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“The Eyes and i ars of the Community”
V o lu m i) X X II, N u m b e r 14
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F r a n c es
Jn i V e r s i t y
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O re g o n L i b r
O re g o n
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Job Corps Unit Moves Into
New Oregon State Building
News In Brief
Arthritis needn’t Put An
End To Exercise
On the contrary, the right kind of
exercise can help arthritis sufferers per
form daily activities with greater ease
and comfort.
A new class called "Exercise for
the Arthritic" will be offered by St.
Vincent Hospital and Medical Center
on Tuesdays and Thursdays, April 21
through May 28, from 1 to 2 p.m.
SessionswillbeheldatSt Vincent s
Mercantile Medical Plaza, 4015 SW
Mercantile Drive, Lake Oswego.
Taught by fitness specialist Marilyn
Frankel, the class will focus on freedom
of movement, mobility and stamina, all
practiced at participants’ own pace. The
exercises also can be done at home.
Frankel has expertise in adapting
exercise to individual needs and limita
tions. She holds a master's degree in
exercise physiology from the Univer
sity of California, Davis.
Cost of the class is S32. Preregis
tration is required and may be made by
calling 635-3538 or 645-4864.
AOE AMO YOUTH IN ACTION
Portland Gray Panthers
Candidate Fair
Portland Gray Panthers Candidate
Fair will be held on Saturday, April 18
at Northwest Service Center 1819
Everett St. Some of our city, county and
state campaigners will be dropping in
between 10 A.M. and noon, to talk on
current issues and learn the concerns of
members and guests. The meeting is
free and open to all.
Call 224-5190 for further informa
tion.
A. Philip Randolph
Institute 4th Annual
Event
The Portland Chapter of the A.
Philip Randolph Institute cordially in
vite you to attend its 4th annual Wine
and Cheese tasting festival. This is one
of many events that the Portland Chap
ter will sponsor to help bridge the gap
between labor and the black commu
nity. They have invited several politi
cians to share their platform.
The W ine and Cheese tasting event
will be held on:
April 18, at 7:30 pm to 11:00 pm
at Musicians Hall, 325 N.E. 20th, Port
land, OR. Tickets are $10.00 each. For
further information call 235-9444.
April Child Abuse
Prevention Month
As part of Child Abuse Prevention
Month in April, CSD and the Children's
T ru st
Fund
w ill
co o rd in ate
Mission:Possible... a fundraising project
which provides money for child abuse
prevention and treatment programs
throughout the state. More than 500
teenagers in juvenile corrections facili
ties will complete community service
projects in the hope that businesses and
citizens in Oregon will donate money to
Officials Urge Early
Removal Of Studded
Tires
Mild spring weather has prompted
the Oregon Department of Transporta
tion to ask motorists to remove studded
tires early this year.
Motorists can legally use studded
tires on Oregon roads until the end of
April. However, state transportation
officials want drivers to take them off as
soon as possible to avoid further dam
age to the state's highways.
Bill Quinn, materials and research
engineer for the department, said when
used on bare pavement, studded tires
can wear out skid-resistant surfaces and
cause wheel ruts in the roadway. A
rapid wearing of pavement markings
also is a concern, he said. Unnecessary
use of studded tires causes between
$2.3 and $2.9 million damage to Or-
ego: roadways each year.
Quinn said tires chains and all-
weather radial tires are good alterna
tives for people traveling at high eleva
tions.
Oregon law allows the use of stud
ded tires from Nov. 1 to April 30.
Cultural Diversity
Worxshop to be held at
Urban League
"Making Cultural Diversity an
Asset” is the subject of a workshop
scheduled for Friday, April 10, from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Urban League of
Portland, 10 N. Russell Street. The
workshop will be led by management
consultant and author Darrell Simms.
Mr. Simms is a veteran of IBM and
Westinghouse and the author of the
book Black Experience Strategies and
Tactics (B E S iy His Beaverton com
pany, Management Aspects Inc., spe
cializes in helping corporations man
age diversity and change.
Topics of the April workshop in
clude Cross Cultural Communications;
Learning to Value Differences; Man
aging Change; Assessing Business Prac
tices; Team Building; Improving Rela
tionships; and Dispelling Stereotypes.
The workshop is geared to man
agement professionals and others inter
ested in organizational change. Cost,
including continental breakfast, lunch
and materials, is $100 per person.
To register, contact Darrell Simms
at 591-7498.
