Far Southwest Neighborhood Association Meeting
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Chair: Steve Beining, Secretary: Marcia Leslie
Steve called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. Neighbors who signed in: Marcia Leslie, Virginia Hendrickson, Gene Hammond, Jackie Elliott, Bud & Denise Jeffords, Stephanie Ehui, Ray Coronado, Linda Neale, Rod McAfee, Chuck Radosta, Steve Beining.
I. Approval of July minutes. Minutes were approved as submitted.
II. Committee Reports:
A. SWNI Board (Steve Beining): Steve said the past six months have focused on the embez-
zlement case which has been in the news and is nearly resolved. The Board has made many
changes in the financial systems, fundraising and expenditures to assure adequate accountability
to keep this from happening again. Marianne Fitzgerald, former chair of the Transportation com-
mittee is the new President of SWNI, and Jim McLaughlin of West Portland Park is 1st Vice
President. SWNI has twice as much funds available this year for small grants than they had last
year. Safeway on Barbur is seeking permission to double in size, and no longer allow access from
Barbur – only from Capitol Hill and out onto Multnomah. Walgreen’s may move into the site of the
Castle Super Store.
B. Crime Prevention (Marcia Leslie): There was no August meeting due to National Night Out
events. She forgot to attend the September meeting where they discussed the annual action plan
and focused on working with NET/CERT groups, POEM (Portland Office of Emergency Manage-
ment) and Portland Police. The annual Police Reception will be in October and everyone is invited
to come and say “Thanks” to our SW officers.
C. Parks: April has resigned from the Parks committee so there is no report this month.
D. Trails: The SWNI Trails committee has been dissolved and Don Baack is forming a new
committee independent of SWNI.
E. Transportation (Chuck Radosta): Chuck circulated a map showing planned closures and
detours for the Multnomah Blvd. sewer project starting 11/3 and lasting about 45 days. The current
plan directs traffic south on Capitol and 40th to cross Barbur and enter I-5 north-bound at Huber,
which will impact FSW and WPP, among other nearby neighborhoods. The Safeway plans are a
hot topic for surrounding neighborhoods. The connection of the Barbur Corridor to plans for future
high-capacity transit has been a topic of discussion in Portland and Tigard and will continue to be
for several years as planning continues. Representatives from neighborhoods near 63rd and Barbur
met with ODOT to discuss plans to widen the north-bound off-ramp from I-5 to Barbur, including
from 60th onto Barbur, plus widen lanes onto I-5 from Barbur by the bus stop below Fantasy Video.
The group pointed out the need for better bike lanes, and dangerous pedestrian crossings by the
apartments beyond Barbur Storage. Steve wrote a detailed description of the traffic proposals in
the September SW News.
F. Land Use: Peter Johnson will not be continuing as Land Use committee rep.
G. Communications: The committee only meets quarterly. Peter Seaman is the rep but
hasn’t been coming to report.
III. Old Business:
A. Event Planning Committee: There is an opportunity to write a grant for a community event.
Steve asked for input as to whether we wanted an event and, if so, what kind of event – continue
an August picnic or something else? It was felt the college was a good location, plenty of parking,
room for children to play, but that summer may not be the best time of year. Early fall might be
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better, possibly early evening or night, maybe during the week. There was discussion about the
complexity/problems with potlucks, simplicity of ice cream socials, difficulty talking while listening
to bands/music. There has been interest in recording neighborhood histories which would be
difficult in a picnic setting. Getting teenagers to attend and take part has been a problem. It was
suggested that having an educational event might be good. The question was raised as to how
many children and teenagers are in FSW now? But the children won't come if their parents
don't come. There was discussion about building a stronger neighborhood identity, maybe with
sign caps like other NA's have installed, vs merging with a nearby NA. Steve asked for volunteers
to have a planning meeting for the grant application, tentatively October 8th.
IV. New Business: Committee Representation for FSW:
Steve expressed concern that FSW is represented only half the SWNI committees, and that we
don't have input on major issues affecting FSW. These committees are liaisons to city government
as a whole, and decisions the government makes affect the entire city, including FSW. The com-
mittees are our way of influencing those decisions. The question was raised as to how much com-
mitment was involved? One 2-hour meeting per month plus reading minutes/reports to prepare for
the meeting (about 1 hour), report to the NA meeting every other month, 3 – 5 hours total, and
occasionally other activities.
Other: (1) Ray Coronado asked for FSW support for his plans to build a new garage on his prop-
erty. His plans to build a carport and garage in front of his house were approved by the city a
couple of yeas ago and the carport was completed. He revised the design (door and windows, not
the size, placement or footprint) for the garage, and is now being told by the city that he has to build
it in back of the house in an area which is heavily landscaped. He would like support to keep it in
front, which the city originally approved. A motion was made, seconded and carried to support
Ray's plans.
(2) Linda Neale, long-time coordinator of Earth Day activities, is holding a conference/event
at PCC April 20 & 21 with Native American elders, an essay contest in local schools, and an Earth
Fair. There will be classes and workshops put on with PCC, with speakers who are making an en-
vironmental difference in their communities. She was interested in writing a grant application for
her workshop, and requested FSW to support/endorse the conference which will bring elders and
youth together to honor Earth Day and help the community learn more ways to benefit their envi-
ronment. There will be a charge for the sessions in the Performing Arts Center, the Earth Fair will
be free. Marcia said that, as a non-profit NA, we can't endorse events for which there is a charge
because it jeopardizes our non-profit status. This has come up in the past. We can announce it as
an upcoming event in our minutes and, while the concept sounds great, we can't officially support it.
V. Upcoming Events/News:
Barbur Concept Plan Neighborhood Walks on September 22 and 24
(http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/barbur)
SW Corridor big kickoff event on September 28
(http://calendar.oregonmetro.gov//events/index.php?com=detail&eID=5097)
Multnomah Historical Association is looking for volunteers to share their stories about the past.
VI. Meeting adjourned.
Next meeting November 15, 2011.
Respectfully submitted, Marcia Leslie, Secretary