Portland observer., March 16, 1989, Page 3, Image 3

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Page 3 Portland Observer March 16,1989
News Around Town
State Senator Bill
McCoy, D-Portland
announced the Senate's approval of the
school finance package which benefits
students and taxpayers in Multnomah
county.
“ This bill guarantees a better
education for our children by having
the stale pay more of the cost for their
education. We want to relieve some of
the taxpayers burden by seeking tax
equity among Oregon’s 303 school
districts and relieving some of the
pressures on property tax payers,"
explains McCoy.
The core of the plan is a statewide
ballot measure, HJR 1, that gives updated
property tax bases to about a third of the
state’s school districts. This gives each
school district a current tax base.
If the voters pass the measure May 16,
the increased state aid and property tax
offsets contained in SB 802 take effect
immediately.
“ The cost of education is rising at
all levels. The state needs to pay more
basic school support to help our kids get
a better education. That’s exactly what
this school finance package does,”
McCoy said.
McCoy went on to say the new system
attempts to alleviate the problem of
disparity in property tax rates to support
schools. In the property-rich districts,
the revenue can be produced with fairly
low tax rates. In property-poor districts,
much higher rates are required.
“ The result is a huge inequity in
school costs for property tax payers and
inequity of students because districts
have differing amounts of revenue on
which to operate, “ McCoy said.
Equity is sought by providing $35
million in state-aid to low-wealth school
districts with high property tax rates.
The new financing lowers the property
taxes of many low-wealth school districts.
“ The current system has Oregon’s
schools financed primarily by local rather
than state taxes with over 60% coming
from the property tax. As a result,
taxpayers have trouble keeping up with
expanding educational needs. This
legislation begins to address that
problem,” McCoy said.
SB 802 will also be providing $35
million in new state aid for educating
the handicapped. “ The state must pay
more for the programs we have mandated
in local districts,” McCoy said.
“ The school finance package we
enacted provides property tax relief,
increased basic support, and state
increased support to special high cost
education programs. This benefits us
all, McCoy said.
CENSUS BUREAU OPENS
DISTRICT OFFICES
In preparation for th 1990 Census
the Census Bureau has opened it’s
Portland District Office. This office
has been established to collect data
within a specific geographic area, which
includes collecting census forms and
conducting non-response follow up.
This office will hire temporary
employees in the area to work on the
Census. Those interested in census job
opportunities need to contact the district
office recruiter; in Portland the number
is (503) 231-2371. The district offices
will be operating for approximately 20
months.
Census Day is April 1, 1990 and
Census of Population and Housing will
mark the 200th anniversary of the first
national count. Called for every ten
years by the U.S. Constitution (Article
1, section 2) the census provides statistics
for the apportionment of seats in the
House of Representatives. State and
local governments also use census
numbers to redraw their election districts.
Census information is the basis for
distributing billions of dollars annually
in federal and state program funds to
local governments. Governments and
private planners regularly use census
facts to locate and develop such projects
as schools, highways, medical facilities,
shopping and factories.
ROSE FESTIVAL
JUNIOR COURT
SELECTION
STARTS MARCH
14
The P ortland R ose F estival
Association is gearing up for 1989 with
its first junior court selection slated for
next week.
The first of eight junior princesses
will be selected at 7 pm on Tuesday,
March 14 at Franklin High School.
The court is composed of eight girls
ranging in ages from 9-11 (to be eligible
the girls must be 9 and 10, but not 11
before June 1, 1989) who attend
elementary schools in the Portland city
limits.
Each girl will represent one of the
eight geographical regions that the city
is divided into for the court
The 1989 candidates will be judged by
a panel of seven judges on poise, neatness
in appearance, personal interviews and
speaking ability.
After the court’s selection is final,
the princesses begin a busy schedule of
activities, including meeting with Gov.
Neil Goldschmidt, entertaining at senior
care facilities and making appearances
at community events.
The junior court selection process
culminates with the queen’s coronation
on Wednesday, May 24 at 7:30 pm at
Madison High School.
For more information contact
Shannon Parker or Marie Dodds at
227-2681.
SENIOR
ADVOCATES
DECLARE ELDER
ABUSE
AWARENESS
CAMPAIGN -
MARCH 20 TO
MARCH 31,1989
One of every ten elders currently
lives in a situation which is conducive
to abuse, exploitation, or neglect.
Reports of abuse, exploitation, and
neglect have increased dramatically over
the last five years.
The
Portland
M ultnom ah
Commission on Aging, in cooperation
with Aging Networks, Inc., the
Multnomah Aging Services Division,
and the Portland Police Bureau are
planning a public awareness campaign
on ELDER ABUSE - entitled
“ VIOLENCE IS AGELESS” .
