Buckman Community Association
Susan Lindsay
At our September 10 Buckman Community Association meeting, we hosted two candidates for the position of Multnomah County Chair; sitting commissioner Shannon Singleton and former commissioner Sharon Meieran. During their individual presentations, each spoke of their qualifications and leadership experience. Singleton served under former governor Kate Brown and with the joint office of homelessness here locally. Meieran, a long-time emergency room doctor served two terms on the Multnomah County Commission and works now with street medicine. While Singleton spoke primarily during her time of her qualifications, experience in housing and leadership ability; during her time, Meieran detailed the specific problems of Multnomah County structure, the chair position itself, the excess money being spent by the County resulting in poor results and presented her plan of county services restructuring. The third candidate, Julia Brim Edwards, did attend nor respond to our invite. As this position is so important, we encourage Buckman residents to check out the county chair candidates’ websites and attend any upcoming debates.
At our October 8 meeting, we had intended to host a City Council forum for District 3 candidates. However there are so many running for D3, out of our desire for fairness we decided to encourage instead everyone to attend already structured debates and forums that can be found on our website. Instead, on October 8, we’ll have two separate presentations from PBOT regarding potential highly impacting changes in both traffic use and parking restrictions in the neighborhood. Be sure to attend in person or via hybrid link to take part in these important discussions.
At our November 12 meeting, representatives from BPS will attend to discuss a proposed upzoning plan for a large section of the eastside of Portland. This change, if adopted, would allow large multistoried apartment buildings everywhere in a big section of the inner eastside, covering all of Buckman, Sunnyside, HAND and Kerns, and many more eastside neighborhoods. Also at that meeting, depending on time constraints, representatives from an advocacy group for this upzoning effort as well as representatives from those opposed will attend and present.
Statewide elections are November 3. Be sure to get your ballots in early this year due to all the controversy about mail-in elections and the slower turn around time nowadays at the post office.
Buckman Community Association meetings are held every second Thursday of the month 7-9 pm at 1302 SE Ankeny S., in the Imago Dei Fellowship Hall. Our meetings are hybrid and the link can be found on our website, buckmanpdx.org. We encourage you to come in person if possible. Contact the BCA at any time buckmanboard@googlegroups.com.
Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Association
By Jill Riebesehl
At the HAND September Board meeting it was a touch of fall then time to get down to business. The Board officially requested that we participate in discussions regarding the proposed Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern railroad merger. And we got a detailed report on the city’s wide-ranging rezoning plans for inner eastside Portland that would involve housing, infrastructure changes and more, from NE Fremont St. to SE Powell Blvd., 12th to 60th avenues.
We also got a progress report on the effort to establish a Division-Clinton business district. And we received updates on the status of the temporary housing village at the base of SE Clinton St.; the siting of a bottle drop at
SE Milwaukie Ave. and SE Powell Blvd.; and how HAND, other groups and TriMet are working on ways the public can use a newly stubbed-off SE Caruthers St.
For anyone interested in reading more in-depth about what we’ve learned and our activities, check out the September meeting minutes on our website. The Board meets the St. Philip Neri campus every second Tuesday, 7-9 pm. We welcome with open arms everyone who lives, owns property or runs a business in our neighborhood.
Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association
By David Petrozzi
We’re pleased to announce the upcoming District 3 City Council Candidate Forum Tuesday, October 13, 6-7:30 pm, at Mt. Tabor Middle School. You’ll want to take this opportunity to see who’s running for City Council up close and personal, hear what they stand for and probe their platforms with some Q&A. Rub elbows with fellow neighbors over pizza to see who deserves your vote. With ranked choice voting and our new system of city governance, your voice has never been more powerful, so make yourself heard.
During our September meeting, MTNA enjoyed a presentation on Foxtail and Cheatgrass cleanup efforts in our area, under the purview of a new group named The Foxtail eRADication CRUE. Not only do they get serious bonus points for some clever capitalization, their work is really important too. Check them out on instagram.com/thefoxtaileradicationcrue for more information, as well as volunteer opportunities to raise awareness and help manage these invasive species.
