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Volume X X V I, Number 42
Committed to cultural diversity.
October 16, 1996
(Ehi' ^ o rtla n h (¡Observer
SECTION
ntn in u n i t o
a I r ti i> a r
(!I
The
Constitution
and You
Catholic Mission Revival
O ctober 20-22, 1996 Them e: “ I Will
Bless You L ord.” Celebrant: Fr. John
LaB auve ot Bay St. Louis, MS. Service
begins 7 p.m. nightly, at Im m aculate
H eart Church; 2926 N W illiam s -P ort­
land, OR
M any people do not realize they are
elig ib le for program s offered by M ult­
nom ah C ounty H ealth D epartm ent to
prom ote healthy fam ilies. W om en, In­
fants, and C hildren (W IC ) provides nu­
trition education, nutritious foods, and
referral to health care. Free im m uniza­
tions are offered every m onth. People
can also apply at county clinics for the
O reg o n H ealth Plan w hich provides
m edical and dental insurance. Call 306-
5858 in the Portland m etro area, or
1-800-SA FEN ET. Interpreters are avail­
able.
Children’s Cancer
Association
Seeks Volunteers
Annual Christmas
Banquet
M orning Star Baptist C h u rch ’s A nnu­
al C hristm as Banquet is on Sunday, De­
cem ber 8, 1996 at 6:00 p.m. Dr B en­
jam in L. H ooks is the keynote speaker.
Located at Portland Hilton Hotel; Pavil­
ion Room East; 921 S.W . 6th, Portland,
O regon. T icket and childcare info: 281-
4925 o r 282-1316. D eadline is Friday,
N ovem ber 8, 1996.
North/Northeast
Parenting Classes
The N orth/N ortheast N urturing Pa­
rent i ng Program ’ s wi 11 start our Fa 11 c lass­
es O ct 2 1-Dec 16. This Fam ily educa­
tional course involves both parent and
child to encourage effective discipline,
better com m unication and family growth.
C lasses are at Bethel Luthern Church;
5658 N. Denver; Portland, O r 97217.
Please pre-register by call ing Steve Jack-
son at 289-5727. T he N orth/N ortheast
N u rtu rin g P rogram is sp o n so red by
Luthern Fam ily Services.
Harvest Festival
Announces New Dates
T he 19th annual H arvest Festival will
be held O cto b er 25th - 27th this year,
ju st in tim e for H allow een. T he venue
will be the O regon C onvention C enter,
Located at 777 NE M artin L uther King
Jr. Blvd.
Nationwide Insurance
Zoolights Festival
T he zoo will celebrate the holiday
season with thousands o f lights, anim at­
ed anim al silhouettes and m usic by local
groups. Ride the decorated zoo train and
m eet y o u r favorite costum ed character.
A g in g e rb re a d v illag e , m odel train
display and puppet show s will delight
all ages. Z oolights is open every day
from 5 to 8 p.m. S un.-T hurs., 5 to 8:30
pm, Fri.-Sat. ( You can rem ain in the zoo
one hour after closing.) C losed Dec 24
and 25.
SUBMISSIONS: Community
Calendar information will be given
priority if dated two weeks
before the event date.
n Tuesday November 5, we
the voters will go to the polls
and vote on whether we will
make fifteen changes to the Oregon
Constitution.
T hat C onsti­
tution forms the
basis o f law s
and principles
that p rescrib e
th e
n a tu re ,
functions, and
lim its o f o u r
g o v e r n m e n t.
The State L eg­
islature in Sa­
lem is tasked with im plem enting those
laws, and many o f those laws have never
gone through the initiative process. W hile
the right to petition for changes in the State
C onstitution has existed for alm ost a hun­
dred years, those proposed changes are not
always to the benefit o f th e citizens.
For exam ple, on Election Day 1914,
O regonians voted no to a m easure to p ro ­
vide com pensation for m em bers o f the
State Legislature at five dollars per day,
and soundly rejected a proposal to estab ­
lish an eight hour work day and room
ventilation requirem ent for fem ale w o rk ­
ers (rem em ber, this was before the Suf­
frage M ovem ent gave w om en the right to
vote). C hanges to the C onstitution affect
every resident os the state T he question
here is, which laws should com e by citizen
initiative, and w hich laws should be impie
m ented another way?
