t r a F ran cas Schosn-N ew rpaper Peon
U n iv e rs ity o f Oregon L ib ra ry
c V '.T. , Or on 97403
Portland, Oregon
ERYER
PO RTL
JUNE 8,1989
VOLUME XIX NUMBER 22
CHAMPION
STUDENT
ATHLETE
By Jimi Johnson
Bobby Janisse
Bobby Janisse, a junior at Jeffer
son High School, is a gentleman in
every sense of the word, a two-time
state wrestling champion, Janisse also
is an Academic all-American with a
3.7 cumulative G.P.A.
Janisse credits his parents, Jer
ome and Brenda Polk, as w'ell as his
wrestling coaches, Roy Pittman and
Donnie McPherson, for being posi
tive influences in his life. “ My mom
and dad are very supportive of my
activities and have always given me
encouragement to succeed in every
thing that I do. Coach Pittman and
Coach McPherson have been good
friends, positive role models, and are
people I can always talk to,” says
Janisse.
As a 45-lb. six-year old, Bobby
Janisse got his first taste of wrestling
at peninsula Park and has been in
love with the sport and a member of
the Peninsula Park Wrestling Team
ever since. He says, “ wrestling has
taught me dedication that has carried
over into my personal life. It has
taught me how to be a gentleman and
has given me a lot of self-confi
dence. In order to succeed in life, I
need to apply the same dedication 1
have in wrestling to my academic en
deavors,” adds Janisse.
Janisse is currently assistant-coach
ing young future wrestlers at Penin
sula Park under the tutelage of Coach
Pittman, along with fellow student
wrestlers from Jefferson High School.
In addition, he’s a mentor for middle
school students at Portsmouth. Jan
isse says "being a positive role model
is very important in the African
American community, and your ac
tions speak for themselves. lt;sm ore
than just talking to young people, it’s
showing them through your own
actions,” he adds.
Loaded with school pride, Janisse
says Jefferson High is a diverse and
unique school I wouldn’t want to go
to any other school.”
Janisse’s 1988 and 1989 achieve
ment include:
1988 Awards and Accomplishments
« P .I.L . District Champion at 106
lbs.
«•State Champion at 106 lbs.
«•Multnomah Athletic Club Scholar
athlete.
«G reat Kids Award for TL.C-T.N.T.
involvem ent
«■Travelled to Austria and placed
8th in jr. World Championships.
« P la ced 2nd in High School W res
tling Howard Cherry Award.
« T rip le Crown Winner (Collegiate,
Freestyle, and Greco Roman Wres
tling).
«S portland Magazine Athlete of the
Month.
189 Awards and Accomplish
ments
« P .I.L . District Champion at 119
lbs.
« S ta te Champion at 119 lbs.
«K A T U Athlete of the Month of
January.
«K B M S Radio Athlete of the Week.
«Jefferson High School Image Award
Recipient.
«Inducted into National Honor So
ciety.
«S ch o lar Athlete Award Winner.
«Jefferson High School Wrestling
Howard Cherry Award.
«O utstanding Wrestler in the Gold
Coast Classic Tournament.
«R ecipient of the Mayor’s Spirit of
Portland Award for T.L.C.-T.N.T.
involvement.
«Qualified for High School National
Championships in Iowa (July)
«M em ber o f the Oregon Cultural
Exchange Wrestling Team which
will tour and compete in Japan in
June.
« 2 n d Runner-Up, KARU Athlete of
the Year Award.
PAYNE
ELECTED
CHAIR of
COUNTY
CITIZEN IN
VOLVEMENT
COMMITTEE
Dennis Payne
Dennis G. Payne was elected Chair
of the 23 member Multnomah County
Citizen Involvement Committee at
the committee’s annual meeting May
18th. The Citizen Involvement Com
mittee’s role is to insure that
Multnomah County residents are in
volved in the decision making proc
esses of county government.
Payne is Community Security
Liaison for Tri-Met, coordinating all
security related efforts and commu
nity outreach programs. He was pre
viously employed as Street Crime
Prevention Organizer for the City of
Portland and Crime Prevention S p t-;
cialist for the Northeast Coalition of
Neighborhoods.
He is founder and president o f the
Black Professional Network; a
member of the City o f Portland’s
Youth Gangs Task Force, the Cable
Access Board of Directors, Ameri
can Red Cross Human Resources
Advisory Board, and Holladay (Lloyd
Center) Business District Associa
tion. He was nominated to the Citi
zen Involvement Committee by the
The Portland Observer Salutes Northeast Coalition of Neighborhood
this positive role model as our Association.
A resident of Northeast Portland,
Champion Student Athlete of the
Payne coaches a Peninsula Little
Week.
League team and is a Deacon of Mt.
Olivet Baptist Church.
