The skanner., May 09, 2012, Page 3, Image 3

Local News
Ballot
Aspire
continued from page 1
change by next week.
Sample pointed to the 2008 primary race
between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton
as an example, which he compared to the
mid-term primary elections in 2010.
“So four years ago you had 60 percent
turnout – that was the presidential primary
with
the
contested
Democratic
presidential
ticket,” he
s a i d .
“There was
a lot of
interest and
there are a
lot
of
Democrats in Multnomah County.
“In this election we’re on track similar to
what we were in the May 2010 primary
where we were at 35 percent turnout,” Sam-
ple said.
“But that doesn’t mean this week and
Monday, Tuesday of next week that we
couldn’t have a huge surge and turnout
could definitely go beyond what it was two
years ago,” he said. “That wouldn’t surprise
me at all.”
Sample said that for a candidate to win in
a contested primary – ending the race before
the General Election which is held in
November — they must receive 51 percent
of the votes, which
is most likely in
races where there
are few candi-
dates.
“Some of the
races – there are
the county com-
mission seats –
some of those the
candidates may
win in the primary,” Sample said. “Getting
to 50 percent in a primary is very rare but it
does happen.”
For more information about Multnomah
County
Elections
click
here
http://web.multco.us/elections
PHOTO BY LISA LOVING
‘Getting to 50 percent in a
primary is very rare but it
does happen’
The YWCA of Greater Portland’s 20th Annual Inspire Luncheon featured
NPR radio host Michele Norris, co-host of All Things Considered, here at
left signing her memoir, “The Grace of Silence,” for Donna Maxey. Norris
addressed a large, lively crowd at the downtown Hilton Hotel on The
Race Card Project, which she started in 2010 to explore America’s
experiences and attitudes about race.
Jordan
continued from page 1
fitting tribute for the man who added 44
new parks and natural areas to Portland’s
system, and put people front and center of
the city’s parks policy.
“There’s not a place where you can look
in this city and not see his footprint,” says
Michelle Harper, who worked with Jordan
at the City and at Portland Parks. “’Port-
land’s living room,’ Pioneer Courthouse
Square, would not have existed if not for his
leadership. And he was the first to call it
Portland’s living room. In
so many ways, he was
ahead of his time.”
Jordan was the guiding
light behind quintessential
Portland landmarks such
as: the Interstate Firehouse
Cultural Center, Delta
Park, Southwest Commu-
nity Center; renovations to
Tom McCall Waterfront Park and to Matt
Dishman Center and, of course, Pioneer
Square.
“His great saying was, ‘Parks are more
than just fun and games,’” Harper says.
“He is a spiritual person with a strong con-
nection to his church, and he saw us all as
being connected. Parks were where we
“He was determined to make sure the
families who came to that center felt that
they had a safe place to play that was as
good as any in the City,” the proposal com-
mittee writes. “He often walked the halls of
the center to watch the children play and to
show that this place was special, just like
the children who played there.”
Against advice to raze the center, Jordan
won voter approval to turn it into one of the
best and most-used community centers in
Portland.
Jordan spent much of his career in Port-
land, first as a twice-elected city
commissioner, and later as Parks director.
Yet his advocacy, big-picture vision, and
sheer charisma won him friends and admir-
ers not just in Oregon, but across the nation.
His legacy includes five years as parks
director for Austin, Texas, and five
years at the helm of the Conserva-
tion Fund. And wherever he went,
he fought to bring people of color
to the table.
In Austin, the Charles Jordan
Hall, at Conley-Guerrero Senior
Center was named for him. “Lady
Bird Johnson was one of his
strongest supporters,” Fish says.
“If there were any stumbling blocks, she’d
move them right out of his way.”
As city commissioner, Jordan created
Portland’s first police accountability body,
the Police Internal Investigations Auditing
Committee or PIIAC. He brought police
into schools to create positive relationships,
pushed for equity in city recruitment, and
Associate Pastor of Maranatha Church in
Northeast Portland. She says she was born
and raised in the church and that she found
her faith at a young age.
“I sensed a call to do work for him
(God),” says Kelly. “When I was younger I
thought I would be on a mission field. God
doesn’t give you the whole picture at once.”
