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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1996)
P age A 4 N ovember 2 0 , 19 9 6 • T he P or i land O bserver Some more light on light rail m P rop M c K isllx B ubi We should cast some needed illu mination on more o f the buildings and spaces between these steel rib bons. The present situation reflects the sage advice o f Louis Jordan’s classic blues chant, “You don’t learn that in school ” However, it would seem [that] the people o f Oregon had a lesson plan prepared for that overconfident coa lition o f politicians, bureaucrats, real estate investors and contractors who were driving the'M easure 32’ Light Rail vehicle... down a road which many taxpayers felt would lead to further fiscal trauma in this state. Or so they voted, “El voto castigo’’ (the voters punish). One reader derisively alludes to “too much traffic on O regon’s Yel low Brick Road’ to economic disas ter.” This perceptive allusion is to that mythological highway featured in The Wizard o f O i. Few are aware that this all-time favorite children’s classic began life as a turn-of-the- century political parody designed to ridicule the presidential campaign of William McKinley. An imaginative satirist cast candidate McKinley as the “Tin Woodsman" and his “Gold Standard” theme as that “ Yellow Brick Road.” However, the light rail quandary would seem to defy any such light hearted mythification though I do admit to a disingenuous tongue-in- cheek quip at the close o f last week’s article. “ I had a great thought, why not let the auto and oil companies pay to replace the Light Rail they took away?” The problem with such a populist approach is one that at taches to most solutions currently advanced for Oregon’s cash-strapped economy: how can a tax burden be shifted to the business community, when it simply will be passed on to the consumer in higher prices for goods, service and rents. Is a Sales Tax still unthinkable? This brings us to Measure 47 which, according to many voters, was seen to be (among other things) an opportunity to further guarantee that the “ Light Rail assault on fiscal responsibility” would be prevented from “coming in a window". When I titled my series o f articles, “the Death and Resurrection o f Light Rail,” I hardly anticipated that the "Second Coming” would be delayed by so many misgivings. Clearly, ifthe Phoe nix is to arise from the ashes, there must be a better organized structure to this and any other ventures in economic development by the State o f Oregon. After all, it seems like only yester day that I received a most amazing letter from the Oregon State Depart ment o f Economic Development in its second year o f existence. My re quest for information on its formal structure and how a citizen went about submitting an application for a par ticular project brought the following communication: A photostatic copy o f a single page torn from the <iregon Blue Book It rather succinctly de fined the departm ents m ission— that’s it! Not being entirely helpless, I promptly left my office in the Urban Studies building on the PSU campus and headed for the S.W. Alder St., Rians Eating Establishment where the in-crowd o f accountants, lawyers and prime movers hung out. It took only two hits on my credit card at the bar to determine the who, what, how and where ofeconomic development in the State o f Oregon; A process for which adowntown lawfirm had quot- ed a $ 150 charge. The tremendous response to this “Light Rail" series already surpasses that o f the furor created by my Ha waii-African Dynasties" revelations. Copies have been mailed, faxed and distributed all over the state-and far ther; by individuals, industry and city, county and state agencies, etc. the personal cal Is and inquiries I’ve field ed are mostly a standard inquiry” “How in the world did you sit over there on Alberta Street and accumu late all that documentation -y o u must have a hell o f a network?” I have; good research techniques and former students, Portland to Japan. Acknowledging the requests o f general readers and the teachers who are tai loring lesson plans around l.ight Rail, next week’s article will feature that major African American urban phenomenon and cultural citadel we know as Harlem There will be crit ical documentation o f the key role o f Light Rail and the black inventors whose patented innovations that made it all possible (including a Portland Connection ): The Third Rail, elec trical transmission systems, trolleys, signal and safety devices, street light ing systems, etc. You will be amazed at some of the other players who had key roles on this classic American stage They range from Thomas A. Edison who made the black electrical engineer, Howard Latimeramemberofhis famed“Edison Pioneers”, Robert Moses, the power ful Czar of urban planning in New York who ate and slept freeways, Lewis Mumford, Olmstead - and