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July 21, 2021 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 7 Bids & Classified To place your ad, email advertising@theskanner.com or go to www.TheSkanner.com and click on the “Ads” menu. Advertising deadlines 12:00 Noon Monday AP PHOTO/ALLEN G. BREED 50-Year War on Drugs Imprisoned Millions of Black Americans Alton Lucas sits on the porch of his home outside of Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, June 18, 2021. As a teenager, Alton Lucas believed basketball or music would pluck him out of North Carolina and take him around the world. In the late 1980s, he was already the right-hand man to his musically inclined best friend, Youtha Anthony Fowler, who many hip hop and R&B heads know today as DJ Nabs. By AARON MORRISON Associated Press L andscaping was hardly his lifelong dream. As a teenager, Al- ton Lucas believed bas- ketball or music would pluck him out of North Carolina and take him around the world. In the late 1980s, he was the right-hand man to his musical best friend, Youtha Anthony Fowler, who many hip hop and R&B heads know as DJ Nabs. But rather than jet-set- ting with Fowler, Lucas discovered drugs and the drug trade at the height of the so-called war on drugs. Addicted to crack cocaine and involved in trafficking the drug, he faced decades-long imprisonment at a time when the drug abuse and violence plaguing major cities and working class Black communities were not seen as the public health issue that opioids are today. By chance, Lucas re- ceived a rare bit of mer- cy. He got the kind of help that many Black and Lati- no Americans struggling through the crack epi- demic did not: treatment, early release and what many would consider a fresh start. “I started the landscap- ing company, to be hon- est with you, because nobody would hire me because I have a felony,” said Lucas. His Sunflow- er Landscaping got a boost in 2019 with the help of Inmates to En- trepreneurs, a national nonprofit assisting peo- ple with criminal back- grounds by providing practical entrepreneur- ship education. Lucas was caught up in a system that imposes lifetime limits on most people who have served time for drug crimes, with little thought given to their ability to reha- bilitate. In addition to be- ing denied employment, those with criminal re- cords can be limited in their access to business and educational loans, housing, child custody rights, voting rights and gun rights. It’s a system that was born when Lucas was barely out of diapers. Fifty years ago this summer, President Rich- ard Nixon declared a war on drugs. Today, with the U.S. mired in a dead- ly opioid epidemic that did not abate during the coronavirus pandemic’s worst days, it is ques- tionable whether anyone won the war. Yet the loser is clear: Black and Latino Amer- icans, their families and their communities. A key weapon was the im- position of mandatory minimums in prison sentencing. Decades lat- er those harsh federal and state penalties led to an increase in the pris- on industrial complex that saw millions of peo- ple, primarily of color, locked up and shut out of the American dream. An Associated Press review of federal and state incarceration data shows that, between 1975 and 2019, the U.S. pris- on population jumped from 240,593 to 1.43 mil- lion Americans. Among them, about 1 in 5 people were incarcerated with a drug offense listed as their most serious crime. The racial disparities reveal the war’s uneven toll. Following the pas- sage of stiffer penalties for crack cocaine and other drugs, the Black in- carceration rate in Amer- ica exploded from about 600 per 100,000 people in 1970 to 1,808 in 2000. In the same timespan, the rate for the Latino pop- ulation grew from 208 per 100,000 people to 615, while the white incar- ceration rate grew from 103 per 100,000 people to 242. Gilberto Gonzalez, a retired special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration who worked for more than 20 years taking down drug dealers and traffickers in the U.S., Mexico and in South America, said he’ll never forget being cheered on by residents in a predominantly His- panic neighborhood near Los Angeles as he led away drug traffickers in handcuffs. “That gave me a sense of the reality of the people that live in these neigh- borhoods, that are pow- erless because they’re afraid that the drug dealers that control the street, that control the neighborhood are going to do them and their chil- dren harm,” said Gonza- lez, 64, who detailed his field experiences in the recently released mem- oir “Narco Legenda.” “We realized then