Portland observer., March 30, 1994, Image 7

Volumn XXIV, Number 13
Serving the community through c ulturaldiversity.
L ife in the P ortland M etropolitan A rea
rothers Please Stop
Killing Brothers
N MY OPINION, THE AFRICAN
AMERICAN BUSINESSCOMMUNITY
OF NORTHEAST PORTLAND HAS
SHOWN A CAPACITY FOR CARING AND
ACTING TOGETHER, THAT FEW EITHER
INSIDEOROUTSIDEOFOURCOMMUNITY
HAVE GIVEN US CREDIT FOR.
I
V ery q u ie tly a p ro je c t has d e v e lo p e d
o v e r re c e n t w e e k s w h ich I w o u ld lik e to
sh a re , n o t b e c a u se o f my in v o lv e m e n t in
the sto ry b u t b e c a u se if I d o n ’t te ll it, no
one w ill. T h e te llin g is im p o rta n t to the
su c c e ss o f th e p ro je c t.
A w h ile b ack th e re w as a lin e o f
g ra ffiti on th e w all o f a b u ild in g at th e
c o rn e r o f A lb e rta and M .L . K ing Jr. B lvd.
(“ B r o th e r ’s P le a se S to p K illin g B ro th ­
e r s ”). T h is in s p ire d a p a in tin g w h ic h ,
w h ile g rim in su b je c t w as p o w e rfu l in its
m e ssa g e . I w o n d e re d how I m ig h t g e t
y o u n g p e o p le w ho a re at risk fo r g a n g s
a n d d ru g s an o p p o rtu n ity to see th e im ­
ag e an d th in k a b o u t th e ir liv e s.
F in a lly I c a m e u p w ith th e id e a o f
h a v in g ten B la c k o w n e d b u sin e sse s in
th e c o m m u n ity b u y sh a re s in th is p ie c e
and th e n d o n a te th e w o rk on b e h a lf o f th e
c o m m u n ity to the P o rtla n d S c h o o l D is ­
tric t fo r c irc u la tio n to sc h o o ls a ffe c te d by P romise K ing
by gang v io le n c e , as w ell a s th o se w ho
INORITY CONTRACTORS
a re n ot. (W e k n o w th is p ro b le m sp re a d s
HANDLING SOME CONSTRUC­
lik e c a n c e r).
TION CONTRACTS FOR ORE­
A ccom panying the artw ork is a framed GON ARENA PROJECT ARE BREAKING
certificate explaining the purpose o f the ex­ NEW GROUNDS AND PROVING NUTS FOR
hibit and listing the con­ NUTSTHATGIVENEQUALOPPORTUNITY
tributors. The purpose o f THEY COULD EXCEL IN THIS BUSINESS.
the certificate is not one o f
The O regon A rena Corporation (OAC)
pride on the part o f those senior project m anager. Bob Collier told a
who give but a part o f the press Conference recently that “It's interest­
m essage. T hat m essage ing they (minority contractors) are doing a
being that people in your good job. W e are glad o f their perform ance.”
own com m unity, people
O A C senior vice-president M arshall
who may actually know G lickman was also pleased with the job ex­
you, care about you, your ecuted so far “A lot o f people have had to work
life and your future.
extra hard to make these goals a reality while
T h e se d o n a tio n s I still paying attention to budget and timeline,
m ig h t a d d a re n o t tax and that includes subcontractors” G lickm an
d e d u c tib le , so w e know observed.
th e y c o m e fro m th e
Reasons given for not contracting heavy
h e a rt.
construction jobs to minority businesses has
T h a n k s to th e fo l­ been that they lack the resources to meet the
lo w in g b u s in e s s e s w h o expected time frame. But so far, minority
p u r c h a s e d t h e a r t ­ contractors have been able to grab about 36
w o r k : A m e ric a n S ta te percent out of the 66 percent of the subcon­
B an k ; C H 2A & A sso c i­ tracting bids secured so far. This work amounts
a te s; C le o L illia n S o ­ to $28 million.
c ia l C lu b ; E & M S e n ­
It is expected that this is a job-w ell-done.
tr y M a r k e t; J e n k in s Kudos will serve as beef up resume for the
A u to R e p a ir ; M i t c h e l l ’s W o o d la w n disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) for
C le a n e r s ; M o o r e ’s A u to D e ta il; M y future participation in big construction bids.
