Paga 4 Section I Portland Observer, April 27.196 3
Q uorum o f One
EDITORIAL/OPINION
bv Creg Wasson
City o f Portland changes course
The City o f Portland made a definite change
in policy and priority with its budget decisions
last week. The Bureau of Police came out with a
$2.8 million increase in funds while other bu
reaus and agencies that are im portant in the
everyday lives of the people of Portland, such as
the Park Bureau, were severely cut.
The change fits well with the philosophy o f
our Mayor, who has achieved national fame for
his attention to “ skid row bums,** vagrancy and
foul language while crimes of violence increase.
The Park Bureau, the Organization of Neigh
borhood Associations, (marked for destruction
but saved by a public outcry), and the Metropol
itan Human Relations Commission are among
the City agencies that play an important role in
making citizens* lives more satisfying, communi
cating with City officials, and alleviating the af
fects of racism and poverty. These are the pro
grams and agencies that prevent the serious
crimes of violence and home burglary and rob
bery.
Our M ayor is afflicted with overkill and un
fortunately he is joined by two o f his peers.
Commissioner M ildred Schwab fought for the
Police Bureau funding because she always fights
for her bureaus. I f you want a program to sur
vive, give it to Schwab. Margaret Strachan’s role
is more evasive; what did she achieve by sup
porting the M a y o r except the destruction o f
MHRC?
I f you see a tank come rolling down Broad
way, don’t be alarmed. It ’s just M ayor Ivancie
with his friends, beefing up his police bureau to
take care of those loitering on the Mall.
A rou n d 8 p .m . on Feb. 3. 1946.
Andy Dennis sal down to a dinner of
fried oysters. Not unusual in itself,
except it was the last dinner A ndy
ever ate. After the dishes were cleared
away, he was led from his cell in the
Oregon Stale Penitentiary to the gas
ch am ber. A t 8 :4 1 , cyanide pellets
dropped into the metal comportment.
One minute and forty-eight seconds
later. Andy Dennis was dead.
Since then, Oregon's death penalty
has been an o n -a g a in , o ff-a g a in
proposition. The people turned it o ff
in 1964 after the legislature placed
the repeal on the ballot, then turned
it back on in 1978 after a successful
petition drive.
T he state suprem e co u rt e x tin
guished it again on January 20th,
1981, ruling that (he 1978 law allowed
judges too much discretion in decid
ing when a convict should be execut
ed. The fact that there is no current
death p en alty bothers G o v . Vic
Atiyeh. According to the governor,
the legislature ought to at least give
Reagan asks war escalation
While Ronald Reagan implored Congress to
support his m ilitary conquest o f “ democracy
and peace” in Central America, his real effort
was to regain his influence over Congress in the
matter o f foreign policy. Reagan’s tough-man
policies have not paid o ff in Central America,
his Mid-East policy is going nowhere, European
opposition to his nuclear missile deployment is
growing.
Reagan’s military budget faces serious oppo
sition in Congress and passage o f a nuclear
freeze resolution is a real possibility. Many Con
gressmen doubt Administration-provided infor
mation on El Salvador and are m iffed by the
Administration’s non-adherence to the Boland
Amendment that outlaws U .S. efforts to over
throw the government of Nicaragua.
By appealing directly to the American people
via television, Reagan is passing the ball to Con
gress. Choose between a “ communist takeover”
and a jungle war that could lead to a nuclear ho
locaust, he told them. So, no matter how badly
his foreign policy fails, Congress can take the
blame.
Unfortunately, Reagan's address was fraught
with m isinform ation and lies. His talk about
great progress toward democracy— free elections
and land reform— in El Salvador, adoption of a
democratic government in Honduras and a step
in that direction by the brutal Guatemalan re
gime will not fool the rest o f the world. W ill it
fool the American people?
Reagan’s cry that we will not save the Nicara
guan government from its own people cannot
justify the arming and supporting o f insurgents
to kill Nicaraguan people and attempt to over
throw their government.