that, along with dismantling (drug trafficking) orga- nizations, there was also a real need to clean up communities, to go to where the crime was and help people that are help- less,” he said. Still, the law enforce- ment approach has led to many long-lasting consequences for peo- ple who have since re- formed. Lucas still won- ders what would happen for him and his family if he no longer carried the weight of a drug-related Affordable efficient security just for you! Install / Maintenance For Alarm Systems Monitoring Service Residential & Commercial Install Surveillance System (CCTV) New Construction Prewire for Alarm Service, Whole House Audio, CCTV 9020 NE Vancouver Way, #B Portland, OR 97211 503.288.7716 AlarmTracksPdx.com conviction on his record. Even with his sunny disposition and close to 30 years of sober living, Lucas, at age 54, cannot pass most criminal back- ground checks. His wife, whom he’d met two de- cades ago at a fatherhood counseling conference, said his past had barred him from doing things as innocuous as chaper- oning their children on WAITLIST OPEN 1BR Apts school field trips. “It’s almost like a life sentence,” he said. Read the rest of this story at TheSkanner.com BUILDING OFFICIAL The City of Camas is hiring a Building Official. $7772-9309/monthly DOE. Open until filled. Go to http://www.cityof- camas.us/jobs DO YOU LOVE TEXTILES? Do you love textiles, ex- cel at problem solving and enjoy working with the public? While some knowledge of fabric and sewing is necessary, a drive to learn is just as important. We value a supportive and inclusive environment and seek to broaden the diversity of our team. Approximately 20 hours /week to start, Saturday hours required. Find all the details at boltfabricboutique.com 7-14-2021 7-14,21-2021 REACH CDC is pleased to announce that our waitlist for one-bedroom apartments at Albina Corner will open on Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at 9 am. Albina Corner is restricted for house- holds at or below 60% of the area median income. The rent for a one-bed- room unit is $860 per month. This opening is to add your household information to the wait- list only. Once 100 total waitlist applications are received, we will tem- porarily close the list. Please visit http://reach- properties.org/ wait-list/ for more information. REACH CDC is pleased to announce that our newly constructed The Mary Ann Apartments in Beaverton is accepting applications for one-bed- room and two-bedroom units. These units are restricted for households with incomes at or be- low 50% to 60% of the Area Median Income. Rents range from $753 to $1,141 per month de- pending on unit type. If you are interested in ap- plying, please visit http://reachproper- ties.org/wait-list/. 7-21-2021 7-21-2021 WAITLIST OPEN 1BR & 2BR Apts CITY OF GASTON, OREGON INVITATION TO BID THIRD STREET IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT Bid Opening: 2:00 pm, July 29, 2021 at 116 Front Street, Gaston, Oregon, 97119. The work includes of asphalt removal, new road base, asphalt; sidewalks, curbs, gutters, retaining walls, catch basins, storm pipe, ADA ramps, driveway aprons, vege- tated filter strip plantings and irrigation. Contractor will be required to use LCPtracker for payroll reporting. The higher of Davis Bacon or BOLI wage rates shall prevail. CAPITAL AND FACILITIES PROJECT MANAGER Clark College is current- ly accepting applications for a Capital and Facil- ities Project Manager. Salary is $65,720/annu- ally. For complete posi- tion description, closing date, requirements and to apply, access our website at www.clark. edu/jobs. Clark College Human Resources, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA 98663 (360) 992-2105. AA/EO employer. 7-21-2021 2 POSITIONS: FISCAL SERVICES COORDINATOR PROGRAM ASSISTANT The higher of Davis Bacon wage rates or BOLI wage rates shall prevail. Questions: Brooke Harrison at Brooke.Har- rison@tetratech.com or 503.890.8108. MHCC Head Start is hiring! We are hiring for a Fiscal Services Co- ordinator, and Program Assistant - Bilingual Spanish/English. If you are interested in learn- ing more about these positions or would like to apply, please visit: https://www.schooljobs. com/careers/mhcc. Con- tact Elsy Cortez with any questions: elsy.cortez@ mhcc.edu 7-14,21-21 7-21-2021 Documents: Obtain from Becky.Connelly@tetratech. com or 503.510.7375 or review at Salem Contractor’s Exchange, DJC Plan Center or SW Washington Contrac- tor Association. Non-Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting: 1:00 pm, July 20, 2021 at Gaston City Hall, 116 Front Street, Gaston, Oregon 97119.
