No. Fest Weekend
Who Killed
Michael?
Music, dance,
theater and more
fills Saint John’s
main stage
and business sites
La Toya writes on
brother’s death
See page 17
See page 7
useruer4
Read bacli
back issues of the Portland Observer at www.portlandobserver.com
tr a n r A r
‘Cityo/Roses’ W w r
Volume
Number 25
25
Volume XXXXI,
XXXXI. Number
\
Wednesday
• |une22, 2011
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Established in
1970
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Committed to Cultural Diversity
Tuition Free Magnet
Jeffersons
college partners
open doors to
future grads
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
by
..
.
_
PHOTO BY CARI
H a CHMANN/T h E PORTLAND OBSERVER
University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere signs an agreement at Jefferson High School last week that will give the north
Portland school s future students the ability to obtain a 4-year college degree tuition-free if they complete one year of free Portland
Community College credits while enrolled in the a new and expanded college-oriented program at Jefferson.
Excitement bubbled and exploded
in smiles and applause as education
elites from Portland Public Schools,
Portland Community College and
the University of Oregon unitedJune
15 on the front steps of the north
Portland school to solidify a new
p a rtn e rsh ip e sta b lis h in g the
Jefferson High School - Middle
College for Advanced Studies, as a
pre-college focus school for stu­
dents across the city.
The crowd, including Jefferson’s
new principle Margret Calvert and
incoming students were pleased with
University of Oregon President Ri­
chard Lariviere’s decision to guar­
antee low and middle income gradu­
ates o f 2012 the reality of earning a
college degree tuition-free.
One year ago, with dismal re­
sources and declining attendance
Jefferson was on the verge of clo­
sure. Now, upon the school board’s
October decision to keep the school
open, education and community
leaders are celebrating the expand­
ing links between Jefferson and PCC
and a new partnership with Univer-
continued
PDC Executive puts Focus on Jobs
New director charts
course for agency
L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Patrick Quinton is the new executive director
of the Portland Development Commission, a
position others sought but not everyone would
covet. It is up to him to chart a course for an
agency that has shed much of its staff and
function yet retains some negative baggage
from the past.
The agency’s staff has fallen from 290 two
years ago to 147 today. Part of this was due to
bad economic times, which forced this and other
public agencies to cut budgets, bodies and
functions. Other employees transferred to the
new Portland Housing Office, which has taken
over the agency’s old functions of housing
development and maintenance.
Some have speculated that PDC should adopt
a new mission statement. Quinton says that this
is “on my to-do list,” but a formal statement will
require “internal and external conversations.”
In general, however, he says, “As the city’s
economic development corporation, we need to
be laser-focused on creating jobs. And we need
to be focused on ensuring that those jobs go to
existing residents.”
The focus on economic development comes
at the expense of some projects. PDC recently
dropped a program of improvements at Unthank
Park in north Portland, and there have been
similar cuts elsewhere.
“It will vary by neighborhood, but with the
decline in resources these kinds of cuts should
continued
on page 4
Patrick Quinton
on page 6