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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1985)
4 CCI 1985 Red Cross Dedication Sports Page 8 iw -A v » M N *« - ' Memphis Slim 'ìt. Pii.4. .«•» »w* J' v ME* • i Page 7 Page 3 PORTLAND OBSERVER C«» fWMa« C» . « k /•» Portland receives $59,000 in grants to fight crime Z)v Robert Z othian T h e a w a rd of c rim e p rev en tio n m o n ey to Portland is a n n o u n c e d b y ( le f t to r ig h t ) S a n d y L a rs o n . L t. M a ria n a Heisler and Sherry Sylvester (Photo R ichard J B row n ) Rank-and-file officers vote to pay Peters' full salary that H a rrin g to n and her " s is t e r " Captain Webber were trying to punish him fo r c ritic iz in g H a rrin g to n 's a d m in is tra tiv e policies. Peters fought H a rrin g to n 's o rd e r by filin g a grievance w ith the O regon Em plo ym e n t R elations B oard. I he Relations Board ruled that the C ity was correct in ordering Peters to work fo r Ins salary. I he Board also ruled that the salary arrangem ent made between Peters and former I hief Ron S till was illegal and co n tra ry to tax [layers’ interests. M a yo r Bud C la rk said he was pleased the U n io n voted to pay Peters' salary. “ I here is no reason the C ity should ever have paid h im , " stated Clark Mentzer Building revamped by Robert Lothian A n o th e r run dow n b u ild in g in E lio tt n e ig h b o rh o o d is being renovated in a jo in t project o f the U r ban le a g u e and the P o rtla n d Development Commission (PDC). The M entzer B u ild in g , at 2702- 2710 N. W illiams, w ill be converted to the new headquarters o f the U rban I eague and w ill also house the W hit- ney Young Learning Center. The U rb a n I eague now occupies another old building renovated w ith P D C help, the U rb a n Plaza at W illiams and Russell, but needs a new space because the State Senior Ser vices D iv is io n , w hich also occupies Urban Plaza, is expanding The Mentzer B u ilding renovation w ill begin this fa ll and com pletion is scheduled fo r early 1986 The work w ill in vo lve m a jo r re pair and upgrading to com ply with city codes. New doors and windows, new wiring and plumbing, a new heating system, and an elevator w ill be installed. A private investor has received ap proval fo r a $J40,(XX) P IX ' loan at 3 percent interest First Interstate and Standard Insurance are also helping in According to I arson, of dtC r,i|x-s reported in the citv last vear, 28O or over h a lf o f the victim s were 18 or younger A n average ot one in lour girls 18 or younger has been sexually assaulted, as has one in six boss in the same age b ra cke t, she added. I he education program w ill give the kids some tools to fig h t back w ith , in eluding some " d ir ty street fig h tin g m ethods" to incapacitate attackers, said ( arson. Heisler and Sylvester stressed that both progianis encourage citizen par lic ip a tio n in lire war against entire, hopefullv taking some ol the load o il the hard strapped police force, which was cut earlier this vear The threat o f going to tail is not the delerrant it once was due to lack ol jail space, said Heisler "Me all know that doesn't work " " lire Police Bureau sim ply does not have the p e rso n n e l,” she said From the police poinl ol view, Heisler said, education is the way to keep people from becoming victims. "C itiz e n s arc going to have to become co m m itte d to solving theii own cnmc problems,” Sylvester ad ded Tri-Met between a rock and hard spot by Jerry Garner The P o rtla n d Police U n io n gave their President Stan Peters a vote o f confidence last Friday by voting 132- 126 to pay him fu ll salary and ben e fits. O u t o f the U n io n ’ s 750 members, only 459 voted th e vote became necessary a fte r C h ie f H a rrin g to n ordered Peters to begin working full-tim e for the City o f Por tland It was revealed that Peters had been receiving h a lf o f a p a tro lm a n ’ s salary o f over $16,000 a year in cluding benefits since September 1981 from an arrangement made by former C hief Ron