HAND Neighborhood Meeting – 5/18/2010
St. Phillip Neri, Paulist Center
Board members present: Chair Alex Bassos, Vice Chair Amy Lewin, Secretary Carolyn Brock, Treasurer Matthew Masini, Publicity Chair Amy Lewin, Dave Kaplan, Wendy Kunkel, Lindsey McBride, Sue Pearce, Jack Spadaro, Marilee Tillstrom, Ethan Timm
Board Members absent: Frank Dufay, Liz Gatti, Lois Hankins, Joseph Murphy, Kina Voelz
Meeting called to order by Alex Bassos
• Introductions
Announcements
• Dave Kaplan announced that Ladd’s Addition Elm Tree Inoculation will take place on June 26th. Meet at Palio’s at 8:30. Save Our Elms meeting is concurrent with inoculation.
Treasurers Report
• $1614 collected at cleanup plus $187 for metal sales brought total to $1801
Homelessness in HAND
Alex Bassos noted that there seem to be more homeless people in neighborhood. Amy Lewin reported a violent incident in the neighborhood and noted a higher level of violence. Linda Nettekoven reported that New Seasons has seen a reduced level of violent incidents.
Officre Picket reported on the occurance of a meeting one month ago with a neighborhood business that has two acceptable residents. Tresspass agreements give the police authority to enter a property and ask people to leave. IT was suggested that a tresspass agreement with exclusion of certain individuals could be offered. This was rejected due to impracticality of enforcing. The neighborhood business in question has signed a trespass agreement. Officers use common sense in enforcement.
Wendy Kunkel asked if a “No Tresspassing” sign makes a difference. Officer Picket said that it does help in asking someone staying there to “move on,” though not in arresting an individual. Marilee Tillstrom asked about individuals who are too drunk or asleep. Officer Picket replied that if they are in danger, a detox team will be called in based upon the officer’s judgement call.
Amber Moser, SE Neighborhood District Attorney, suggested that one could call the CHIERS van and the individual will be taken to the Hooper Detox Center. In the event of an arrest they are transferred to the Downtown Detention Center. A neighbor asked if there is ever any involvement by groups like Join. Officer Picket said yes, especially when an individual is entrenched in the neighborhood. The public can call Join, though Join’s focus is primarily on families and not on chronic homelessness. Linda Nettekoven noted that the director of Join was at the last outreach meeting.
Havilah Ferschweiler, Crime Prevention Coordinator introduced a new livability worksheet that will be available soon. She noted that a majority of homeless people don’t cause problems, but a small group does. Havilah Ferschweiler is looking at ways to deal with Trespass Agreements, including public education, public bathrooms, outreach, and food sources.
Susan Pearce asked if there will be follow up meetings. (No response)
Ethan Timm asked about city wide solutions to this issue. Officer Picket mentioned the 10 year plan to end homelessness. Havilah Ferschweiler noted that it is not enough to provide shelter beds and noted that there are few resources for the homeless in HAND.
Alex Bassos asked if recent problems were due to enforcement sweeps? Will people continue to move after the sweeps? Officer Picket noted that with a critical mass of people under a bridge, a Mission is started, which increases enforcement of certain infractions such as “Improper position on a roadway” and jaywalking. Amber Moser noted that this is called a Mission, not a Sweep. Officer Picket said there was no direct correlation between a Mission and recent homelessness in HAND. Havilah Ferschweiler noted that the warming center near the Burnside Bridge closed in March. Amber Moser noted that there was a large group in the Central Eastside and that it had become dangerous under the Morrison and Hawthorne Bridges, resulting in an increase in assaults and drug activity. There was also an increase in out-of-state individuals. The Mission did not include a single arrest, but made it less convenient to convene. She also noted that a public bathroom would make it more convenient, and might increase homeless activity.
Marilee Tillstrom noted that homeless people have cell phones and are recording police activity. Officer Picket noted that he encourages individuals to record police activity.
Amy Lewin asked if there is any monitoring of frequency of arrest. Officer Picket said no. The Service Coordination team deals with drug users and mental cases and does not track drinking in public.
Havilah Ferschweiler encouraged everyone to report incidents and have less tolerance for bad behavior. CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) was suggested as a solution for reducing vagrancy.
Contact Amber Moser at amber.moser@mcda.us to set up a trespass agreement.