Salem witch hunt moves ahead unabated
Mrs. Freddye Webb-Pettet demonstrates professionalism and resilience
by Stephen E. McPherson, stems from the fact that she has been against Mr. Waters. This is her first
such a vocal advocate for the clients year in the legislature where she en
Special correspondent
tered long on zeal and short on expe
she serves.
For the past several months the rience. At the same time she repre
sents an electorate long known for
department of Adult Family Serv
their conservative ways and inde
ices has come under serious criticism
pendent spirit. In some circles they
from an Eastern block of Republican
have been described as a cross be
state legislators. They were concerned
tween a hard nosed westerner and an
about travel expenses and executive
percs attributed to the managerial unreconstructed classical red neck
staff. Beverly Clamo, the state repre southerner. It is little wonder that
sentative from Bend recently wrotea she would fail to embrace any pro
a letter to Governor Neil Goldschmidt gram which catered to indigents on
in which she demanded that the the dole.
In their zeal to extract reasonable
management team be replaced. She
reform
out of an impossible system,
was joined in this request by
the
detractors
have made a very
representatives Robert Pickard from
unconstitutional
blunder and as a re
Bend, Raymond Baum from LaGrande
sult
their
very
legitimate
questions
and W illiam M arkham from
end
up
looking
like
a
specious
ven
Riddlc.They based their contentions
Mrs. Freddye Wcbb-Pelict, the em
battled state director of Adult Family
Services, moved into her new offices
and position in a demonstration of
professional excellence for which she
has been identified during her brief
tenure in Salem. In her temporary
position she will be interfacing with
other educational and social agen
cies with a view to formulating those
new policies which will be consis
tent with the recent federal reform
legislation.During the interim cir
cumstances surrounding her removal
continue to foment serious concerns
within the African American com
munity. There is the feeling that
signals coming out of the state capi on numerous letters from disgruntled
tal suggest that a complete purge of current and ex-cmployccs.who launch
Black executives from state govern a series of nebulous attacks on cer
ment is in the offing Those persons tain person in particular and other in
familiar with the situation point to general. Presumably the letter attack
the fact not only have a number of emanated from a union dispute.
managers been reshuffled in recent
It is interesting to note that some
months but some have actually been of the most vituperative comments
removed from office.
were launched against Thomas W a
Colleagues who have worked with ters director of the Eastern Regional
Mrs. Pcttct over the years contend office which covers the territory from
that it is not her style to cave in under Idaho to California. Representative
fire or to avoid a difficult tasks. They Clamo expressed displeasure with
point to the fact that her stepping Mr. Thomas’ "expensive tastes and
aside is a gesture of a supreme sacri peculiar management style.” In the
fice so as to avoid jeopardizing cur mean time she has not focused on
rent budget discussions now being any other governmental agency within
considered for her department. As the state.
proof of that contention they point
It is easy to understand why Mrs.
out that a good part of her problem Clarno would take such a hard stand
detta. It is quite obvious that the
intended target is the governor, him
self. One cannot deny the fact that he
has earned much of the criticism
focused
on
the
executive
dcpartmcnt.In leveling such attacks
which address serious flaws in gov
ernment. the critics have compro
mised due process by setting them
selves up as judge, jury and execu
tioner.
There really is no need to re-in
vent the wheel,.There arc systems
already in place which address prob
lems of oversight. They are the crimi
nal justice system the state depart
ment and the power of the governor
to impanel special commissions.
There are few observers of the po
litical scene who would disagree with
i
1
* »•
25C
COMMISSION
ON BLACK
AFFAIRS
by Samuel Pierce, Executive Di
rector Oregon Commission on Black
Affairs
Last session the Oregon Commis
sion on Black affairs introduced Senate
Bill 798, otherwise known as the
Martin Luther King, Jr. School Holi
day Bill. The bill would make Dr.
King’s birthday a legal school holi
day for the State.
Senate Bill 798 passed the Senate
but had problems in the House due to
funding issues. This session the bill
was introduced in the House as House
Bill 2705. Again, the Commission
took leadership in gaining passage of
the bill; however, this time we met
with the Confederation of Oregon
School Administrators, Oregon Edu
cation Association, and Oregon School
Employees Association and worked
out a bill that would be amenable to
all parties involved, as a result, House
Bill 2705 passed out o f the Educa
tion Committee last Thursday with a
“ Do Pass” recommendation to the
full House of Representatives. The
bill should be voted on by the House
some time this week.
Sponsors of the bill are Rep. Sam
Dominy, Rep.Margaret Carter, Rep.
Judith Bauman, Rep. Beverly Stein,
and Sen. Bill McCoy. The Commis
sion encourages individuals to call
their representatives and voice sup
port of the bill. We are confident that
the bill will pass the House and be
referred to the Senate for public
hearings and subsequent passage. For
more information, please call the Com
mission on Black Affairs office at of
fice at 378-2969.