most crit ically, the AFLTrade Unions. Someof the material used in my lectures and presentations. In response to the several Wash ington County groups who expressed interest in startinga"Light Rail Model Club" similar to the clubs o f the model railroad hobby ists, here is a key and very valuable source to add to the others I’ve given. It is “the indispensable reference work for city transport systems, manufacturers and products worldwide.. comprehensive profiles o f management, operation, financing and development.” Jane's Urban Transport Systems, 1994-1995, originally published at $275.00, may now be obtained for $49 95 from “The Scholar's Book shelf, 1 lOMelrich Road,Cransbury, N.J. 08512. Item #6DD9B (S&H $6.50; (609) 395-6933, Fax (605) 395-0755. Economic empowerment: Doing business with one another J ames C lingm an We have heard it said many times that black businesses cannot survive on the sole support o f other black people; that there must be an addi tional influx o f business from other groups as well, in order for African- American business to make it. Maybe that’s why some black busi ness owners try to distance them selves from black consumers and at tempt to hide the fact that they are black. I have heard some business own ers say that “whites wil I not patronize me if they perceive me as a black- owned business.” Well, that's sad if it is true, since black consumers contribute so dis proportionately to the profits o f white businesses and those o f other ethnic groups. It is also sad that some Afri can Americans believe that they can not make it on black businesses alone. If we take out those businesses that always have and probably al ways will cater to and be supported by their own group, i.e., mortuaries, barber and beauty shops, dentists by and doctors for the most part, we still have a host of businesses in our com munities with which to work. If you think back to the post Civil War period, Jim Crow, and even the 1950’s, you will remember that black businesses flourished, and they did it on the sole support o f black consum ers. The vast majority o f the top 100 black businesses, such as, Johnson Publishing, Soft Sheen Products, were built strictly with black con sumer dollars and cents. Look at them now—they’re multi-million dol lar businesses. Sure our businesses need and should have white consumer dollars, and anyone else’s dollars, in return for quality products or services, but we must never overlook, negate or diminish the value o f the black con sumer dollar. Believe me, others think quite highly o f our spending power. There are several reasons for the way we think about this subject and for our low propensity to do business with one another. However, the main issues resolve around how we treat one another; how we follow through Prepping and elderly person's house for the Portsmouth Community Redevelopment Corporation is the task championed by the Day of Caring volunteer team from Saks Fifth Avenue. Career change turns into family affair After 20 years o f working in the iking and finance industry, Ken smussen decided it was time for a inge. While between jo b s , he rked as house painter in Walla ilia. WA. specializing in the reno- ion and restoration ofhomes. Wha, didn’t realize was that this transi- n would give him the opportunity pursue the American d re a m -o r i, his whole family would be in- Ived in his new career Rasmussen read about a company led Certa ProPainters in an entre- meurial magazine and decided he s ready to ge, into a bigger market te wanted to stay in the Northwest, when a franchise became avail le in Portland. OR. we made the ive,” he explains Certa ProPainters is a profession- full service residential painting vice, with corporate headquarters Valley Forge, PA It is the only siness o f its kind in the United ites’ $100 billion painting indus- :s. Realizing that every homeowner |uires their work on an average o f ev ery five to six years, C erta ProPainters has added professional management to an industry sorely in need o f it. (or do not follow through); how we take one another for granted and how we tend to mix business with person al relationships. These problems run so deeply in many o f us that we do no, even want to be associated with another black person or business. We refuse to shop at black-ow ned stores or cal I on black professionals to do work for us. Likewise, black business owners fall back on the lame excuse that black people alone cannot support their business, and they try to ease closer to the white market. Simply stated, it’s not that black consumers cannot support black busi nesses—it's that they don’t, at least not to the degree they should. If A frican A m ericans sim ply plowed 25 percent o f their dispos able income into black-owned busi nesses, we would see an economic turnaround like none other in histo ry. If black business owners would focus on "taking care o f