O ctober 26, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age Ab
Juvenile Justice Gets
Crime Fighting Boost
Unemployment Rate
Lowest In 25 Years
O re g o n ’s u n em p lo y m en t
rate dropped to 5 percent in
Septem ber, reaching its low est
level in 25 years, according to
figures released by the O regon
Em ploym ent Departm ent.
O regon’s seasonally adjust
ed unem ploym ent rate has d e
clined throughout the year. It
d ro p p e d by 0.5 p e rc e n ta g e
points in Septem ber, while the
n atio n al u n em ploym ent ra te
d ro p p e d by 0.2 p e rc e n ta g e
points. O reg o n 's rate has now
been below the national rate for
seven m onths.
C urrently the state’s unem
ploym ent rate is at its lowest
level since 1969. Although the
unem ploym ent rates for 1994
are not directly com parable with
those from previous years due
to the U.S. C ensus B u reau 's
redesign o f the current popula
tion survey, the current level of
unem ploym ent is nonetheless
quite low by historic standards,
officials said.
Oregon's job market is health
and brisk. Non-farm payroll em
ployment has grown 3 percent since
September 1993 and the total num
ber of jobs has increased at close to
this rate for 20 months now.
The numbers released by the
department point to continued eco
nomic expansion and a favorable
climate for Oregon’s workers.
Over the month, gains in con
struction, certain durable goods
manufacturing industries, and in
services were offset by an early
downturn in food products manu
facturing and in retail trade. These
trends tended to cancel one another
in the total job picture.
The Multnomah County Juve
nile Justice Division has received a
$2.25 million grant from the Annie
E. Casey Foundation to develop im
proved programs aimed at reducing
juvenile crime.
The foundation supports inno
vation in juvenile programs across
the nation.
M ultnom ah C ounty C hair
Beverly Stein said the grant plan was
developed through the efforts of the
county's commissioners, juvenile
justice division, courts, law enforce
ment, district attorney, public de
fender, child welfare advocates and
minority representatives.
“Our first priority is public safe
ty,” said commissionerGary Hansen
“The single most important way to
improve public safety is by improv-
political Opinion
Lowering Of Wages Will
Produce Less Tax Revenue
by
of
B ruce D ennis , P resident
C arpenters L ocal 247,
P ortland
1 am writing to express my
concern about the Nov. 8 election,
particularly Ballot Measure 12, re
peal of the prevailing wage.
Being a labor leader, I have
done some research on this subject.
Prevailing wage laws were origi
nally enacted because out-of-state
workers were being exploited by
greedy contractors. People were
being imported to work at far be
low the community wage standards.
This will happen in Oregon if this
law is repealed. Profit-hungry con
tractors will drive wages as close to
the minimum wage level as possi
ble. Will this produce savings for
Oregon taxpayers? I doubt it.
Lowering wages will certainly
produce less tax revenues. Elimi-
nating health care benefits will im
post cost-shifting to other groups who
are able to maintain health care ben
efits. Importing low-wage low-skill
workers will further burden other
publicly-funded entities such as
schools and the welfare system. Cut
ting family-wage jobs will cause the
best trained to move elsewhere, where
wages remain adequate.
As contractors lower their labor
costs they may increase their profits,
offering little or no savings to tax
payers. Finally, you get what you pay
for. Using low-skilled, low-paid
workers will produce a poor quality
public product, which will need re
pair or replacement sooner. I believe
there is enough evidence to substan
tiate that repeal, in the long run,
could cost Oregonians more money.
The proponents of this measure
claim to be taxpayer advocates. A
Petition
by
E ric O rmsby
On June 30, 1994 Wal-Mart
obtained an injunction through the
courts to prevent me from circulat
ing some petitions in front of their
store. Circulating petitions has been
protected by the U.S. Supreme court
many times as freedom of speech,
as petitions and civil war has his
torically been the peoples only
course of action when the govern
ment ceases to represent the peo
ple.
One of the petitions failed to
make it on the ballot, and I believe
I can prove, that it could have been
qualified had I been permitted to
circulate it at the store during the
time of the injunction.
My attorney filed a counter
suit for $8,000 in financial damag
es, $50,000 in damages to my busi
ness reputation, and $500,000 in
punitive damages (which is to dis
national merit shop contractors
group is concerned about the taxes
of Oregonians? I think not. They
see bigger profit margins at the
expense of the working class. An
independent business association
wanting to cut workers’ wages to
save the taxpayers? Why would
small business want to cut the pur
chasing power oi the public? The
trend to cut wages will produce
less activity for small business.