“ We then people o fth e State o f O regon
to the end that Justice be established, orde
m aintained, and liberty perpetuated, do
ordain this C onstitution," says the pream
ble to the O regon C onstitution. Since its
adoption in 1859 and the adoption o f th e
initiative process in 1902, O regonians have
had the right to place C onstitutional amend
ments on the statew ide ballot by circulât
ing petitions am ong residents o f th e state
The beauty o f the initiative process allow s
for structural changes in society and tech ­
nology that are bound to occur as the state
grow s in technology, population, and so ­
phistication I he flaw in the same system
allow s for proposal, regardless o f its legal­
ity or practicality, to be put on the ballot if
enough signatures are gathered by peti
tioners.
th eo retically . a proposal to legalize
dum ping garbage on a neig h b o r’s lawn
could, by the initiative process, be placed
on the ballot, voted into law, and added to
the Constitution. I lie courts w ould be pow ­
erless to stop it because they cannot issue
a ruling on a proposed law, only an actual
law. That is why you see, after Election
Day, courts barring the im plem entation o f
a law due to its failure to pass C o nstitution­
al muster. O nly laws that d o n 't openly
stand in the way o f th e C onstitutional can
becom e an actual law
O ver the span o fy ears, ( Jregonians have
made a variety o f changes, called am en d ­
ments, to the State Constitution. Som e o f
these am endm ents were later found to be
unconstitutional in the courts. O ther am end­
ments were approved w ithout cost provi­
sions. i.e. how, who, or what w ould pav for
the law That m eant that a new law. w hile
satisfactory’ on paper, was found to contain
unforeseen or hidden costs that d id n 't com e
out until it was too late, (h ere are also
those am endm ents that take pow er aw ay
from local governm ents and hand them
over to the state
in the 1994 elections, a small num ber o f
registered voters m ade it to the polls and
voted on a total o f tw elve ballot m easures.
I wo o f those m easures w ere num bered I I
(the m andate o f M andators M inim um Jail
Sentencing guidelines) and 17 (the re­
quirem ent o f State Prison inm ates to work
full time). These am endm ents, w hile ini­
tially
well meaning, w ound up costing the
state m illions o f dollars that had to com e
from som ew here. W ithout a tax increase to
pay for their im plem entation, the m oney
was taken from other state services like
O
Multnomah County
Health Department
T he A lexandra Ellis C hildren’s M e­
m orial C ancer A ssociation is hosting a
volunteer orientation night on W ednes­
day, O ctober 23, 1996. The orientation
will be held at the Emanuel Hospital
Lorenzen C onference A uditorium. Room
1700. The AECMC’A provides support
to their families.
T he A ssociation is currently estab­
lishing a resource library for fam ilies to
be located at the hospital. Interested per­
sons are encouraged to attend the volun­
teer orientation and learn how by volun­
teering a few hours each month they can
truly help others. For m ore inform ation,
call Regina Ellis at 244-3141.
B
Shakespeare Company presents Othello, d started Wednesday, O^f. 9 a n d c o n f , n u e ^ ! ! r o ! 5 S S ^ o r
ooo ooon c i ™
ShakesPeare Company is located at 309 S. IV. 6th Avenue. For more information please call 503-
222-9220. Shown above are Othello (played by Wrick Jones) and Iago (played by Leif Norby) in Tygres Heart Shakespeare
company s Othello.
MLK Construction due
E
xpect some slow going on lower
Northeast M artin Luther King
Jr. Boulevard this month as
crews alter traffic lanes to install
parking.
State traffic engineer Dan l.ayden told the
Martin Luther King Main Street Project ac­
tion com m ittee last week that work would
begin at about m id-m onth, w ould last four
days, and would cause som e lane closures
and delays. C onstruction might be further
delayed by heavy rains, he said.
The first phase pilot project will rem ove
the street’s center left turn lane between
Northeast Thom pson and Sacram ento streets,
and Graham and Stanton streets, and also
rem ove 150 o f planted concrete m edian be­
tw een N ortheast S acram ento and B razee
streets. I his will allow reconfiguration o f
travel lanes, and provide space for installa­
tion o f about 50 parking spaces at the ad ja­
cent curbs, he said.
Follow ing installation, city and state traf­
fic officials will m onitor the effects o f the
changes on the stree t’s operations and traffic
safety.
Layden and others have expressed con-
cerns about accidents resulting from cars
pulling into or out o f traffic from the curb, or
rear-ending drivers trying to turn left from a
curb lane.
travel
Based on the results of the pilot project,
the city and state may either restore the street
to its old configuration, or proceed with plans
to rem ove m ore o f the median further north.
The pilot project will cost $35,000. com ­
pared to an estim ated $250,000 to $300,000
to remove the median between between North­
east A lberta and K illingsworth streets.
I he M ain Street Project is a product o f
governor John K itzhaber’s C om m unity S o­
lutions program . The Action C om m ittee that
oversaw it included city, state and M etro
public officials, neighborhood association
representatives and business com munity lead­
ers.
C hair Carl Taitón has stressed that this
partnership o f interests was responsible for
the project being able to m ove forward so
fast. So did Kitzhaber, who said as he ap ­
proved the pilot project on Septem ber 24,
“ The M LK effort is a model o f how we can
build quality com m unities together."
