TriMet Proposes Service Cuts

TriMet is facing a $12–$17 million shortfall in the next budget year.  A budget will be proposed to the TriMet board February 8, 2012. Public input will be accepted at February Open Houses and at March hearings. The hearings have not been scheduled yet. The open house in Portland is scheduled:

Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Time: 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Place:    Portland Building, Room C,  1120 SW 5th Ave

Additional open houses listed on TriMet’s website.

Posted in Budgets & Public Bodies, Transportation | Comments Off

Arlington Heights Candidate Forums

By Eric Nagle, Arlington Heights Board Member

Dates: Mondays, February 13, March 12 & April 9, 2012
Time: 5:30 PM
Place: Sylvan Fire Station, 1715 SW Skyline Blvd

Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association has invited three mayoral candidates to meet with us to discuss issues of concern to our neighborhood and city. Charlie Hales, who authored the ordinance allowing skateboarding on city streets, will meet with us on February 13, Eileen Brady will meet with us on March 12, and Jefferson Smith will meet with us on April 9. We are particularly interested in hearing how the candidates would address our skateboarding problem, but the floor will be open for other topics as well. We hope to see you there!

Questions? Visit the Arlington Heights website or contact Angela at Neighbors West-Northwest, 503 823-4211.

Posted in Arlington Heights, Candidate Forums | Comments Off

NWDA Community Budget Training 2/13

by Mary Ann Pastene, Co-chair of the NWDA Safety & Livability Committee

Have Your Say in the City of Portland Budget! The Northwest District Association (NWDA) Safety and Livability Committee and Friendly House have organized a Community Budget Training Presentation. This presentation by the City of Portland Office of Management and Finance will explain the relationship between City services and the City budget, provide an overview of the budget process and opportunities for involvement, and facilitate a discussion on neighborhood budget priorities. The meeting is open to the public and is an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions about budget decisions being proposed by City bureaus.

The presentation will be Monday, February 13, 2012, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM at Friendly House, 1737 NW 26th Avenue (at Thurman St.) Snacks will be provided. This event is sponsored by the Northwest District Association Safety and Livability Committee and Friendly House. For more information about this event or about NWDA contact, safety@northwestdistrictassociation.org or visit the NWDA website.

Posted in Budgets & Public Bodies, NWDA | Comments Off

RACC Workshop: How did that mural get there?

The Rules and Regulations for Creating Murals in the City of Portland: Learn how to organize, fund and navigate two distinct paths for creating murals in the City of Portland. Artists Joe Cotter and Robin Corbo will join Peggy Kendellen, Manager of RACC’s Public Art Murals Program and Kristin Cooper, from the City’s Bureau of Development Services for a discussion on how to navigate the various systems. 

Date: Saturday, February 11, 2012
Time: 10:00 PM – 1:000 PM
Place: New Columbia, Community Education Center, 4625 N. Trenton
Cost: $20
For more information, click here.

Panel:
Facilitator: Peggy Kendellen:
Peggy Kendellen has worked in the public art field for over 18 years. She manages both site specific and temporary public art projects, the Public Art Murals Program, and intersections, an artist-in-residence program. She has conducted professional development workshops for artists and has spoken locally, regionally and nationally on public art issues. In 2010, Peggy was re-elected to a second three-year term on the Public Art Network Council, an elected advisory body to Americans for the Arts that assists in developing policies, programs, and resources to promote knowledge and understanding of the public art field and is currently the council’s chair elect. Peggy earned her BFA and MA in art from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a recipient of an NEA Midwest Artists Fellowship. Her breadth of art world related experiences have provided her with a rich perspective of multiple aspects of the creative life, including portfolio preparation, creating/exhibiting/selling art, teaching, and serving as a juror.

