Margaret Carter's Family Values
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A SOUTHEAST RENAISSANCE? EDITION — SEE BUSINESS TRIBUNE SECTION, INSIDE GREATER PORTLAND PortlandTUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPER Tribune• PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY ■ First black w oman in Oregon’s Legislature returns to priv ate life Metro talks trash, digs up hard lesson on recycling ‘ G arbology’ author says R ose City isn’t special in handling garbage By JIM REDDEN The Tribune Attention Portlanders, environmental expert Ed Humes has something to say. You are not as special as you think. In fact, when it comes to saving the world, you could learn a lesson from WalMart. According to Humes, the average Portlander generates slightly more solid waste every day than the average American: 7.1 pounds. And even though Portlanders recycle at twice the na- tional rate, Humes says that doesn’t cut it. Recy- cling takes energy, is inher- “Even our ently ineffi cient and gener- greenest ates its own solid waste in the end. communities Former state Sen. Margaret Carter plays with her dog Madison in her Northeast Portland home. Carter, the fi rst African-American woman in the Oregon “Portlanders actually have a long Legislature, spent decades in a variety of public service positions. make slightly more trash than the national average. ways to go.” And even though they re- — Ed Humes, author cycle more, that’s like be- S tory by Peter W ong ing less bad,” says Humes, M A R G A R E T Photos by Jonathan House who notes that WalMart has reduced the solid waste it generates by roughly 80 percent in recent years. But even worse, even after all that recycling, hen Margaret those you give birth to. It there’s still more than 1 million tons of trash a C A R TE R ’S Carter retired means those you care for year that needs to be disposed of. Most of it is last week after dearly. You help each other trucked around 150 miles to a landfi ll run by Wsix decades of out in times of struggle — Waste Management near Arlington in Eastern work — and three decades and they are with you in Oregon. It takes a caravan of about 50 diesel in Oregon public life — she times of opportunity. trucks to do the job every day — that’s 50 diesel- F A M I L Y V A L U E S returned to her family. “That’s what happened to spewing trucks traveling 300 miles up and down Carter has nine children, me when I came here. People the scenic Columbia Gorge every day just to dis- 26 grandchildren and 16 lent me a helping hand.” pose of your leftovers. great-grandchildren. Margaret was one of 10 chil- “That’s not sustainable,” says Humes. And on display in the liv- dren born to Hilton Hunter, a Humes is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist ing room of Carter’s home in Baptist minister and home- who has turned his attention to sustainability Northeast Portland is a builder in Shreveport, La., and issues. His most recent book focuses on what framed photo of Yaremi Emma Hunter, a school cafete- happens to all the trash generated in America. Mejia, who led the girls’ bas- ria worker. Of their six girls Published in 2012, It’s called “Garbology: Our ketball team at South Med- and three boys — one sister Dirty Love Affair with Trash.” An earlier book, ford High School to the 2012 died young — Margaret was “Forces of Nature: the Unlikely Story of state championship and the the youngest girl. WalMart’s Green revolution,” focused on the re- 2013 Class 6A runner-up. “My father was a smart tail giant’s successful drive to reduce its solid Mejia is now at Portland man for someone with limit- waste to save money. State University, where she ed education,” Carter says. Metro, the elected regional government, is on the women’s basketball Because of the skills he ac- brought Humes to town recently as part of its team — and Carter says she quired for homebuilding, “we ongoing discussion series on what to do about makes it a point to catch Me- learned multiplication and the region’s garbage called “Let’s Talk Trash.” jia’s games when she can, an other math before we even He spoke at the Portland City Club on July 12, example of how she has men- started school.” where more than one member admitted to being tored young people. She also recalls Bible dispirited after being taken to task by him. Carter will have more time study classes on Wednesday “Even our greenest communities have a long to do so since she stepped out nights and visitors after ways to go,” Humes assured them. of public life after fi ve years church services on Sundays. Metro is in charge of fi guring out what to do at the Oregon Department of