business” instead o f taking short-cuts with black consumers, they would gain more of the benefits o f our $400 billion mar ket. Doing business with one another is simple Take a look at the Jewish commu nity; look at the Koreans; watch Ar abs, the Chinese, the Japanese and the Cubans. They care enough about one another to support their own businesses and to provide quality goods and services. Sure they have internal problems, but they fix them among themselves, and i fthey cannot fix them they never allow those problems to override the economic continuity within their communities All it takes is a little caring and a little bit o f trust. Black people can work together. We can and should continue to build our businesses with the black consumer in mind. If your product is good, others will buy it. I f we deIiver the goods, do what we say we are going to do, maintain our integrity, and hold our selves accountable when we know not todo those things, African-Amer ican businesses will grow, they will prosper and they will multiply. IFCC enters new era P ax Bu t Interstate Fire Cultural Center, located at 5340 N Interstate is a community based center for the per forming, literary and visual arts. Founded in 1982 with the sup port o f the City o f Portland I, is housed in a former 1910 firehouse. The 7,500 square facility houses 110 seat theater, two art galleries, a dance studio and administrative of fices. The IFCC throughout its exist ence ha been a front runner in sup porting multicultural diverse art ists. Originally under a more condu cive funding climate in the early and mid eighties, IFCC produced and supported various unknown and emerging theater artists. With the passage o f measure five, the fund ing climate changed. Now the Cul tural Firehouse serves as cross-cul tural community venue for outside performing arts groups. Within the last three years the Cultural Firehouse has received a grant from the Minneapolis based Northwest Area Foundation. The grant has allowed Cultural Firehouse to hire marketing and de velopment personnel. The hiring of these two positions enabled the Cul tural Firehouse to better contribute to its own ongoing sufficiency and maintenance. Sue Busby, executive director, says that the existence o f the center is grounded on the collaboration o f funding from a broad and varied base o f city, federal, private foun dations, and corporations. by IFCC offers eight main programs: 1) M ain T h e a te r—a cross-cul tural theater season that balances established works with new pro ductions that confront important issues o f color and culture or exam ine universal themes from an ethnic or cultural perspective. 2) O rigins L ecture Series—an annual speaker series that presents performing, visual and literary art ist from diverse ethnic backgrounds who discuss the process o f creating art and address ethnic and racial issues. 3) Callery Exhibits— monthly art exhibits featuring the work o f artist from diverse ethnic and cultural tra ditions. National touring exhibits depicting the lives o f other cultures and countries are also occasionally scheduled. 4) N eighborhood Youth T he a te r P ro ject—a summer production camp for inner city youth providing mentors from the professional arts community, offered in collabora tion with the Portland Police Bureau and designed to expose “at-risk" young people to options and alter natives. Young people form Portland’s Hispanic, Asian and African-Amer ican com m unities learn together about aspects o f theater production while exploring the dynamics o f team work. 5) S tu d e n t M atinee S e r ie s - Weekday matinee that introduce young people to the magic o f live theater and the diversity o f the w orld’s different cultures. 6) New S crip t Series—A venue for new and emerging playwrights. The series features reading o f new scripts, followed by moderated dis cussion between playwright and au dience. Produced in partnership with Portland State Uni versify and Lewis and Clark County. 7) W orkshops and C la sse s- Courses in dance, art, theater, writ ing and more. Classes are taught by independent instructors. 8) Com m unity R entals—The performance and gallery spaces are available for rental by independent companies, performers and commu nity groups. In its 15 year existence, the IFCC has served an unique forum for the expression o f both performing and visual arts. As they embark into new era o f budget constraints and more depen dency on the private sector and self rel iance, we can be rest assured they will continue to provide the commu nity with the highest level o f multi cultural art programming. Vitality, Vim & Vigor Most of us could use more energy to get through our busy lives. A new brochure, “Vitality, Vim & Vigor”, offers six steps for developing more energy, and it’s free from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. 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