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
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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
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PORTLAND OBSERVER
O V S W M
Volume XV Number 11
January 9,1985
25c Copy
Two Sections
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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."