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OC T. 28, 1998
Page A3
(Ehe |Jortlanò (Observer
Payback
B> L ee P erlman
Corporations in the northeast En­
terprise Zone have contributed $3 .4
million toward job training and
workforce development.
Some community leaders want to
be sure that the funds are spent in the
right way.
Some community leaders want to
be sure that the funds are spent in the
right way.
The m oney com es from
“giveback" fund contributed by four
firms - Wacker Siltronics, Oregon
Steel, Northwest Pipe and the ANI
America - that have located new fa­
cilities in the zone and have benefit-
ted from its property tax abatement
provisions. In exchange for being
excused from paying property taxes
on the improvements they have made
on their property, the four contribute
funds to technical assistance for small
businesses plus workforce develop­
ment.
The city’s Workforce Develop­
ment Board will use the money award
contracts to service providers to carry
out job training and employment pro­
grams. The Northeast Jobs Commit­
tee and the North-Northeast Eco­
nomic Development Alliance have
proposed criteria for such contracts.
A key provision would give prior­
ity to “community-based organiza­
tions who give direct workforce de­
velopment services to residents of
North-northeast Portland, especially
to residents of the Albina area neigh­
borhoods.” Jennie Portis, director of
the Northeast W orkforce C enter and
chair o f the Jobs Committee, told a
recent meeting o f that group that in
the past the phrase “northeast” had
been used loosely to cover a wider-
than-intended geographic area.
“1 don’t have anything against the
people o f Parkrose, but these funds
were intended to deal with the prob­
lems o f this community,” she said.
She said she also felt that the funds
should go to groups located in and
answerable to people in the service
area, rather than large institutions.
Other provisions call for funds to
“remain in the community,” to be
designed to “create or retain quality
jobs,” that contracts be “performance-
based,” and that they include provi­
sions for “tracking” clients served
over long periods of time.
The proposal alsocalled for “mul­
tiple outreach methods” for recruit­
ing clients. “This is the most cultur­
ally diverse community in the state,”
Portis said, and in terms o f locating
people looking for employment re­
lated help, “One size doesn’t fit all.
Believe me, the people are out there,
they aren’t working, and they’re do­
ing things that we’d probably prefer
they weren’t doing.”
Yet another guideline called for
“strong employer involvement in re­
cruitment design and implementa­
tion.”
In a related development, consult­
ants Marcia Douglas Mary Schutten
reviewed a survey they performed
for the Workforce Development
Board o f 30 firms involved in the
metals, semiconductor and informa­
tion technology industries. The sur­
vey revealed some significant di ffer-
ences in priorities for entry-level
workers between human resources
managers, who do the hiring, and
line managers who supervise them.
Human Resources people placed a
higher priority on previous work his­
tory and possession of certain skills,
while managers looked for depend­
able people who would “fit in.”
“ R e p e a te d ly ...m a n a g e rs said,
“Give me a person who can get
along with others, has a positive
attitude and gets to work on time,
and I will teach them the jo b ,” ’ the
study said.
“The concern is that if HR per­
sonnel look only at a resume, they
might not consider an entry-level
candidate with who line managers
are willing to work.”
Education For A New Century: Blacks
Technology And Immigration IV
B y P ro f . M c K inley B urt
I follow on w ith my recital o f
the m any innovative, curriculum -
level tech n o lo g y resources that
w e re d e v e lo p e d by n o rth e a s t
P o rtland citiz e n s in an effo rt to
tu rn -aro u n d the tragic excuse for
an e d u catio n being received by
th e ir ch ild re n - but w ere ignored
or q u ick ly abandoned by a racist
school d istric t cabal w hen it was
d iscovered th at these program s
w orked, and w ell!
A s I c o n tin u e listin g these
benchm arks w hich span a period
o f alm ost th irty years, keep in
m ind th at I recited them all b e­
fore a group o f B eaverton b u si­
nessm en last m onth - all o f them
m em bers o f my industry o rg a n i­
zation, “ A O I” (A ssociated O r­
egon In d u stries).
U ntil now , they have heard
only one side o f the story, but
there w as general shock - and, at
first, alm o st a palpable air o f
d isb e lie f. H ow ever, my b a c k ­
ground is in in dustry as w ell as
academ ia, so I speak th e ir lan­
guage. W ell enough that tw o o f
them not only gave me a ride
hom e, but spent a couple o f hours
s e le c tin g an d p h o to c o p y in g
docum entation. You know me,
I ’ve got three decades o f e d u c a ­
tion m aterials. We w ill see w hat,
if anything, com es o f this.
