The skanner., June 20, 2012, Page 3, Image 3

Local News
OCBA
Gay Pride 2012
A look through the OCBA’s minutes,
posted online, show ongoing disagreements
between Walker and Woolfolk, and the paid
OAC administrative staff.
On March 17, 2012, the minutes reflect
that Baker had issue with “maintaining a
professional workplace,” including Wool-
folk’s “tone and manner.”
One the other side, Woolfolk’s concerns,
listed in the “Agenda Items for Discussion,”
included the timeliness of typing up the
meeting minutes, action items and agendas
relating to the board’s work; the minutes
show that OCBA Chair Isaac Dixon direct-
ed staff to work on a more effective process
for “disseminating Action Alerts,” and a 10-
day timeline for producing the minutes.
The Oregonian first broke the story late
Thursday night that Walker and Woolfolk
had been fired by Gov. Kitzhaber, but that
his office was not revealing why.
“The funny thing is, the letter fired me –
and then thanked me for my service,” Walk-
er said. “Why would you fire someone and
then also thank them for their service?”
Current Commissioner Lorraine Wilson
called the firings “unprecedented,” and
expressed deep concern that Walker and
Woolfolk were working on important initia-
tives on hate crime enforcement and racial
disparities in contracting and hiring at the
Oregon Department of Transportation,
including how federal stimulus money was
spent by ODOT.
She said the two commissioners’ work in
pushing the state to speak out and take
action on these issues appears to be in
limbo.
“I’m trying to understand what it is from
the governor’s actions – why he put himself
out there like that,” Wilson said. “These two
commissioners have been working diligent-
ly.”
Kitzhaber’s spokesman confirmed Friday
that he could not comment on the case.
Walker and Woolfolk told The Skanner
News that they had each received a phone
call Thursday from a state employee who
said they could either quit or be fired; both
confirmed that within an hour they received
emailed termination notices.
OSU
say.”
Obama covered a lot of ground. She
talked about her upbringing in South Chica-
go, about letting people know how you feel
and about living according to your values.
“Don’t hold grudges,” she said.
She praised the university for its cutting
edge research and its sustainable campus.
“I’m not here today just because Craig has
turned the Obamas into a family of Beaver
Believers,” she said.
“I’m also here because I’m proud of
everything this university is doing for this
country. You’ve built one of the most sus-
tainable campuses in America.You’re con-
ducting groundbreaking research on every-
PHOTO BY LISA LOVING
continued from page 1
Many thousands turned out in Old Town and the Pearl District last Sunday
for Portland’s Pride NW parade. The Grand Marshalls were Oregon’s black
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays chapter – the first of its kind in
the nation. Participants included elected officials, local corporations and
government bureaus – and many new marchers representing ethnic and
racially diverse communities. For more information go to www.PrideNW.org.
— tutoring children, joining our armed
forces, fighting hunger and disease here in
Clifford Walker and Willie Woolfolk offered
‘chance to clear their names’ – they ask, of
what?
thing from agriculture, to nanotechnology,
to childhood obesity.
“You’re serving others in so many ways
America and around the world.So I can see
why Craig feels so at home here at
OSU.Because in so many ways, the values
At first he taught at the Oregon Museum
of Science and Industry (OMSI). As a way
to reach out to kids in inner Northeast Port-
land, he worked with a program called
Alberta Science for Kids (ASK).
“At the time, OMSI was located by the
World Forestry Center,” says Wolley. “It
was criticized for being out of reach of
youth from Northeast Portland.”
He later spent 7 ½ yrs. working for the US
Forest Service, a federal agency that man-
ages public lands in National Forests and
Grasslands. His youth outreach continued
with the Forest Service through teaching
forest ecology and forest manage-
ment at Portland Public Schools,
including Grant, Madison and Roo-
sevelt High Schools, and Beaumont
Middle School.
During this time he was also
trained to become an In-Service
Trainer for the Peace Corps, and had
the opportunity to teach environ-
mental education in Africa to Peace
Corps volunteers in Swaziland and to edu-
cation administrators from Botswana and
Zimbabwe.