Still Peters cla im e d the o rd e r by H a rrin g to n was a p o litic a l move to weaken the U n io n . Peters also sard Portland received come good news last week that will help the city battle ciim e I he P o rtla n d P olice ( rim e Prevention t mt and the city's Neigh borhood ( rime Prevention Program w ill receive federal crime prevention grants totaling almost $59,dim Sher iv Sv Is ester, program manager lo r the city C rim e P revention Program, announced the award ol a le d e ia l Justice Assistance Act Block Grant worth $25,289 lor street crime p re ve n tio n in inner citv neigh hot hoods, including Northeast And I t Mar lane Heisler, head ol the police I rim e P re ve n tio n l in t, said the u n it has been awarded a $ D ,6 '1 bhxk giant lor sexual assault and sexual abuse prevention among youth. Sylvester said the stret crim e program will involve luring a lu ll time s ta ll person who w ill w o rk w ith neighborhood groups and encourage citizens to gel in vo lve d in fig h tin g p ro s titu tio n , d in g s, m uggings and other stieet crime. The program could include such citizen activities as w riting down the license numbers o l the p ro stitu te s' customers and sending them notes, posting notices to the e ffe ct that residents are on the lookout lo t crime, o rg a n izin g m ore n e ig hb o r and business w atch p ro je c ts , and scheduling p o sitive a c tiv itie s to rebuild comm unity spirit and reclaim rreiglrborhoods, Sylvester said I he program w ould also involve "s ite h a rd e n in g " securing Ironies and businesses, and coordinating tia l tic, street lighting and business been sing lodelei clime, she added "W hat we are d o ing is a reverse market strategy,” Sylvester said. "W e want to get the message out that our neighborhoods a re n 't places to market crim inal a c tiv ity ." Sylvester agreed, however, that the grant was only a drop hi the bucket in the light against crime In the sexual abuse sexual assault prevention p ro g ra m , said H eisler, youth trom 4th through 12th grades w ill be instructed in ways to prevent assaults, with sessions led by vo lu n teers in schools, detention fa cilitie s and tre a tm e n t centers. A Police Bureau crime prevention specialist, Sandy I arson, w ill co o rd in a te the program and tra in youth and adult volunteers the project. The b u ild in g now has fiv e c o m mençai tenants whose rehxation w ill be assisted by the investors. Vacant apartments ixcupy the second floor. The building has been an eyesore of concern to c o m m u n ity residents. It w ill be the th ird jo in t project o f the U rb a n I eague and P IX in the v icin ity of W illia m s and Russell— other projects were the U r ban Plaza and an apartment building on N. Vancouver Ave. P IX provided $245,(XX) in loans fo r these projects, retaining 16 jobs and creating 12 new ones. In addition, three m ulti-fam ily housing projects in the "co n ce n tra te d assistance area” received nearly $1.3 m illio n in P IX loans, and over $7 m illio n in P IX money was invested in 209 houses. "T h e s e p ro je c ts have made a significant im provem ent to the lives o f t-hose people w h o liv e in E lio tt n e ig h b o rh ix x l," said Herb Cawthor- ne, U rban I eague president. " W it h PDC assistance, we converted eyesores in to o ffic e space and we made the neighborhixxl safer fo r the fam ilies and elderly people w ho live there." Z»v Robert I othian I he I n Mei B oard o l D ire cto rs approved two ordinances aimed at in creasing revenues M onday, ordman ces that appeared very unpopular with the tw o segments ot the po p u la tio n they affect The Board first approved a l°'o tax on all petroleum products im ported into the county, and then moved on to reapprove its earlier decision to do away w ith youth discount fares Die oil tax w ill raise an estimated $11 m illion a year arid the youth tare hike an ad d ition a l $'(81,(88) fo r the ailing transit agency, that is, if the or dmances make it through the courts Testim ony was alm ost urraiii ntously against b o th