Portland Observer, September 11, 1906, Page 3
A photographer’s journal o f Nicaragua
Security Storm Doors
"Keep out
the cold ...
and the crooks!"
Richard J. Brown, photographer
fo r the Portland O bserver. spent
seven weeks in Nicaragua learning
about and meeting its people. His
photographs will appear here as a
*eeklv feature.
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■ SCREEN DOOR
■ STORM DOOR
■ SECURITY DOOR
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‘ ALLIED DOOR CO.
W a m at Cora M o lin a Ram oa tol
lowing her ralaaaa from the hos
pital where aha was being traatad
for wounds sha received whan the
Contras attacksd tha cooparativa
sha lived In. Sha told us of tha a t
tack that lastad tw o mlnutas and
laft both har parants deed Cora
fled In to th a w o o d s and som a-
tim a during th a dark, w a t night,
har 2 and-ona half year old child
dlad in har arms Har father was s
C ontra ta rg e t because ha w as
pesident of an agricultural coop
eretlve
It was difficult If not Impossible to
speak to a N ic a ra g u a n w h o had
not had a tra g ic c o n fro n ta tio n
w ith th a C o n tra s or S a m o z a ’s
guard
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PORTLAND
Sickle Cell A nem ia
1st A n n u al B an q u et
Keynote Speak»« Mi Herb Cawthorne
• pm
Saturday Septem ber 21, 1986
The Red Lion Motor Inn
Jantzen Beach
909 N Hayden Island Dr
Outcome: No Tri-Met Strike
by Robert Lothian
Portland breathes a sigh o f relief —
T ri-M e t drivers and mechanics a p
proved a new three-year labor contract
Tuesday, by a vote o f 71 to 29 percent.
The new contrct means there will be
no strike. Before the vote, union mem
bers and leaders had warned there
would be a strike if the last ditch com
promise worked out over the weekend
proved unacceptable
The new contract calls for a 5 per
cent wage cut in the first 18 months for
workers who earn more than $10 an
hour, followed by a 3 percent increase
at the end o f 18 months and 2 percent
increases each six months thereafter.
The contract also includes restructur
ing o f pension provisions and a com
promise on part-time drivers. Tri-M et
had opted for upping part-timers to 30
percent o f the labor force in previous
o ile rs, w hich made union members
feel that their jobs were threatened.
I he compromise was hammered out
in secret, last minute negotiations le J
by I d Whelan, a veteran labor nego
tiator and public relations executive at
P ortland General E lectric W helan
was recruited fo r the jo b by Mayor
C la rk, who emerged fro m the cloud
cast by the possibility o f a strike with
another political feather in his cap
Rruceeda to Portland Sickle Call Anar nia Foundation
I he new contract calls for $5.1 mil
lion in savings for Tri Met over three
years, with $2.7 m illion saved the first
vear, which is $1 million less in savings
dun the company had originally asked
for.
Not all the w orkers are happy -
some tell railroaded by political pres
sure. A n d the story isn 't over yet.
Rumblings are in the air about restruc
luring and making more accountable a
T ri-M e t management which seemed
only too willing to take the city into a
destructive strike in its drive to wrest
concessions from the union.
EDITORI AL/COMMENTAR Y
Fair Tax group says No to sales tax
by Scott Bailey
On September 17, Oregonians w ill
have another chance to vote on a 5
percent sales tax. A fte r carefully ana
lyzing the sale tax measure. Citizens
fo r Fair Taxes recommends that c iti
zens vote “ n o " on the sales tax We
believe that the sales tax w ill increase
the tax bill fo r most Oregonians, and
that it will hurt Oregon's economy.
Before explaining why we oppose
the sales tax, let’s review the basics o f
the measure. I f passed. Measure I
w ould place a 5 percent sales tax on
the purchase o f many goods we buy.
Some basics like fo o d , rent, utilities,
mortgage payments and prescription
drugs w ould be exempted fro m the
tax Revenues raised by the sales lax
would be used to lower property taxes
and income taxes. In a d d itio n , re n t
ers would receive a refund o f 6 percent
o f their rent, and low -incom e O re
gonians would receive a refund o f up
to $40 The percentage o f the sales
tax (5 percent) and the basic exemp
tions could not be changed except by a
vote o f the people.
The sales tax, then, w ould trade
property tax and income tax relief for
a new tax. The first question fo r voters
becomes, w ho w ould pay more in
taxes and who would pay less. While
the answer w ill be d iffe re n t fo i each
o f us depending on what we pay now
and what we would pay, some general
izations are possible.
F irst, the tax b ill on corporatons
will drop by about $100 m illion a vear
M any large corp o ra tion s, such as
hanks and utilities, have extensive land
holdings and would receive far more in
property tax relief than they would pay
in a sales tax. Out-of-state landowners
would clearly benefit — they w ould
have their property tax b ill cut, and
would pay no sales tax. Between one-
fo u rth and o ne-half o f dow ntow n
P ortland is owned by out-of-state
interests, so that the amount o f prop
erty tax going to non-Oregonians
would be significant, perhaps as high
as $200 million.
I f corporations and out-of-state
landlords pay that much less in taxes,
someone has to pick up the tab. That
someone turns out to be I ) fam ilies,
and 2) small and expanding businesses.
While the poorest o f Orgonians may
not see their tax b ill increase, lower
and middle-class families w ould end
up paying more if the sales tax were to
pass. Young fam ilies are the m ajor
purchasers o f goods that w ould be
subject to the sales tax: new and used
cars, m ajor appliances, home furnish
ings, and clothing. I he big months for
sales tax collection are September,
when parents are buying back-to-
school items fo r their children, and
December, during the Christmas sea
son.
Small and expanding businesses
w ould also be hurt by the sales tax.
M any small businesses lease their
property, and so w ould not receive
any property tax relief; however, they
would have to pay a sales tax, so their
tax b ill w ould increase. Oregon busi
nesses in the process o f expanding
would also have to pay more in taxes.
O ut-of-state corporations setting up
new plants in Oregon would face high
start-up costs due to the sales tax.
Any incentive from reduced property
taxes w ould be balanced by the in
crease in sales tax
C ontrary to the claims o f sales tax
supporters, passage o f the sales tax
w ould not help O regon's econom y.
and in fact w ould probably w ork
against any chance at economic recov
ery. The sales tax would not lure new
companies to Oregon, because on
balance they w ould have to pay as
much in a sales tax as they would re
ceive in property tax relief. Those
C orporations that create the most
jobs — small businesses and expand
ing businesses such as high-tech firms
would end up paying more in taxes
if the sales tax passes. The companies
helped by the sales tax. like U S. Na
tional Bank and P acific Power A
I ight, arc not the ones creating new
jobs and helping to revive our econ
omy.
Portland residents should be aware
o f a loophole in the sales tax measure
that w ill greatly reduce their potential
tax relief. The 1987 legislature w ill
have a chance to change the way tax
relief is d istrib u te d throughout the
state. The current measure offers a
32 percent cut in property taxes. I, is
likely that the legislature would alter
the fo rm u la and lower the figure to
18 percent for Portland, while increas
ing the percentage fo r other areas in
the state.
The shift in taxes from large corpor
ations o nto families and small or ex
panding businesses, and the potential
damage to Oregon's economy accom
panying such a shift, far outweigh! the
few positive features o f the sales tax
measure, such as stabilization o f some
school tax bases. Recent polls show
that 60 to 70 percent o f Oregon voters
will vote against the sales tax. We urge
you to join them.
Scott Bailey is the Treasurer fo r
Citizens fo r Pair Taxes and the co-
chair o f the Portland Democratic
Socialists of A menca.
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