We closed last w eek w ith a
descrip tio n o f “ B E E P” (B o ise
E n v ir o n m e n ta l
E d u c a tio n
P roject), a w onderful co m b in a­
tio n o f sc ie n c e , le a rn in g and
m otivation conceived and o p e r­
ated by tw o A frican A m erican
teachers. W ritten up in Ebony
M agazine w ere Mrs Bobbie Nunn
and Ms C laudia M cD uffie. I had
the p riv ileg e o f serving on the
board (1971).
The next technological b e n ch ­
m ark 1 w ould m ention is w hen in
the early 1970’s, I u tiliz e d my
U.S. Forest Service co n tract (A f­
firm ative A ction) to lease G rey­
hound buses to take N ortheast
children and th e ir parents for a
tw o-day v isit to the W ind R iver,
Wn. Tree N ursery; the w o rld ’s
largest for D ouglas firs.
I had ads run in the P ortland
O bserver citin g the opportunity
for a free trip to a science and
m inds have w ithered? how m any
unm otivated black bodies have
lain in the streets? W ho are the
m urderers?
But we need not go back 25
years to see this psych e-cru sh in g
m achine at w ork; lets talk about
page c 4 o f the 2/25/98 e d itio n o f
the P o rtlan d O b se rv e r (B lack
H istory M onth). A full h alf-p ag e
highlights Benson H igh School
graduate, Thom as (D on) R u th e r­
ford, P.E .; “ E n g in e e rin g T he
Spruce G oose.”
N ot a word o f recognition from
his school for the man who d e ­
signed the engine co n tro ls for
the m ost publicized plane in a v ia ­
tion history (My n eig h b o r says,
“ and there was none from our
daily n ew spaper”). A t a p a re n t’s
m eeting a m other rose to d eclare,
“ if h e ’d been a w hite grad u ate o f
B enson’s class o f 32 th e y ’d have
his nam e ringing like a bell. T he
school d istric t w ould be in the
a c t.”
A d d itio n al m a te ria l w ill be
presented next week. This is m ore
than a p attern , it is a ra c ist p ro ­
cess.
e n v iro n m e n t-c o n n e c te d o p e ra ­
tion that w ould greatly enhance a
young p e rso n ’s ap p re c ia tio n for
both. The huge o p eratio n , vital
to the forest industry o f the Pa­
cific N orthw est, w as supervised
by a black h o rtic u ltu rist from
fam ed T uskegee U niversity.
O ne w ould have th ought that
any school d istric t in its right
m ind - and w ith a te rrib le record
o f e d u c a tin g b la c k c h ild re n -
w ould have leaped at a chance to
in teract w ith a program th at had
hundreds o f thousands o f dollars
in su p p o rtin g re so u rc e s. A nd,
m oreover, had dem o n strated it­
s e lf to be a trem endous m o tiv a t­
ing facto r for both ch ild ren and
o ld e r youth.
N ew w indow s o f opportunity
w ere opened, all o f w hich re ­
quired an enlarged vision o f skills
and edu catio n required. W ork­
ing at it part tim e from my fac­
u lty p o sitio n at PSU . I had a real
com m unity - b u ild er going - but
not for this school d istric t w hich
alw ays seem ed to have the po s­
tu re , “ such s tu f f is for w hite
k id s” . H ow m any young black
You Can Now
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B uds o f M ay
IVerfriesrfaf
October 28
Find Us On The
Web!
B ill R h o a d es
and
th e Party K in gs
Thursday
October 29
http://w w w .port/3nd
observer.net
The Original While
Eagle House Band
Fly By N ite
Jass B and
Frida}'
Portland’s University Park Neighborhood in
conflict over Expanding Institution
October 30
H a llo w e e n
C o stu m e Party
Saturday
C ontinued
from
M etro
s c h o o l's g ro w th b o u n d a ry
f u r th e r in to th e r e s id e n tia l
n e ig h b o r h o o d , a n d p e r m i s ­
s io n to in s ta ll a n ew p a rk in g
f a c ility on N o rth P o rts m o u th
S tr e e t.
K u ffn e r sa y s th a t fo u r
y e a rs o f o p e ra tio n h av e
sh o w n w h e re th e p la n i s n ’t
w o rk in g , an d n e e d s u p d a tin g .
In a d d itio n to th e m a tte r
o f th e n e ig h b o r h o o d p la n ,
B u tm a n fe a rs th a t o th e r is ­
s u e s w ill be ig n o r e d b y w h a t
sh e s e e s a s a s i n g l e - i s s u e
b o a rd w ith o n ly s h o r t- te r m
in te r e s t in th e c o m m u n ity .
