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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■ STORM 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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