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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1985)
lir a 7 r« ^ e e * S c h o -n -’ e w sn -r— ? » « • L iw e r a tty o f Creston L ib r a r y Iir ;S Í, O rc »on i M . ' J Inside: A tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These are revolutionary times. AII over the globe men are revolting against old systems o f exploitation and oppression and out o f the wombs o f a frail world new systems ofjustice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people o f the land are rising up as never before. 'The people who have sat in darkness have seen a great light. ’ We in the West must support these revolutions. ” Martin Luther King, Jr. — 1967 Hot tomales Page 3 PORTLAND OBSERVER O V S W M Volume XV Number 11 January 9,1985 25c Copy Two Sections 0M> L ««■ Pttblolum i ( « « , / » . ZWM Oregon second in nation in Black prison inmates by Lamia Duke G R A S S R O O T N E W S , N .W . — The state o f Oregon is second in the n a tio n in terms o f incarceration o f Afro-Americans. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) 10,000 inaugurate mayor by Robert l othian Bud Clark wanted to show that be ing mayor can be fun. He set out to prove it Friday night at the Coliseum by throwing one o f the biggest parties this town has ever seen. W ith rock bands playing in various corners o f the cavernous hall, a light show projecting squiggly amoebas onto a huge screen, stars projected onto the ceiling, T h a i, Vietnam ese, Greek and Italian food, bikers, punks, people dressed in tuxedos and gowns, fairy godmother costumes and electric bow ties, Clark's Inaugural Ball drew a crowd that packed the Coliseum al most to the rafters. "This could be the biggest crowd the Coliseum has ever seen,” exclaimed celebrant. O ver 10,000 tickets were sold at $ 10 each to help pay o ff Clark's campaign debts. " I wonder what he’s going to do w ith w h a t’ s left o v e r,” pondered a woman dressed in black. "T h e re ’s a lot o f yuppies here,” ob served someone else. A t about 9:4 5, three hours after the bash started, ushers parted the sea of faces and Clark, stunning in a white dinner jacket with a crimson rose on his lapel, marched triumphantly down the center of the arena, led by a marine honor guard and bagpipes. He waved and shook hand w ith well-wishers. The crowd went wild. W ith his w ife Sigrid at his right side, Clark gave a short, upbeat speech that emphasized P o rtlan d's special spirit and talents. " W e have it here in Portland and tonight we're letting the world know we have it ,” said C lark. “ Tonight is the first message to the world that our talents, our skills, and our imagination can bring our vision o f the future to fru itio n . Let the buds blossom ,” said the new m ayor, in what could have been a play on words. "L et us recognize that we and our fellow men are the greatest resource the world has ever known. W ith mu tual respect we can create heaven on earth___ whoop, whoop!” The crowd roared their approval. C lark had mingled w ith the huge crowd fo r tw o hours, taking snap shots with his little camera. A rumor that he was going to do some break dancing proved unfounded. But he did find lim e to prom ote Pete M cCoy, son o f state Senator Bill M cC oy and form er county commis sioner Gladys McCoy, from second to first lieutenant in (he Marines. Follow ing his rem arks, C la rk in troduced the 18-pice rock orchestra, Billy Foodstam p and the W elfare Mayor Bud Clark takes time out during Ma Inaugural Ball to observe the promotion of Pete McCoy from Second to First Lieutenant. Pata'a paranta. Stata Senator BUI McCoy and former County Commlaaloner Gladys McCoy pin tha silver bara on the 2W -year veteran of the Marina (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Corp*. Ranch Rodeo, who did a number dedi cated to “ M y Dear M r. M a y o r ." There were 28 musical groups a lto gether, including The Jazz AllStars, Rockin' Razorbacks, Thara Memory, Billy Kennedy, Puddle C ity T h rill- harm onic, and A to m ic Breakers. Lloyd Jones Struggle delighted the crowd with "Ivancte Blues.” Taking a swipe at the former mayor, the gowned and feathered transvestite entertainer Darcelle X V told the audi ence about a yellow T o y o ta in the parking lot with its lights on. "Some body said it belonged to F ra n k ," she said, draw ing a big laugh from a crowd that didn’t have much sympa thy for the former mayor. There was no secret behind Clark's successful campaign, said campaign special events chairman Phil Thom p son. " L ik e everything else Bud does, the campaign was open to those who cared to look.........there were only cer tain people looking,” said Thompson “ As far as the media were concerned, he remained nearly invisible.” C lark supporter Rose Pickett- Cam pbell o f Northeast Portland thought the new mayor seemed "like a very down to earth person.” She also thought his term in o ffice would mean "more things for the lay people" of Portland. This statistic only m irrors the in justice in the nation's criminal justice system. In June, 1983, the Rand C o rp o ra tio n released a study that slated, " ......... 18 percent o f all Blacks w ill serve tim e vs. 3 percent o f all w hiles.. 