1962-03-21

Page 2 JlrL OREGON MIRROR Established in March 1959 -Negro Wee!_cly Circulated by Mail - Newsboys - Businesses Published Every Wednesday 4617 N. Williams Ave. AT 4-4551 or PR 1-9884 PUBLISHER - J. Marcus Wellington, lll MANAGER & EDITOR - Don Alford Please Forward Mail to - 7972 S.E. Foster Rd. ED I T·O R I A L· Dillerente Between Development (ommission 1nd Housing Aulllorily by Edgar William~ There seems to be some confusion in the minds of a lot of Albina people over the two federally-sponsored programs for community betterment: On the one hand -- URBAN RE– NEWAL; and on the other -- PUBLIC HOUSING. URBAN RENEWAL is the activity administered by the PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION, and in the area North of Fremont Street is taking the form of a COMMUNITY REHABILITATION program in which PROPERTY OWNERS are encouraged in many helpful ways to improve their houses. PUBLIC HOUSING is the activity administered by the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF PORTLAND, and in the Albina area is taking the form of the development of a 58-unit, LOW-RENT, HOUSING PROJECT in which low-income families will be provided with new court apartment facilities at a rental they can afford to pay. The confusion in many people's minds seems to have stemmed from proposals that the PORTLAND DEVELOP– MENT COMMISSION and the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF PORTLAND ''work together", in the COMMUNITY REHAB– ILITATION area North of Fremont, and that the HOUSING AUTHORITY build its rental units on "SCATTERED SITES" in the REHABILITATION AREA instead of in a COURT– APARTMENT-TYPE housing project adjacent to the Knott Street Community Center. The HOUSING AUTHORITY act– ually "initiated" the idea of "scattered sites" housing in Portland and strongly favors this type of public housing be– cause it can be so ideally integrated into a community. How– ever, the Housing Authority's prolonged research on this subject has revealed that it would not be ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE for it to develop a "scattered-sites' ' project any– where in Portland at this time. The reason is that "scatter– ed-sites" housing costs 20% more to BUILD than convention– al, court-apartment-type housing, and that the c~t of MAIN- TENANCE and of UTILITIES for a "scattered-sites" project is so high that it cannot be absorbed into the Housing Author– ity' s present total program within the limits of maximum subsidies available through the federal gover.nment. As the REHABILITATION PROGRAM of the PORTLAND DEVEL– OPMENT COMMISSION is in an area that is not zoned for multi-family residences, it is not possible for the HOUSING AlJfHORITY to coordinate ITS development with that of the PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION in the rehabil– itation area. We consider the PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COM– mission'S REHABILITATION PROGRAM an excellent one for the specific purpose it is designed to serve--the uplift– ing of a community through the voluntary participation of the property owners of the community in improving their own properties. THE HOUSING AUTHORITY' S function in thedevelopment of its 58-unit Daisy B. Williams housing project in Albina, however, is completely separate and distinct -- serving an entirely different purpose than that of the PORTLAND DE– VELOPMENT COMMISSION in this instance. Perhaps a clarification of these two programs in two different areas of our community can best be achieved if it is realized that the HOUSING AUTHORITY is engaged ONLY in the activity of BUILDING HOUSING for LOW– INCOME FAMILIES and of RENTING such housing to such families AT A RENTAL THEY CAN AFFORD TO PAY. In selecting sites for our new housing projects, we try so far as practicable and possible to buy property in areas where low-income families are presently living in deteriorated, run-down, and sub-standard dwellings. This is the major reason we selected for the Daidy B. Williams project a site next to the Knott Street Community Center in Albina. Our selection of this site has met all the re– quirements of the 'federal gov.ernment, as recently pointed out by Dr. Robert Weaver, Administrator of the Hou~ing and Home Finance Agency in Washington, D. C. We feel that the 58-unit, Daisy B. Williams low-rent housing project in Albina will setve to raise the morale of the Albina community, give hope to the people ofthe community that Albina is starting to move forward instead of further deteriorating, and provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing for at least a few of Albina's low-income families who would prefer to continue to live near their friends and relatives in Albina. THE OREGON MIRROR LETTEBB TO TBEEDITOB To the Editor: As a Wil– liams Avenue businessman, I am naturally interested in the Housing Authority's program, and doing anything possible to uplift the Albina area. I have been quite concerned for several months with the opposition that has been voiced in regards to this project by the people who state they are speaking for our community. I have discussed this with numerour customers of mine and several clergymen from this area and find that a major– ity of the people who live in this area are in full support of the authority's program. I am at a loss to understand how the Democratic Party, through their two organiza– tions -- Central Committee and the Young Democrats -– can arrive at a conclusion such as they indicated through the papers without taking time to discuss this with the people who live in the Albina area. Neither I nor other busi– nessmen in this area had been contacted by either group. The representatives on this committee who indicated that they are speaking for the peo– ple in this area to my knowl– edge never Have represented the people in this area, nor am I personally aware of them trying to get the pulse of the people involved. To the Editor: It is ques– tionable that much of the op– position to the low-cost hous– ing should come from one self– styled leader whose residency in Portland is less than two years. As a taxpayer and business woman of the Albina area for many years, I am quite capa– ble of evaluating this situa– tion. In any c a s e I would hesitate to be swayed by the opinion of anyone coming from an environment where the sun– light of democracy was in eclipse. Since the Democratic Com– mittee has decided to take a stand in the issue, I would like to know just where were they when the property owners expressed themselves at the public meeting held by the Housing Authority at the Knott Street Community Center? I did not know that providing standard housing for low-in– come groups was to become a political football, or else many meeting en masse. I feel that some of the lead– ers of the opposition to the Daisy Williams project are not interested in the less fortunate, but only in their own egoism. I congratulate the Housing Authority for their stand. · SAM HOOSON, MRS. VIVIANE L. BARNETT, 2636 N. Williams Ave. 1810 NE 1st Ave. Wednesday, March 21, 1962 To the Editor: For over 18 years I have belonged to the Immaculate Heart Church. Having lived, worked and rais– ed my children and graRd– child in the Albina area, I feel that the Urban League, NAACP and others are mak– ing a mountain out of a mole hill. They are using the Daisy Williams Qroject to split a community and cause confu– sion in the area. When the Immaculate Heart property was spoken for, not a word against the project was heard. This site, had it been chosen, is located in about the same section. However, this site cost more than the Port– land Housing Authorities could ' pay; for this reason they se– lected the present site. Then the rabble-rousers got busy. All we have heard since is their pet theme--segregation. Strange, it was not mentioned before. Since E. Shelton Hill, John Holley and Harry Ward seem to be the instigators of this controversy, I feel their or– ganizations would make better progress without them. Their resignations would be appre– ciated by a number of the peo– ple, as it seems they have outlived their usefulness. Since trained personnel se– lected the present site I am in favor of the project being placed where they feel it is most needed. Had the Immaculate Heart Site been selected, I would not have opposed placing it there. I believe low-cost housing is needed and wanted in this area very much. ETOILE H. COX, 5526 NE Jessup St. WATTIER'S WEEK END SPECIALS Thurs. Fri. Sat. 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