Company also meant food. Human Services and nearly “My father told me that no See GARBAGE/ Page 7 25 years in the Oregon Legis- matter how angry you get, lature, where she was the fi rst elected black woman. See CARTER / Page 2 For more than a decade be- fore then, she was a counselor at Portland Community Col- lege, which has the largest “Had I not had enrollment of any post-sec- ondary institution in Oregon. good relationships In all of those jobs, Carter with people, I would also developed relationships akin to family. not have gotten “I have always believed very strongly in family,” she that legislation TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT says. Nature’s Needs composting facility in North Plains “To me, it’s the corner- through.” installed new bio-fi lter blower systems to help Carter holds a copy of the U.S. Congressional Record with a resolution praising her stone of our society. And it — Margaret Carter, reduce odors after residents in the area decades of service in Oregon. does not always mean just former state senator complained. Metro is considering alternatives to handling the region’s garbage that could include incineration or composting. Atiyeh’s leadership, spirit earn praise economic foundations for interna- rial services or a funeral. T w o- term gov ernor tional trade and high technology. Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber was Atiyeh, a Republican who was gover- president of the Oregon Senate during Former Gov. tack led ‘ 8 2 recession, nor from 1979 to 1987, died Sunday at the last two years Atiyeh was governor. V ic Atiyeh led global mark etplace Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Sometimes he clashed with Atiyeh, and Oregon during a in Portland. He was 91. sometimes he cooperated. diffi cult By PETER WONG Doctors said the cause of death was “He was the first governor under economic time in The Tribune complications from renal failure, accord- whom I served when I was fi rst elected the early 198 0s. ing to Denny Miles, an Atiyeh family to the Legislature in 1978, and he was He died Sunday Tributes were paid Monday to Vic spokesman and Atiyeh’s communica- both a mentor and a friend,” Kitzhaber at age 91. Atiyeh, the governor who led Oregon tions director during his governorship. PAMPLIN MEDIA out of the 1982 recession and laid the There was no offi cial word on memo- See ATIYEH / Page 6 GROUP FILE PHOTO “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune deliver balanced news that refl ects the VIKINGS REACH FOR THE BIG TIME stories of our communities. Thank you — SEE SPORTS, PAGE B1 for reading our newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Tuesday, July 22, 2014 Carter: Legislative work focused on families with ballots during an era ■ From page 1 when blacks were beginning to Margaret Carter fi le assert their right to vote in the ■ Home: Northeast Portland when you share your bread — South against white resistance. ■ Age: 78 your food — people tend to She was not involved in the ■ Family: Nine children (fi ve reach common ground,” she civil rights movement herself. daughters from fi rst marriage, four says. “He felt the relationships But in 1983, a bipartisan stepchildren from second mar- you built were lasting, simply group known as the Alliance riage); 26 grandchildren; 16 great- grandchildren because when you make for Economic Development ap- ■ Education: Grambling State friends, you tend to stay proached her about running in University; bachelor’s degree in friends.” House District 18, which in a elementary education and psy- She didn’t cook, however. 1981 redistricting included the chology, 1972, Portland State Her older sisters did so while African American neighbor- University; master’s degree in edu- she played the piano at church. hoods of North Portland. To cational psychology, 1973, Oregon She also sang in a semi-pro- that point, only one black legis- State University fessional group, the Mt. Calvary lator (Bill McCoy) had been ■ Work: Counselor, Portland Gospel Singers, who performed elected in Oregon. Community College, 1973-99; in a circuit covering Arkansas, The motive of some in the al- president, Urban League of Portland, 1999-2002; deputy Louisiana and Texas. liance was not necessarily to director for human services, “I knew stage life early,” she promote Carter, but to oust the Oregon Department of Human says. “I have been on a public one-term Democratic incum- Services, 2009-12; director of stage since I was 5.” bent who had won an eight-way community engagement, 2012-14 primary and a fi ve-way general ■ Public service/politics: Coming to Portland election the year before.