P age A3
T he P ortland O bserver • A ugust 3, 1994
New African
American Law Judge
Regina Banks (from left), Sheila Frank and her son, Shrone Dobson welcome the addition of a banner across Alberta Street at 18th Avenue
urging drivers to slow down for kids’ sake. Portland's Bureau of Traffic Management is offering the banners to area neighborhoods to
promote traffic safety.
Science And Technology II
Comptroller John Sharp an
nounced the appointment o f Lee
Johnson tot he prestigious and im
portant position o f Administrative
Law Judge for the State Comptroller’s
Office. Johnson becomes the first
African American in Texas State
Comptroller history to serve in this
position.
“In addition to being an indi
vidual of renown respect, Lee is also
actively involved in the community.
Sharp said. “He has keen knowledge
of state tax policy and a deep concern
for the rights of the individual."
as an Adm in istrati ve Law Judge,
Johnson’s major responsibility is to
provide arbitration between the
Comptroller’s Office and Texas tax
payers. In cases in which a taxpayer
believes a tax liability has been un
fairly assessed, the individual is given
the option of taking the case to the
Administrative Law Judge. After a
hearing, the Law Judge issues an
opinion on whether the tax liability
was fairly assessed.
Ray Bonilla, General Counsel
for the Comptroller’s office, says
These Judges deal with difficult tax
policy issues on a daily basis. “Their
decisions are obv iously important to
the taxpayers involved in the case,
but they are also important to overall
tax policy. Lee has the experience,
judgments, and temperament to en
able him to perform in this capacity
very effectively,” Bonilla said.
Johnson is a 30-year-old native
of Portland, Oregon. He received a
bachelor’s degree from Oregon State
University and a Doctor of Jurispru
dence from the University of Texas
School of Law in 1988. He worked
by
P rof . M c K inley B i
rt
As p ro m ised , we shall co n
tin u e our jo u rn ey through a re
vealing landscape o f explorations
a n d re w a r d in g d is c o v e r ie s -
m ostly free o f the m ind-num bing
tech n ical term s w ith w hich we
have so frequently been threatened.
So many o f us have been about sci
ence, as that Supreme Court Justice
was about ‘pornography: “ 1 can’t de
scribe it, but I know it when I see it.”
(Let's hear it for “mother wit.”)
Let’s start with a ‘learning-on-
the-job’ example. That aluminum
plant in The Dalles, Ore. provides an
excellent model for applying the tech
nique; wasn’t it a ‘brother’whocoined
the phrase, “ let down your bucket
where you are.” (Dr. BookerT. Wash
ington). Here is where, in a five-year
period, I moved from riding through
the plant on a bicycle picking up time
cards and then transmitted such labor
data to a central computer in Califor
nia - to sponsoring a kid’s science
club and winning a National Science
Foundation prize for the local school
district (demonstrating, on-line in the
classroom, how math, science and
First Free
National
Newsletter
For Black
Women!
telecommunications are used in in
dustry).
I’ll use last week’s description;
such things are “no biggie” if you pay
attention to your surroundings, ask
questions and read! Something 1
teamed to do as a teenager, working in
scores of shops, factories and similar
institutions in St. Louis, Mo. In the
first 30 days at the aluminum plant, I
realized that what we had here was a
complete, self-contained city - with
its own power and light department,
water and other utilities, street and
sewer departments, garages and other
vehicle maintenance, first aid, police/
fire department, chemical laborato
ries, mechanical engineering, elec
tronic instrumentation, you name it;
even a bureau of buildings - plumb
ing, carpentry.
1 soon realized that I was in para
dise, and being an opportunist of the
first rank, honed in on this chance to
learn first hand how all the technical
aspects of modem urban infrastruc
ture intermeshed. I figured there was
enough here to not only satisfy the
most inquiring of minds, but the ma
terial for developing all sorts o f ‘real
time’ training and education curricu
lums. Supportingthis observation was
the presence of every imaginable type
o f operating manual, training guide
and programmed instruction tool for
each of the many departments cited
The first. Free newsletter for
Black Women is taking off across the
United States!
Topics on Relationships, Health/
Nutrition, Beauty, Finances and much
more are packed into each Free bi
SUNSWEET
monthly issue.
The Newsletter is published as a
supplement to Jennifer K eitfs nation
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Black Woman” which airs in Chi
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To sign up for the Free newsletter
all women have to do is call 800-735-
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“Today’s Black Woman" and The
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tions.
could nevertheless, design, ser
vice and install the m ost so phisti
cated o f technical devices. We can
provide initial orientation to our
youth.
In my garage at home, I was
converting the entrails of old juke
boxes into devices to demonstrate
planetary motions, and functions of
various instruments and systems at
the plant and other functions for the
kids in the science club. At work, I
was repairing instruments that mea
sured and controlled temperature,
pressure, velocity, speed, voltage,
amperage, watts, viscosity, humidity,
ph, mass spectrography, whatever. I
was telling other members ofthe'ham
radio club' that “my kids" would soon
be able to grow crystals of acceptable
quality for your experimentation.
These plans for Portland were
too much too soon (1969), but there is
still hope for our youth. More next
week.
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W[ r tis r w r THE
RIGHT TO LIMIT
OUANTITIfS
Dad’s
for the Texas Railroad Commission
after graduation through 1991, when
he joined the Comptroller’sOffice as
a Hearing Attorney.
Johnson has also held various
civic and community offices, includ
ing the Board o f Directors for the
Austin Area Urban League, the Board
of Directors for the Big Brothers and
Big Sisters program and as a member
of Texas Organized Professionals
(TOPS). He hosts a local television
talk show.
“ I am excited about this new
challenge," Johnson said. “This po
sition offers more than the opportu
nity to affect tax policy. It offers the
opportunity to demonstrate to our
youth that dreams can be realized
through dedication to education."
“All too often minority youth
are only shown the narrow road of
success traveled by athletes and en
tertainers. I want youth to be exposed
to the broad highways of success that
take just as much dedication and
hard work, but can be traveled by a
greater number of individuals,” John
son added.
PITTED PRUNES
Learning On The Job
ove (I took a shift on the power
nsole from Bonneville.)
I soon sw itched from the ac-
m nting departm ent, taking a pay
it to becom e an apprentice elec-
o n ic in s tru m e n t te c h n ic ia n ;
rain, a jo b that got me into every
:partm ent o f the huge plant. All
lad every learned in high school
:ience clubs cam e into play - not
i m ention thousands o f hours o f
le v a n t reading over the years,
lready, 1 was d ev elo p in g re-
;w ed interested in my collection
F research on ‘Black Inventors
id S cien tists,” and to further re-
jvelop my skills 1 organized a
ids’ science club in my neigh-
orhood.
O ne can ju s t im ag in e the
high” 1 was on - projecting how
;hool districts that w ere m oan-
ig about how difficult it w as to
lo tiv a te d is a d v a n ta g e d (a n d
ther) children in the areas of
lath, sc ie n c e and te c h n o lo g y
«ould so o n h av e a v a ila b le a
killed p ra c titio n e r w ho could
esign realistic curriculum , write
lotivational m aterial w ith role
lodels to whom they could relate
the “ B lack In v e n to rs ” .) And
bove all, here 1 was, living p roof
lat persons like me and many
thers in this country w ithout de-
rees in the scientific disciplines
Lee Johnson
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