ordinances “ We do not leel it is fair to put a lax on a single industry,” said Jack Burns ol Burns Bros., Inc., a major supplier o f diesel fuel to trucks, who testified against the p e tro le u m im p o rt tax “ When you keep taxing business, you arc ta xin g the goose th a t lays the golden egg " O ther in d u s try representatives complained that the tax would cause a loss o f business and jo b s . The tax w ould be passed on in the fo rm of price increases, and custom ers, in eluding truckers, tugboats and ships, would go where the price was lower, fo r exam ple, C la rk C o u n ty , Washington, they said. One industry representative called the ordinance “ the C la rk C o u n ty E conom ic D evelopm ent O rd in a n c e .” He threatened a lawsuit i f the ordinance was passed. The Juvenile R ight P ro je ct has already slapped T ri-M e l w ith a lawsuit seeking to rescind the youth fare increase As a b a c k -to -s c h o o l present, T ri-M et on Sept. I did away with discounts for youth 7 to 19 years old. The youth had been paying 50 cents a ride in all zones and $15 for a monthly pass, but now they pay adult fares in all zones and $20 fo r a mon thly pass A b o u t 100 high school students. S tu d e n ts tes tify against th e proposed youth fare in crease at Tri M e t Board of D irectors m eeting organized by the Juvenile Right Project, packed the board meeting in the P ortland Building I lies waited p a tie n tly th ro u g h tw o hours of testim ony o il the o il tax. but when their tu rn came, the board appeared ready to get the meeting over in a h u rry . T w e n ty-n in e students had signed up to testify in opposition to the fare hike, w ith no one in favor. "W e 're not going to go through 29 re p e titio n s ," said Board C hairm an Gerard D rum m ond. "W e have one board member who has to get out o f here in just a few minutes.” The students in te rp re te d D rum m o n d 's com m ents as m ore callous tre a tm e n t o f yo u th by T ri Met " They're so closed nnnded," said one student The students testified that the tare increase represents a h a rdship fo r low -incom e fam ilies, that it puls an u n fa ir burden on y o u th , a small segment o f the ridership, and that the original ordinance was passed without (P h oto Richard J B ro w n ) adequate notice I he board had Io pass it again to cover its tracks, they said A I n Met spokesman responded that the agency had d is tru b u le d 60,(88) flyers, and aired notice of the ordinance in local media "A dequate public notice was given," he said I sen teachers got in to the act. I eonard Anderson, representing the P ortland A ssociation of leachcrs, said that he and oilier teachers were concerned that students were scrim ping on their lunches due to the fare increase I rying to keep the attention of hungry students "does not provide the best climate lor us to teach in ," he said I he Juvenile R ight P ro je ct a n nounced at a press conference last week their in te n tio n ot packing the board meeting I he spunky young people have tw o lawyers w orking on their lawsuit. "W e don't w ork, i t ’ s required that we go to school, and we have no money fo r the in cre a se ," said Ron R od riq u e z, a senior at ( levelaitd High and organizer of the project ( haunta Pearce said die in a jo ritv of her classmates at Je ffe rso n are against lire increase Pearce said her mother will now have to pay an extra $ 1 ' a m onth lo r bus passes fo r her three children. " A n d I also have to pay for my lunch, so it ’ s really a bur d en," Pearce said K im b e rly H ill, a senior at M e tro p o lita n I earning ( enter, said the tare increase will particularlv hurt M l ( students because many come from outlying zones and w ill now pav a dollar or more. Helping the youth in their lawsuit is the Transit Riders Association, whose vice president, Fred Nussbaum, is a former Tri Met planner I irula John son, yo u th advocate lo r the M etropolitan Y outh ( omm ission, is acting as guardian to r the youth for the purposes of the lawsuit •• /•». • « ' " » ¿ > •. 'sì