SENIORS OF
THE WEEK
Pictured (above) are Mrs. Mattye I. lies and her husband Mr. Amos K.
lies.
On Wednesday, May 31,1989 at Harriett Tubman Middle School, there
was a grand celebration held to honor Mrs. Mattye I. lies’ retirement after
40 years of continued service in the public school systems.Many city, state.
PPS officials and friends joined in the celebration.
Co-Founders of
House of Umoja to
Return to
Portland
NE YWCA TO BE FREE LUNCH
SITE
During their visit here they will
make presentations to youth at vari
ous locations, meet with representa
tives from funding institutions, and
work with local youth program staff
on aproposal to establish an “ Umoja
type” program in Portland.
The House of Umoja was founded
in 1969, with one house and fifteen
gang members as residents. The
program now includes 23 houses on
Fraser street in Philadelphia and is
referred to as the first “ Urban
Boystown in America” .
The Fattah’s first visited Portland
last January to make presentations at
the Hope for Youth Conference,
sponsored by the Northeast Coali
tion of Neighborhoods and South
east Uplift. On May 11th, a group of
elected officials and community lead
ers including Mayor Bud Clark,
County Chair Gladys McCoy, Com
missioners Dick Bogle and Mike Lind
berg, and Ron Herndon held a press
conference to endorse the establish
ment of an “ Umoja type” program
in Portland.
New kind of battle rages in
the northeast sector here
The Northeast Center of the YWCA will participate in the Summer Food
Service Program for Children by providing lunch for area youth during the
summer months.
Portland Public Schools sponsors the Program which will begin June
David and Sister Falaka Fattah,
19th
and run through August 17th. All youth 18 years of age and younger or
Co-founders of the House of Umoja,
will return to Portland during the handicapped people attending a special school for the handicapped are
first week of June (please see at eligible for a free lunch. Any youth enrolled in a Northeast YWCA program
tached schedule). The House of Umoja is also eligible. The serving time is from 12 Noon to 1:00 PM. Children must
has received national acclaim for its remain at the site while eating.
Parents are encourage to bring their children for lunch and inquire about
successful efforts in reducing the youth
the
youth programming available throughout the year.
gang problem in Philadelphia.
the fact the reform is long overdue
here in the state of Oregon. To focus
on just one department is self-
serving device which can only dis
rupt the demanding functions of gov
ernment. While Jon Yunker is evalu
ating the performance of manage
ment in Adult Familyily Services, it
will be the function of this column
not only to explore the scries of events
that led to this dilemma, but also to
compare its expenditures and re-
organizational schemes with all other
departments within the state govern
ment.
by Etienne de la Plume
Battle lines have been drawn and
a new kind of fight has engaged the
Northeast sector of Portland. Under
ordinary circumstances most prop
erty owners would object to having
an industrial incinerator built in their
backyard. Add to that problem the
emission of the carcinogenic poly
chlorinated be-phenyls commonly
known as PCB’s which the manufac
turer of the proposed equipment docs
not approve for that purpose and you
have a real fight on your hands.
Without any forewarning the De
partment of Environmental Quality
announced some months ago its in
tention to license a Korean-Ameri
can Company to build an industrial
type incinerator near the new prison.
Its purpose was to reclaim copper
from burnt out transformers from
utility companies. The problem is
that they arc all laced with deadly
PCB’s. Previously they had been
buried in landfills but when it was
found that these toxic substance
contaminated the group water, that
practice was banned as was the
manufacture of PCB’s, itself.
The fact the impacted neighbor
hood was not involved in the decision
making process led some staunch en
vironmentalist to cry foul. They
forced the convening o f a public
hearing last night at the Whitaker
School in Northeast Portland so that
their concerns could be aired.
The specific concerns of these
residents arc not trivial. No known
amount of direct contact with PCB’s
has been established aseitheraccept-
able or non-carcinogenic. One needs
only to review the data generated by
the Love Canal debacle or other
hazardous waste sites to appreciate
the concerns of this small enclave.
Given the fact that the federal gov
ernment has found the air quality in
the Portland-Vancouver area to fall
below acceptable standards over
long periods of time, it seems reason
able for Portlanders in the larger
community to object to the addition
of yet another air pollutant and po
tential health hazard.
Last night more than 200 persons
gathered in the cafeteria of the
Whitaker Middles School located at
Northeast Killingsworth and 39th to
express their concerns. And so they
did for more than three hours. At
times the experts and governmental
officials were hard pressed to supply
plausible answers or explanations for
some of the technically laced obfus
cations that had been submitted in
support of the application for a per
mit.
As expected, by the close of the
meeting nohard and fast decision had
been concluded as to the status of the
request fora DEQ perm it. One can be
assured that if this evening input is
not taken into serious consideration
when the decision about the permit is
made, then the credibility of the
DEQ, itself is going to be at stake.
Presumably this problem will not be
resolved for another several months.