Panelists:
Kristin Cooper
Kristin Cooper is a Senior Planner with the City of Portland and currently works in the Bureau of Development Services with the Planning and Zoning Review section. She is responsible for implementing Title 4, the City’s Original Art Mural regulations. In that role she answers questions about where murals are allowed and how the mural code requirements can be met. She also works with mural permit applicants through the permit process from application to inspection.

Robin Corbo
Robin Corbo has been an established Portland muralist for five years. Public art has been a marriage of her passion for painting along with her love of working with large groups of people to execute a shared vision. The seeds of this art practice were planted 10 years ago when she graduated from the College of Santa Fe with a BA in Art Therapy. After years of working as a social worker and success coach she has cultivated a method for facilitating mural projects that illustrate communities missions in public places. Her projects have mirrored her own personal interests in bicycle transportation, feminism, local people’s history, public health education, and forest activism. Other recent projects have involved performance, puppetry, guerilla theater, masquerade, and interactive installations.

Joe Cotter
Eagle Creek artist Joseph Cotter was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1949 and attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, majoring in Journalism, from 1971-1975. He moved to Portland in 1977 and began to participate in art shows in 1982. He studied life drawing at Portland State University in 1983-1984. Mr. Cotter’s first started painting on murals in Portland in 1988 and he began to paint for McMenamins in 1990. He has been painting on murals in Estacada as a member of the artists cooperative “Artback” since 1994. There have been 16 murals painted in Estacada since that time. Joseph Cotter was lead artist for the old Outside In mural, 1989-1990, as well as the “Cycle of Wood” (1996) and “The Arts in Estacada” (2003) and “Tales of the Trails” (2008) murals in Estacada. He was fortunate enough to design and paint a section of the mural on the Musicians Union in 2006. The coordinator on that mural was Isaka Shamsud-Din and the other artists were Isaka, Hector Hernandez and Baba Wague Diakite. The Musicians Union is located on NE 20th between Burnside and Sandy. The Buckman Community mural (2008 -2011) on the Plaid Pantry at SW 12th and Morrison in Portland was the last mural in which Mr. Cotter was lead artist. It was painted with the help of Kolieha Bush.

Organizations
Mr. Cotter was a member of The Artback Artists Cooperative; The Spiral Gallery Artists Cooperative in Estacada; The Performing Arts Group of Estacada (P.A.G.E.); The Oregon Country Fair as a member of the Chameleons Garden; Eagle Creek booth and Portland Mural Defense, an organization dedicated to the legalization of mural painting in Portland, Oregon. In this capacity he was also a member of Mayor Katz’s workgroup that designed the RACC mural program in 2005 and the City of Portland workgroup that fashioned the mural ordinance that went into effect in 2009. He was also a party in Clear Channel v. City of Portland, a civil case that determined the legal status for mural painting in Portland.

 

 

Posted in Graffiti Abatement | Comments Off

NINA Food Drive A Success!

by Barbara Macnab

First and foremost, Thank You to one and all for an outstanding effort this year!   Though we were unable to obtain an exact weight of food donated, based on the number of barrels distributed, filled and in many cases filled again, we estimate that between 3,500 – 4,000 lbs were collected and delivered to NW Portland Ministries over the course of our food drive!

We also passed along some cash donations and NWPM will receive some ongoing financial support as a result of the 2011 NINA Food Drive!

Here is a list of this year’s participants:

  •  Culver Glass
  • ESCO
  • General Tool
  • Gunderson
  • Kent Studebaker
  • Kinder Morgan
  • Madden Fabrication
  • Neighbors West-Northwest
  • OBRC
  • Penske
  • Portland Pattern
  • Southwest Office Supply & Interiors
  • Star Industrial Supply

And, a VERY special thank you to Gunderson for making Jason Joy and a company vehicle available throughout the entire food drive!  I can assure you that Jason truly did the heavy lifting of most of the thousands of pounds of food collected on behalf of NW Portland Ministries!

 Please remember, NW Portland Ministries provides numerous vital services in our neighborhood year round and all support is greatly appreciated.  Here is a link to their website for more information about specific needs and volunteer opportunities!