B r o th e r ’s B ar-B -Q ue; R.D . Sevier & Son;
The D rake/Tuner Joint Venture and the
The Portland O bserver
OAC had established contracting polices to
S p e c ia l t h a n k s to : L a v e rn e H a m p ­ pave way for MBE, WBE and ESB for partici­
ton o f F irs t In te rs ta te B ank; S h a d e s O f pation in subcontracting and purchasing ac­
C o lo r A rt G a lle r y ; A lc e n a B o o z e r , tivities in the on-going O A C projects.
Je ffe rso n H igh S c h o o l P rin c ip a l for b e ­
This partnership has yielded a com m end­
ing the fir s t to e x p re s s a w illin g n e ss to able participation by MBE,W BE and ESB
show the w o rk ; L o u F re d e ric k o f the according to Mr. Collier.
P u b lic I n fo rm a tio n D e p a rtm e n t, w ho
a c c e p te d th e p a in tin g on b e h a lf o f P o r t­
la n d S c h o o ls in d ic a te d to m e th a t the
w ork w ill be a v a ila b le to any te a c h e rs o r
p rin c ip a ls w ho re q u e s t it.
W e as p a re n ts sh o u ld e n c o u ra g e th o se
e n tru s te d w ith o u r c h ild r e n ’s e d u c a tio n
to e x a m in e any a v e n u e by w hich w e can
h a lt the frig h te n in g sp ira l o f v io le n c e
th a t p la g u e s o u r y o u n g .
Bank Appoints Neighborhood
Development Officer, Establishes $60,000
Downpayment Fund
r ) ANK OF AMER,CA OREGON
p * ANNOUNCED TWO ACTIONS TO
1
HELP INCREASE HOME OWNER­
SHIP IN NORTH AND NORTHEAST
PORTLAND.
The bank appointed 16-year banking
veteran M argo Bryant to the newly created
position o f Neighborhood Development O ffi­
cer and established a $60,000 dow npaym ent
assistance fund for lower-incom e home buy­
ers in North and N ortheast Portland.
“W e’re reaching out to people who are
interested in living in North and N ortheast
Portland to help them realize the dream o f
home ow nership,” said Bryant, who will be
based at Bank o f A m erica’s Lloyd Center
branch.
As part o f its com m itm ent, Bank o f
America has earmarked $60,(XX) to help lower-
income hom e buyers with down paym ents
and closing costs. Eligible home buyers can Margo Bryant
receive grants o f up to $3,000 to purchase
homes in targeted neighborhoods o f North as product m arketing m anager for Bank o f
and N ortheast Portland.
America O regon’s Residential Real Estate
T h e d o w n p a y m e n t a s s is ta n c e fu n d division for the past tw o years. Prior to that,
w as c re a te d by B ank o f A m e ric a u sin g she was a product m anager for Security Pa­
p ro c e e d s from a F ed eral H om e L oan Bank cific Bank in Portland.
g ra n t. T h e p ro g ra m is o n ly a v a ila b le
A m arketing graduate of Memphis Slate
th ro u g h B an k o f A m e ric a . F o r m o re in ­ University, W ilson is a board m em ber of
fo rm a tio n , c o n ta c t th e P o rtla n d H o u sin g
Habitat for Humanity and the Oregon A sso­
C e n te r a t 2 8 2 -7 7 4 4 .
ciation o f Urban Bankers. She also serves on
In addition to helping allocate the dow n­ the m arketing outreach com m ittee for the
paym ent grants, Bryant will work with com ­ Portland Housing Center.
m unity-based organizations such as the Port­
Bank o f A merica O regon is the state’s
land Housing Center and N ortheast C om m u­ third largest bank, with 89 branches and
nity D evelopm ent Corporation to assist po­ assets o f $3 billion. It is a subsidiary o f
tential home buyers secure financing.
BankA m erica Corporation, the nation’s sec­
B ryant, an assistant vice president, served ond largest banking company.
J
Minority Contractors Breaks Grounds
At $262 Million Oregon Arena Project
Community
Relations
Specialist
Selection
IANE LINN, DIRECTOR OF
THE OFFICE OF NEIGH­
BORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS,
ANNOUNCED THAT MS. ANN KOHLER
HAS BEEN SELECTED AS COMMUNITY
RELATIONS SPECIALIST.
