Jebruary 2 7 .20B____________________ ^ P o rtla n d Observer Black History Month Page 9 Harold Williams H e w orked on Portland M ayor T om Potter’s C harter R eview C om H e was Labor Relations M anager m ission and acted as a consultant to for the State o f O regon Executive the Portland D evelopm ent C om m is D epartm ent from 1979 to 1984 and sion in its efforts to expand m inority served as a consultant to the O regon and w om en-ow ned business con Youth A uthority from 1995 to 2006. tracts. W illiam s w as a past presid en t o f W illiam s w as know n fo r his p ro the Portland-area A frican A m erican m otion o f alternative program s for C h am b er o f C om m erce, ch air o f the at-risk students. H e w as successful A frican A m erican C om m ittee o f in ex p anding classroom space fo r C om m unity C ollege T rustees, and a m entorship program s fo r students w idely know n m otivational speaker. o f all ages. co n tin u ed fr o m p a g e 2 New Front for Jefferson c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3 p e c ts th e p ro je c t to be c o m p le te th is Ju n e . K eeping the C arlton H art A rch i tecture as its d esigners, P D C is w aiting on bids fo r construction. C om m ittee m em bers spent eight m onths sim plifying F lip p er’s id eal istic, y et p erhaps outdated designs. T h e area destined fo r chang e in cludes tw o trian g u lar sections on the cam pus co m ers o f N o rth K erby andC om m erical. In stead o f tall shade sails, w hich peo p le thought w ould obscure p u b lic view o f the historical school, revised designs call for a low er, m ore tran sp aren t fence on b o th sides. T h e fence w ill b e m ade o f cast iron an d separated by b rick to m atch the N orth P o rtlan d L ibrary adjacent to the school. A s it sits now , Jefferso n ’s track is h ig h er than the sidew alk. A c co rd in g to the new design, the area betw een w ill b e terraced w ith low - m aintenance plan ts to p ro tect the soil from erosion. A sm all retaining wall w ill perm it students and p eo p le w alking b y to sit and rest, like F lip p er h ad en v i sioned. B o th sides w ill have a grass space b ig en o u g h fo r a class to be h eld outside. Finally, the northw est c o m er w ill show case Jefferso n H igh S ch o o l’s new identity w ith silv er lettering on brick, three flags— state, federal and J e f f e r s o n ’s— a n d a s h in y n e w p laq u e, a m em orial tribute to C arl Flipper. Honoring Black History The Trail B la zers have placed th is ad to honor the m em ory of C h a rle s W ashington, the lo n g -tim e p u b lish e r of th is p u b lica tio n and a tire le ss co m m u n ity advocate. make it better Open Letter to Our TriMet Passengers and Community t our passengers service is unacceptable. We plan to do our is good for both our community and our families. But, our I unless someone starts to control management s spending Transit worker retirees: good neighbors active in our community OUR PASSENGERS ARE THE PEOPLE WE SEE NEARLY EVERYDAY. We look forward to their kind words, great stories and being a small part of their lives. They need transportation to work, school, day care, medical appointments, grocery stores, family and friends. It is just not acceptable for management to spend millions on new furniture, downtown offices, unnecessary remodels, ever-growing train tracks, mirror-less train cars, dangerous buses, snoopy surveillance systems, razzle-dazzle electronic gadgets and wasteful rail service while, at the same time, threatening to We care deeply about our families, friends, passengers and community. We want to You can is ight by each ana every one of them, by staying informed and speaking out. FINALLY, TRIMET RETIREES DESERVE OUR RESPECT AND GRATITUDE. Many of them worked many years and yet their pension checks total less than $1000 per month. These retirees gave their passengers loyal, faithful and caring service. Today, that same love of people has turned many of them into excellent community volunteers. It is un believable that a manager-someone who earns twice what our Governor earns, who received a $6,450 raise, whose widow is promised lifetime health insurance and who is guaranteed a fat severance paycheck-thinks he has a moral right to criticize the very men and women who built TriMet. Sincerely, T he P eople W ho K eep P ublic T ran sit R olling LET YOUR VOICE COUNT! LOOK FOR US ON FACEBOOK LEARN MORE AT TRANSITVOICE.ORG