Buckman Community Association
By Susan Lindsay
Because of snowy weather, the February 13 BCA meeting was canceled. The agenda rolls over to Thursday, March 13, 7-9 pm, with the exception that Megan Moyer will now be at the April 10 meeting instead due to her schedule.
Megan Moyer, the newly elected District 1 County Commissioner will join the BCA for meet and greet April 10. As the County holds the purse strings for behavioral health, medical need, homeless services, shelters, community corrections and bridges, getting a chance to meet our new representative and hear her ideas, aspirations and areas of interest should prove informative and engaging. The County and City are facing budget crunches; where will the cuts be?
Our new Metro Councilor, Duncan Hwang, will have a meet and greet to make connections with his Buckman constituents March 13. Come meet Hwang and learn about Metro’s tax plans and projects.
A request has been made to ask Buckman to support the imposition of “intersection daylighting” where parking would be prohibited 20 feet or more back from all intersections in order to increase visibility and safety. We will vote on this after discussion. Many areas of residential Buckman have historic housing, built without garages, and most presently subdivided into multi units. Add to this the loss of street parking by the ongoing Buckman/Kerns sewer/green streets project and Revolution Hall activities and in summary its ‘parking’ (always a hot topic) so come and share your thoughts.
Friends of Rainbow Road, a PBOT project on SE Ankeny St. near 28th Ave., will attend seeking support and local connections.
If you have additional items that you would like to see on the agenda, email us at buckmanboard@googlegroups.com.
The Buckman Summer Events Fundraising crew really needs your help. We’d love to host another Movie in the Park this July and love hosting our fun, free Summer Picnic for all, but we need sponsors (business or individual) and donations to make it happen. You or your business or company can sponsor and there are benefits! The movie costs about $1,200 and the picnic $4,000. Both events are free, 100 percent volunteer and all donations are 100 percent tax deductible via fiscal sponsorship with Southeast Uplift. So please help us be able to keep these positive, inclusive, multi-generational and really fun events going. There’s a link on our website to donate, or you can contact us directly at buckmanpicnicteam@googlegroups.com.
The Buckman Community Association meets every second Thursday, 7-9 pm, 1137 SE 20th Ave. (enter on Salmon St.). Meetings are hybrid; the link on our website, buckmanpdx.org. Contact the BCA anytime at buckmanboard@googlegroups.com.
HAND
By Jill Riebesehl
The Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Association (HAND) Board opened its February meeting with a surprise visit from two Portland police officers, introducing themselves and saying they plan to attend when it doesn’t compete with their duties. HAND old-timers fondly shared how now-retired Officer Yee frequently stopped in, providing beat statistics and criminal incidents. We gave Officers Trujillo and Martinez our take on how the Clinton Triangle sanctuary seems to be working out, pointed out the neighborhood oversight committee (CTOC) and cited specific incidents plaguing our neighborhood, in this case strobe rockets and heedless speedy drivers on SE Hawthorne Blvd.
HAND Board member Peggy McDaniel updated us on the Clinton Triangle, which is now full, with 200 people. 43 are in the wellness section; nine are going through detox. She reminded us of the work of the Portland Environment Management Office (PEMO), established in 2022, to improve livability by addressing graffiti, trash and illegal dumping. She encouraged anyone interested to join in; meetings are twice a month.
The county is deep into planning for a 24/7 drop-off sobering and crisis stabilization center, which will be in our neighborhood at 1901 SE Grand Ave. Natalie Amar, Anthony Jordan and Commissioner Meghan Moyer filled us in on progress and goals. It will be geared toward law enforcement and first-responder drop-offs and have 50 beds broken into separate sections depending on need: deflection, sobering service’s acute needs and withdrawal management. Stressed were goals of partnering with and being a good neighbor. Once the site is finalized, the county will hold a community meeting with the whole neighborhood.
The city is offering informational budget introduction meetings in every district. A recording of the District 3 meeting is available on YouTube and elsewhere. Specific budget engagement sessions, where residents can provide direct input on the draft budget recommendations, will happen in March.
All attendees are invited to participate in discussions at HAND Board meetings. Let Board chair Chris Eykamp know ahead of time if you have a comment or issue you want to bring up. Our meetings are at 7 pm, the second Tuesday of each month on the St. Philip Neri campus.
Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association
By David Petrozzi
MTNA hosted our regular monthly meeting February 19, in person at Taborspace and online via Zoom. Several members delivered updates on various neighborhood initiatives like our history project, Mt. Tabor Park reservoir efforts, pedestrian safety outreach, coordinating neighborhood emergency response teams, even exploring a community-wide yard sale which would stretch across ‘Taborhood’ to produce a more cohesive feel for our area as a whole.
Speaking in more detail was a representative from City Repair, a local nonprofit that works to improve social connection and combat isolation by making places like street paintings, public seating, support for public squares and block parties so that neighbors can interact and form bonds in fun and low pressure settings. Have an idea for your block? Visit their website, cityrepair.org, to see how they can help.
Mark your calendars and get those old mattresses and computer waste ready for disposal at our annual neighborhood cleanup, a joint effort with our partners from the North Tabor Neighborhood Association. This year’s drop-off will be Saturday, May 17. Stay tuned to our website, mttaborpdx.org, for more details, and while you’re there, register to attend our next monthly meeting Wednesday, March 19, held online and in-person. Sign up for our mailing list to stay connected!
Richmond Neighborhood Association
By Allen Field
The Richmond Neighborhood Association (RNA) met on February 10. Meetings are held the second Monday of the month 7-9 pm, except January. They are held in person at Central Christian Church, 1844 SE Cesar Chavez Blvd., and people can participate via Zoom. The link to pre-register for Zoom is on the agenda, which is posted to richmondpdx.org and the RNA Announce listserv. To be added to the listserv, email richmondnasecretary@gmail.com. All are welcome to attend and participate.
Jonathan Trutt, with public housing provider Home Forward, presented on the purchase and renovation of the Cesar apartments at 1610 SE Cesar Chavez Blvd. It will provide supportive housing for homeless individuals. There will be fulltime onsite management by Home Forward with a service partner also onsite 24 hours. Earliest move-in date is expected to be June 25. For questions, contact jonathan.trutt@homeforward.org.
Lise Gervais explained a Spring Chip Mulch program for street trees. The Richmond Tree Team is planning for around Earth Day. Contact her at richmondtreeteam@gmail.com to inquire if your trees qualify for the program or if you want to help.
Board member David Michaelson updated the Board on the survey the RNA is conducting to collect information on neighbors’ concerns and priorities to pass along to the District 3 Council Members Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo and Steve Novick. The survey will help the RNA in setting agenda topics and perhaps lead to new events or projects. The survey results will be discussed in our March 10 monthly meeting.
The annual Richmond Spring Cleanup is Saturday, May 17, 9 am-1 pm at Central Christian Church, 1844 SE Cesar Chavez Blvd. We will collect bulky mixed waste, electronics and metal for recycling, reusable items for the U-Price-It rummage sale and we will have a huge plant sale. We will NOT collect styrofoam at this event. Instead, we will have a Saturday, July 19 event for styrofoam and Metro’s batteries/meds/sharps/CFL collection at the church.
Come to a meeting to get more involved and learn about issues in the neighborhood.
South Tabor Neighborhood Association
By Cathy Kudlick
The South Tabor Neighborhood Association is off to a colorful start in 2025. For our February meeting we changed things up by inviting neighbors to our first-ever adult coloring circle to allow folks to slow down and decompress during the meeting. We provided paper, crayons, markers and some people even brought their own. We brainstormed about future events, including our upcoming neighborhood garage sale/garden tour on June 7–mark your calendars!
Be on the lookout for the Spring edition of the South Tabor Crow flying into your inbox in the next couple of weeks. If you have ideas for articles or profiles to showcase the challenging, the inspiring, the curious of our neighborhood, please contact us through our website, southtabor.org. We also welcome photos that capture whatever makes South Tabor, South Tabor.
Join your neighbors (with or without crayons 🙂 for our next meeting March 20, 7 pm—like every month, the third Thursday at All-City Church, SE 67th Ave. and Clinton St. (enter through the parking lot).
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
By Gloria Jacobs
Please join us on Wednesday, March 12 for a special SNA General meeting. We will have all three of our district councilors with us to talk about the budget process and their priorities for the new city council. There will be plenty of time to answer neighbors’ questions and interact with our elected representatives. Join us at 7 pm at SE Uplift (3534 SE Main St.) or online!
Welcome to Dennis Behrens, SNA’s newest Board member and treasurer. Dennis recently moved back to Portland after years spent in northern California, where he worked in finance for numerous organizations.