Posted in Northwest Industrial | Comments Off

Hillside News

At the recent annual meeting, Hillside members re-elected Elizabeth Aaby, Gary Berger, Jack Schwartz, Barb Schwartz, Keith Taft and Randy Weisberg were re-elected for a two-year term. Also, an extension of Hillside’s northeastern  boundary overlap with Northwest District Association, along NW Cornell and Quimby Streets, was approved. Residents in the overlap area have the option of joining either or both neighborhood associations. Finally, Hillside formally requested inclusion in the Northwest Parking Study.

The Cornell Road Sustainability Coalition will meet to discuss a solution matrix to address fact finding issues and concerns that have been generated through the planning process over the past three months.  Anyone interested in expressing their views should attend the meeting January 23, 2012, 6:00 PM at the Audubon Society

Posted in Annual Meeting/Elections, Hillside, Transportation | Comments Off

Reminder: SHNA Traffic & Transportation Survey Results Available

Sylvan-Highlands Neighborhood Association’s Transportation & Traffic Safety Committee poll elicited robust participation and strong neighborhood interest in the issues affecting the safety of our neighborhood streets.

The majority of respondents support the proposals for traffic calming outlined in the survey. Complete results are available on line at the neighborhood website.

Neighbors are encouraged to contact Sylvan-Highlands Neighborhood Association with additional comments and questions via the website, the following e-mail addresses: transportation@sylvanhighlands.org, info@sylvanhighlands.org or by phone at 503 823-4211.

A follow up letter has been sent to Portland Bureau of Transportation to PBOT responded stating they will “go over the reports we provided to you several months back and identify potential capital projects for future budget consideration.”

Posted in Sylvan-Highlands, Transportation | Comments Off

Simple Steps to Prepare for Possible Winter Weather Emergency

Stay Informed: Register with www.publicalerts.org, Portland’s reverse 911 system, to receive a text message, phone call or email of an emergency notice or significant event in your area. Follow the latest weather forecast at www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr.

Minimize Travel: If you must travel, know what to expect. Check the City’s snow plow routes in your area by visiting www.portlandmaps.com, fill in the appropriate address, then click the ‘Transportation’ tab.  Check highway conditions at www.tripcheck.com. TriMet routes can be altered or cancelled. Visit www.trimet.org/alerts for the latest information and to sign up for alerts by email.

Be Prepared: Prepare for an extended period of snow or ice, by stockpiling extra food, medicine and pet supplies. Visit www.ready.gov for an emergency kit supply list and other valuable information on emergency preparedness.

Posted in Emergency Preparedness | Comments Off

Wallace Park: Neighborhood Emergency Team Staging Area

The Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM), Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) and the all-volunteer Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) program have collaborated to install emergency staging area signs throughout the City of Portland. These signs indicate areas where specially trained NET members will provide assistance to displaced residents following a major emergency. Wallace Park is the designated NET area in the Northwest District. The sign in the photo was recently installed at ball field #2 in the northeast corner of the park. The new signs are just one in a series of ongoing emergency preparedness efforts under way in Portland.

Posted in Emergency Preparedness, NWDA | Comments Off

Emergency Preparedness Round Table

If you live or work in a multi-story building and want to be prepared for an emergency, join us for this round table discussion. Emergency preparedness experts will answer your questions in an informal discussion. Our goal is to help Pearl District residents be prepared for emergencies and situations unique to those living in vertical high-density communities.

Date: Thursday, January 26, 2012
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: The PremGroup Offices, 351 NW 12th Ave, Portland OR

Who should attend:

  • Condo owners
  • HOA board members and committee members
  • Tenants
  • Business owners and employees
  • School staff and parents

Light refreshments courtesy of sponsor Community Management, Inc

Questions? Please contact  Jan Valentine at 503 715-2822.

Posted in Emergency Preparedness, Pearl District | Comments Off