V •
Page 6, Portland Observer, December 16, 1987
Energy Utilities M ake Special
A rrangem ents for Low -Incom e People
1 /*-’• •
Electricity and natural gas utili
ties regulated by the Oregon Public
Utility Commission have agreed to
adopt special arrangements for
heating customers who will be hit
by an expected cutback and delay
in federal Low-Income Energy Assi
stance Program (LIEAP) funds.
Under the agreement announced
December 10, 1987, the utilities will
make it easier for persons who may
be eligible for LIEAP money to
maintain or restore service through
mid-January.
The agreement grew out of meet
ing Tuesday of the state s four
electricity and three natural gas
companies, the PUC Consumer As
sistance Division staff, a Citizens
Utility Board representative and
other individuals.
The informal meeting was re
quested by Commission Chair Ron
Eachus after CUB submitted a pro
posal to temporarily modify utility
collection and deposit rules. The
CUB proposal was made because
LIEAP funds will be delayed this
season until January instead of
December, and because funding is
expected to be much lower.
Last year, LIEAP funds averaging
$186 per household for the winter
helped some 90,000 low-income
Oregon customers pay their heating
bills, but assistance is expected for
only about 55,000 customers this
season.
At the meeting, the utilities
agreed to make special arrange
ments in an effort to maintain ser
vice through Jan. 15 for customers
who received LIEAP funds during
the 1986-87 heating season or may
be eligible to receive LIEAP funds
this season. The special arrange
ments will apply to customers who
use electricity or gas as their pri
mary heat source.
In the event a utility feels it is
necessary to disconnect service to a
customer in that category, the PUC
Consumer Assistance Division will
be notified and must approve the
disconnection.
The utilities also agreed to restore
gas or electric service to persons in
Persons who believe they qualify
for the benefits of those provisions,
or who are having other payment
difficulties, should contact their lo
cal utility.
The special arrange
ments apply to customers of Port
land General Electric Co., Pacific
Power & Light Co., Idaho Power
Co., CP National Corp, (electric and
gas), Cacade Natural Gas and
Northwest Natural Gas.
CUB submitted its temporary rule
proposal at the commission's public
meeting in Salem. Kathy Weaver,
a CUB Board of Governors mem
ber, asked that several provisions of
PUC rules on utility service deposit
and payment arrangements be
made more lenient temporarily in
response to the LIEAP fund pro
blem.
Eachus suggested instead that
CUB and the utilities get together
informally with the PUC staff in an
effort to reach an agreeable policy
that could be implemented more
quickly than a change in rules.
Eachus praised CUB and the utili
ties for their willingness to sit down
and reach an agreement. "CUB
came to us with a legitimate con
cern over the effects the LIEAP
cutbacks would have on people
who relied on these funds to help
pay heating bills in the winter
months," he said. "The utilities
deserve credit for their willingness
to cooperate and take steps to help
many of these people.
"Even though the PUC does not
administer LIEAP funds, our staff
was able to facilitate an agreement
that meets CUB's concerns without
the necessity of a time-consuming
rule change," Eachus said.
Public Service
Announcement
V* ì
« •
the LIEAP funding categories if the
person pays 10 percent of any
amount owed to the utility and
agrees to negotiate a time payment
agreement for the remainder owed.
Also, deposits and deposit install
ments will be waived for those per
sons through Jan. 15. Again, the
special provisions apply only to
those who use electricity or gas as a
primary source of heat.
.-•V
Vour Post Office asks you to mail early in the day and be extra
careful to lick and stick your envelopes. The post office reports
that thousands of Christmas cards never reach their destination
because people fail to seal the envelopes.
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So remember — m ail early in the day, seal your Christmas
cards, and d o n 't fo rg e t the ZIP Code.
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BUFNY's Michael Spinks Day in New York
- Over 300 families
were recipients of the Black United
Fund of New York (BUFNY) and
heavyweight champion Michael
Spinks' generous helping hands
during a recent daylong celebration
kicking off the season of giving.
Children received T-shirts, families
received Holly Farm chickens, the
Harlem community received the
gesture of kindness and Michael
Spinks received the BUFNY "Help
ing Hand Award."
"The Black United Fund is an or
ganization committed to self-helpd
and community empowerment and
because Michael Spinks is a cham
pion both inside the ring and in the
community, we felt he should re
ceive our Helping Hands Award,"
said Kermit Eady, President and
founder of BUFNY. "His giving
spirit is reflected by the gifts he is
always giving back to the commu
nity whether he's giving food or
simply giving of his time.
Billed as "Michael Spinks Day,”
the activities sponsored by BUFNY
which Spinks participated in started
with an early morning visit to City
Hall to meet with the mayor of New
York City, Edward I. Koch. Mayor
Koch presented the champion with
a wool "I Love New York scarf
while Spinks presented the Mayor
with a pair of boxing gloves. The
New York, ny
(L R) K erm it Eady, BUFNY President, Butch Lewis, M ichael Spinks
and children receiving T-shirts and food.
afternoon
was
spent
visiting
Harlem-based welfare hotels, apart
ments for families living on welfare,
where Spinks signed autographs,
handed out T-shirts and Holly Farm
chickens to families living in the
hotels and gave advice to the child
ren about how to be the best at
what they want to be in life.