Elder abuse may take the form of:
-Physical Abuse
-Denial of Basic Needs (withholding
of food, medication, or hygiene)
-Pyschological Abuse (including
verbal assaults or the withholding
of affection)
-Material Abuse (misuse of funds or
theft of personal property)
The public awareness campaign,
designed to increase awareness and
reporting of Elder Abuse will run from
March 20 to March 31, and will include
a grocery bag and poster campaign.
Public Service Announcements and a
Public Forum on elder abuse.
Because elder abuse often occurs
within the family carcgiving structure,
and can arise from multiple stresses
such as financial difficulty, lack of
support for the caregiver, or existing
family dynamics, increased awareness
and understanding can have an important
impact on the prevention of Elder Abuse.
The kick-off press conference will
include as speakers:
Kate Drew, Portland MultreCommission
on Aging
Don Keister Aging Services Division
Teri Poppinou, Portland Police Bureau
Spokesperson, Thriftway
For more information, please call
Becky Wehrli at 796-5279.
T MARTIN SELECTED FOR PIIAC
c appointment of Art Martin, retired
listrator with the Portland Public
als, to the City of Portland’s Police
nal Investigations A uditing
nittee (PIIAC) has been announced
ity Commissioner Dick Bogle.
Northeast Portland resident, Martin
irincipal of Joseph Meek Elementary
o, at the time of his retirement. He
>cen with the school system for 30
e au o «H-vcd for 30 years in the Air
Force Reserve, retiring with the rank of
colonel. He now serves as Chief of
Staff of the Oregon National Guard
Reserve.
Martin was a member of the steering
committee which organized the
Community Juvenile Officer program
(CJOs) in the schools, and currently is
secretary of the board of the Oregon
Military Museum.
He is chairman of Trustees tor Calvary
Presbyterian Church.
RALLY SET TO CELEBRATE
NATIONAL EMPLOY THE OLDER
WORKER WEEK
The Coalition for Older Worker Employment is sponsoring a rally to
celebrate National Employ The Older Worker Week (March 12-18,1989).
The rally will be held on Monday, March 13th in the Hearings Room (second
floor) of the Portland Building, 1120 S W Fifth. The rally will begin at 12:00
noon and will include a variety of events designed to honor the older workers
of our community.
Channel Eight’s Jack McGowan will preside as Master of Ceremonies.
Activities will include songs from the Melodeers (a local senior’s group)
American Legion Color Guard ceremony, appearances by officials from
Multnomah, Washington and Clark Counties and the City of Portland and
a synchronized aerobics performance presented by a group of older workers.
Please join us in recognizing the older workers o f our community.
13 OREGON HOUSING
AUTHORITIES GET
$17.5 MILLION IN NEW HUD RENT
AID
Low-income renters in Oregon got a boost today when the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development announced in Portland grants totaling
$17.5 million to 13 Oregon Housing Authorities.
William Y. Nishimura, HUD Regional Administrator-Regional Housing
Commissioner for northwestern United States, came to Portland to present
checks representing the grant amounts. The grants will help pay rent for
more than 630 low-income renter households who can use the assistance to
rent privately owned houses, apartments, or mobile home units that meet
required minimum Housing Quality Standards. The grants, said Nishimura,
are for 5 years of rental assistance under either HUD’s Section 8 Existing
Housing program or the Housing Voucher program.
Nishimura credited the Executive Directors and the Boards of the
Housing Authorities for the additional funding, saying, “ The Housing
Authorities let us know that they had significant housing needs that weren’t
being met and committed to make this money available to low-income
renters on their waiting lisjs as soon as possible. It’s nice to know that
through these grants the quality of life will improve for individuals who
have been waiting and have been unable to find decent housing.”
Nishimura explained that the Housing Authorities now need to submit
additional paperwork and contracts to HUD for approval. He added that he
anticipated that process to take 60 days or less.
This $17.5 million in new assistance increases the total number of low-
income rental households assisted by HUD in Oregon to more than 36,000,
totaling an estimated HUD rent subsidy of $144 million annually.
PORTLAND WOMEN’S CRISIS
LINE SEEKS MEMBERS
The Portland Women's Crisis Line is currently recruiting women to serve
on its Board of Directors. We would like to talk with any women interested
in volunteering their services to our Board.
We are a non-profit, social change agency working to end violence
against women and children. We offer 24 hour crisis counseling to victims
of sexual violence. We also coordinate and facilitate rape support groups;
maintain a network of safehomes used to shelter battered women, and
provide training, public speaking, and education throughout the community.
