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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2006)
O 5()£ F years of •/community ‘City of Roses' Joyce Washington Gospel Phenomenon Memorial Basketball fïv .im n in n c h in c- Championship Apostle Elbert D. Mondaine Concert «> to ceieoraie celebrate debut voncen uenui l CD u f Sec See Religion, page BS B5 inside Religion, page inside ^ n rtla n h ©bs^tlier Established in 1970 J Volume XXXVI, Number 21 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • May 24, 2006 Driving PDC Hostility While City agency defends against discrimination Black T w o A frica n Americans at the Port land Development Com m ission have tile d form al com plaints that accuse a PDC executive o f racial discrim ination and allege a pattern o f discrim ination at the c ity agency. No relief from racial profiling Tyrone Henry, a formercontract com pliance manager, and Christina Cain, a senior executive assistant, say executive officer L o ri Sundström retaliated against them after they put their names on a memooffering ideas toimprove the PDC’ s treatment o f m inority employees. Also, Rita M cC ain-W alker, an A fr i can Am erican and P D C ’ s home owner- shipcoordinator, recently resigned. She said she left in part because o f the “ removal o f A frica n American em ploy ees from this organization” H enry's lawsuit, file d M ay 16 in fed eral court, claim s that "there is a pattern and practice o f racial discrim ination at PDC” and that he was w ro n g fu lly fired in March. D r iv in g W h ile B la c k is a m o ck charge many people o f co lo r use to de scribe the likelihood o f being involved in a tra ffic strop. N ow a perception o f u n fa ir law en forcement has ju st been reinforced by aPortland Police Bu reau re p o rt th a t show s b la ck and L a tin o drivers are pulled over 2.4 times more than whites. Acting Chief Rosie Sizer A lthough the data doesn’ t prove blatant racism w ith in the police force, the higher number o f stops fo r people o f color, considering they make up a sm aller percentage o f the population, strongly suggest a racial disparity. For example, whites make up 79 percent o f the c ity ’ s population and account fo r 54,218, or 68 percent o f all stops. Blacks make up 6 percent o f the population and account fo r 10,702 or 27 percent o f police stops. Latinos also make up 6 percent o f the popula tion and account fo r 6 .8 0 1 or 9 percent o f all stops. The 2004-05 report also shows that the A frica n Americans and Latinos were more lik e ly to be searched when stopped. About 27 percent or 2,933 A frica n Americans and 26 percent or 1,750 Latinos were searched, more than tw ice the percentage o f whites. W hat’ s more, police were more photo by I saiah B oijie /T he P ortland O bserver An African American man is handcuffed and questioned at the Rose Quarter Transit Center Thursday by Port land Police shortly before being released. I ike ly to discover drugs or contraband w hi le searching white drivers: drugs were found on 131 o r 4 percent o f A fric a n Am erican drivers, 64 o r4 percent o f Latino drivers, and 392 o r 6 percent o f w hite drivers. A c tin g C h ie f R osie S ize r said the overrepresentation o f both blacks and Latinos in Portland police tra ffic stops are o f concern and should i r is ; questions among officers as to w hat’ s causing the racial dis Blacks make up 6 percent of the population and account fo r 10,702 or 27 percent o f police stops. A frica n Americans were more I ikely to be stopped than whites in each o f the Police Bureau's five precincts. Latinos were more lik e ly to be stopped than whites in fo u r o f the five precincts. parity. She said many factors could be at play. She asked that officers and com m unity mem bers fin d ways to w ork together to counter distrust. She also encouraged officers to respectful ly explain the reasons fo r tra ffic stops whenever they make them. " I believe we must reinvigorate our efforts to build relationships w ith in the com m unity, particularly com m unities o f color,” Sizer wrote in an internal memo distributed M ay 23 to officers, the day before the data was made public. The Portland Police Bureau began data collection in 2001 under fonnerC hief Mark Kroeker, who formed a Blue Ribbon Panel on Racial P ro filin g to address concerns that officers disproportionately target m i norities. The inform ation on stops was meant to be reviewed and released quarterly to help police adm inistrators and the com m unity determine whether the stops are in flu enced by racial bias. The Independent Police R eview has continued on page A6 He says Sundström micromanaged and harassed him after becoming his direct supervisor last fall. The lawsuit names the PDC, Sundström and execu tive director Bruce Warner as defen dants. Cain filed a com plaint w ith the O r egon Bureau o f Labor and Industries on the same day, making sim ila r allega tions. According to the com plaint, she says she previously received positive jo b reviews but was unjustly criticized by Sundström when she