Reagan's offer for negotiation is new for him
hut the government o f Nicaragua has been o f
fering to negotiate (to get foreign troops out of
their country), and the guerrillas o f El Salvador
have been asking to negotiate. So have the na
tions o f M exico, C o lo m b ia , Venezuela, and
Panam a. Does Reagan mean negotiation, or
does he mean the imposition o f U.S. terms?
7
But in reality^
I have my doubts.^)/
Historically, this MTt*
demonstrates that they
always prefer to talk
in "Morse Code".
R ff-T W -T A T -rA T -T A r-W -
TAT-TAT-GKT-TAT-rAr
POLIDECTO
Barricada: Nicaragua
the people another chance to vote on
the death penalty.
“ W hy have the citizens go to the
trouble, and the expense, o f putting
something on the ballot which they
so c le a rly fa v o r. T h e leg islatu re
should offer voters the choice, regard
less of how they (the legislators) feel
about the issue.”
Sen Margie Hendriksen. D-Eugene.
disagrees. Hendriksen, a member o f
the Senate Judiciary Committee, says
the death penalty is wrong and legis
lators ought to oppose it in every way
they can.
“ It's hard to go against a popular,
inflamed sentiment. But, I think it’s
a responsibility o f those people that
hold public office to speak out from
their conscience. The voters have the
ultim ate right to replace us i f they
don't agree, and unless you’re willing
to speak out and chance being re
placed, then yo u ’ re not w orthy o f
public office.”
In 1981, the lawmakers showed a
willingness to take that chance where
the death penalty is concerned. After
the 1981 Suprem e C o u rt ru lin g ,
which voided a law approved by the
people almost 2 to I, there was an in
tense effort to get legislative referral
o f a death penalty measure that met
co n stitu tio n a l concerns. T h e la w
makers refused.
Somewhat surprisingly, an ensuing
in itia tiv e drive failed to gather the
needed signatures, and capital punish
ment is still outlawed in this state. It ’s
u n likely that the 1983 L eg islature
will do anything to change that.
Friday’s brutal execution o f John
Louis Evans I I I in A labam a — ac
cording to news reports it took 10
minutes and three separate electric
charges to k ill Evans — seems to
endorse that position.
In the marble above the main pas
sageway leading fro m the rotunda
o f the O regon C a p ito l B u ild ing is
carved a saying that starts, “ In the
hearts o f its citizens will be found the
likeness o f the state.”
I f the government engages in vio
lence and murder, can the people be
expected to do any less?
Legal lynchings
bv M anning M arable
Part II
H o w does the vicious assault
against racial equality committed by
Reagamtes at the national level affect
the courts and local law enforcement
agencies and (h eir re la tio n s w ith
black working class and poor people?
In brief, it sends an unambiguous and
chilling message: repression is the
order o f (he day. A ccording to re
search com pleted by the A tla n ta -
based publication Racially Motivated
Random Violence, a clear pattern o f
escalating police b ru ta lity against
n onw hites continues across the
country, unchecked and indeed en
couraged by those sworn to uphold
“ law and order.”
Two brief examples from the pub
lication are typ ical o f the general
pattern o f illegal b ru tality . O n N o
vember 21, 1981, an Ind ian ap o lis
black m an, James E. G rim es, J r.,
was shot by a policeman during an
argument over Grimes' parking near
a busy downtown intersection. The
FBI and the U.S. Justice Department
were called in to investigate the case.
Predictably, both agencies concluded
that there was “ insufficient evidence
to d eterm in e the use o f excessive
deadly force” by the o fficer. E igh
teen months ago, five white officials
in Bessemer, Alabama — the public
safety commissioner, (he state alco
holic beverage comm issioner, and
three w hite police o fficers — were
indicted for systematically torturing
black prisoners in the city ja il with
cattle prods. An all-white jury found
the five not guilty in A p r il, 1982,
despite strong evidence warranting a
conviction.
