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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1985)
Mrs Frances 3choen-\e«spaper Roo» U n iv e rs ity o f Oregon L ib ra ry iugene, Oregon 97403 Homeland threatened New sister city Blazers' chances Page 2 Page 3 Page 6 PORTLAND OBSERVER Volume XV, Number 25 April 17, 1985 25C Copy Two Sections utPS «* a® «* Seattle Protest set by Robert Lothian The largest national protest in sev eral years is coming up on Saturday, April 20th. An alliance of labor, anti-aprthcid. Central America and peace groups — the April 20th Coalition — is organiz ing the nationwide demonstration to protest President Reagan’s policies. On the West Coast, the April 20th Coalition is planning rallies and marches for Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Ten busses will be available to transport people from Portland to Seattle. The coalition is calling for an end to apartheid and U.S. support of the South African regime, no intervention in Central America, a reversal of the arms race, more jobs, and cutting the military budget. Speakers will address those and other issues and entertainment will in clude skits and music. In Seattle, marchers will assemble at I p.m., Saturday, April 20th, near the Seattle Federal Building, Second and Marion, downtown, and then march to the Federal Courthouse. Fifth and Spring, for a rally. Nila Bruggerman, Portland, April 20th coordinator and Northwest man ager of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, said the protest will likely be the largest since the Solidarity Day demonstration in Washington, D C., on Sept 19, 1981 With 80 national supporters, April 20th has much broader backing than Solidarity Day, she said. “ I think the message that people are trying to send the government once again is that you arc doing some wrong things, both domestically and internationally,” she said. Bruggerman mentioned the Oregon South Africa divestment bill, HBJOI. as one of the issues of concern for the local coalition. The bill asks the state to withdraw investments o f state funds in com panies that do business in South Afri ca State employee and other unions are not opposed to the bill, she said. Twenty-five local sponsors o f the April 2Uth demonstrations include the Amalgamated Clothing and Tex tile Workers Union, the Inland Boat man’s Union Colulmbia River Coun cil, the Rainbow coalition, the Oregon National Organization of Women, the Portland Freeze Coalition and the Portland Central America Soli darity Committee. Busses leave for Seattle at 9 a m., Saturday. April 2<>th. from the Lloyd tenter parking lot at Northeast 17th and Multnomah, and return about 6 p m Round trip cost is $15. and res ets atams arc necessary Call 231-<1902. State may soften HUD cuts by lan ita Duke GRASSROOT NEWS, N.W. - When Congress debates a possible two-year Ireeze on all lederal housing assistance programs administered by the Department of Housing and Ur ban Development, Portland will not be caught off guard. City, County and State housing officials arc gearing up to develop a state-wide policy that addresses the housing problem faced by low-income Oregonians Representatives Al Young and Mike Burton have proposed legisla tion that will create an Oregon Hous ing Trust Fund to respond to unmet housing needing not being addressed in the private sector. "These needs will become more se vere as federal budget cuts carve away at housing development that supply basic shelter assistance to house- holds," Young explained "I see it as a question of priorities and political will. The people with housing needs are represented in Sa lem by us, the legislators, not by the lobby The extent to which we are able to meet these needs will depend primarily upon the results of serious soul searching by individual legis lators,” Burton added Columbia Villa, located in North Portland, is the largest public housing development in the city. Under the current federal proposal, a morator ium is proposed for Section 8 funds used for main.enance and moderni zation. The City’s Urban Homestead pro gram, which acquries federal mort gage foreclosure houses, rehabili tates them and transfers the homes to low-income families, is also in jeo pardy due to the targeted elimination of funds Other housing units across the city face financial eviction because of a ten percent cut in the ( ommunity Development Grant. This grant is used to stimulate private sector in vestment in activities with public benefit. Connie Easier, Public Af fairs Coordinator for the Housing Authority of Portland, said cuts in ihe block grant will shake an already shaken construction industry. "Also, there is a move afoot to return housing to private industry. Tenants will purchase their own homes for a quarter of its value, but they won’t have any money to main tain them. And the best housing will be sold first, leaving those most in need of work to those unable to af ford maintenance," she added. Bill Hunter, Director of the Hous ing Authority, said the cuts will de stroy improvements made in public housing in