Keeping busy, Wolley followed the Forest
Service with a position as a regional planner
with Metro Regional Parks and Green-
spaces, where he managed open space prop-
erties throughout the three-county Portland
Metro Area. Following Metro, he became
part of the community relations group for
Tri-Met’s Interstate MAX project. At
TriMet he coordinated communication
between the surrounding community, local
businesses, and the construction team. At
this time Wolley was also trained by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
teach a comprehensive environmental jus-
tice training course.
Wolley’s career then brought him to the
City of Portland, where he served on the
River Renaissance Committee that devel-
oped Willamette River planning guidelines
for Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sus-
tainability. He also coordinates business
development for minority, women and
emerging small businesses.
Throughout his career, Wolley says peo-
ple of color in authoritative positions have
you all embody are the values that he and I
were raised with.”
Oregon State President Ed Ray awarded
Obama an honorary doctorate in Public
Health. In her role as First Lady, she has
championed children’s health and fitness,
As part of that campaign she has focused on
healthy living, planting the first White
House kitchen garden since WWII.
“Michelle Obama was the best part of it
all,” said Jordan Carey, who received a mas-
ter’s degree in health administration at the
ceremony. “Her speech made the whole
thing mean a lot.”
Wolley
continued from page 1
populations of prey and predators.
His appointment adds another honor to his
long list of services in the area of environ-
mental education. Throughout his career,
Wolley has worked to engage the Black
community in outdoor activities and the nat-
ural world.
“People of color are so underrepresented
in natural resources,” he says. “It has
changed slowly.”
Wolley’s fascination with nature began as
a child in California.
“I was always looking under rocks and
bringing critters home,” he says.
This led to extensive reading about nature
and, eventually, enrollment at the Universi-
ty of California, Berkeley, where he studied
wildlife and took a number of ecology
courses.
Afterwards, Wolley taught environmental
education to kids in urban areas of Southern
California such as Watts and East Los
Angeles.
As a part of a small nonprofit called Out-
ward Bound Adventures, Wolley exposed
senior and middle high school students to
the outdoors through activities like back-
packing in the Mojave Desert.
He also worked on outdoor projects as
part of the California Conservation Corp.
After spending years in urban California,
Wolley’s travels took him to Ashland, Ore.,
where he continued his education at South-
ern Oregon University. There, he earned a
Masters of Science in Environmental Edu-
cation.
Now it’s 32 years later, and Wolley has
been working in Portland ever since.
The group’s mission is to address the
health disparity by engaging in vigorous
physical activity. Some of these activities
include hiking, biking, snowshoeing and
cross country skiing.
AAOA provides exposure to both adults
and kids and helps expand their physical
boundaries, says Wolley.
ODFW wants to reach out as well, which
factored into his appointment.
Gov. John Kitzhaber made a commitment
to diversify state boards and commissions
in various areas, including age, race and
sexual orientation, according to Wolley.
There was some initial controversy
in his appointment because the
forestry, ranching and agriculture
communities didn’t know him,
despite his extensive outdoors work.
However, Kitzhaber eventually
shoved Wolley and two other candi-
date’s appointments forward.
He emphasizes that he is available
for any questions.
“I encourage people to go on the website
and learn more about what the department
does,” says Wolley. “Feel free to contact me
if you want to get more involved in the out-
doors or learn more about the environ-
ment.”
To learn more about the work of the Ore-
gon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, go to
www.dfw.state.or.us. For information about
AAOA, see www.africanamericanout-
doors.com.,
send
email
to
urbanhikers@hotmail.com , or sign in on
Facebook.
Students of color are not seeing
images of people in natural
resources that look like them —
they don’t have role models
been rare.
To address this problem while focusing on
health, Wolley founded the African Ameri-
can Outdoor Association (AAOA) in 2005.
The mission of AAOA is, “To address the
health disparity issues in African American
communities by engaging participants in
vigorous physical activity that brings them
into the natural environment.” Some of
these activities include hiking, biking,
snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
AOAO exposes both adults and kids to the
natural world, and helps them to expand
their physical boundaries, says Wolley.
June 20, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 3