Ms. Kohler brings a wealth of back­
ground and skills to ONA. She has worked as
a management consultant specializing in or­
ganizational development and training for the
past 6 years. Her 15 years experience in work­
ing wi th and for various human service groups
includes ten years with the YWCA. She pro­
vided interim staff leadership for Southeast
Uplift during a transi tion period for that agency,
and several other coalition offices have
benefitted from her training and facilitating
services. Additionally, Ann has worked di­
rectly with several City of Portland Bureaus to
accomplish specific tasks, including explora­
tion of the future relationship between the
City of Portland and 32 Business District
Associations.
In her new position, Ms. Kohler will
serve as project m anager for three major
priority areas within ONA: information
and referral services, outreach coordina­
tion and training. She com es well equipped
to set up and successfully manage the
systems necessary to provide these services.
“We have discussed the importance of
these priority areas since I arrived in October -
now it’s time to start implementation so ONA
can serve the public, neighborhoods and city
bureaus better. Ann is the person who I believe
can start showing real progress in these areas
in the coming months. She understands the
neighborhoods, citizen participation and the
city. Wc look forward to her joining the ONA
team." Diane Linn, ONA Director, Said.
Ann Kohler will join the C ity of Port­
land betw een April 18 April 2 5 ,1994
Ron Hernden and Lou Boston
Our minimum target is 25% to disadvan­
taged business enterprises which breaks down
to 10% minority business enterprise (MBE),
5% women-owned business enterprise (WBE)
and 10% em erging small business (EM B).”
“W e are attem pting to change a lot of
attitudes about the way construction projects
in this area should be handled.”
The senior project manager, added that
“Com m itm ent to aggressive affirm ative ac­
tion strategies has been a priority since the
inception o f this project.”
Figures o f participation by minority con­
tractors churned out by OAC and Drake/
Turner though shows disparity against disad­
vantaged business enterprise was fine with
Ron Herndon, chairperson o f the N /N E Eco­
nomic Development A lliance, Inc. because,
“Oregon Arena C orporations results in terms
o f DBE participation and em ploym ent for N/
NE Portland residents surpasses any prior
projects in terms o f it’s consistency.”
Hemdon said N/NE D evelopm ent A lli­
ance Inc w ill continue to work with OAC and
D rake/Tum er until the best is achieved
Project managem ent has been very willing to
accept suggestions and im plem ent changes”,
Hemdon admitted.
The O A C and D rake/T um er had hired
Lou Boston o f Boston Training and M arket­
ing Group an EEO consultant to identify
area’s o f m inority participation in the project.
The Louisiana Social Club Held
Their Annual Pre Easter Party
Easter Bunny-T.C., Hosts- Janet DuBoise, Arlene Jones, Clyde
DuBoise and Emma Gaston, President Louise L. Waters.
The Louisiana Social Club held their annual pre Easter Party at The Texas Annex,
200 or more children attended the party, furnished by the local members.
Black United Front, Hope & Hard Work
Campaign Partner With Tri-Met
HE BLACK UNITED FRONT/HOPE
& HARD WORK CAMPAIGN (BUF/
HHWC) WAS RECOGNIZED AT
THE PORTLAND POLICE CHIEF FORUM
FOR HELPING TRI-MET MAKE BUS RIDING
SAFER AND MORE PLEASANT.
Tri-Met representatives formally thanked
North Portland resident, photographer and
activist ‘Richard Brown for the BUF/HHW C
partnership and ideas in developing, writing
and designing a new poster to encourage
appropriate behavior on Tri-M et buses.
Tri-M et has launched an organized ef­
fort to work at a grassroots level with the
community to make the general atm osphere
on the bus as safe and comfortable as possible
for customers. The new bus posters proposed
by the BUF/HHW C is one o f the first pro­
grams to emerge from this outreach effort.
M embers o f the group had suggested that
posters explaining bus riding rules would
remind passengersof appropriate activity and
behavior and could elim inate or reduce reck­
less behavior.
In response, Tri-M et produced “channel
cards” which will be installed in all buses this
spring. W ith a bright pink burst reading
“ W e’re all on this bus together,” the cards are
intended to com m unicated specific rules and
good citizenship like keep the bus looking
good, no yelling, sw earing or fighting, and
keep feet o ff o f the seats. Richard Brown said
at the C h ie fs Forum today that kids need to
be given clear m essages on expectations of
acceptable behavior. The channel cards are
intended to clarify the difference between
acceptable versus and anti-social behavior.
“W hen I was a youngster, just one look from
an adult was enough to let me know I was
doing som ething wrong, and I needed to back
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