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