Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Association
By Jill Riebesehl
The HAND Board has a long hiatus over the holidays, but we anticipate interesting challenges in the coming year. It looks as if Catholic Charities is moving ahead on plans for low-cost permanent housing on the St. Philip Neri campus.
We anticipate a multi-neighborhoods meeting Monday, January 11 with the new city commissioner Mingus Mapps. We are looking forward to getting to know him. Watch for the notice of this Zoom event.
Our next regular meeting is Tuesday, January 19, 7-9 pm. The agenda is in flux and anyone who might have actions, problems or ideas to present is welcome at the executive committee meeting (date yet to be determined) to plan the agenda. Visit handpdx.org for updates.
Montavilla Neighborhood Association
By Jacob Loeb
In the last meeting of 2020, Montavilla Neighborhood Association (MNA) has launched several new initiatives covering issues of safety, sanitation, property development and business support.
Newly-elected Public Safety Chair, Taylor Wells, presented an outline of programs launching in 2021 around safety. High on the list is disaster preparedness. MNA will work with local organizations to develop training and make resources available to residents and businesses. Additionally, Wells is in the early stages of building programs around theft prevention and reducing high-speed traffic on Montavilla streets.
The Board voted in favor of creating a new Sanitation Committee. That group’s work will cover litter cleanup and expand public trash can placement through the neighborhood. The MNA website, montavillapdx.org, has volunteer opportunities to collect trash in public areas and safety information about cleanup activities.
Land Use & Transportation Chair Adam Wilson is leading an effort to create design standards for future Montavilla development. This multi-year project will establish some baseline guidance for buildings constructed in the neighborhood.
In a unanimous vote, MNA created a new community resource available at montavillapdx.org/directory. Soon the site will offer a listing of businesses and organizations in Montavilla. A comprehensive list like it has not existed in modern times. By creating an inclusive directory, all establishments in the community will have the opportunity to connect with residents. Like membership in MNA, a listing in the directory is free and without obligation.
These initiatives and other projects will be topics at MNA’s next general meeting. Join the conversation starting at 6:30 on January 11. Register for the Zoom online meeting at montavillapdx.org.
Mount Tabor Neighborhood Association
By Stephanie Stewart
MTNA will host a community meeting on Zoom, Wednesday, January 13, 7 pm. (Note: this is a date change from our regular schedule to avoid conflicts with the inauguration on January 20.) At our meeting we will have a guest speaker from our area Emergency Response Team, with practical steps you can take this season to improve your disaster readiness.
Find links for this, and all of our Zoom meetings, under the “Meetings and Events” tab of our website, mttaborpdx.org. MTNA creates a monthly newsletter about important civic issues which you can find on our website next to each month’s meeting minutes.
North Tabor Neighborhood Association
By Kim Kasch
Meghan Caughey, MFA will be offering a free presentation, Working Through Suicide – For Those Struggling and Those Who Care About Them at our North Tabor Neighborhood Association Meeting which begins at 6:30 p.m. on February 16 via a Zoom presentation.
Please check out our website, northtabor.org, for additional meeting information or email us at board@northtabor.org.
Richmond Neighborhood Association
By Allen Field
The RNA meets the second Monday of the month, 6:30-8:30 pm. Everyone is welcome. Agendas are posted on richmondpdx.org and sent out via the RNA Announce listserv. Recordings of the monthly meetings are available on the RNA website. Meetings will be via Zoom until further notice. Preregistration is required, the link to preregister is on the agenda. To be added to the RNA’s listserv, email richmondnasecretary@gmail.com.
At the December 14 monthly meeting, we were very honored to have Commissioner Amanda Fritz attend for a second month in a row. In her last month as a Commissioner, she is making the rounds of neighborhood associations and district coalitions thanking them for their service and commitment to community engagement. She thanked the RNA Board for its ongoing efforts providing information to the community, sponsoring community projects and keeping neighbors engaged.
Officer Shaun Sahli gave a report on crime and safety issues in Richmond. There has been an increase in property crimes such as burglaries and car prowls and crimes against individuals, such as assault. At the same time, the Police Bureau has had a reduction in detectives investigating crimes but they are reorganizing roles to put more attention to neighborhood crimes. Concerning the high number of catalytic converter thefts, he explained the resources needed to conduct sting operations, the Bureau simply does not have right now.
Greg Bourget, Lead Researcher for Portland Clean Air (portlandcleanair.org), gave a very informative presentation on the problem of the high level of industrial pollution in Portland, especially diesel particulates. Portland Clean Air is organizing the city’s neighborhood associations to work together on these issues. The Board appointed Kamal Belkhayat to serve as liaison to Portland Clean Air to keep it apprised of and involved in its projects.
The Board voted to adopt the PDX Mainstreet Guidelines for Hawthorne Blvd., similar to the Guidelines adopted for Division in 2018, and a Hawthorne special buildings list. Both documents can be found at pdxmainstreets.org.
If you would like to help distribute the quarterly Richmond Newsletter, please contact rnanewsletter@gmail.com. The RNA’s next meeting is Monday, February 8. The Board has its annual retreat gathering in January. To get on the agenda, the agenda request form is on the RNA’s website.
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
By Dave Boush
The December SNA General Meeting began with a discussion of the impending end to the moratorium on rental evictions at the end of the year. For information, see the related article by Jessie Maran at sunnysideportland.org. The SNA would like to help those affected and would love input from neighbors on possible action(s).
The meeting then redirected to the Buckman NA meeting featuring Marc Jolin, Director of the Joint Office on Homelessness. His office contracts with over 40 non-profit organizations to help alleviate homelessness and its effects. Like SNA, Marc expressed concern over the evictions of renters that is likely to occur over the coming months.
Some of his other main points were:
• Housing that is not subsidized is financially out of reach to lower income residents. The market alone cannot solve the housing shortage.
• Over the last 10 months, the COVID-19 crisis has led to a stand-down in moving encampments, a 50 percent reduction in residents in each shelter and efforts to isolate people with COVID-19 in motels. 82 COVID-19 cases have been reported among the homeless.
• 2017-19 saw an increase of over 30 percent in chronically homeless in our area.
• The Shelter to Housing Continuum’s (S2HC) proposed code changes address the need for a wider range of shelter options. Marc supports the proposal. For more about S2HC, see portland.gov/bps/s2hc/about-shelter-housing-continuum-project. Those interested in learning more are encouraged to visit ahomeforeveryone.net.
Neighbors familiar with housing issues in Portland may not have learned many new facts. However, Marc expressed unmistakable optimism about the opportunities presented by increased resources from Metro Measure 26-210. Also on display was a nuanced approach to the many affected groups including domestic violence survivors and the immigrant refugee community, not always top of mind.
January’s SNA General Meeting, Thursday January 14, will focus on preparedness, with three active Sunnyside NETs. Hope to see you at our Zoom meeting. The link is on the website, sunnysideportland.org. Stay safe. Happy New Year.