told her “ You should be happy to still be m aking the same amount o f money here." Elissa Gertler, PDC spokeswoman, refused to respond to the complaints, saying the agency doesn't talk about lending lawsuits or personnel matters. Henry said PDC executives haven’ t lddressed com plaints by m in o rity em ployees. “ There is a double standard on the vay people o f co lo r are treated," Henry ¡aid. Frederick in Runoff for Commission Seat Only minority candidate in Portland S arah B i . ount T he P ortland O bserver by N ow that the prim aries are be hind us and the rem aining candi dates prepare fo r a Novem ber run o ff, one thing is clear this election season: Portland can expect most o f our leaders to remain w hite and male. as C ounty Board o f Commission C hair to Ted Wheeler; and G inny Burdick, Amanda Fritz and Lucinda Tate failed to oust incumbents E rik Sten and Dan Saltzman on the all- white male C ity C ouncil. This leaves o n ly Lew Frederick, in a race fo r a district tw o seat on the Saltzman. I f Frederick w ins the seat, h e 'll be the first A frican American city or county com m issioner in over a de cade, but fo r him. the principle con cerns before our city and county transcend race and gender. Frederick is focusing on three issues: health care, disaster pre paredness and after-school pro grams. "There are basic things people want, and I 'l l bring visions o f di ffer- ent groups in Portland to the County C om m ission," he said. Frederick's success in the pri- “ We d id n 't have the money, but we targeted the passion," he said. The long-tim e northeast Port land resident has a laundry list o f form er occupations, including tele vision reporter, teacher and actor. When Frederick talks about d ive r sity, he doesn't ju st speak in terms o f race. W hen he o u tlin es his M oussaoui, the o n ly person con plant on another part o f the site. c u r ity n um bers and b irth dates, victe d in a U.S. co u rt fo r the See story, page A6. a fte r a V e te ra n s A ffa ir s e m county board, as the only m in o rity candidate left running fo r top posi tions in both c ity and county g o v ernment. Frederick, w ho is on leave as a spokesman fo r Portland P ublic Schools, faces the ru n o ff against J e ff C ogen, c h ie f o f s ta ff fo r Week in Thc Review CIA Nominee Wins Vote Lew Frederick Sept. 11 attacks, had n o th in g to do w ith the operations, accord ing to a W eb site audiotape re Gen. M ich a e l Hayden leased on Tuesday. m oved a step closer Trojan Tower Demolished to b e c o m in g n a tio n 's the 2()th C IA T h e c o o lin g See story, page A2. Hurricane Warnings The next A tla n tic hurricane sea- son co u ld p roduce up to 16 named said M o n d a y . sto rm s, s ix o f Bribery Charge Disputed them m a jo r h u r A congressm an u n der in ric a n e s , v e s tig a tio n fo r b rib e ry said gesting another sug a c tiv e ye a r o f d e v a s ta t in g sioned T ro ja n nuclear tio n s that he w as v id e o sto rm s , s c ie n pow er plant collapsed taped a cce p tin g $ I (Ml,(MM) tists said M o n in on its e lf Sunday in a fro m an in fo rm a n t, te llin g day. Some parts clo u d o f dust and f ly re p o rte rs, “ T h e re are c e r ing debris as it is im ta in ly p lo d ed n o rth w e s t o f s to ry ." M e a n w h ile , D e m o c ra tic sta rlin g to re b u ild fro m H u rri P ortland near R ainier. P ortland Rep. W illia m Je ffe rs o n , c a lle d cane K a trin a , the w o rst o f last an F B I search o f his C a p ito l year's record 28 named storm s, o ff ic e 15 o f w h ic h were hurricanes. Gen. Michael Hayden v o tin g against the Bush nom inee. veterans, in c lu d in g S o c ia l Se- s io n ." on paf>e A6 M o n d a y he w o u ld not re mended co n firm a tio n, tw o other D em ocrats in fo rm a tio n o f 26.5 m illio n U.S. m a te ria l hom e, the g o v e rn m e n t continued sign in thc face o f a lle g a re c o m 12-3, w ith ju s t Ron T h ie v e s to o k se n s itiv e personal p lo ye e im p ro p e rly b ro u g h t the “ I ’ m including A frica n Americans, and e ld e rly people out o f their homes, fourth graders w ith parents w ho ca n 't a fford to feed them, and 18-34 yearolds tryin g toget into the m iddle class but aren't being o f fered benefit packages." "These are the issues that reso nate," he said. to w e r Senate In te llig e n c e W yd e n . D -O re . and Veterans ID Stolen agenda, he doesn’ t narrow it to anyone demographic. When asked to com m ent about m inorities, he refuses to be pinned down. Referring to issues he' II address: fro m the d e c o m m is c h ie f T ue sd a y. T hc C o m m itte e in a ry m ay be a re s u lt o f his grassroots approach in the com m unity, tw o decades in the making. H e's got his share o f hig h -p ro file endorsements, but doesn’ t come close to matching Cogen’ s cam paign spending. Osama Backs Up Moussaoui G eneral E le c tric stores radioac Osama bin Laden said Zacarias tiv e fuel rods fro m the defunct Trojan Tower tw o sid e s to th is Rep. William Jefferson “ an o u tra g e o u s in t r u of th e G u lf Coast are o n ly