Portland during the last 15 years. "Because of Ihe retrench ment of the federal government, all the improvements made in the Villa will be eliminated. It may go back where it was Riddled with crime and vandalism.” The Oregon Housing Trust Fund is designed to prevent the years of gains to be wiped away with a budget cut. The fund will provide an annual ly renewable and predictable amount of revenue for low and moderate income housing assistance. It will op erate as a trust fund, generating earn ings from the investment o f its re sources, lending capital at no or low interest rates and providing a high degree of efficiency in both the oper ation of the fund and the use o f its resources. Herb Cawthome. director for the Office of Special Service« at PSU and Portland School Board member, ha« been «elected president and chief executive of the Portland Urban League A field of over one hundred we« narrowed to three final»«»: Leonard Van ton. Oklahoma City Oklahoma; Lawrence Lakey. Tulae, Oklahoma, end Cewthorne (Photo: Richard J. Brown) “ Trends in housing and mortgage interest rate costs have made it in creasingly difficult for many Ore gonians to provide themselves with adequate shelter,” noted Young. "Oregon's economic problems, along with federal actions to reduce the deficit, arc hitting lower income Ore gonians particularly hard. For that reason, it is imperative that discussion of these problems occur and that po tential solutions are outlined,” Young said, concluding that the Oregon Trust Fund could be a part o f that solution. Deborah Lynn Norqutat. 32. was «enouafy injured Fri day night when her motorcycle collided with an auto mobile at Northeast Cleveland Avenue and Failing Street. Police are searching for the auto believed involved (Photo: Richard J. Brown) 'Fronts * abuse exaggerated Tougher minority contracts law sought Charging that penalties for fraudu lent schemes to get Federal contracts and subcontracts under programs designed to aid minority business de velopment are inadequate. Rep Parren J. Mitchell (D-7th. Ml)) has introduced a bill to broaden the cov erage of existing law and to stiffen criminal fines for such offenses. (Generally, the minority person’s share of ownership must be at least 51 percent in order for a business to qualify for federally-funded contracts and subcontracts as a minority firm. Mitchell noted that violations in volving misrepresentation of white- owned firms as minority-owned (com monly known as "fronts” ), controlled and operated are frequently cited by opponents of affirmative action as cause to rescind laws to aid involve ment of non-white firms in publicly- funded projects. Mitchell said the problem of fronts has been “ blown out of proportion" by critics of affirmative action, but his bill increasing fines for violation from $10,000 to $50,000 while main taining a prison term of five years "would deter offenses of this kind that bring disrepute and scandal to otherwise legitimate remedies to past and ongoing discrimination in Federal contracting and subcontracting pro grams.” In addition to increasing fines, Mitchell’s bill, H R 1961. would also extend the coverage of existing law to Federal subcontracts and other contracts let by State and local gov ernments with grant funds made avail able under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act o f 1982. Under present law, a misrepresen tation must be made directly to the Federal Government in order to in volve a criminal sanction. In the sub contracting area "fronts” deal direct ly with prime contractors so, techni cally. there is no misrepresentation to the United States. Similarly, under the Surface Trans portation Assistance Act, misrepre sentations generally are made either to the prime or to the State govern ment. Mitchell’s bill would make all such misrepresentations illegal regardless of whether they arc made directly to the Federal Government or some other party. "Those who abuse these programs —both the minority and majority per petrators of such schemes — deserve punishments to suit their felonious crimes," Mitchell said. "I am asking the U.S. ( ongress to change the existing law (a provision of the Small Business Act) to realis tically reflect the criminality of this offense again ,t Ihe United Stales Gov ernment, U.S taxpayers and eligible, legitimate disadvantaged businesses that lose out in competition with the fronts,” Mitchell said. Mitchell said critics of affirma tive action and set-aside programs exaggerate in their characterizations of how widespread the practice of fronting actually is. “ Rather than cor recting such abuses, these opponents would have the Congress renege on Us promise of equal access to economic opportunity as mandated by the Con stitution and provided for in the Small Business Act," Mitchell added. Children from tha Tri Countlaa respond to tha question from AM A Headstart Director Ron Herndon. "H ow many of you have haard of Michael Jackson?" The children and adult« were on hand to celebrate the 20th birthday of the Headstart program (Photo: Richard J. Brown)
