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Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVII, Number 40
Wednesday • October 17. 2007
.W eek ¡n
The Review
Mel
Renfro
Back on
Campus
Terrorism Drill Underway
A field next to Portland Interna­
tional R acew ay is sim ulated
ground zero for a dirty bomb at­
tack with dozens of volunteers
playing victims, while hundreds
of emergency responders get the
largest practice exercise in U.S.
history from “T O PO FF4,” which
runs through Friday. See story,
page A 2.
The stars of Jefferson High School's
last state championship football team
of 1958 gather around their team­
mate, former All-Pro NFL star Mel
Renfro (fourth from left) during a
special homecoming celebration at the
north Portland school last Friday.
Renfro, who went on to have a 14-year
career with the Dallas Cowboys, gave
a speech to kickoff the Democrats'
blowout against Cleveland.
Jena 6 Response Denounced
Democratic lawmakers denounced
federal authorities Tuesday for not
intervening in the Jena Six case,
citing racist noose-hanging inci­
dents far beyond the small Louisi­
ana town where a school attack
garnered national attention, par­
ticularly that ofMychal Bell, jailed
after a judge decided he violated
the terms of his probation.
Money Race Heats Up
Democrat Hillary
Rodham Clinton
has pulled ahead
o f rival Barack
Obama at the bank
and in the polls
this week as both continue to crush
Republicans in the money race
Clinton holds nearly $35 mil I ion to
Obama’s $32 mil lion whi le leading
Republican Rudy Giuliani reported
$1 I ¿million.
photo
Jefferson Amps Security
Security will be increased at
Jefferson High School for the rest
of the year following the school’s
annual homecoming dance Friday
night. A shooter injured two teen­
agers in a non-life-threatening
manner after the dance had ended.
Internet Policy Crackdown
Social-networking site Facebook
agreed this week to begin address­
ing complaints of pornography or
unwelcome contact within 24 hours
of receiving them, allowing an in­
dependent review of the progress
it makes in protecting its 47 million
users.
Energy Prices Volatile
NO. 1 6 1 0
PORTEAN DOR
PERM IT
US POSTAGE
PAID
PRESORT STD
Oil extended a weeklong rally
Tuesday to close at $88 a barrel on
tight supplies, strong demand and
growing tensions along the Iraq-
Turkey border, raising alarm bells
for producer group OPEC, which
voiced concern over the high price
and blamed rampant speculation
by big-money investors.
V
See additional photo in sports, page B6.
Business Center Obstacles
Brooks w on’t
dwell on the
obstacles to
Large Cockfighting Bust
The largest cockfighting bust in
U.S. history seized more than 5,000
roosters, hens and chicks from
two training grounds Saturday at
a seven-acre compound in the in­
dustrial area of San Diego, break-
inga previous record o f2,500 birds
at the same location six years ago.
m M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
family goals
by R aymond R endleman
T he P ortland O bserver
By now Sam Brooks had hoped
to start moving pre-leased tenants
into a new Oregon Association of
Minority Entrepreneurs business
center, but the stalling of construc­
tion on the building is only one of
the troubles facing a city leader
who just this summer became the
first African-American president in
the 137-yearhistory o f the Portland
Business Alliance.
Brooks has fallen under a state
investigation into a real-estate deal
and faces pressure from business
alliance m em bers who oppose
Mayor Tom Potter's recent deci­
sion to end drug and prostitution
exclusion zones that disproportion­
ately targeted people of color.
Never one to dwell on contro­
versy, Brooks, 62, says he will con­
centrate instead on human-capital
investment, "grooming the next
g e n e ra tio n "
of
m inority
businesspeople and leaders.
He pledges to continue serving
minority communities as long as he
has "the opportunity to make some
things happen." but says that he’s
starting to feel the tiring effects of
old age and has set July 2(X)9 as his
date to leave his title of “president"
behind.
In addition to OAME and the
business alliance, Brooks serves
as president of S. Brooks and As­
sociates, a consulting and staffing
company, with hisdaughter, Simone
Brooks positioned to take over
general management.
The family is not unique in notic­
ing the ease with which Simone
could become head of the firm.
People already often see “ S.
Brooks” in the name and ask if
she's president, prompting her to
say, “Not quite yet. but it does
make things convenient.”
Resources for a new OAME
building have been more difficult to
organize.
The theme of his keynote ad­
dress to a minority leadership con­
ference at Jefferson High School
this month was “No one can stop
you but you,” but many obstacles
have been placed in front his dream
to have a new facility for minority
entrepreneurs.
The present headquarters, which
ta k e s up the block betw een
Vancouver and Williams Avenue
at Skidmore Street, had Atlas Sheet
Metal as its previous tenant, “so
everything in it is pretty muchjury-
rigged" for its current manifesta­
tion, according to Brooks.
Saying the delays in construct­
ing a new center have nothing to do
with his longtime business partner
tenants express satisfaction with
the opportunity to operate at a pro­
fessional site that allows them to
interface with many other minority
businesspeople.
"They do a great job making it
welcoming, and I like that I get to
network with the other micro-busi­
nesses,” says Sharon Maxwell-
Hendricks, whose contracting firm.
Boanerges Group, moved out of
her house this summer to set up
shop at OAM E's more "accessible"
site.
Sam Brooks
With his tenants happy. Brooks,
NO
Simone Brooks
sing For Its New
O AM t Gcoevo und Paul Knouls'
Busines & E ntrepreneurial Center
"4 (o n im vn ity B u tin e n Intubuloi
4134 N. William O w e, Portland, Oregon
20(17
Contact b r g e Guerra, 5 0 3 -2 4 9 -7 7 4 4
or visit our w eb ' te w w v.oame.org ,
Contractor. (to llm an Construction
architect: Ankrom Maisan Associated Architects
¿rasero
re.
■•-L a # ’
photo by R aymond R endi em an /T iie
P orii and O bsi r \ er
A billboard advertising the future site of an expanded Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs business center on North
Williams Avenue shows signs of age with a planned opening date that misses its mark.
Jorge Guerra giving up his role as
project m anager by moving to
Puerto Rico this summer. Brooks
cites the recent jump in construc­
tion costs as the primary factor in
postponing the project indefinitely,
forcing him to look for investment
partners and possibly share a larger
space than the previously envi­
sioned 5O.(XX) square feet.
Even amid substandard walls and
lighting in the current 4O.(XX)-
square-f(x»t former factory, most
1
the self-proclaimed wheeler dealer,
OAME moved to its current lo­
can be patient, having seen enough catio n in the late '8 0 s w ith
setbacks become paybacks to never Tektronics as its anchor tenant, but
despair over business delays.
the company soon returned to
Growing upon a farm in Tennes­ Beaverton. The resulting vacancy
see. he remembers his family seeing left the ow ner of the building, then
education as his only hope for a PacifiCorp, with a large space that
good life. After a few years in Viet­ its power-company trucks couldn't
nam. he hided time for 10 years as an utilize without disturbing the com­
Oregon Employment Department munity.
w orker, eventually running a
With much more debt on the
workforce incubator at Portland property than it was worth. Brooks
Community Col lege.
recalls striking a deal. “I think we
I
\
can actually make a goof it. but you
got to give us the building."
A similarly economical transac­
tion has led to the Oregon Depart­
ment of Justice's decision to open
a review of a real-eslate transaction
on Northeast Alberta Street be­
tween OAME anti Brtxiks at a be-
low-average price compared tooth -
ers in the area.
But the many factors to calculate
continued
on page A 6