Before she was ordained, Kelly taught
Sunday school, led Bible studies and
worked with young adults in the church.
She began seminary at Western Evangeli-
cal Seminary and completed her studies at
Western Seminary.
According to Kelly, faith was part of what
led her to the military. She says she had
friends and family in the service who insist-
ed she would be a good chaplain; so she
signed up for the Guard and was given the
opportunity.
For the most part, this didn’t cause much
commotion, she says.
“I’ve never had anyone get up and leave,”
says Kelly. “In the military you learn to
adjust to adversity. I had a funny moment at
one event where someone asked me, ‘Are
you the chaplain’s assistant?’”
Kelly will be using her experience as an
underrepresented voice to advocate for
other veterans she feels are underserved.
Specifically, she says she wants to advocate
for traditional Guardsmen because, accord-
ing to Kelly, most of the people serving on
the Veterans’ Affairs Advisory Committee
are chosen from former active duty soldiers.
This has resulted in, she says, more exten-
sive GI loans for active duty soldiers; the
issue, she says, is that Guardsmen are not
eligible for some benefits because they are
considered by some to be “weekend war-
riors” rather than full members of the
military.
Another issue she wants to address is
defining military leave. Currently the state
can only give Guardsmen two weeks of mil-
itary leave. Kelly says two weeks isn’t
enough.
“I’m tasked to do extra things like funer-
als and weddings,” she says. “This is time I
could come together to build community
and family.”
Built to house shipyard workers who
arrived in Portland during the 1940s, Uni-
versity Park Community Center is a relic of
Vanport. The low-income, multi-racial com-
munity was lost to flooding when a dike
broke on the Columbia River. When Jordan
became Parks Bureau director in 1989, the
center was a run-down building in a crime-
ridden neighborhood.
‘There’s not a place where you can
look in this city and not see his
footprint’
Kelly
continued from page 1
spiritual background helps me be empathet-
ic. Personally I believe all wisdom is God’s
wisdom. I show the compassion that Jesus
would. Jesus was around a lot of non-
believers.”
A mother of two who works full-time as a
bilingual Medicaid eligibility worker for
Multnomah County Health Department,
Kelly was born in Patterson, N.J. and
moved to Portland during middle school.
After graduating from Jefferson High
School in 1989, Kelly graduated from Port-
land State with a bachelor’s degree in
Spanish and French.
She is in charge of spiritual care and han-
dles counseling for veterans, and also
performs ceremonies such as marriages,
funerals and christenings.
Kelly says she’s lucky not to have been
deployed to any dangerous theaters, but she
is with her soldiers in spirit.
Ordained in 1997, Kelly also serves as
championed citizen involvement. He also
fired two police officers for dumping dead
possums
outside
an
African
American0owned restaurant. That spurred a
police march on city hall. Jordan didn’t
back down, but in a now-familiar process
the officers were rehired.
At Portland Parks, he set in motion popu-
lar programs such as, Pot Luck in the Park
and Movies in the Park, and too many youth
initiatives to mention. He also succeeded in
gaining public support for two large bond
measures and a parks levy. Famously, his
love of young people fueled his work.
“I am in the business of crime preven-
tion,” he said about his work at the Parks
bureau. “I challenge any police bureau in
the country to beat me at crime prevention.
We have thousands of young people playing
on fields and courts, and when they are with
me they are not hurting themselves or any-
one else.”
Jordan’s son, Dion Jordan, said the family
feels honored by the proposal.
“I think it’s a good choice as far as loca-
tion, across from the school and the Boys
and Girls Club, and that it’s a community
center, because he is all about community.”
Now 74, Jordan is in good health, but is
dealing with some short-term memory loss,
Dion Jordan says.
“That’s another reason why it’s such a
good time to do this.”
have to take away from work. What if I
have used my two weeks but I need to help
a family that has to bury a loved one?”
Kelly recalls one moment, during a
memorial in Bulgaria, where she saw the
bright eyes of a woman in the Bulgarian
military and was touched by the sight of a
fellow female soldier.
“I deploy through my members,” says
Kelly. “As they travel across the globe, I’m
privileged to be able to serve, pray for them
and reach out to families.
“When they return I can help them transi-
tion back to civilian life.”
May 9, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 3