Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, November 09, 2005, Page 12, Image 12

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Page B4____________________________
Careers Ediuatien
S P E C IA L
an equal o p p o rtu n ity e m p loye r
E D IT IO N
November 9, 2005
------------ ------------------------------------------------------ -------
MULTNOMAH
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w .m u ltco jo b s.o rg
B rooks S taffing
A D iv is io n of S. B ro o k s & A s s o c ia te s , Inc.
A Full Service Staffing Company
“ Where Temporary Staffing leads to Permanent Satisfaction"
PHOTO BY
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Pau! Scarlet came to Portland in 1989 to work on the Albina Community Plan. Today, he is interim
director o f the Portland Bureau o f Development Services.
Experienced employees are carefully screened
and unconditionally guaranteed.
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Career Bound
continued
Call, to start saving
503.284.7930
B rooks S taffing
A D ivision of S. Brooks & Associates, Inc.
A Full Service Staffing Company
1130 NE Alberta Street
Portland, Oregon 97211
FAX: 503.284.7977
www.sbrooks.com
jobs@sbrooks.com
APÒLLO COLLEGE
A DIVISION OF U.S. EDUCATION CORP
We are here to help you
every step of the way.
from Metro
p.m.
Leonard recently ordered
employees of all his bureaus to
undergo a day of training in
providing good customer ser­
vice. Scarlet hopes to continue
this for all new hires as well. He
would like to institute other meth­
ods to meet “custom ers’ chang­
ing i 'eds,” including assigning
a worker to shepherd applicants
through the review process.
“That’s not applicable to all
customers, but we could do it
where it makes sense.” he says.
Scarlet joined the city when
he came to Portland in 1989 in
answ er to an advertisem ent
seeking planning interns to work
on a major venture, the Albina
Community Plan.
In the course o f a phone con­
phone call and a resum e’,”
Harrison told the Portland Ob­
server. “It was only later that I
learned what a great guy he
was. He’s smart, talented and
personable. He helped create
neighborhood plans for the Ar­
bor Lodge and Montavilla neigh­
borhoods w here there were
some really tough issues, and he
did a great job.”
He also began working his
way up the city career ladder.
After a few months he became
a city planner. After the Outer
Southeast Plan was completed
he worked in the permit center,
then switched to “compliance
services,” which deals with
complaints about illegal activi­
ties by businesses and property
owners.
He served as supervisor of
this section from 2001 to 2005.
1 received a good, solid
education, and 1 developed
some lasting friendships.
- Portland city administrator Paul Scarlet
on his education at Brigham Young University
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I
In February, he became man­
ager for new construction in­
spections.
“Paul has an excellent grasp
of
the
c o m m is s io n e r’s
(Leonard’s) priorities for the
bureau, and an excellent grasp
o f how to ach iev e th em ,”
Kovatch says. These priorities
are “a balance between good
customer service, and ensuring
safe building practices and neigh­
borhood livability.”
Scarlet is both a good and fair
manager who has the support of
his staff, Kovatch says. “He’s a
great guy and he’s doing a fan­
tastic job.”
Bom in Jamaica, Scarlet grew
up in Toronto - a city, Portland
planners cite as a model of good
dense urban growth. He at­
tended Brigham Young Univer­
sity on a track scholarship. De­
spite being part of a very small
ethnic minority population in
Utah he says, “It was a great
College Help at Matt Dishman
Veterinary Assistant
www.apollocollege.edu
versation, Chief City Planner
Michael Harrison “sold me on
Portland,” he says.
The Albina planning process
lasted five years and created
priorities for 20 square mile seg­
ment of north and northeast
Portland that was unprecedented
for what it covered - not just
zoning but transportation, rec­
reation, social and livability is­
sues.
For the interns, it meant work­
ing in areas that were victims of
long-term neglect and had ma­
jor public safety problems.
Scarlet and his co-workers
were assigned to do land use
survey work in the early morn­
ing, since that was considered
the safest time to venture into
some areas. He later went on to
work on the Outer Southeast
Community Plan, covering an
even larger area east of 82nd
Avenue, again under Harrison.
“I hired Paul on the basis of a
experience. I was treated well,
I received a good, solid educa­
tion, and I developed some last­
ing friendships.”
Since coming to Portland he
has married and has three chil­
dren. Once a world-class run­
ner at 100 and 200 meters, he is
now a track coach at St. Mary’s
Academy.
Speaking of his adopted city,
which he has helped to shape.
Scarlet says, “It’s a very livable
city with diverse communities,
lots of places to recreate, lots of
activities, a school system in
place that offers a wide range
of schools. I’m pleased to see
the development that’s taken
place. I’m particularly pleased
to see the development of the
Pearl and South Waterfront with
a combination of high density
housing and mixed-use. The
housing market’s taken off. The
tumoverrate is high. Businesses
such as REI are moving in in­
stead of moving out.”
In the areas Scarlet helped
plan, “There are a lot o f new
buildings in Gateway that are
attractive and nice to see. On
M artin Luther King and Inter­
state w e’re going from vacant
lots and abandoned buildings
to new developm ent; there are
still problem s, but it’s a big
im provem ent from 15 years
ago. I was very involved in the
planning for the North Max
(light rail) alignm ent, and I'v e
seen it happen 16 years later.
There is more (traffic) con­
gestion, but th at’s a part o f
increased developm ent.”
Another outgrowth of change
in some areas is gentrification,
the displacement of old resi­
dents with new ones.
“That certainly is an out­
growth of developm ent, and
to some extent it’s uncontrol­
lable,” Scarlet says. During
the Albina Plan provess, “We
were concerned that it could
lead to displacem ent, that it
would make it difficult for
people to stay in their own
homes. One approach we took
was to al low for different types
of housing so people could
remain in the com m unity.”
A free program each month to
help high school students pre­
pare for college is held at the Matt
Dishman Community Center, 77
N.E. Knott St., through the ef-
fortsofOregon State University’s
Ujima Education Office College
Outreach Program.
The sessions are on the first
Saturday of each month through
May from Noon until 2 p.m.
Topics to be discussed are the
college application process, finan­
cial aid, why a college education is
important and valuable, how to
select the right college for you,
useful tips to becoming a success­
ful college student, and mentorship
from college representatives and
current college students.
For more information, con­
tact Earlean Wilson Huey, OSU
Ujima Education Office
C oordinator by em ail at
Earlean. wilsonhuey(«’oreg< wrstate.edu
or by calling 1 -800-291 -4192,
extension 7-9032; or Jock White,
Matt Dishman Community Cen­
ter Teen Program Coordinator,
at 503-823-3620.