Probably the most provocative ex-
to -riot m isdem eanor.” Days later,
Zinzun discovers that the case is in
the p urview o f the Los Angeles
C ounty District A tto rn e y ’ s O ffic e ,
and that the charge against him is a
felony, a violation o f California State
Penal Code 69. T his obscure 1 11-
year old law makes it a crime to use
“ threats or violence to deter an ex
ecutive officer from performing any
duty imposed on him by law .” Penal
Code 69 is so rare that at Z in z u n ’s
hearing on September 10, 1982, the
presiding judge himself was complete
ly ignorant o f it. Los Angeles muni
cipal judge Terry Smerling recently
termed the law “ a rch aic,” adding
ample o f the coordination between
police violence and crim inal justice
maneuvering is found in the case o f
Michael Zinzun. During the night of
February 13, 1982, tw o Pasadena,
California, police officers went into
an apartment building near Zinzun’s
residence, in search o f a reported
"m an with a gun.” Subsequently the
report turned out to be false; never
theless the police did seize two young
m ale suspects. A crow d gathered
when one o f the young men arrested
was being beaten. Police demanded
that the residents disperse, and
threatened mass arrests. A t this point
Zinzun stepped forw ard, telling his
neighbors that they had “ a right to
stay and witness the officer’s actions.”
that “ most prosecutors have said the
statute, as w ritte n , im p erm issib ly
interferes w ith freedom o f expres
sion.” Yet prosecutors are demand
ing a twelve year prison sentence for
Zinzun.
A t the e a rly stages o f the c iv il
rights era, the basic assumption o f
many black and white progressives
was that racism could be fought by
the enactment o f liberal reforms and
a ffirm a tiv e action legislation. It is
now apparent that the racist Right is
using the apparatuses o f desegrega
tion and political reform , as well as
the crim inal justice system, to crush
the collective life from the freedom
m ovem ent. The courts, the police,
and the legal agencies o f biracial re
fo rm such as E E O C are being o r
chestrated into a complex yet unerr
ing w eapon to preserve w h ite su
premacy, the hegemony o f corporate
capital over the black, L atin o and
wl ite working class, and to n u llify
the modest legislative gains o f past
decades.
Z in z u n was no stranger to the
local police. As co -fo un der o f the
C oalition Against Police Abuse, he
had been a leader in the b a ttle to
create a Los Angeles Citizen's Police
Review Board. For fifteen years, he
has been involved in community free
b rea kfa st p ro gram s, em ergency
medical and first-aid programs, and
has helped to organize public protests
against p olice b ru ta lity . T h e Los
Angeles Police Department's Public
Disorder Intelligence Division (i.e ..
Red Squad) has, over (he years col
lected 400 pages o f evidence on
Zinzun and his activities. After years
of trying to silence “ the community’s
pre-eminent police critic ," as media
sources describe Z in zu n, the police
and Los Angeles prosecutors found
a means to commit a legal lynching.
Five days a fte r the F eb ru ary 13
in c id e n t. Z in z u n was arrested by
Pasadena police on an “ incitement-
C O R R E C T IO N
We encourage each and every person
to speak out against overt and subtle
racism as and wherever it occurs in vour
daily life.
Black United Front, Citizens Party, The Portland
Observer, The CRIB, Debonaire Productions, Albina
Ministerial Alliance, Portland Committee for Unemployment
Action, Black Lesbians and Gays United, King Improvement
Association, National Lawyers Guild, P.O.I.C., Committee
to Support the BUF, Anti-Kian Network, American Muslim
Mission, Governor's Commission on Black Affairs, Rep.
Wally Priestley, Jeri, Tina, Edward and Cassandra Abrams,
Patrick Clancy, Sunnyside Neighborhood Association.
Oaadllna for articles and for
calendar svants la M onday at
5:00 p.m . Calendar item a moat
ba m ailed or delivered to the
office.
Oregon
New
■ ■ P u b lis h e r s
»
Assoi ijtion
The
Obaarvsr
welcom ea
Lettera to thè Editor. All lettera
muat contaln thè w ritar'a name
and addraaa. Wa reservs thè
rlght to adit for langth.
