s C E T A program. Seventy per cent o f all C ity C E T A summer jobs were filled by minorities during the past two summers. •T h e funding level o f City C E T A program s has dro pp ed fro m S28 million five years ago to $5.8 million for fiscal year 1982-83. • Last year C ity and C o u nty em ployment programs employed 1.679 m inority young people o f the 4,000 who needed jobs. This summer the City anticipates serving 1,300 youth; M u itn o m ah -W a sh in g to n E m p lo y ment and Training will serve 120 m i nority youth; and the M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty program has not yet been approved. T o meet the employment needs of {.Please turn to page K column I) Black Caucus accepts peaceful demise of budget The Congressional Black Caucus, with a 17-4 vote, allowed itself to be co-opted by the Democratic leader ship o f the House o f Representa tives. O n M arch 16th, C B C C h airm an Julian Dixon introduced the CB C's alternative budget, which calls fo r massive cuts in the m ilitary budget and sets jobs as the national p rio r ity. Less than a week later Dixon and other Caucus members agreed to a rule that prevented the C B C budget fro m being o ffe re d as an am en d ment to the Democratic leadership's budget, called the "Jones Budget" alter the man who designed it. Rep. James Jones (D -O k la h o m a ). This prevented a vote on the CB C budget and in return the CBC was allotted one hour to discuss their budget. The rule also prevented introduc tion of Reagan's budget, a budget by conservative Democrats, and one by Republicans, restricting the budget debate and vote to the Jones budget. Last session the C B C alternative budget received 87 votes and the large number o f new Congressman and the deepening depression caused proponents to expect a larger vote this year. " W e 'v e been co -o pted by the D em ocratic leadership in the most demeaning circumstances I'v e ever experienced in my life ,” Rep John Conyers of New York said. D u rin g the discussion period M arch 22nd, Rep Gus Savage I I I (D -llh n o is ) assailed the House lead ership. W e were "gagged to a mere m um ble o f protest because we be lieve the nation can solve its p ro b lems.” Tim e was set aside for " c o l ored members to talk a little ," but the voting was lim ite d to a choice " th a t makes fu ll em ploym ent im possible. " W e have been disrespected" by the Democratic leadership, he said. W h ile D em o crats are refusin g to elect black Democrats— e.g., Wash ing to n, B ra d le y — so black D e m o crats are turning in frustration to a black presidential cand idate. I l is disrespectful for the party leaders to suggest that the C B C re fra in from complete discussion in return for ac ceptance. " D o n 't we understand Runner-ups in this race were Ross Dey, a Northwest Portland property munager with 20 percent, and I rank Shields, a Southeast Portland minis ter, with 18 percent. Clyde Brummel drew 10.7 percent and Sam W eiss 10 percent. W illia m Scott easily won reelec (ion over evangelist Jack Reynolds and developer James S tan d rin g . Forrest Joe Rieke retained his posi lion with an easy win over inothei ot eight, Violet Reck. In Education Service District bal loting, How ard Cherry returned his N o rth /N o rth e a s t p o s itio n Pal D o o lin g took the W estside seal John Sweeney was unopposed to re tain his at-large position M ultnom ah C o u n ty’s voter turn out was 9.5 percent, w ith 9 t per cent fro m ( tty o l P o rtla n d levi dents, the lowest in resent history P o rtla n d voters so n a rro w ly passed a measure requiring new cm ployees to live in the C ity that the final result will be toid by the absen tec ballots. This is a rerun oi a Chai ter Amendment adopted by the No vember 2nd election that requited all City employees to live within the city lim its , but exem pted c u irc n t em ployees. T h e A m en d m en t re q uired that i f em ployees w ere to move, it would have to be within the city. that acceptance is disguise that feeds disrespect?" Conyers disagreed with those who labeled the Jones budget as " l i b eral" and who pointed to its similar ities to the CB C budget. "T h e Dem ocratic leadership is not liberal; the a u th o r (Jones) is not lib e ra l; the budget is not liberal. That is why the C B C wrote a budget." The C B C budget creates twice as many jobs as the Jones budget, in cludes money for conversion o f in d ustry fro m m ilita ry to c iv ilia n w ork, and supports com m unity/city renewal. Rep. Clarence M itc h e ll, Jr. (D - M arylan d ) said he w ill vote for the Jones Budget because it gives "some attention to the hurt, pain, and suf- fe rin g " through em ploym ent and housing funds. It also funds direct loans for small business (eliminated in the Reagan b u d g et). H e also m a in tain ed that the C B C w orked closely with the Budget Com m ittee and many o f its concerns were in corporated into the Jones budget. Rep. Carl Stokes of O hio said the brightest and best hope to meet the m oral test o f governm ent was (he C B C budget — it was su p erio r in every way: full funding for one m il lion new jobs; economic stimulation that would lower interest rales; de crease in m ilita ry budget; in v es t ment in people. “ Il is a blueprint for economic recovery." Rep. M a jo r Owens o f New York (Please turn lo page 14 column /> KATHLEEN BEAUFAIT Kathleen Beaufait, Chief Counsel fo r the Stale Legislative C o u n c il, will present an overview of the leg is lalure and how a bill becomes law at the North-Northeast Citizen Advo cacy W o rksh o p A p ril 9th at P C ( Cascade campus. B e au fait holds a degree in law from the University o f Chicago and has been a part tim e professor on Legislative drafting and lobbying at both Northwestern College o f I aw and W illa m e tte U n iv e rs ity I aw Sc hool. Prior to becoming ( hi,-I Counsel to the State I eg islative C o u n c il, Beaufait served nine years as Depu ty Counsel to that body. She is respected as possibly the most knowledgeable person in the sla te on the L eg is la tiv e h ill legal process and has been described as possibly the best public speaker in the state on this subject Beaufait is past president ol the Salem C ity Club, is a member o f the Y M C A Youth in Government Advi sory C o m m itte e and serves on va rious co m m ittees o f the O regon State Bar.