We understand that all forms of discrimination and oppression perpetuate
violence and we actively work to end the oppression of all individuals.
The Portland Women’s Crisis Line celebrates diversity. We welcome
women of all races, cultures, religions, lifestyles, and abilities. If you would
like to join us in our work to build a safer world for women and children,
please contact Katherine White at (503) 233-5017 (days and evenings).
Katherine White, Board Recruitment Committee
MINIMUM WAGE HIRED
SALEM -State Senator Bill McCoy .and Senators Dick Springer, D-Portland,
approved today an increase in the minimum wage.
"Anyone currently living on minimum wage is living below the federal
poverty level. We want to encourage self-sufficiency, not dependency on
welfare. The best way to do this is to pay a living wage to people who work.
This will save us millions of dollars on welfare, and it will enable many to
be the productive people they want to be,” McCoy said.
SB 335 increases the Oregon minimum wage in steps, beginning with a
hike to $3.85 in July 1989, followed by increases to $4.25 in 1990 and $4.75
in 1991. Beginning January 1, 1992, the minimum wage will be adjusted
annually to be not less than 50 percent of the average weekly wage.
The last time the federal minimum wage was raised was in 1981 to $3.35
per hour. Since then, the cost of living has risen more than 36 percent.
Today’s minimum wage buys what $2.53 bought in 1981.
McCoy and Springer say that about 122,000 Oregonians have been tied
to the low rate for too long. Most minimum wage workers are adult women,
many with children to support, and many are the sole supporter.
‘ ‘This legislation enables people to be contributors to our economy. SB 335
restores the purchasing power of the minimum wage to approximately what
it was in 1981, and maintains that power by allowing the wage to be adjusted
every other year,” McCoy said.
“ A job at $3.35 per hour is no longer an alternative to welfare. Ot all
Oregon welfare recipients who find work and leave welfare, over half are
back on welfare within a year,” McCoy said.
McCoy and Springer go on to say people can not afford to live on
minimum wage. A full-time job at the current minimum wage of $3.35 per
hour provides $583 a month; the federal poverty level for a family of three
is $807.50. This doesn’t even take into account that most minimum wage
workers arc allowed to work only part-time.
Over the past few years 16 states and territories have inci cased their
minimum wage, not waiting for Congress to act.
“ Life for adults on this minimum wage can be miserable. This bill is
simply catching up with reality,” McCoy said.
HOST FAMILIES SOUGHT
The American Language Academy at the University of Portland is
seeking host families for 20 Japanese university graduates from April 9
through May 10.
The students, enrollees in a special program for teacher trainees, require
a private bedroom, and host families should live no more than 40 minutes
from the University of Portland campus via public transportation.
Each host family will receive a $300 stipend to cover the cost of food,
activities and some transportation.
The American Language Academy is also enrolling host families for its
regular academic program.
For more information, contact Philip Cox, director of the academy, at
283-7449.
YOU ARE
CORDIALLY
INVITED TO
HEAR
Well Known Authors and Educators
Dr. & Mrs. Raymond Moore
who will give a presentation on
“ MOTIVATING YOUR CHILD”
The Moores have authored and/or co­
authored 50 or more books and articles.
They have lectured throughout the United
States and various parts of the world.
They have also been featured on Dr.
James Dobson’s “ Focus on the Family”
and the Phil Donahue programs.
DATE: March 11, 1989
TIME: 4:00 p.m.
PLACE:
Berean Baptist Church
4822 N Vancouver
Portland
(cross street is Wygant)
For further information call 281-8596.
Event is sponsored by Citizens Involved
in Teaching Youth (CITY).
Freewill offering will be taken.
FAIR
HOUSING
CONFERENCE
TO BE HELD
IN
PORTLAND
The Fifth annual Oregon Fair Housing
Conference will take place in Portland
on Friday, April 7,1989, at the downtown
Portland Red Lion Inn, 310 SW Lincoln.
“ Fair Housing For All” is the conference
theme. Fair housing is the concept that
people should not be denied access to
housing because of their race, color,
sex, religion, national origin, disability
or familial status.
The conference will focus on the
Fair Housing amendments A ctof 1988,
which adds protections for families with
children and disabled people to existing
civil rights protections in housing.
Effective March 12,1989, the new law
will produce significant changes in
“ adults-only” housing, handicapped
accessible housing and enforcement
procedures.
