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Mrs Frances Scho«n-’.e»spapcr Poem
University of Oregon Library
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P ortland, O rego n
1
portlahö
ERVER
APRIL 27,1989
VOLUME XIX NUMBER 16
OREGON
FINALISTS
U.S. WEST
OUTSTANDING
TEACHER
B A nderson, a teacher at the Harriet
Tubm an M iddle School, was selected
as one of the top five O regon finalists in
the 1989 U.S. West Outstanding Teacher
Program.
A search for outstanding teachers,
w ho “ reach beyond classroom w alls” ,
brought attention to B. Anderson who
c a m , out two extraordinary programs
that not only reach out to the community,
but that bring the com m unity, indeed
the world, back into H arriet Tubman
Middle School.
International W eek each spring at
Tubm an was “ B ” s idea and she and her
cow orkers put in many hours bringing
it to fruition months before the big
w eek.
S he c o n ta c ts c o lle g e s,
organizations and individuals on her
list for nam es o f foreign students from
other countries and Americans who have
traveled abroad - anyone who can make
a far part o f the world com e alive for all
Tubman students. Then, she sets about
to bring these speakers, their slides,
posters, national costum es and artifacts
into every classroom in the school during
International W eek. Parents com e in to
cook luncheons made up of cuisine of
different countries. Students make flags
and posters to decorate the halls. They
actas hosts and guides, and are involved
at every level o f this special w eek at
Tubman.
M rs. A nderson’s second great
achievem ent is her work at the Reading
Tree at Irving Park. Concerned that
over the sum m er children might lose
the skills in reading they have learned
during the school year, “ B ” directs a
sum m er program that takes place under
trees in the Irving Park in the community.
Here at Irving Park the children can
find all sorts o f books, phonics games,
puzzles and other reading m aterials that
arc fun for them and that reinforce their
reading skills. M ost o f them don’t even
suspect they arcT eam ing, while they
arc taking part in this summer fun
program. As a further brilliant stroke,
w henever it is possible, she uses older
children, many o f them present or past
Tubman students who have had difficulty
in learning to read them selves, as her
tutors. Guess whose reading skills
improve as much or more as the younger
children’s do?
" B ” is ju sta b o u ta sb u sy a sa “ b ee” .
Her friends and cow orkers have a hard
time saying no when she approaches
them for help.
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Portland Observer has
Issued press passes to all of
it's employees. These passes
are identifiable by (1) the
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ture, (3) the word PRESS and,
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possession of an Observer
press pass does not represent
the
P ortland
O bserver
newspaper.40
25<
BAN ON
ALCOHOL IN
CITY OF
PORTLAND
PARKS
Corno acts to acquire Walnut Park facility
by Stephen E. McPherson, Special
Correspondent
For more than a half century residents
in the vicinity o f M artin Luther King
Avenue and N. E. Killingsworth have
becom e accustom ed to walking to the
nearby shopping center in W alnut Park.
Especially is the location o f this
distribution center im portant to the
elderly persons who reside ju st across
the street in W alnut Park Manor. The
shopping center was not only a
convenient place to make their purchases
but also offered respite to a secluded
existence where they could while away
the tim e with friends.
Around the first o f the year, Fred
M eyer executives announced their
intention to cease doing retail business
at that facility by the end o f April. The
confusion and disappointm ent that this
d e c isio n
fo m e n te d
is
q u ite
understandable.
Last week several reasons for rejoicing
em erged when it becam e known that
C om o foods had expressed an interest
in acquiring the property. The site
which is owned by the Portland Urban
League is known to be appraised at
about $825,000. For some time the
league has been considering offers which
hovered in the neighborhood o f one
half m illion dollars, which according to
some critics is somewhat like firesale
panic.
The Urban League has been im periled
with an intractable budget deficit for
more than a year. They lost a very large
grant from the Fred M eyer Foundation
because of alleged mismanagementEven
the City of Portland has gotten into the
negotiations and threatened to withhold
all help unless the league got its fiscal
house in order which would include
getting out o f the real estate business.
Apparently the city of Portland is satisfied
with the sale of the Walnut park property
because they are willing to finance part
o f the transaction
At press time the final details had
not been resolved but it is understood
that the C om o group wants to acquire
the property without interruption in
service. The C om o group is to be
commended for its interest in and support
o f a community which is going to need
a lot a help from like- minded persons
before it can return to the glories of the
past. Perhaps the renaming o f Union
Avenue and the stay of execution for
the W alnut Park facility portend good
things for the future of this area. The
Portland Observer proudly welcomes
its new neighbor.
