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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2011)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM F EBRUARY 2, 2011 P ORTLAND & S EATTLE V OLUME XXXIII, N O .15 25 CENTS I NSIDE Tribe Appeals Ruling page3 Egypt Affect Continent page 4 Nia Long Talks About Role C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW Controversy Builds Over ODOT Contracts page 5 SPEAKING OUT Oregon Department of Transportation’s 2009-2011 budget includes $2.5 billion for state highways. Ideally the funding should- n’t just build roads and bridges; it should also build contracting opportunities and jobs in our local communities. So will it? That depends who you ask. Cheryl Myers, Gov. Kitzhaber’s newly appointed advocate for minority, women and emerging small business, said she’s not ready yet to comment. Myers is learning about contracting and workforce diversity issues and will be developing policy soon. “Right now I am on a listening blitz so I can really hear what everyone has to say. I have been talking to representatives from the minority contractors and I’ll be meeting with people at the transportation department on Wednesday.” For state transportation projects too large to be split up under current rules, ODOT chooses the lowest qualifying bidders as prime contractors. Those large firms then hire subcontractors. Historically those prime contractors did not hire or subcontract with African American firms. That concerns Egyptian Demonstrators Gather in Seattle recently to show Solidarity for the more than a quarter-million people who state Rep. Lew Frederick. flooded Cairo's main square in a stunning and jubilant array of young and old, urban poor and middle class “If the prime contractor doesn’t hire professionals, mounting by far the largest protest yet in a week of unrelenting demands for President Hosni Mubarak minorities then there just won’t be any on to leave after nearly 30 years in power. that project,” Frederick said. The Portland Democrat has introduced a bill that would provide support to schools, local governments and state agencies who decide to act as their own prime contractors, and subcontract out construction jobs to smaller firms. “I see a real need to do two things,” Frederick told The Skanner. “First, to devel- teenager hospitalized cardiac intensive care unit at been charged with 14 felony a combined bail set at op a much broader contractor base, and sec- without explanation Oregon Health and Sciences counts of robbery, burglary and $3,055,000. ond, to make sure that base is not controlled He is scheduled for arraign- while in the custody of by a small number of people.” ment Feb. 8 at 9:45 at the law enforcement last summer Multnomah County Courthouse. was this morning removed by Perspectives Differ on the Disparity Multnomah County Sheriffs Fair’s family has retained Problem attorneys Greg and Jason deputies from a juvenile psychi- In 2007, a seven-year study showed that atric facility and booked into the Kafoury, who filed a tort claim African American and Asian firms had been Multnomah County Detention late last year against several essentially locked out of state transportation Center. local government agencies and contracts. An update to that study, carried have been conducting their Kyeron Fair, 17, whose family out by Florida-based MGT of America, is has still never been informed investigation into the case. due June 30. exactly how, when and by See BOOKED on page 3 Minority contractors voice frustration that whom he was hospitalized in the University last September, has unlawful use of a weapon – with highway contracts and dollars are still not Teen is Taken from Psych Facility The Multnomah County Sheriffs remain under investigation A The case is complicated by the fact that Fair had a severe psychiatric breakdown after he regained consciousness at OHSU See CONTRACTS on page 2 INDEX News ......................2,3 Opinion .....................4 A & E .........................5 Bids/Classifieds ..........7 Ambassador Susan E. Rice to Speak World Affairs Council welcomes the permanent ambassador to UN T he World Affairs Council of Oregon welcomes U.S. Ambassador Susan E. Rice to speak at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 11 at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1126 SW Park Ave. in Portland. Pre-registration is required for this event, which is $75 for reserved seating and reception; $20 for general admission and $10 for students. Register online at www.worl- doregon.org. Rice is the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and is a member of President Obama’s Cabinet and the National Security Council. From the World Affairs Council: “Prior to her appointment as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Rice served as a Senior Advisor for National Security Affairs on the Obama for America Campaign. She later served on the Advisory Board of the Obama-Biden Transition and as co-chair of its policy working group on nation- al security. From 2002-2009, she was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution where she focused on U.S. foreign poli- cy, transnational security threats, weak states, global poverty and development. From 1997 to 2001, Ambassador Rice was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. In 2000, Ambassador Rice was co- recipient of the White House’s 2000 Samuel Nelson Drew Memorial Award for distin- guished contributions to the for- See AMBASSADOR on page 7