Fewer new cars sold, fewer homes
sold, fewer new TVs, less at Christ
mas time. The list can go on and on.
Prevailing wage laws are fair
to everyone-union and non-union
alike. Prevailing wage laws estab
lish a level playing field so local
contractors and taxpayers can be
competitive on public projects.
Stop the greed. Vote No on Mea
sure 12.
courage the same action on others
not informed on their rights to circu
late petitions). My attorney also indi
cated that he doesn’t expect to get
much more than the $8,000 (based
on his experience in the courts).
My attorney agreed to help start
a Class Action suite, to represent the
voters of Oregon, for each to receive
$2,500 in damages for their losses,
since they now cannot vote on the
petition that did not make the ballot.
He also agreed to help start a Class
action suit for all U.S. citizens, for
each to receive $250 in damages for
their losses, for Wal-Mart’s use of
the terms “U.S ”, “America first”,
and other patriotic sayings, as well as
waving the American flag for adver
tising purposes,... While violating
the U.S. constitution in such a gross
manner.
Since contact with Wal-Mart’s
attorneys, my attorney has been re
fusing to take action on the class
action suits, and has been trying to
force me to settle out of court cheap.
As far as I know he hasn’t even
mentioned the class action suit to
Wal-Mart. Sometimes I wonder
whose side he’s on! I believe he
thinks that I cannot afford his fees
(which at present I cannot), and has
used this, possibly to discourage
me. He has given me til 10-20-94 to
show how I will pay him some
$20,000 in attorneys fees in the
next 6-8 months,... or he will resign
from the case. This does not seem
ethical to me,... but those are his
conditions.
With a little financial help, a
motivated attorney, and a lot of con
cerned citizens, We The People can
protect our civil rights. Anyone in
terested in participating please con
tact me by writing to Eric Ormsby,
PO Box 21385, Keizer, OR. 97303.
Only when you spend. If they
were sim ply opposing the M ea
sure, I w o u ld n 't say a thing; but
when it’s not the truth, it must be
corrected. D on’t fall for scare
tactics, those who spend your tax
money d o n 't want to lose the right
to raise your taxes at their d iscre
tion.
Sincerely,
Theodore D. Kelley
volved.”
One major component of the
initiative is the creation of a compre
hensive system of community deten
tion alternatives.
This system will increase the
A Second Canvass Against
Ultra-Right Ballot Measures
Freedom Rides From Seattle And Portland Join Forces
Freedom Riders from Seattle’s
Stone wall Committee for Lesbian and
Gay Rights joined with Oregon's
Bigot Busters on October 22, 1994
to canvass Hollywood and Russel ville
neighborhoods in opposition to the
Oregon Citizens Alliance’s (OCA)
anti-gay Ballot Measure 13 and oth
er rightwing ballot measures facing
voters on November 8.
The first jo in t canvass on Sat
urday, O ctober 1 was greeted
eagerly by P ortlanders. D oor-to-
door cam paigner Howard Thorne
said, “People grabbed the Bigot
B uster bro ch u re S top U nion-
Busting & B igotry in O reg o n .’
People were really angry at hav
ing been fooled by the right b e
fore, like with M easure 5. They
appreciated getting inform ation
on how dangerous these m easures
really a re .” O regon E ducation
A s s o c ia tio n m e m b e r K a re n
G w eltney said “The No On 13
and No On 8 pam phlets d isa p
peared fast. Everyone w anted the
Bigot B uster brochures because
lockade
Closer Examination Of Measure 20
State T reasurer, Jim Hill
and Speaker of the House Larry
Cam pbell stated in their a rg u
ment in opposition o f M easure
20 in the V oters Pam phlet that
you would pay taxes on the
paycheck you deposit at the
bank This is not the truth and
needs to be corrected Before
N ovem ber 8th
You will pay two percent
ing accountability. We want to in
sure that juvenile offenders experi
ence sure and certain consequences
for their actions and that those conse
quences are the ones most appropri
ate for the offense and the risk tn-
number of options that juvenile jus
tice workers will have in dealing with
juvenile offenders. The options range
from lose supervision, house arrest,
electronic monitoring and finally se
cure detention.
The second component of the
initiative is a new risk assessment
instrument.