On W ednesday April 26, at 10:00 a.
m „ com m issioner Mike Lindberg, will
seek formal city council approval o f an
ordinance which would immediately
ban the possession and consumption of
alcoholic beverages In Portland parks
except by permit.
Commissioner Lindberg, has stated
" I came to this decision as a result of
public hearings, input from the Police
Bureau, recom m endations from the
public safety in parks task force, and an
ever increasing number of neighborhood
association requests for alcohol bans in
neighborhood parks. The overwhelming
majority o f behavior problems in parks
arose from alcohol abuse. This ordinance
will still allow alcohol possession and
consumption at any event for which the
appropriate park permit has been issued.”
Lindberg also said, “ although the
city code em pow ers the commissioner-
in charge of parks to administratively
ban alcohol, I felt that council would
wan t to participate in sending a message
about our com m itm ent to keeping our
parks safe. This will also provide the
police a more formal enforcement tool.”
According to parks superintendent
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Cleve W illiams, “ I was rather surprised
EDITORS NOTE
when I cam e to Portland. M ost major
; Metropolitan areas banned alcohol in
The following artice was published in the D aily Journal of Commerce
/ _public
agQ }
and is reprinted w ith perm ission.
TALKS
CONTINUE
ON DBE
SUPPORT
PACT
By kevin H ard en
Negotiations are continuing on a state
D e p a rtm e n t
of
T ra n sp o rta tio n
d isadvantaged business enterprise
support services contract that was caught
last fall in the middle o f a legal tug o f
war.
A contract awarded in m id-O ctober
to W ho’s W ho Publications Inc. of
Portland was pul up for bid again in
March after state and Federal Highway
Administration officials cited a potential
conflict o f interest because the owner
o f W ho’s W ho, Bruce Broussard, also
was a subcontractor through a different
com pany on a federal-aid highway
construction project
W illie Harris, Federal Highway
Administration regional director for civil
rights, said U .S. Service Inc. a company
in which Broussard was a shareholder,
was working as a m inority-owned
subcontractor on sim ilar projects for
which W ho’s W ho Publications would
provide support services to other minority
or women-owned businesses.
U.S. Services Inc. is a state-certified
M BE subcontractor. It is separate from
W ho’s W ho Publications Inc.
The DBE supportive services is an
annual program funded through the
Federal Highway A dministration. The
consultant receiving the contract assists
m in o rity -
and
w o m en -o w n ed
subcontracting firms with information
or other means to improve their
effectiveness on federal-aid highway
construction projects.
This fiscal year the state received
$75,000 to com plete the six-month
contract that was rebid in early March.
State officials also have an additional
$44,000 this year, but that money may
not be used, Harris said.
W ho’s Who publications was awarded
the contract in October after Broussard’s
proposal was selected by a state
com m ittee as best to provide support
make a very positive difference in the
atm osphere of our parks.”
services to disadvantaged business
Signs will be going up in parks during
enterprises (DBEs).
It is difficult for someone providing { the next 21 days.
services to his com petitors on those £
contracts to do it objectively.
State Departm ent of Transportation X
officials raised the conflict o f interest
issue after the original contract was
awarded. Vemell W est, coordinator o f <
the state Department of Transportation’s X
DBE supportive services program in
Salem, said the contract was pulled and
restructured to include new language
forbidding similar conflicts.
“ The initial selection was rejected
based on the appearance of a conflict o f
interest,” W est said. “ It appears that
(Broussard) would be competing on
jobs with people he was supposed to be
helping.” Harris said the change in the
contract language was not unusual
because m ost states have a clause in
sim ilar contracts to protect against
potential conflicts.
“ It is difficult for someone providing
Thomas and Mildred Carr celebrated
services to his com petitors on those
their 50th Wedding Anniversary on April
contracts to do it objectively,” Harris
18,1989.
said. After the new language was added,
They received acknowledgments
the contract was rebid in early March,
from President George Bush and his
and Broussard once again was the
wife Barbara Bush.
successful bidder.
A party was given at the N/NE YWCA
Two firms- W ho’s W ho Publications
to celebrate the occasion, by their children
and M anagement Resources proposals
G loria Phillips, Thom as Carr, W illiam
for the DBE program in early March.
Carr, Jeanette Carr, Robert C arr and
Brousssard.who publishes the monthly
M ildred Tarver.
