NEWS BUZZ

murmurs

DISABLING LIFTS
The Americans with Disabilities Act is costing the City of Portland hundreds of thousands of dollars--and even flummoxing some of the people charged with setting city policy.

Last Thursday, City Commissioner Jim Francesconi called in to KXL's Lars Larson Show to respond to Larson's outrage about the ADA's impact on city fire stations. In particular, Larson was ranting about a proposed elevator running from ground level to the private living quarters of firefighters. Tom Chamberlain, president of the Portland Firefighters Association, calls the elevator an absurdity: "There are certain physical qualifications to be a firefighter," he points out, and being disabled means disqualification.

Francesconi agrees that installing an elevator in a fire station is wasteful, but he told Larson that the U.S. Department of Justice, which enforces the ADA, refused to grant the city an exemption.

Francesconi says he was just trying to clear up some misinformation about the ADA requirements, but by the end of the show he'd sown enough confusion to leave one thinking that the $22 million Eastbank Esplanade would remain unopened until a $700,000, ADA-approved elevator was installed at the Burnside Bridge.

As it turns out, the opening of the floating park for downtown joggers isn't being held up by an elevator as Francesconi said; instead, a connection at the Steel Bridge will delay the park's opening until at least May. In the meantime, an ADA-approved lift--not an elevator--will be installed at the Burnside Bridge exit of the Esplanade at a cost of $250,000, nearly half a million bucks less than what Francesconi told KXL listeners.

--Philip Dawdy

Out of Africa
Africans in Portland have a new place to turn for help with social services, work and legal problems. At the end of December, the African Refugee and Immigrant Network of Oregon incorporated after months of negotiations within the fast-growing, diverse and often-fractious African diaspora in Portland.

Currently, there are between 15,000 and 20,000 Africans in the metro area, with scores arriving each month. (The recent census lumped Africans with native-born blacks--a common problem for Africans seeking social services--and usually failed to provide forms in African languages, so the numbers are inexact.) Pervasive ignorance of Africans' existence and a lack of unity pose a unique set of problems for the new arrivals.

"People are aware that there are people here who speak with accents," says Karifa Koroma of the International Refugee Center of Oregon, who helped form ARINO. "But they don't know any of the issues we face, or where we come from."

ARINO, funded with a $25,000 start-up grant from the state, will try to increase awareness of African culture and presence in Portland. However, the group also has some serious bridge-building to do within its constituency.

According to Koroma, the range of languages, ethnic groups and political baggage within the African community has long hampered cooperation. "You have over 2,000 tribal languages in Africa," he says. "To look at that and try to talk unity is a very nice trick."

Koroma hails from Sierra Leone, a country with a small Portland presence, which he says helps him be seen as a neutral in disputes between immigrants from hostile groups. With embattled countries like Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan generating the bulk of African immigration to Portland, his diplomacy skills have gotten a workout.

"Hey, we're in a neutral country now," Koroma says. "This is the place we need to iron out these problems. I think people are realizing we need unity to accomplish anything."

--Zach Dundas

Just Sue It!
Nike is in the hot seat again, but this time it's not feminists, the disabled or UO students who are after the Beaverton shoemaker--it's the California attorney general.

Last week, California AG Bill Lockyer publicly announced his support for a citizen lawsuit against Nike.

The lawsuit argues that Nike officials' statements about Third World labor practices should be held to the same standard as the company's advertising campaigns.

Marc Kasky, the executive director of a nonprofit group in San Francisco, filed the suit in California Superior Court in 1997.

According to his attorney, Kasky filed the suit after reading newspaper accounts of Nike's defense of working conditions in its contractors' factories.

Last June, the California Supreme Court agreed to hear Kasky's case.

At issue is not whether Nike told the truth, but whether all statements made by a company with the intent to sell its products are covered under state truth-in-advertising laws. (If Kasky wins this suit, he can go on to sue Nike for making false statements.)

Kasky's attorney, Alan Caplan, says: "It's almost a garden-variety false-advertising case. It is really no different if you say 'Our product is made of steel' and it's not or if you say you're paying fair wages and you're not."

Caplan's law firm, San Francisco's Bushnell, Caplan & Fielding, is used to taking on corporate giants. In 1999 it won a nine-year battle against R.J. Reynolds for its Joe Camel campaigns, claiming the ads were aimed at underage smokers.