The conference will feature panel
discussions and workshops conducted
by experts from government, industry
and non-profit organizations. Some of
the workshops being offered are:
Protections for People with Disabilities;
Enforcement Aspects of the New
Amendments; A.I.D.S. and Housing
Discrimination; Protections for Families
with Children; and Testing for Housing
Discrimination. The event is being
endorsed by a number of organizations,
THE BLACK
UNITED FUND OF
OREGON
The Black United Fund o f Oregon
will hold a Community Forum for
managers of non-profit organizations
on March 28, 1989 from 1:30 pm to
3:00 pm at the North Portland Branch
L ib rary , A uditorium . 512 N.
Killings worth. The forum will feature
a presentation by Herman L. Brame,
Technical Assistance Manager for the
Black United Fund of Oregon. Mr.
Brame will discuss and explain how to
make beneficial use of the Black United
Fund of Oregon’s Community Resource
Center. The center is the first of its kind
to be located conveniently in the
community and contains foundation
directories, periodicals and newsletters
related to funding, organizing and
managing non-profit organizations.
Informational materials will be
distributed and their will be a question
and answer period.
For further
information contact Herman L. Brame,
Technical Assistance Manager, The
Black United Fund of Oregon, at 282-
7973
CLARK NAMES
TWO TO
POSITIONS
At a meeting of the Neighborhood
District Coalition Board chairs today,
Mayor Clark announced the appointment
of Rachel Jacky as the Director of the
Office of Neighborhood Associations,
and Steve Rudman to a position in the
Bureau of Community Development
Clark told the board members he
considered the neighborhood associations
“ absolutely essential” to the health of
the city, and that he choose Jacky because
she had shown she could build consensus
between groups with diverse needs.
Jacky has served for the last three
and one half years as coordinator of the
city’s human services.
“ Her major accomplishment was to
bring Multnomah County service
providers and community based
organizations together to improve
emergency services for low income and
homeless Portlanders,” Clark told the
neighborhood group.
Rudman will help develop programs
and resources at the Bureau of
Community Development with emphasis
on developing a public/private housing
partnership.
“ His major task will be to help
mobilize community-wide support for
the neighborhood revitalization agenda.
Steve wiH do an excellent job seeking
out new financial resources to rebuild
our distressed neighborhoods,” Clark
said.
BLACK UNITED
FRONT
SATURDAY
SCHOOL HAS
SPACE FOR
MORE
STUDENTS
including: the Portland Community
Housing Resource Board, the Portland
Board of Realtors, Security Pacific Bank,
the Multi-Family Housing Council of
Oregon, the City of Portland, Multnomah
County and the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development
(HUD).
The event’s keynote speaker will be
Avery S. Friedman, Attorney and
Counselor at Law. The Wall Street
Journal has called Mr. Friedman a
“ walking reference source” on fair Space is still available for children in
housing law. He has been recognized in
grades one through six at the Black
Time Magazine, the New York Times
United Front Saturday School. Classes
and USA Today as a nationally
are held from 10:00 am until noon on
recognized civil rights lawyer and law
Saturdays and include reading and
professor. He has litigated over 1.5
math lessons, help with homework
million dollars for discrimination victims
and lessons on African American
in civil rights cases from coast-to-coast.
history and culture.
Mr. Friedman testified, as an invited Parents may enroll their children on
expert, before U.S. Senate and House
Saturdays by going directly to one of
committees on the Fair Housing
the following sites:
Amendments Act of 1988. Also featured
-S t Philip’s Episcopal Church, 120
will be Steven J. Sacks, an administrator
NE Knott
with the Washington, D.C. staff of the
-YWCA, 5630 NE Union
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
-Redeemer Lutheran, NE 20th and
Development
Killingsworth
“ Fair Housing For AH” will be held
-S t Andrews School, NE 8th and
on A pril7,1989,from 8:30a.m .to5:30
Alberta
p.m. The registration cost will be $30,
-Columbia Villa, 9338 N. Woolsey
if mailed on or before March 31; it will
Ct.
be $35, if paid after that date. There is
-Emmanuel Temple, 1032 N. Sumner
a special student/low-income/senior rate
-Piedmont Friends, 5736 N. Albina
of $20. Attendees will be given six
hours of real estate credit Registration Classes will continue through the school
costs will include lunch, hors d ’oeuvres
year. All sites are closed for spring
and conference materials. Space will
break on March 25th.
be limited, so interested people are For more information call Avel Gordly
encouragedtorcgistcrcarly. Toreceive
or Karen Powcl, at the American
registration information, call 248-3707,
Friends Service Committee, 230-9427.
or write to: Portland CHRB, PO Box
2067, Portland, OR 97208.
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