With referrals to the juvenile
justice system nearly doubling be
tween 1985 to 1992 there is a press
ing need to prioritize the use of re
sources. The risk assessment pro
gram will provide an objective anal
ysis of the danger to the public from
each juvenile and will divert those
who are low risk into appropriate
treatment programs. This, in turn, will
free up resources for youth who pose a
greater threat to the community.
they very clearly show that all
O regonians are being attacked
by these rightwing measures as union
ists, women, people of color, gays
and lesbians, youth and workers. And
the brochure encourages everyone to
fight back together.”
Measure 13 is an effort to legal
ize discrimination against homosex
uality. Seattle’s Stonewall Commit
tee member Su Docekal said, ‘Peo
ple were impressed that I came down
from Seattle, but we in Washington
have a stake in what happens here in
Oregon. We don’t want to see bigot
ry get a toe-hold anywhere.”
In addition to the anti-gay Mea
sure 13, there are eight other mea
sures which will weaken the rights of
unions, working people, women,
people of color and youth. Measures
8 and 12 are designed to destroy
unions and to lower the wages and
working standards for Oregonian
workers. Measure 8 scapegoats the
public workers for the economic cri
sis facing the state.
Measures 5 and 20 will continue
to shift the tax burden so that large
corporations receive huge tax breaks
and windfalls at the expense of
homeowners and working people.
Measures 10,11 and 17 are “anti
crime' measures which would have a
disproportionate impact on young
people, the poor and people of color.
These measures would result in tax
money being used to build more pris
ons and hire more police instead of
being used to develop social and
human service programs, and to pro
vide job training and education op
portunities.
Measure 19 is based on Senator
Jesse Helms’ program of attempting
to censor freedom of speech and dis
sent under the guise of concern for
women’s welfare and child pornog
raphy.
Bigot Busters in the past months
has canvassed Portland, Albany,
Cornelius, Beaverton and Gresham,
handing out leaflets and talking to
the public. Shoppers at the malls
expressed relief to see active opposi
tion to the OCA.
Portland’s Top Two Educators
Face Off In Unprecedented
Debate On Measure 15
Gene Nanni, running for U.S.
Congress Third District.
Highlighting the crime bill, and
bring our troops home as his
campaign focus
For the first time, Portland's
top two educators will face off in a
public debate on Ballot Measure
15, the controversial “kid’s first”
measure that would divert limited
tax funds away from higher educa
tion and toward K-12 education.
Portland Public Schools Su
perintendent Jack Bierwirth and
Portland State University President
Judith Ramaley will debate the
measure on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 7
p.m. at the Mittleman Jewish Com
munity Center, 66 5 1 SW Capitol
Highway. The debate is free and
open to the public. It is sponsored
by the Jewish Federation of Port-
land.
Moderating the debate will be
Arden Shenker, past chairman of
the National JewishCommunity Re
lations Advisory Council.
“In addition to understanding
the positions of both sides, we want
to understand how Measure 15
would affect the quality of life of
o u r co m m u n ity ,” said Bob
Horenstein, director of the Federa
tion’s Community Relations Com
mittee. “This is the only opportuni
ty for the public to hear directly
from Portland’s top two educators
on this issue and we invite every
one to join us.”
Measure 16 Symposium
If Ballot Measure 16 passes on
November 8, Oregon will become
the first city in the world to allow
dying adult patients to obtain a phy
sician’s prescription to end their lives.
Exactly what does this mean to the
average Oregon resident? What do
voters need to know in order to make
an informed decision with regard to
this most complex issue?
Oregon's controversial Ballot
Measure 16 will be debated in a free
public symposium to be held at Port
land State University Thursday, Oct.
27, at 5:3 0 p.m. in Room 75 Lincoln
Hall (corner of SW Broadway &
Market).
Thought-provoking questions
regarding the medical, ethical and
legal issues of this ballot measure
will be discussed by panelists:
Karen Bell, R.N., M B A ., pro
gram manager at Sisters of Provi
dence Hospice in Portland,
PcterGoodwin, M.D..chairman
of Oregon Right to Die Committee,
sponsor of Measure 16;
Derek Humphry, founder and
formerexecutivedirectorofthc Hem
lock Society and author of Final Exit,
and
William L. Toffler, M.D , prac-
ticing family physician opposed to
the initiative.
Moderating the debate will be
Susan W. Toile, director of the Cen
ter for Ethics in Heath Care and pro
fessor of medicine at the School of
Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences
University.
The symposium is co-sponsored
by the Department of Philosophy
and the School of Extended Studies
at Portland State University and by
Oregon Health Sciences Universi
ty's Center for Ethics in Health Care.
For information, call PSU's Of
fice of Public Relations, 724-3773.