The California case could set a tough standard for all corporate public-image campaigns--similar suits have already been filed against Gap and Tommy Hilfiger. Traditionally, advertising is held to a standard of truth, while public relations is considered protected free speech and not actionable except in cases of libel or slander.

Nike spokesman Vada Manager says statements about labor conditions came in response to unfair and untrue attacks by Nike detractors.

"We're not talking about advertising," Manager says. "These were statements in defense of the company about business practices."

--Patty Wentz

Paid in Full
It's the first week of January, time for another not-so-happy tradition: opening your W-2 form to find out how much of last year's hard-earned paycheck proceeded directly to Washington, D.C., without first passing through your wallet. It's not unreasonable for Joe and Jane Taxpayer to wonder just how far into the new year they have to work to pay for what surveys have shown are the most despised federal government expenditures: welfare, foreign aid and the space program.

Not to worry, says Steve Novick--you've already given more than your share.

Novick, who heads Portland's Center for Informed Citizen Action, has once again calculated how long a typical Oregon family (four members with a combined $54,000 annual income) needs to work to pay for the state and federal welfare, foreign aid and space programs. After consulting his spreadsheets, Novick declared Jan. 3 "Unpopular Programs Tax Freedom Day."

"For the rest of the year," Novick says, "Oregonians will be working to pay off their mortgages, buy groceries and pay for more popular government programs like Social Security and education."

--John Schrag

LOVE SHACK
In 1997, controversial judge and former legislator Edward N. Fadeley resigned from the Oregon Supreme Court, citing debilitating treatment for throat cancer. Prior to his resignation, the state Judicial Fitness and Disability Commission had recommended Fadeley be suspended from the court for making offensive sexual comments and inappropriately touching female staffers. The court also censured Fadeley for his conduct with Kiska Johnson, a former judicial aide, with whom he had had an affair.

Now, Fadeley is making his Salem apartment available to "discrete" legislators.

--Patty Wentz

Murmurs

SOMETIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

* John Kitzhaber is doing some house cleaning. The word in Salem is that the governor plans to replace Port of Portland Commission president Bob Walsh, sending a replacement nominee to the state Senate as early as next month. Walsh, a construction titan and reliable Democratic contributor, joined the commission in 1989 and has served beyond his appointed term but reportedly displeased the Guv with his
handling of Port Exec Mike Thorne's aborted resignation.

* It appears that for the second time this school year, a hand-picked principal at one of Portland's most troubled schools may have thrown in the towel. Late last fall, Ted Feller left Whitaker Middle School; now, Kevin Bacon has taken a leave from Jefferson High, and teachers say he may not be back.

* Local folkies Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer capped
a hungry year 2000 with the announcement that their sophomore disc, Tanglewood Tree, was the nation's No. 1 most-played folk recording on independent radio. The metaphysical Americana duo is also pegged to open folk queen Joan Baez's upcoming tour (as well as joining her on her new recording) and will release a third disc of backporch Zen soul, Drum
Hat Buddha, in June.

* More music props: The Oregon Bach Festival got the Grammy stamp of approval Jan. 3 with a classical music nomination for Best Choral Performance for its world-premiere recording of Krzysztof Penderecki's monstrous Credo. The Hänssler label recording featuring conductor Helmuth Rilling, soloists Thomas Quasthoff, Milagro Vargas and Juliane Banse and the Festival Chorus and Orchestra is going for a trifecta--it's already scooped the Association for Independent Music and Cannes Classical awards.

* Looks like if you want to read about the Blazers, you'll have to pick up the Portland Tribune. On the heels of hiring longtime Oregonian NBA writer Kerry Eggers, the Trib last week plucked Blazers beat writer Steve Brandon from The O.

* Northwest rockheads still torn over the October demise of The Rocket can now salve their woes online. Several ex-Rocketeers, including erstwhile editor Joe Ehrbar, have launched a website, www.nwracket.com, devoted to the region's music.

* Musical chairs: nine months ago, Edward Campbell left the staff of County Chairwoman Bev Stein and, after visiting a barber, signed on as an aide to City Commissioner Dan Saltzman. Then Stein hired away Saltzman's chief of staff, Maria Rojo de Steffey. Now Saltzman has hired the aide formerly known as Eddie as his chief of staff.