Urban Talent
Association To Offer
Classes
The Urban Talent Association will
be offering performing arts classes be
ginning Monday, April 6th, at Mallory
Avenue Christian Church, located at
126 NE Alberta Street. Classes to be
offered include, beginning and advanced
acting, stand-up comedy and African
dance. For registration information,
call The Urban Talent Association at
2 8 6 -3 0 7 6 .___________ __________
The City of Portland Environmen
tal Commission will meet April 2,1992,
from 4:00 p.m. to 6;00 p.m. in The
Auditorium, Portland Building (1120
S.W. 5th) Second Floor
The Bureau o f Labor & Industries Job Corps Unit has moved to a new location and a brand new building, the Oregon State
Building. The new address is 800 N.E. Oregon Street, Suite 260, Portland, Oregon, 97232. Pictured from left to right are Job
Corp staff members Marco Navarrete, Vincent Shorte, Poncho Gonzalez,Lana Barr, Kimberly Bridwell, Ollie Smith and Rafael
Arellano.
Bogle Meets_With NAMCO
by E.T. Otto
Claiming to be “The best hope on
City Council for African-American con
tractors,” City Commissioner Dick
Bogle addressed members of the Na
tional Association of Minority Con
tractors of Oregon (NAMCO) last week.
During this two hour engagement,
Bogle answered questions from the floor
and voiced his opinions and positions
on several issues including current ef
forts by the City to reinstate an enforce
able program aimed at increasing city
contracts with minority businesses.
Bogle oversees the Bureau of Pur
chasing and Stores which has come
under fire for awarding contracts to
general contractors who either failed to
meet a ten percent minority business
enterprise goal, or used questionable
means in obtaining them.
During the last council meeting,
Bogle cast a “symbolic vote” against
the recommendations of the Purchas
ing Bureau, creating a major disruption
amongst its members. A confused
Mayor, Bud Clark, finally took his cue
during a rare second vote. The council
then approved by a three to two margin,
the awarding of a $307,000 contract
with only $600 minority participation.
A NAMCO representative, Bill Harden,
had spoke against awarding the con
tract.
Bogle indicated that the issue is a
City Council issue and not just the
responsibility of the Purchasing Bu
reau. Those in attendance, many out
wardly frustrated, agreed with his as
sessment.
“The City cannot legally force a
prime contractor to use minority firms
because of a 1989 Supreme Court deci-
MW ' .
Whats Inside
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N P W i AROUND TOWN .............................................
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C M T C D T ì IM M F N T
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NFW S
SPORTS
D l'l IO IO N
BY D. BELL
There is a program based in inner
northeast Portland that is geared to as
sisting unemployed individuals prepare
for the job market and help them find
employment.
Steps to Success evolved out of
legislation from both the federal and
state level;
(1) The Family Support Act passed
by Congress (2) and instituted by the
State of Oregon in East Multnomah
County in 1990.
The program is designed to reduce
the number of clients in the welfare
system. Participants arc referred by Adult
and Family Services.
The Steps to Success program is
broken into two components
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CLASSIFIEDS/BIDS..................................................... PAGE 10
sion,” Bogle said. To get more minor
ity firms involved in City contracts, he
has established a committee to come
up with some short term solutions. “A
report is scheduled for release this
week,” Bogle said.
Bogle pointed to other efforts now
underway to increase minority partici
pation. One plan is to fund a feasibility
study to see if a disparity study can be
undertaken. “This will involve a num
ber of agencies such as Multnomah
County, the School District and the
Port of Portland,” Bogle said.
Because of the Supreme Court’s
historic Croson v. City of Richmond
ruling, which requires jurisdictions to
provide direct evidence of past dis
crimination in order to justify remedial
race-conscious programs, many cities
across the nation has conducted dispar
ity studies. The cost of such studies arc
wide ranging. For instance, the City of
Atlanta paid $527,000 for an eight
volume, 1128-page study which was
completed in July, 1990.
Many critics of the City's approach
claim that both state and local officials
have engaged in a form of foot drag
ging. Efforts now being made are
viewed as late at best, while other
jurisdictions have conducted studies
and passed new set aside ordinances
for MBEs, no state or local govern
mental entity in Oregon has seen fit to
do so.
NAMCO has been the major critic
of Bogle and the other members of the
City Council, and has charged that they
engage in a form of institutionalized
racism. Bogle was presented with a list
of questions to which his responses
R
were met with mixed reactions. Among
them was the making of a distinction
between the various categories of com
panies collectively referred to as mi
nority.
One NAMCO member pointed out
that African-Americans were under
represented in terms of receiving city
contracts. The charge was made that
prime contractors play favoritism to
certain other racial groups and women
at the African-American expense. “The
programs were fought for by us, devel
oped for us, but every other minority
but us have benefitted ... once again
we’re outside starting all over again,”
the member said.