K ir c h m e ie r s a y s he h a s b e e n
a c tiv e in th e n e ig h b o r h o o d
fo r so m e tim e , a n d p a r t i c i ­
p a te d in tre e p la n tin g s a n d
th e L o m b a rd R e v ita liz a tio n
p r o j e c t . H o w e v e r , B u tm a n
s a y s th a t K ir c h m e ie r ’s f ir s t
s u b m is s io n to N e ig h b o r s B e ­
tw e e n th e R iv e r s , th e p e n in ­
s u la -w id e
n e ig h b o rh o o d
n e w s le tte r , h a s b e e n th r e e
p u b lic r e la tio n s a r tic le s
a b o u t U .P .
K u ffn e r sa y s he a c te d in
p a r t b e c a u s e h e s a w th e
a s s o c i a t i o n ’s e n e r g y le v e l
d r o p p in g , w ith b o a rd v a c a n ­
c ie s u n f ille d . “ I r e m e m b e r
t h i n k i n g , ‘T h is th in g is re a d y
to d i s s o l v e , ’ ” h e s a y s .
B u tm a n v e h e m e n tly d e n ie s
th is , s a y in g th a t th e r e w e re
a lte r n a te c a n d id a te s fo r e v ­
[CATLIN
GABEL
RUMMAGE SALE
OCT. 29—NOV. I
Don't miss the great deals on sports
equipment, tools, books, antiques and col­
lectables, linens, housewares, electronics,
toys, garden supplies, furniture, and
clothing. And remember, it all benefits
financial aid at The Catlin Gabel School.
Thursday, October 2 9 , 5 p m -9p .m
(Opening Day: 2 5 % m arkup)
Friday. October 3 0 . 1 0 a .m .-9 p .m
Saturday, October 3 1 , 10a m .- 6 p m .
Sunday, November 1, 10a m -3 p .m .
e ry s e a t U .P . w on.
T h e o n e p o in t on w h ic h a ll
a g re e is th a t th e ta k e o v e r , by
its e lf , w ill n o t d e te r m in e th e
fa te o f th e p ro p o s e d a m e n d ­
m e n ts. N e ig h b o rh o o d c o o r d i­
n a to r T om G r if f in - V ila d e
s a y s , “ I t c a lls in to q u e s tio n
th e v e r a c ity o f th e n e ig h b o r ­
h o o d a s s o c ia tio n i f its b o a rd
is so h e a v ily w e ig h te d in f a ­
v o r o f a s in g le i n t e r e s t .”
S a lv o a d d s, “ I f y o u r n e ig h -
b o r h o o d i s n ’t r e a l l y f u n c ­
tio n a l a n y m o re , y o u d o n ’t r e ­
a lly n e e d it a n d c a n go a ro u n d
it.”
A ll v e r y w e ll, S o lo s s a y s ,
b u t n e ig h b o rh o o d a s s o c ia ­
tio n s g e t o f f i c i a l n o tic e o f
h e a r in g s a n d c ity a c t i v i t i e s ,
fu n d s f o r p r in tin g a n d m a il­
in g , a n d f r e e a p p e a ls o f l o ­
c a l la n d u s e d e c is io n s ; a ll o f
th is , h e s a y s , is c o n tr o lle d
b y U .P .
SAFEWAY
FOOD & DRUG
B u tm a n s a y s , “ W e
c o u ld ta k e ( th e a s s o c ia ­
tio n ) b a c k , we c o u ld
fro m a n o th e r g ro u p an d
c o m p e te fo r c ity r e c o g ­
n itio n , b u t you know
w h a t? I ’m tir e d . I ’ve r e ­
a lly w o rk e d h a rd fo r
e i g h t y e a r s a n d w e ’re
rig h t b a c k w h e re w e
s ta r te d . M o st o f us w ill
fin d so m e o th e r s a n d b o x
to p la y i n .”
A Spirited Return
October 3 1
Live music »vilh tlie
Renowned for its history,
Fly Hy Nite Jass Band
live music mid ghostly sightings
TI c Tl e il a m i n s
W hite Eagle Cafe & Saloon
836 N Russell Street, Portland, OR
(503) 282-6810
Reopening
Wednesday,
Oct. 28, 1998
Santlafl
I am
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_____
Look For Your
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pREsm s ic n
Í
^¿ßREEN BEADS'
Safeway Weekly
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In Your Oregonian FOODday
in the Portland Metro Area
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at Safeway
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