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November 12, 2003
O pinion
Thc Portland Observer
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City Leadership Takes Vision
Jam es Posey for
M ayor prom otes
a better Portland
James Posey, a candidate for mayor
of Portland, issued the following
statement to both the voters of the
city and other candidates:
I challenge the voters to demand
excellence from the m ayor's office,
demand that the mayor be a true leader,
demand that the mayor restore Port­
land to its position as one of the top
three large cities in the United States
in overall quality of life. At the same
time, I challenge the other candidates
to prove to the voters that they are
leaders and to explain their specific
goals and plans. Give the voters more
than the, ‘more jobs, more affordable
housing, less crime’ line of every other
politician.
I have developed a comprehen­
sive and progressive plan as mayor.
By the May 2004 Primary, you will
know exactly what you are voting for
when you vote for me. You will know
that I am not your typical politician.
Healthcare initiatives will be a hall­
mark o f my administration. We will
work develop strategies to make Port­
land a leading city for breast cancer
treatment and AIDS research - and
one of the top five cities overall
healthcare quality and pharmaceuti­
cal research. We will endeavor to
become the number one city in the
U.S. for improvement in elementary
and secondary school education. We
will work with our great public colle­
giate institutions, such as PCC and
PSU to support significant improve­
ments in post-secondary education
and life-long learning of our citizens.
Portlanders will be served by the
most highly respected police force in
the U.S. We will recruit, train and hold
accountable officers who are commit-
ers that leave or are forced out due to
scandal and disregard to the public.
The hard working members o f our
community deserve affordable op­
tions for housing. In this regard, I
would seek the development of a mul-
timillion-dollar, self-sustaining fund
to help first-time homebuyers. I will
also seek to expand affordable rental
options for low and restricted-income
citizens with rent controlled housing
/ would have never
proposed putting a lid
on 1-405 without first
conducting a survey to
see if the voters were
interested in the
project and
considering the cost.
-James Posey
ted to serving and protecting our citi­
zens with the respect and dignity they
deserve. Under the auspices of my ad­
ministration, the quality of our police
will be evidenced by a significant de­
crease in complaints against officers
and the number of cities offering posi­
tions to members of the Portland Police
Bureau, rather than the number of offic-
and ‘livableneighborhood’ initiatives.
I will provide detailed plans for each
of these areas, one by one, so that
voters can dissect them, debate them
and challenge them so that each voter
can truly see that my plans will work.
The mayor of Portland should look
at city government as a business that
provides the services required of its
active Lives:
residents. While Vera Katz is just as
dedicated to Portland as I am, our ap­
proach is entirely different. She wanted
to put a lidon the 1-405 freeway through
Portland. She did not approach this in
abusiness-like manner by first looking
at the need and interest in Portland to
do so. Many were vocal in condemn­
ing the idea due to it cost versus the
lack of benefits. Next, she wanted to
bring Major League baseball to Port­
land, which required going the State
Legislature because the financing com ­
ponent had not been developed.
I would have never proposed put­
ting a lidon 1-405 without first conduct­
ing a survey to see if the voters were
interested in the project and consider­
ing the cost. The same with baseball. I
would have done my homework, in­
cluding securing sensible financing
options, before putting the idea out for
public debate.
The mayor o f Portland should be a
leader like Neil Goldschmidt. Down­
town Portland was dying just as most
major U.S. cities in which people aban­
don the city center at 5 p.m. To save
downtown, Neil brought us light rail.
He made the transit mall happen. He
made Pioneer Courthouse Square a
reality. When Nordstrom announced it
was closing its downtown store. Neil
met with them and Nordstrom not only
stayed, but they built the newer, larger
store on Broadway across from Pio­
neer Courthouse Square. This is the
type of visions and leadership 1 want to
bring to city hall in 2004.
tftc ( E d i t o r
Right to Choose
1 don't think President Bush should
have the right to take our rights away.
I’m a woman and believe that it should
be our right to choose and no one should
tell us that is not our right. We have
been fighting this battle for over 30
years, and what makes him think that he
can come and just take that right away.
I think that this law should be banned
from law.
You're invited to
a public forum
Shelley D. Young, Vancouver
What can we do to fight the twin
epidemics of obesity and diabetes?
A researcher and a physician/
diabetes expert will share what we
know at this free forum.
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Job Figures
Leave Too
Many Behind
African A m ericans feel
brunt o f unem ploym ent
by
E lijah E. C ummings
The U.S. Department of La­
bor announced Friday that our
unemployment rate is now 6
percent, virtually unchanged
from last month. While this is
welcome news, it is alarming
that the African-American un­
employment rate actually rose
to 11.5 percent. This is an in­
crease of over 2 percent in one
year and a jum p from last month’s rate of 11.2 percent.
Unfortunately, millions of Americans continue to be
left behind.
All too often, when the economy sours, African
Americans tend to feel the brunt of it more so than any
other ethnic group. We are unemployed for a longer
period of time and are less likely to receive unemployment
insurance benefits.
,
Close to 30 percent o f African Americans who are
unemployed have been unemployed for 27 weeks or
more. This is essentially 6 months that people have to
survive without a paycheck.
Even more unsettling is that the economic recovery
beginning in November 2001 has had little effect of
creating jobs for African Americans. For months now, '
the Congressional Black Caucus has been saying that
the best indicator of whether our economy is back on the
right track is to measure the number of people who have
jobs.
The employment numbers have therefore shown that
we have a long way to go. I ask you, how, when our
economy grows at a rate of 7.2 percent, can 4 out o f 10
African Americans not have a job?
Now, a small string of increases have taken place, but
to make up for the over 3 million jobs lost, we will need
to create close to 250,000 jobs a month over the next 12
months. This number actually grows to 272,000 a month'
if one considers the fact that the working age population
grows by about 272,000 a month.
Now is not the time to celebrate. In order for this
recovery to benefit every single American it is essential
that we invest in human capital. We have to invest in the
American people. We have to invest in job-training
programs that give individuals the tools and resources
they need in order to place them in positions that may be
available.
We must create an environment for people to build
small businesses and hire workers.
For the vast majority o f African Americans, the
President’s economic policies are not working and lead­
ing us in the wrong direction. I urge the President and my
Republican colleagues in Congress to work with us in a
bipartisan manner and show the same dedication to
creating jobs as they have to passing tax cuts for the
wealthy.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., is chair o f the
Congressional Black Caucus.
15-1
November 5, 7 p.m.
Student-Teacher Ratio
Kaiser Permanente
Tualatin Medical Office
19185 SW 90th Ave., Tualatin
November 11, 7 p.m.
State-Standard Curriculum
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Just Regular
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Kids Who Are
Willing to Learn
Call 503-528-3909 or 1-877-274-0824 to ensure a seat.
For more information about weight management, visit the "For Our Members"
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