fo r ila nò (Observer
lu n e 19, 2013
IN S ID E
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Fred Meyer
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H ealthwatch
L ocal N ews
Reaching Out for Equity
Procurement
Services raises
profile with
minority firms
D onovan M . S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
Not every facet of Portland’s
inner workings gets the most
attention but every unit has an
important role. Portland Procure­
ment Services is one of those
units you probably haven’t heard
of, but you have undoubtedly
seen their work. And with a
recent shift in focus to stronger
relationships with minority and
w o m e n -o w n e d b u sin e sse s,
by
never-ending construction of
streets and sewers, it is Pro­
curement Services that makes
these purchases and practically
all others for the city.
“T hat’s us.’’ says Christine
Moody, who is the city’s chief
procurement Officer.
And in a city where m ainte­
nance projects are as frequent
as the rain, outside help is gener­
ally the only way to get these
tasks completed. Usually the first
people considered are found in
Jacqueline Lawson
an ever-expanding rolodex of
Portlanders are prone to see more small-business contacts acquired
by the city through the years.
results
O nce a business has been
But what is Procurement Ser­
vices? W hether it is a new police selected by Procurement Ser-
squad car or the seem ingly
continued
on page 19
new welcoming frontage is fashioned at Jefferson High School on North Killingsworth Street
thanks to funding from the Portland Development Commission.
a
More than a Decade in the Making
C alendar
The com m unity w anted it
and the late Carl Flipper galva­
nized it.
Flipper was a former presi­
dent o f P o rtla n d ’s N A A C P
chapter and a Humboldt neigh­
borhood resident who served on
the Interstate Corridor Urban
Renewal Advisory Committee.
He went to work in 2002 on a
project to make the streetscape
in front of Jefferson High School
more inviting to business-own­
ers, residents, pedestrians, and
most importantly students of the
105-year-old school.
His dream has come true with
the addition of a completely new
frontage and pedestrian plaza em­
blazoned with the school’s name.
The Portland Development
Commission project represents a
partnership with Portland Public
Schools for increased physical im­
provements throughout the neigh­
borhood. It cost the PDC about
$600,000 to complete the work.