Rep. C arl Hosticka (D-Eugene),
not Rep. Ed Leek (D -P o rtla n d ), is
the p rim a ry sponsor o f (he b ill.
Hosticka wrote the bill, has done the
major work on the bill, and carried
the bill on the House floor.
Housing
(Continued fro m page ! column 3}
Ironically, none o f the participants
or speakers commented on the re
cently released report by the U .S .
Civil Rights Commission on govern
ment housing policies. The report,
which received front page coverage
in the Oregonian just the day before,
noted that the bulk o f government
housing assistance has benefited
w hite m iddle-class hom eowners.
Governm ent subsidized mortgages
and property tax credits have been
much more important in shaping the
housing m arket than direct co n
struction o f housing for low-income
people. The study noted that such
policies have been im plem ented
under both Democratic and Repub
lican adm inistrations since W orld
W a r ll.
Portland Observer
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e
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Salem Scene
by Rep. Wally Priestlev
The a rriv a l o f spring, and the
n atu ral beauty it b ring s, is a l
ways a w elcom e sight in O reg o n .
Spring also brings relief in the form
. o f lower utility bills as heating needs
decline. But one p ro blem that re
mains year-round is the problem o f
u tility sh u t-o ffs and large u tility
deposits.
T o help address this p ro b lem ,
Oregon Fair Share and the Washing
ton County Energy C oalition asked
I I legislators, including myself, to
introduce House Bill 2327. The in
tent o f this bill is to lighten up loop
holes in existing shut-off protection
law.
The cu rren t law , passed by the
1979 Oregon Legislature, required
the Public U tility Commissioner to
establish rules to p ro h ib it electric
and n atu ral gas s h u t-o ffs in the
winter when a customer's health is
in danger. A dditionally, the law re
quired the Com m issioner to adopt
rules o utlining certain procedures
(n otices, paym ent plans) u tilitie s
must follow before they could ter
minate service.
While the rules the Commissioner
initially adopted seemed adequate,
problems have developed.
HB 2327 addresses 4 specific areas
where increased protection is need
ed. First, and probably most im por
tan t, it broadens the d e fin itio n o f
custom er to include people who
move from one residence to another.
C urrently some utilities, including
Portland General Electric, classify
people who have moved as applicants
rather than customers. Applicants
do not have the same rights as cus
tomers do.
Second, H B 2327 changes shut
o f f protection from w inter-only to
year-round.
T h ird , H B 2327 sets into law the
re q u ire m en t that u tilitie s give
customers 15 day and 72 hour written
notices o f proposed termination and
make a good faith effort to personal
ly notify customers before actually
terminating service.
Fourth, H B 2527 sets rules regard
ing payment schedules for and size
o f deposits. Utilities are now charg
ing, in some cases, deposits larger
than a customer’s previous bill.
By setting these provisions in to
law , this b ill w ou ld e lim in a te the
ability o f the Public Utility Commis
sioner or the utilities to circumvent
the intent o f the o rig in al s h u t-o ff
p rotection law . These protections
are needed now more than ever.
P o rtla n d G en eral E le c tric has
ju s tifie d its 'get to u g h ' p o licy on
shut-offs and deposits because o f an
increase in its write-offs o f bad debt
fro m $1.5 m illio n in 1979 to $3.4
m illion in 1982. W hile unpaid bills
are a problem, these figures need to
be put into perspective.
In 1979, P G E 's revenues were
$330 million; in 1982, their revenues
were $572 million. T hat’s an increase
o f 6 3 % . Even m ore im p o rta n t,
profits increased fro m t4 5 million in
1979 to over ¡1 2 4 m illio n in 1982.
an increase o f over 175%.
In other words, from 1979 to 1982,
P G E ’s profits increased almost three
times as fast as th eir revenues. I f
you consider the fact that these
figures come during a recession and
a time o f increased unemployment,
you begin to understand the true
pow er that the u tilitie s have over
our lives.
H B 2527 is an a tte m p t to lim it
that power. It is very important that
this bill pass.
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