American Contractor newspaper from
They plan to have an annual party
his Northeast Union Avenue office,
hereafter.
threatened late last year to sue the state
after his contract was rejected. The
objected to the change in the original
program agreem ent, calling it a breach
o f contract.
“ It certainly is inappropriate and
illegal for the state to prohibit Mr.
Broussard or any other corporation in g
which he is a shareholder from bidding
as a prime contractor or performing
work as a subcontractor,” wrote attorney
L ynnia K. W oods, representing
Broussard.
Broussard and state D epartment o f
Transportation officials arc hammering
out an agreement that would, among
Congratulations
JEFFERSON
HIGH SCHOOL:
Yesterday, Today
and Forever
by J im i Johnson
Jefferson High School has been
attacked from all fronts in the m edia for
quite sometime. These vicious attacks
on Jefferson feed and distort the
misconceptions and fear already harbored
by the greater Portland community
concerning the North/Northeast section
o f Portland.
Jefferson High is not the problem,
the problem lies with a city that has
long m islead, lied to and neglected it’s
North/Northeast citizens for far to many
years. The services to the community
that surrounds Jefferson High are virtually
non-cxistant, and as the services decline,
so will the community. As tax paying
citizens living in North/Northeast
Portland,w e must dem and that city
services to our com m unity be upgraded
on a par with services in other
com m unities such as the W ilson School
service area.
“ To blame Jefferson High School
for a deteriorating community which
surrounds Jefferson is like blaming your
doctor for catching a cold” .The problems
in North/Northeast Portland (which
Jefferson resides) is a city problem and
should be addressed accordingly. To
single out Jefferson, which has been
getting negative press for over twenty-
five years, brings up old racial prcdjudices
and feeds upon the negative image and
attitude portrayal by an insensative
media.
The gang violence that has erupted
in N orth/N ortheast Portland has been
festering for a num ber o f years, and
conditions that brought such negative
activities in North/Northeast Portland
is well over twenty-five years of neglect
by city, county and state officials.
The tax paying citizens o f N orth/
N ortheast Portland should demand a
refund for services NOT rendered. Instead
we seem content to sit around and let
some m isinformed person, perpetrating
as an investigative w riter define our
community, our schools, and our people
from a binocular point o f view.
As a person who grew up in North/
N ortheast Portland and graduated from
Jefferson High I’ve watched closely the
actions o f the city toward it’s North/
Northeast community and fought to
dem and services be met. In spite of the
lack o f com m ittm ent by city officials to
our com m unity, I’d still say that North/
Northeast Portland is a good place to
live, and that Jefferson High School is
one of the best in the state!
In reference to an article by Mr.
D exheim er in another w e e k ly , I’d like
to say” ...Come on D ow n...” Come
live in North/Northeast Portland for a
few years then speak about the
com m unity from up close and personal
Granted there are problem s at
Jeffferson High School, as there are
problems with virtually every inner city
high school in the nation. But to blame
the school totally w ithout looking at
some underlying issues is self-destructive
to the community and the city of Portland
as a whole. As a City, we need to
com bine resources and com e up with
real workable solutions in order to turn
the situation in North/Northeast Portland
around. However, as a city, Portland
has chosen to look the other way when
it’s citizens o f North/Northeast Portland.
Closing Jefferson High would mean
total abandonm ent o f N orth/N ortheast
Portland by businesses and home owners
and would create the slum some officials
seem to w ant in our com m unity. To
take this issue a step further, I strongly
believe there is a city w ide conspiracy
to drive property values down in North/
N ortheast Portland as residents are
bom barded with negative press. W hen
long time residents leave the community,
(which is located in one o f the best
geographical areas in the city) outsiders
will make a mad dash to North/Northeast
Portland to purchase ‘ ‘prime real estate’ ’
at bargain basement prices. This is a
national trend, and the residents of North/
N ortheast Portland need to recognize
the games being played at City Hall
before we rent houses and land we once
owned.
I believe we should protect “ o u r”
investments in our community, beginning
with “ o u r” school Jefferson High, for
when someone attacks Jefferson as an
institution, they attack the whole
com m unity with mean intentions,
as I said before, Jefferson High School,
yesterday, today, and forever.
Mother's Day May 14th
Say Hello to Mothers And
other things effectively erase the conflict
of interest problems and award W ho’s
W ho Publications the new contract.
Through his attorney, Broussard
offered in early November a compromise
that would forbid his W ho’s W ho
Publications from bidding on state or
federal highway projects.
with A
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Portland Observer
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