MTNA meets every second Wednesday of the month, in person at Taborspace and online via Zoom. Our next meeting takes place October 14, 7-8:30 pm. Head over to our website, mttaborpdx.org, for more information and to sign up. You can also join our mailing list, keep up to date through our blog, read through past meeting minutes and find out what else we’re up to in the neighborhood more generally in case you’d like to get involved. Have a special neighborhood interest? Drop us a line and maybe we can even get you a few minutes on the agenda to share what you love with the community at large. We’re all stronger together and we’d love to have you.
North Tabor Neighborhood Association
By Amanda Sparks
October is a busy month for North Tabor! We’re partnering with Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association and the Mount Tabor Middle School PTA to host a District 3 City Council Candidate Forum Tuesday, October 13, giving neighbors a chance to hear directly from candidates running to represent District 3. The forum will feature a live Q&A, with questions submitted by community members ahead of time. There will also be pizza, and you can vote on the toppings when you RSVP! The forum will take place 6-8 pm, with doors opening at 5:45 pm, at Mt. Tabor Middle School, 5800 SE Ash St. Learn more and RSVP at northtabor.org/2026-forum.
Our next North Tabor Neighborhood meeting is Tuesday, October 20, 6:30-8 pm. This meeting will serve as our annual general meeting and will include elections for our 2026–2027 neighborhood Board. We’re looking for neighbors who are interested in planning fun events and helping shape the future of our neighborhood to join us.
We’ll also be hosting representatives from Your 2 Cents PDX and Protect Our City Services, who will present arguments for and against Ballot Measure 26-267, which proposes amending the city charter to require participatory budgeting for two percent of the city’s discretionary fund.
Richmond Neighborhood Association
By Allen Field
The Richmond Neighborhood Association (RNA) Board met September 14 at Central Christian Church, 1844 SE 39th Ave. Meetings are the second Monday of the month, 7–9 pm, except January. Everyone is welcome in person or via Zoom. The Zoom registration link is at richmondpdx.org and on every agenda, which is sent to the RNA listserv. Meetings are recorded and posted on the RNA’s website, richmondpdx.org. To join the listserv, email richmondnasecretary@gmail.com.
The meeting was devoted to reviewing our existing committees, liaison and representative positions and appointing people to fill those positions. The Land Use, Transportation and Sustainability Committee was renamed “Land Use and Transportation” and a new committee, “Sustainable Living,” was created. We also voted to create new committees “Seniors and Persons with Disabilities” and “Membership Outreach.” New positions created were Liaison to PEMO (Public Environment Management Office), representative to Division and Clinton Business District and Webmaster.
The next meeting is October 14. We will have a presentation by Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability on the Inner Eastside Zoning Project.
We are always in need of people to help deliver the quarterly Richmond News. If you are not receiving it, it’s because there is no delivery person for the route where you live. Contact rnanewsletter@gmail.com if you want to help distribute the newsletter.
South Tabor Neighborhood Association
By Cathy Kudlick
At its September 17 meeting, the STNA Board discussed the merger of All City Church (2700 SE 67th Ave.) with Rose Church, which has a congregation 10 times larger. STNA has asked for three community meetings with the new leadership to be held on different days and times to maximize opportunities for neighbors to learn about expected changes and discuss opportunities and concerns. Be on the lookout for notices online and posted throughout the neighborhood.
Safely crossing SE Powell Blvd. remains another priority. After decades of advocacy by neighborhood associations, there’s finally a striped crosswalk and flashing beacon at SE 79th Ave. We remain concerned about poor lighting and making sure that pedestrians and cyclists attempting to cross can be seen by drivers. We are brainstorming solutions as we continue to push for more crosswalks and traffic control on one of Oregon’s deadliest highways.
If you’ve ever thought about sidewalk repairs, removing those so-called “trees of heaven,” scouting out locations for new street murals or bringing neighbors together to discuss concrete ways we can help each other and those who are struggling, join STNA to pool ideas, resources and efforts. It’s a canopy for the whole neighborhood.
We meet the third Thursday of the month in person, 7-8:30 pm at locations we’ll announce on our email list, website and Facebook. Visit southtabor.org to learn more.