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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1992)
*»< Volumn XXII, Number 38 ,M e w « O * ° e< g c h c ,e n ° - non u lb ' ‘The Eyes and Ears of the Community” ijn iv e ®f£ ^tindhmh (iPn^eruei* City Launches New Traffic Safety Program At King School The King School in Northeast Port land is taking part in a new city program to slow down speeding motorists near elementary schools and make neigh borhood streets safer fo r a ll students. “ Motorists who dart through school zones at high speeds endanger every one, but especially our children,” said commissioner Earl Blumenauer, who oversees the O ffice o f Transportation. “ I t ’ s time to fig ht back.” Blumenauerannounced the start o f the School Safety Project on the first day o f classes in Portland. The new program assigns 20 extra police o ffic ers to enforce traffic la ws at five schools, examines each site for possible engi neering improvements, and expands city-wide traffic safely education e f forts. Joining Blumenauer at a news conference were Dave W illiam s, A s sistant C hie f o f Police, and Denise Kingsbury, President o f a North Port land Speed Watch group. “ The School Safety Project came from the com m unity and the city w o rk ing together to solve a problem that affects us a ll. ” said B lum enauer. Portlanders concerned about the im pact o f traffic on neighborhoods re cently wrote an action plan fo r the Bureau o f T ra ffic Management. The J traffic safety portion calls fo r targeted enforcement at elementary schools, engineering changes, and educational materials. The King School and four other elementary schools were selected fo r one month o f increased enforcement based on recommendations by parents, teachers, and police. The other test sites are the Clarendon School, 9325 N. Van Houten, Irvington School, 1320 N.E. Brazce; Markham School, 10531 S.W. Capitol Highway; and Whitman School, 250 SOLV And KGON Announce Volunteer Opportunity ...for “Paint The Town Clean” There was no Safety Patrol to help prevent this accident, which occurred as King School was being dismissed. 7326 S.E. Flavel. A large number o f motorists now exceed speed lim its at these schools. According to c ity records, the percent age o f all motorists who speed nearby ranges from 32% at the Clarendon School to 81% at die King School. “ Enforcement is the top p rio rity fo r parents and teachers at these schools,” said Assistant C h ie f W il liams. “ O ur resources for this are lim ited, but thanks to a $15,000 grant from the Oregon T ra ffic Safely D iv i sion, wc can assign extra officers to each site this month to catch speed- „ ♦» ers. “ But we w on’ t just be w ritin g tickets for speeding,” said W illiam s. “ Besides traffic enforcement, during this month each o fficer w ill work w ith teachers, parents, and students to en courage safely efforts.” Both the Police Bureau and the School D istrict Police are providing officers fo r the project. “ Parents also have a role to play h e re ,” sa id K in g s b u ry . “ O u r SpeedWatch group has had tremen dous success in slowing down m otor ists. W e’ ll be stepping up our efforts during the school year.” Each o f the five test sites has its own SpeedWatch group. “ W e’ ll be looking at speed counts and acc ident figures at the end o f month to see the e ffe c ts o f increa se d enforcement,’’said Blumenauer.. “ I f it proves successful, we could continue this part o f the program at other schools next year i f the funds arc available again. In the meantime, engineering and education can also make our streets safer.” As part o f the School Safely Project, the O ffice o f Transportation is consid ering is engineering changes in each area, including better signs, new cross walks, and increased maintenance o f street lights. Later this year it w ill distribute a traffic safety curriculum , a SafeWalk Map showing the location o f crosswalks, stop lights and street signs, and the Passport to T raffic Safety, a booklet w ith safety tips. For more information about the School Safety project, call Stacey Conley at the Bureau o f T ra ffic M an agement at 796 SAO 1 On Saturday September 12, Stop Oregon L itter and Vandalism (SO LV) and KGON radio coordinated a one- day e ffo rt to paint over some o f the worst g ra ffiti in the city o f Portland. On Saturday, September 12th from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. volunteers were in vited to go to various areas in the city where they would be provided w ith materials and instructions. It is hoped that hundreds o f citizens would partici pate in this effort to show support for some o f Portland’ s hardest h it commu nities and to send a message o f concern to those who would vandalize w ith g ra ffiti. The one day event was sponsored by Coors Pure Water 2000, T hriftw ay, Portland General Electric and Rodda Paint. Areas from which g ra ffiti is to be removed were identified with the as sistance o f the Youth Gangs Task Force o f the Portland Police Bureau. The Portland Paint and Coatings Associa tion and the Portland Chapter o f the Painting & Decorating Contractors o f America provide professional assis tance on the day o f the event. Other support was provided by the Portland Police Bureau, C ity O f Portland E nvi ronmental Services, the O ffice o f Neigh borhood Associations and Gerber A d vertising. C hief Tom Potter o f the Portland Police Bureau said about the program “ Many o f our fellow citizens are w ork ing to improve the quality o f life in our neighborhoods. This cleanup project provided an opportunity fo r us to be come involved and w ork towards im proving the liv a b ility o f our com m u n ity ” . “ Paint the Town Clean” is one in a series o f environmental action programs called “ Comm unity Cleanup Crusades” being coordinated and sponsored by KGON Radio. Other programs in the scries include a storm drain stencil drive to remind citizens not to dispose o f waste in storm drains, a media edu cational component and a benefit con cert. SO LV is a nonprofit organization started in 1969 by G overnor Tom M cCall to address issuesof liv a b ility in the state o f Oregon by bringing to gether government, business and c iti zen volunteers. “ Paint the Town Clean” is the latest in a long line o f events that SO LV coordinates. 