Trees in Ladd’s Addition
Peter Livingston and Judith Reis presented the Tree Project. Proposed city regulations make Norway Maples illegal. Ladd’s Addition is on the Register of Historic Places in part due to the uniformity of plant design. Peter and Judith asked for HAND’s support to allow for the planting of Norway Maples. They noted that the Norway Maple was put on the City’s nuisance list due to the prolific creation of seeds and due to the fact that it is not native to this region. Judith explained that the new regulations do not recommend single species planting. Dave Kaplan gave some history of the Maple problem. Age and verticillium wilt had killed some Norway Maples, and Zelcova Elm was found as an alternative where there was the fungus. Jacomoti (?) Birch was also a hardy alternative. The decision to plant Katsura Maples was made by the residents of Holly Street.
Alex Bassos moved that “a letter be written to encourage the city forester to create a historic overlay for Ladd’s addition tree planting, urging the city forester to take into account the historic tree map as described in the historic district guidelines.” Dave Kaplan seconded the motion. The motion was voted on (missing vote count) and passed with 3 abstentions.
Civic Ecology and Watershed Stewardship
Tim O’neal introduced two new projects in coordination with Southeast Uplift. SERA Architects will be presenting Civic Ecology. Also, a Watershed Stewardship will be started, similar to the Master Gardener and Master Recycler programs. Input from the community is requested.
Board Elections
Elections to the board were held, with the following slate (incumbents noted with a *)
Jonathan Warmflash
Bill Crawford
Joanne Stainbrook
* Dave Kaplan
* Wendy Kunkel
* Lindsey McBride
* Linda Nettekoven
* Susan Pearce
* Marilee Tillstrom
* Ethan Timm
Susan Pearce moved that the slate be accepted. Linda Nettekoven seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Pocket Park and Roots of Our Neighborhood
Amy Lewin introduced the Pocket Park project and announced that the Roots of Our Neighborhood event will be held on July 24th, with a bike-in movie afterwards. For more information or to get involved, contact Amy at amy@handpdx.org
Neighborhood Sustainability Project
Alex Bassos introduced the Sustainable Community Project in which block leaders on each block will be identified, thereby creating community. The plan would divide HAND into four districts, each divided into 30 blocks. Then, block leaders will be recruited to greet new residents. Dave Kaplan suggested that this could be jumpstarted with block parties. Tim O’Neal noted that Neighborhood at a Glance information is collected at Block Party registration time. Linda Nettekoven noted that a welcome basket could be developed along with Division and Hawthorne business associations. For any input, please contact Alex at chair@handpdx.org
Dog Summit
Linda Nettekoven reported on the Dog Summit at Abernethy, where improving the play field and connecting with community were the themes. Amy reported that enough donations were received to improve the turf and redo the sod. Marilee Tillstrom suggested a HAND mascot and a HAND map for dog scarfs.
Division Street Citizens Advisory Committee
Linda Nettekoven reported on the Division Street Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). The Division Street plan is to improve the street in the next year (2011) and the CAC is morphing into a DAC, Design Advisory Committee. The DAC meeting before the City Council will be on June 23rd at 10AM. PBOT (Portland Bureau of Transportation) will have better bike and pedestrian counts, though we are unsure of when. A neighbor noted that SE 29th Ave. gets a lot of diverted traffic from Division to Powell, perhaps because it receives less attention as a neighborhood boundary.
Community Center
At the recent URAC (Urban Renewal Advisory Committee) the status of Washington High and the SE Community Center was discussed. Diverting funds for affordable housing at Washington High was discussed. The most recent option for Venerable Properties to develop Washington High is now “off the table” and the community center project is “on hold”. It was suggested that someone from the Parks department be invited to speak at the next Board meeting. Susan Pearce suggested that the plans can be kept “on the table” for future funding. Chris Eykamp asked if the building is converted to housing could there still be a community center. Linda Nettekoven explained that yes, a free standing community center building is still an option. Joanne Stainbrook asked if the housing was a for-profit or non-profit venture. Susan explained that it is a for-profit venture. Lindsey McBride noted that the neighborhood has been working for over 30 years for a community center, beginning with the Mt. Hood freeway opposition movement.
Cleanup
Marilee Tillstrom thanked everyone who participated in cleanup and noted that 4.22 tons of yard debris were collected.
Bylaws
Susan Pearce moved that the amended bylaws which had been distributed earlier be accepted. Chris Eykamp seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Minutes
Chris Eykamp moved that the minutes be approved. Linda Nettekoven seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Submitted by:
Ethan Tim, Note-taker and Carolyn Brock, Secretary