Bogle promised to look into these
allegations, saying that he is in favor of
all minorities getting their fair share of
work. He would provide statistical
data based on race at a later meeting.
Another step is being taken to fa
cilitate an increase in minority con
tracting is the creation of the position of
a minority business advocate. Accord
ing to Bogle, “The advocate will have
duties and responsibilities governing
city-wide purchasing and contracting
activities.” The advocate position was
funded for $40,000 and will be filled as
early as July of this year.
Citing his major accomplishments
over his two term tenure in office, the
incumbent Bogle presented an impres
sive list of projects he either initiated or
actively endorsed which benefitted
North and Northeast Portland residents.
But many in the audience seemed to be
silently harmonizing the words from
the popular tunc, “What Have You
Done For Me Lately?”
250
Women’s
Residential
Center Accepts
Children in
Residence
Volunteers o f America Oregon
announces a new program element en
abling young children to live in resi
dence with their mothers who are in
treatment at the Women’s Residential
Center (WRC). This new element is a
result o f the program’s restructuring to
provide a stronger focus on substance
abuse issues, women’s issues, and crim i-
nality. The WRC is a six month residen -
tial alcohol and drug treatment program
for non-violent women offenders. The
women are referred to the program
through the corrections system.
Com m issioner Gladys McCoy
spoke at a press conference announcing
the new element on March 23. “Volun
teers of America’s Women’s Residen
tial Center is noteworthy because it is
able to serve women and their young
children. The curriculum emphasizes
family issues and parenting skills,” said
Commissioner McCoy. “This is impor
tant to me because it is consistent with
my priority to assure public safety, at
the same time we are working to meet
the needs of families.”
The family element is regarded as
significant to the program directors
because many of the women who enter
the program face losing custody of their
children while in treatment. The women
who participate in the program receive
parenting training and learn how to
develop healthy bonds with their chil
dren.
“The program now addresses spe
cific needs of women. W e’re combin
ing what we know about substance abuse
and criminality with a women’s em
powerment model. It is a holistic ap
proach which addresses the women’s
behavior and gives them the resources
they need to recover from alcohol and
drug addictions,” said Barb Sussex,
Program Director.
Volunteers of America is a nation
wide social service organization with
branches in over200communities. Vol
unteers of America Oregon, Inc., serves
the community through child care, fam -
ily preservation programs, a shelter for
homeless women with children, a se
nior center, senior health clinic, adult
day care program, residential facilities
for adult felons, a sheltci for homeless
adolescent girls, and a Christmas Assis
tance Program.
Worthy Wage Day
Parade and Rally
At 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, April
9, child care workers, parents and chil
dren will gather at Pioneer Courthouse
Square before parading through down
town Portland to call for “worthy wages
for worthy work.” The parade, and the
noon hour rally in the Portland State
Park Blocks that will follow, is part of
the Worthy Wage Campaign, a national
effort to improve child care by focusing
attention on the dismal conditions un
der which child care providers work.
For more information about the
Worthy Wage Campaign, contact Dr.
Lynn Robertson at 236-0180.
Steps to Success
The first, Career & Life Planning is
geared for those who may lack previous
work experience.
The focus of this approach is both
personal development and career as
sessment. It is designed to help partici
pants look at their barriers and develop
strategics to work through them.
Topics include assertiveness, prob
lem solving, values clarification, stress
management, parenting, and time man
agement. The career assessment piece
includes career testing, informational
interviews, and usage of the computer
ized career information system.
The following phase to this cur
riculum is the ABE/GED which offers
adult basic education, or general edu
cation services. From there the student
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maybe placed in the work experience
phase in which they would do volunteer
work in preparation for the work force.
After completing the prescribed cur
riculum the student is placed in place
ment job club to seek employment with
assistance of the Steps to Success facil
ity.
The other Step to Success compo
nent is career focus. This is a fast track
program designed for those who have
prior work experience. Many of the ser
vices arc sim ilar to career planning, adult
basic education, GED, and work experi
ence. However, the duration is shorter
between intake and job placement.
Since the Northeast Steps to Suc
cess has opened in October 1990, Direc
tor Connie Carley said that more than
500 students have been served by the
agency. They have served 223 people,
with 15% male and 85% female, since
July of 1991. There is a 60% retention
rate after 90 days for students placed in
jobs. The average wage for those who
find a job is $6.41 per hour.
Carley states that volunteers are
needed to help students, especially in the
area of math.
Carley observed that under the cur
rent conditions those that live in poverty
are threatened by government cutbacks
that are results of Measure 5. Such ac
tions curtail the ability of those who are
motivated enough to pursue higher lev
els in their quality of life.
Continued on page 3