The day's activities concluded at
the Harlem School of the Arts
where Spinks took questions and
answers from a gathering of young
people from five local youth organi
zations and participated in a BUFNY
fundraiser to benefit the organiza
tion's building fund. The fundraiser
was an opportunity for Michael
Spinks to see longtime friends such
as Howard Davis, one of Spinks
Olympic boxing colleagues and gold
medal winner, and it gave the Black
United Fund a chance to acknow
ledge Spinks for his outstanding
community service. Proclamations
and pronouncements declaring No
vember 24, 1987 as "Michael Spinks
Day" came from Borough of Man
hattan President David Dinkins' Of
fice, Bronx Borough President Fer
nando Ferrer, New York State Se
nator David Paterson and Bob Law,
host of the nationally radio-syndi
cated talkshow "Night Talk".
Over 200 people attended the
fundraiser and watched as Kermit
Eady presented Spinks with a plexi
glass trophy enscribed with the
Helping Hands logo. In turn. Butch
Lewis, Michael's manager and pre
sident of Butch Lewis Productions,
along with Michael Spinks, gave a
$1,000.00 contribution to the
BUFNY building fund and pledged
their ongoing support to the numer
ous efforts of the organization. An
other
major
contribution
to
BUFNY's building fund was pre
sented by the Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, Pi Kappa Omega chapter.
Perhaps Spinks' humble remarks
at the end of the evening best sum
up his sentiments, and those of
BUFNY, about the day: "I simply
want to say thank you to everyone
for everything. When I grew up in
St. Louis it wasn't easy. I didn't
even know where to get a chicken
from. That's why I try to give a
helping hand when I can. In the
end, sharing and caring is what it's
all about.”
An Open Letter to Oregonians from Robert Parker
The year 1987 represents the 200th anniversary of our Constitution: the
document by which our democratic form of government is derived. It esta
blishes our major institutions, sets the parameters of their authority, and pro
vides checks and balances between one branch of government against an
other. Our Constitution also provides for and protects the rights and liberties
of the individual. The Bill of Rights, which comprises the first ten amend
ments to the Constitution, was developed and ratified for the sole purpose
of insuring individual rights and liberties against the tyranny of the govern
ment or its citizens. It is true, however, that at the time that these matters
were under consideration, some of us were excluded from the gambit o
protection that was provided for others. Recognizing the inherent problems
and injustices that resulted therefrom, an additional three amendments were
proposed, debated, and opposed, but eventually ratified and enacted into
law. I speak here of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.
One of the major ele-
ments that has allowed for
and, indeed, contributed
to and enhanced our form
of government is that
those people who have
been elected and appoint
ed to hold the public trust
and execute their consti
tutional duties, did so with
both a respect for the law
and an equally fervent re
spect for the rights of the
individuals on whose be
helf they function.
Our history is repleat
with instances of the da
mage done to individuals
and our community when
elected and appointed o f
ficials, or those that they
oversee, fail to adhere to a
respect for the law or a re
spect for the rights of the
_
individual.
A clear cut Robert Parker
Photo by Richard J. B row n
case of abuse can be
found in Watergate, when our nation's Chief Executive decided to disregard
the law as well as the rights and liberty and privacy of certain persons.
Other examples can be found in the injustices perpetrated on Blacks
and their supporters in the South during the freedom marches, pray-ins,
sit-ins, and other forms of protest and civil disobedience to correct racial
inequality and prejudice. Those who marched against the Vietnam War were
abused; their rights to free expression snuffed out by elements in our institu
tions that had an agenda in conflict with our Constitution.
This year in Oregon, we have witnessed yet another example of the
misuse and abuse of the public trust and power as applied to the detriment
of an individual. This situation began unfolding on May 28, 1987, when Ore
gon Senate President John Kitzhaber placed me on leave from my job and
called for an Attorney General's criminal investigation into rumors he
been informed of regarding me. It appears as though Oregon Secretary or
State, Barbara Roberts, went to Kitzhaber and filled him in on what she had
heard and how she felt. Ms. Roberts happened to observe me having lunch
with an influential chairman and CEO of a very successful Oregon corpora
tion that she felt I had no business being with, which led, ostensibly, to her
went to my creditors and propounded leading questions in a further attempt
to concoct some type of criminal case against me.
So finally, after the Marion County Grand Jury demonstrated the
common sense, human decency and back bone not to succumb to the poli
tical pressure, and decided not to indict me, along comes District Attorney
Dale Penn who files three unnecessary misdemeanor charges for something
that was, and remains to be, totally unrelated to the reasons that I was initial
ly subjected to an investigation.
Ironically enough, it appears as though the legislative history of the sta
tute under which I have been charged does not even apply to the conduct
alleged to be criminal.