51 percent of all Black males will he arrested at least once in their lives vs. 14 percent fo r whites M i norities are more apt to be pul in jwison instead of jail, and with long er sentences.” children o f color were institu tion al ized. "F o rty-se ve n percent o f the children sent to institutions fo r de linquency o f status violations were m in o ritie s ,” the report said. The number o f m inorities in the court system was 37 percent. The Council also discovered that 81 percent o f w hile children received probation vs. 68 percent for children of color. C o rrig o said for adults who end ly and sometimes consciously to get back to a safe environment. But they hate the p e n ite n tia ry . Thus, they may get a G ary G ilm o re 's " D e a th W ish," Clay said. A solution w ould be a gradual re-orientation back into society in the form of Halfway Houses, but in Ore gon few Halfway Houses exist. Clay proposed an U huru Center, but funding for the center has never been promised or budgeted. O n December 14, 1984, a Black Prisoners F o ru m was held at the King Neighborhood Facility Io high light this disproportion. A panel con sisted o f W arden J. E. Keeny, M i nority A ffa irs O ffic e r Ron M a rtin , H a lim Rahsann, Ronnie H erndon, Chuck C o rrig o (a former public de fender). Karen A lvaredo and Itnan M uham m ad N ajieb from the A m er ican Muslim Mission. The panel disseminated discussion as to why this disproportion existed, and it boiled down to individual and institutional racism. Rahsaan, H e rn d o n and M a r lin said the high co n centration o f p o lice p atro llin g the Black co m m un ity created the disproportion. M artin said, "O n c e you look for something long enough you will find i t . " Rahsaan added (hat the small number o f police o f color in the bu reau aggravated these racial d is p arities, which exist fo r all people o f color — native A m ericans and those of Spanish speaking origin. Once arrested, people o f color are faced w ith in s titu tio n al racism from the judicial system. In 1982 an independent study o f the Multnom ah M em ber* of the public w ere educated recently at a Black Priaoners (Photo Richard J. Brown) Forum presented by inm ates up in the system, Blacks receive more prison time while whites go to ja il. The recidivism rate for convicts o f color is higher. Homer Clay, director o f U h u ra Sa Sa — a Black p riso n ers' organization — said once institu tionalized a prisoner w ill become disoriented. "M o s t institutionalized men commit new crimes unconscious- Atiyeh fails to appoint Citizen Utility Board by Lanila Duke County Juvenile Court system, cyn- ducted by the N a tio n a l C o u n c il o f Jewish W om en , found a “ dispro p o rtio n ately h ig h ” percentage o f Former State Representative Welly Prteetly. Howard Willits, retired, end Thalia Zepatos. political organizer, are cited for trespass after be ing arreeted for refusing to leave the office of Martin Seles. Intemetion el. M artin Sales employs Calvin Van Pelt w ho Is also the Honorary Consul to South Africa Weekly demonstrations end arrests are planned until Van Pelt resigns as consul (Photo Richad J Brown) Herndon predicted a rise in the arrest rate due to the downward spiral economy in Oregon. "Society's pro posal to deal with crime is to become more p un itive. Unless you target specific areas and dem and e q u a l treatm ent, the racial disparities w ill only increase.” G R A S S R fX lT N E W S . N . W . - I s internal bickering among legislative leaders and the G overno r delaying the im plem entation o f the C itizen Utility Board (CUB)? According to Eric Strachon, » h o spearheaded the passage o f C U B for Oregon Slate Public Interest Research G roup (O S P IR G ). G ov. Victor Au- yeh's failure to appoint names given to him by the Senate president and the House m a jo rity leader is delaying C U B while utility companies arc con tinuing to receive rale increases. The law reads that C U B w ill be governed by a te m p o ra ry , in terim board appointed by the G overno r from a list o f up to five names sub mitted by legislative leaders. But the House majority leader and the Senate president gave Gov Atiyeh only one name each. And Denny M iles, A ti- yeh’s press secretary, said the legisla tive leaders were m aking a p p o in t ments — not the Governor. Stachon said the delay h ig h lights, “ the lack o f personal interest the Governor has in CU B. To the ex tent the Governor has any role to play in implementing C U B , he can drag his feet and benefit his friends (the util ities) to the detriment of all of us," he added During this delay two rate increases Pacific Power and I ight and Port land General Electric — were granted. C u rre n tly , Northw est N a tu ra l Gas has a rale increase pending. " It seems they were punishing vot ers for approving C U B The timing was very suspicious,” Stachon said C U B will represent the interest of u tility consumers before the Public Utility Commissioner, who has grant ed over KO percent of all rale increases requested. "The utilities act as if they want to gel everything in b efo re C U B gets off and running,” Stachon observed. He decried the relationship utilities have with Republican candidates run mng and in office. "U tilitie s are the most powerful special interest group in Oregon This G overnor has bent over backward to give utilities w hat ever they want in terms o f rate in creases and policy change," Stachon said. He requested that readers call the G o v ern o r, urging ( U B 's a p p o in t ments be made and to question the latest round of rate increases H o w ever, Miles said the calls should go to legislative leaders to submit a list of more than one name. "O n e name is not a list."