10000 Greet Bill Clinton African-American Banking Executive Highlights Urban Bankers' Awards Banquet Patrick M . Prout, an executive vice president for Bank o f America and one o f the highest ranking A frica n-A m eri cans in the organization, w ill be the keynote speaker for the Oregon Asso ciation o f Urban Bankers (O A U B ) sec ond annual Awards Banquet. The event is scheduled for Thursday, September 24 in the Holiday Inn W indows B a ll room, 1021 NE Grand Avenue. Prout heads the bank’ s Northern C alifo rn ia Commercial Banking D iv i sion and is responsible fo r managing its regional commercial offices in San Fran cisco, San Jose, Palo A lto, Oakland, Concord and Santa Rosa. Prout has an extensive background in banking and business and has worked fo r such com- panies as IB M , M ille r Brewing, Chase Manhatten Bank, American Petroleum, and Ranier National Bank. A native o f New York C ity, he is a graduate o f the U.S. Navel Academy and holds an M B A from the Harvard U niversity Graduate School o f Business. Prout’s theme for the event is “ Banking & Business - A Com m unity Partnership.” O A U B was formed to give m inor ity professionals in the financial ser vices industry a forum to exchange ideas and establish a network o f sup port. Its members represent the major banks in Oregon, and U.S. Bank. The organization encourages representation from related financial services indus tries such as insurance, finance, real estate, and brokerage and securities. The program w ill feature the pre sentation o f a S I,500 scholarship to a graduate o f the Jefferson High School Financial Academy program. “ OAUB has establish this award to encourage a student to pursue a career in the finan cial services industry,” said Benita Harris, chapter president and a vice president in Cash Management for First Interstate Bank. “ We hope to continue this scholarship program and make it larger each year.” The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a no-host reception. Tickets are S50 and can be purchased in advanced by contacting June Clarke, Continued on page 3 Patrick M. Prout. Governor Bill Clinton Monday September 15 under a hazy sky in down town Portland's Pioneer Square, 10,000 people came to see Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton who was on a tour of the Northwest. He later went on to Eugene and Spoke to families in the Timber Industry Summer Employment Opportunity Allows Youth Io Explore Career Options This summer Hcathyr Briggs, 18 years old, o f Aloha is w orking fo r the Internal Revenue Service as a recep tionist. Heathyr is one o f 1,360 low- income youth enrolled in summer work experience programs through The Pri vate Industry C ouncil (TPIC this year. For Heathyr, the opportunity to work in an office setting is not only a chance to make some money this Sum mer, i t ’ s also the opportunity tocxplore a career goal. “ When Hcathyr came to me fo r a summer job, she was incred ibly focused. She knew that she cither wants to work in an office or be a nurse. Because she was so clear about her goals and objectives, I placed her in the only receptionist position I had, and i t ’s worked out w onderfully,” says Nancy Karm iller, Heath y r’ s youth advocate at The Private Industry Council. Heathyr explains, “ Nobody in my fam ily hasever had a real career before, and my sister and I want something better for ourselves. I want to make sure I have a good life .” Heathyr’ s sister, who wants to be a veterinarian, is in volved in another work experience pro gram this summer through The Private Industry Council at the Washington Park Zoo. Heathyr’ s supervisor Patti Craig, C hie f - Personnel Systems Section, and Karen Schaefer, Assistant Personnel Systems Manager, arc equally enthusi astic about the program. “ We really needed a receptionist, but were unable to fund the position. So, when I found out we cou Id get some free help through The Private Industry Council, I jumped on the opportunity,” says Craig. “ One objective o f summer work experience programs is to provide youth w ith tangible job skills,” says Dennis Cole, President o f the Private Industry Council. “ Additionally, the program also provides a community service by supplying needed manpower to public and non-profit agencies,” Cole contin ues. Schaefer adds, “ Hcathyr has been just great! She’ s very motivated. She just jumped in and has done a wonder ful jo b .” Schaefer continues, “ W hile Hcathyr seemed a little scared o f the phones a t first especially when thing got busy, she developed her own sys tem o f tracking calls and has taken on added responsibilities during the time she’ s been here.” In addition to answering phones, Hcathyr is also helping w ith filin g and assists the timekeepers w ith alphabet izing time cards. The Portland person nel office o f the IRS processes timecards for the almost lOOOemployecs assigned tao the Portland/Boise districts. Both Craig and Schaefer wish Hcathyr could stay on full-tim e. “ We set Hcathyr up to test for a position with the federal government the next time testing isavailablc. But, The outlook on federal hiring is pretty grim right now,” says Schcafcr. Hcathyr also is sorry to see her summer jobcom c to an end: “ The people here have been wonderful. There’s a lot o f opportunity here. I had a great time, and I learned a lot.” W hile Heathyr would lik e to stay on at Portland’s IRS office, she is very realistic about the federal hiring situa tion. Therefore, she has made alternate plans to complete her G E D this fa ll. Heathyr left the public school system when she was 16. She has a teaming disability and did not fe ll the public school system was set up to give her the individualized attention she needed. Providing summer work experience opportunities for low-incom e youth is just one o f the many em ploym ent and training programs provided by The P ri vate Industry Council. TPIC offers more than 35 different programs either on a direct or contract basis to both low - income youth and adult residents o f Multnomah and Washington counties. The Private Industry C ouncil is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to promote individual self- sufficiency and a skilled w orkforce by elim inating barriers to productive em ployment.