District Attorney Dale Penn then turns over his file to the Oregon State
Ethics Commission, and its investigator, Bill Pick, picks up the trail and fur
ther expends time and taxpayer money in an attempt to ascertain if I have
done anything wrong. His report, while not charging me with any ethical
violations, lists all sorts of misinformation and other distortions of reality to
continue portraying me as some type of sinister person that should be purged
by the public.
Finally, State Senator Jim Hill rises to the occasion and calls for a halt
to this cycle of absurdity. He files ethics charges against Jason Boe and
John Burns for making false statements to legislators.
A press conference is held and Ron Blakenbaker, a member of the press,
wants to know why Jim Hill is doing this. Mr. Blakenbaker feels as though
this is all old hat; Bob took a beating. So what? Bob's life has been de
stroyed. Who cares? Bob's family has been made destitute. Big deal. Bob
Parker can't get a job, even though he has a law degree. That's his problem.
Never once has it occurred to Mr. Blakenbaker that the 5th Amendment
to the Constitution protects against unlawful deprivations of life, liberty,
property and the pursuit of happiness without due process of law.
Futhermore, it was of no consequence to Mr. Blakenbaker that my life
has been destroyed by lies, rumors, gossip and racial innuendos from what
appear to be very bigoted sources. Do we live in America or is this the Re
public of South Africa? I know now how the Jewish people felt at the hands
of Nazi Germany, and I clearly feel the pain and anguish of my ancestors
who plowed the earth of this country as slaves. When will we as a people
come to grips with ourselves and realize that if this sort of thing happens to
any one of us, then it is prone to happen to all of us?
I write in hopes of awakening in your hearts the desire to make Ame
rica's and Oregon's bounty available to all of its people; not just the elite
not just to those in the 'good old boy' network, and not just to those whose
skin is white; but to all of us that constitute America and Oregon; all races
both sexes, all national origins and religions.
What happened to me was, and continues to be, nothing less than
complete and total disaster. While my accusers and oppressors are enjoying
Thanksgiving dinner with their family, friends and loved ones, my family and
I are separated thousands of miles apart, because we have no job, no
income, no home and no security. But I am thankful to the one true and
living God that they are all still alive thus far.
I can only hope and pray that true justice comes, that the real guilty
parties who produced this nightmare be made to pay. I pray that my name
be cleared, and that I be blessed with employment, so that I can begin to
provide for myself and my family once again. Then maybe, just maybe, nex
Thanksgiving my wife and I will be once again with our family and be able
enjoy the fruits of our labor. Thank you.
Robert R. Parker, Jr., LL.B
J.
J a c k s o n C a m p a ig n
Continued from Page 1
questioning my presence.
In addition, two former Senate Presidents, Jason Boe and John Burns,
were furious with the fact that a piece of legislation that they and their clients
had opposed had, some how or another, made it out of the Senate Business,
Housing and Finance Committee. Hence they were faced with the prospect
of being unable to deliver for these entities and organization that they were
handsomely paid to represent. These two gentlemen were summoned by
Mr. Kitzhaber. And, while neither of them could confirm that infractions
of the law or violations of ethical standards had occurred, they all agreed that
destroying Bob Parker was the proper thing to do, and they set out to do so,
in no uncertain terms.
As you will recall, I was flashed on the six- and eleven o clock news
everyday for about a month. I could not wake up a single day when I was not
confronted with more scandalous lies, rumors and accusations being levied
at me.
In the process, I was forced to resign from my job. But that was not
good enough. The lies continued on. Meanwhile, my wife and family were
nervous wrecks. I was totally frustrated trying to figure out what was really
going on and trying to ascertain how to rectify this dilemma and restructure
our life. We lost our apartment, and our car was wrongfully repossessed
The Attorney General's investigators, dead certain that I was guilty of
something, combed over every detail and facet of my life, bringing to life
items that bore absolutely no relevance to the price of tea in China, and defi
nitely of no relevance to anything that was happening here in Oregon. They
Gross, 235 9800, and Linda Pitcher
246 8605, Literature: Jim Stuart,
244 6161, ext. 6691, Susan Jankow--;
ski, 281 8540, Fundraising: Macceo
Pettis, 287 2835; Voter Registration:
Terry Anderson, 282-1300; Volun->
teer Coordination: Ingrid Swenson,?
224 2659, Bob Nash, 295-6248.
Ja ckso n Speaks: "S tra ig h t
From The H e a rt"
"S pending on the arms race and
the m ilita ry buildup is robbing us
of m oney to fund social p ro
gram s.” —M arty Hart Landsberg
Photo by Richard J B row n
paign moves into high visibility, the
need for more volunteer support has
emerged. Several campaign work
ers have been identified as Jacksor
committee contacts; Outreach: Bot
For people who want to become ;
more familiar with Jesse Jackson's :
thinking on the issues, the Cam
paign has announced that copies
of his first book, "Straight From the
heart", are available by contacting :
Macceo Pettis at 287 2835. In the
book, Jackson speaks eloquently on
a variety of topics through thirty
six public speeches, sermons, eulo -
gies, essays and interviews.
His
positions are clearly revealed, as
well as underscoring his appeal as :
a human rights advocate and peace
maker.
W
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