D espite this, a dissenting view was sound-
ed last week by Rex Burkholder o f the Bicy­
cle T ransportation Alliance. He protested
that current and future plans for the boule­
vard do not include bike lanes, that he and his
organization w ere not notified o f the plan­
ning process, and that the changes are being
carried out w ithout a public hearing. “The
w hole com m unity should have a chance to
participate, not just the people who happen to
hear about it,” he said.
T alton replied, “This is all part o f the
A lbina C om m unity Plan, which has already
gone through a public process.
C om m issioner Charlie Hales said that a
public hearing will be held after evaluation o f
the pilot project. “T h at’s the point at which
we decide w hether this is a dud or a success
that should be replicated,” he said.
Layden said the project did consider place­
ment o f bike lanes on the street. "W e decided
that given the width o f the street and the need
to m aintain traffic capacity (by retaining four
travel lanes), there w asn’t room for bike
lanes,” he said. Transportation planners will
co nsider placing such lanes along North
W illiam s and V ancouver avenues in the fu­
ture, he said.
Participating-being an active citizen
he Multnomah County Citizen
gram s for offenders who are not in jail.
Involvement Committee is seek­
• E n v iro n m e n ta l S erv ices—provides a
ing persons to serve on Citizen
range o f service including transportation
Budget Advisory Committees (CBACS).
(roads, bridges, bike paths), elections, com ­
As a resident o f M ultnom ah C ounty you
puter services, and animal control.
have the right to say how you w ant your tax
• N o n -D e p artm c n tal-in c lu d es the C oun­
money spent; to plan for the future; to recom ­
ty C hair and Com m issioners; A uditor’s of­
mend program s, operations and policies; and
fice; C itizen Involvem ent Com m ittee; city/
to advise on budget.
county agencies such as the M etropolitan
C u r r e n t v acan cies in clu d e:
Arts C om m ission; the M etropolitan Human
• D istrict A tto rn e y ’s O ffic e -p ro s e c u te s
Rights Com m ission and the Portland C om ­
offenders, collects child support, and p ro ­
m ission on Aging; and several organizations
vides victim s assistance.
that receive county funds.
• C o m m u n ity C o r r e c tio n s —p ro v id es
• M a n a g e m e n t S u p p o rt S erv ices—divi­
program s including drug and alcohol treat­
sion o fth e C h a ir’s Office provides support to
ment, probation and parole, and other pro­
the departm ents including Em ployee Servic­
T
es, Inform ation Services (Com puters), Bud­
get O ffice, Finance Office. A ffirmative A c­
tion, R isk M anagem ent, County Counsel and
Em ergency Services.
• Community and Family Services-m-
cludes mental health, chi Id mental health, youth
services, community action (poverty programs),
housing and community development.
• J u v e n ile J u s tic e —includes custody ser­
vices. counseling and court services, and
support services.
• S h e r if f s O ffic e -o p e ra te s the jails, the
Restitution C enter, provides policing in un­
incorporated areas o f the county, and has
special services such as the river patrol
Call 24H-J4S0 fo r more information.
State Treasurer Brings School Savings Program
ta te Treasurer Jim Hill, in an
financial responsibility and allow them to
effort to teach strong savings
benefit from their greatest financial asst-
habits to children, will hold a
tinie,” Hill said.
statewide ED-NET broadcast, Thursday,
“T here is no greater gift that we can give
October 3 at 3:30 p.m. to discuss the
our children than the gift o f financial securi­
State Treasury's new elementary school
ty. I am convinced that the children who
savings program with teachers and school
develop strong savings habits today will have
administrators throughout the state.
the freedom to achieve m ore o f their goals in
The SAV E FOR A M ER IC A program
the future. With the cooperation o f O reg o n ’s
teaches K - 6th graders, through innovative
elem entary schools, parents, local banks and
banking softw are, the value o f saving m oney
teachers, we can give our children the know l­
and the im portance o f financial security.
edge and encouragem ent they need to be­
“The SAVE FOR A M ERICA program is
com e financially secure.”
a fun and effective tool all educators can use
The SA V E FOR AM ERICA School Sav­
to teach O regon school children the value o f
ings program is currently im plem ented in
S
4,000 schools in 44 states, with the coopera­
tion o f 200 banks.
T his program marks the first time in 25
years that U.S. Savings Bonds will be avail­
able to children at school.
O nce a week, elem entary students can
bring their m oney to school on BANK DAY
and m ake a deposit to their account using the
school’scom puterequipped with SAVE FOR
A M ERICA softw are
The deposit is then entered into the student’s
bank account and may be purchase U.S. Sav­
ings Bonds With each deposit a student re­
ceives a computer-generated receipt and a stick­
er rem inding them to save again
▼
Continued to page B5