■ 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.