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Established in 1970
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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