This week, the Water Bureau plans to connect recently relocated water lines on Williams Avenue between Sacramento and Tillamook Streets.
The Water Bureau will notify neighbors of any disruption in water service. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Nate Burton, Public Works Supervisor for the Water Bureau, at 503-823-1843
Sewer Construction Schedule Update
In September, crews will be working on Rodney Avenue between Sacramento and San Rafael streets, and on Thompson Street between Rodney Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Crews will focus on installing new public sewer connections from the main sewer line to the curb in front of each home.
Please be aware that schedules are subject to change due to a variety of factors, such as conditions underground, weather, traffic impacts, and subcontractor and materials availability.
Please let Environmental Services know if you have concerns such as business operations, disability issues or medical and business deliveries. As always, we will strive to provide a quick response to your concerns, minimal disruption of your residence or commercial business, and open and honest communication with you throughout the project.
Matt Gough
Community Outreach
City of Portland Environmental Services
1120 SW 5th Ave, Room 1000
Portland, Oregon 97204
503-823-5352
Matthew.Gough@portlandoregon.gov
The Water Bureau, in coordination with Environmental Services, has completed connecting recently relocated water lines in the project area. Additional work by the Water Bureau may occur in the project area if needed. The Water Bureau will notify residents and business of any temporary disruption to water service.
Sewer Contruction Schedule Update
Crews will be working each Saturday in October in an effort to complete sewer construction on Rodney Avenue (Thompson to San Rafael), and on Tillamook Street (Rodney to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) before the end of the month.
One crew will focus on installing new public sewer connections from the main sewer line on Rodney to the curb in front of each home. An additional crew will focus on building a new main public sewer line on Tillamook Street between Rodney and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Visit the Eliot Sewer and Stormwater Project site to view a map of the project area that shows where crews will be working in October.
Crews have patched trenches used for construction with temporary pavement. Permanent trench patching and street restoration is expected to occur in late October and early November.
Please be aware that schedules are subject to change due to a variety of factors, such as conditions underground, weather, traffic impacts, and subcontractor and materials availability issues. Sewer, water, and other utilities are expected to stay in service during sewer construction.
Final Trench Paving and Street Restoration. Did you know?
Crews have been using open trench construction to install new public sewer pipe in your neighborhood. After sewer pipe has been installed in a location, the contractor patches the trenches used during construction with temporary pavement to make the street useable as soon as possible.
We are aware that several streets in your neighborhood have had temporary paving for an extended period. Periods of inactivity ranging from a few weeks to a few months are common between completing repairs and final trench paving for a variety of reasons. Most often delays are due to paving subcontractor availability issues and weather. Our intention is to restore streets where sewer construction has occurred in late October and early November. Thank you for your patience.
For More Information
Visit the Eliot Sewer and Stormwater Project site. To receive email updates for this project, send an email to Matthew.Gough@portlandoregon. gov with “Eliot Updates” in the subject line.
Please let Environmental Services know if you have concerns such as business operations, disability issues or medical and business deliveries. As always, we will strive to provide a quick response to your concerns, minimal disruption of your residence or commercial business, and open and honest communication with you throughout the project.
Matt Gough
Community Outreach
City of Portland Environmental Services
1120 SW 5th Ave, Room 1000
Portland, Oregon 97204
Phone: 503-823-5352 l Cell Phone: 503-823-6622
Matthew.Gough@portlandoregon. gov
Kids having fun with Blaze and amazing face painting. Photo credit Sims Photography
Thank you for making our BPI Family Fun Day and Concerts in the Park a huge success! The weather was amazing! The music was fantastic! We were surrounded by families and community, love and good times!
Every year around this time we come together to celebrate our participants and volunteers. This year we partnered with Portland Parks & Recreation to help host the Dawson Park Concerts in the Park series. For Three weeks we hosted musical magic at Dawson Park and welcomed Eldon “T” Jones & N Touch, Embrace PDX, and Zoulful Muzic to the stage. They showed up, turned it out, and fun was had by all! For the third and final concert we also hosted our annual Family Fun day and it was one of the best Family Fun Days yet! So many of our families and partnering organizations came out to help, celebrate and have a good time and we partied like never before.
And we would like to share a special note of appreciation to:
PACKY Academy for providing the culturally specific arts & crafts
Three Wishes Entertainment for the beautiful face painting
NE Coalition of Neighborhoods for hosting an, at capacity, domino tournament
Portland Police Bureau for providing snacks and swag
Hana’s PDX for serving up tasty snowballs and snacks
Po’Shines for bringing us their delicious down-home comfort foods
New Seasons for coming through with free fresh fruits for the kids and families at the concerts
Portland Fire & Rescue for bringing their trucks and lighting the night
Portland Trail Blazers for sending Blaze the Trail Cat and incredible gift baskets for families
Bouncin Bins for the always exciting inflatable bounce house
Sims Photography for helping us capturing it all on film
And last but not least, a special thanks to YOU who were able to join us, and all of you who continue to show your support for BPI and the amazing children and families we serve! We could not do this with you!
For more information on how to get involved or to participate in any of our programs visit us at www.TheBPI.org.
Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery for all the moments captured that night!
By Leigh Bohannon
The crowd at the Dawson Park Concert having a great time dancing and enjoying the free music, great weather and opportunity to share some community time. Photo credit Sims Photography
Paul Bubl teaches science at Harriet Tubman Middle School in Portland. His room has a view of the Fremont Bridge and Forest Park – and Interstate 5, if you look down.
As Portland school officials toured Harriet Tubman Middle School, they marveled at the new science labs and dance studio. Upstairs, with a great view west of the Fremont Bridge and Forest Park, science teacher Paul Bubl was getting ready for students.
Like many of his students, Bubl was at a K-8 school last year — Boise-Eliot-Humboldt — and he was grateful to have more space and modern science equipment at Tubman. Those improvements will translate into better experiments for his students. Bubl’s room is bigger, and he’s got a wide hallway out his door where he’s planning to do a physics exercise on force and velocity. “Maybe instead of using a little car and a cart, maybe using a bowling ball, and seeing if those same principles apply in the small scale that they do in the big,” he said.
Portland Public Schools officials are excited about finally opening two new middle schools on the east side of the city, Tubman and Roseway Heights, after years of planning. Getting those buildings ready, as well as preparing Rose City Park as a neighborhood elementary school, cost $30 million.
More than half of that was spent at Tubman to address environmental problems that nearly derailed the school’s opening.
Oregon’s largest school district has drawn a great deal of attention in the past few years for how its leaders handled dangerous levels of lead in drinking water. PPS administrators have acknowledged deferring maintenance on its decades-old buildings and the reality that it will now take years and potentially billions of dollars to solve all the problems.
At Tubman, the biggest challenge was air quality.
As Bubl shared his excitement recently about the start of the new year and the experiments he can do in his new science room, a buzz persisted in the background. It came from a temporary air monitor that Portland State University researchers are using to analyze whether millions of dollars in air quality fixes are working.
During a tour of the remodeled building, while other district officials appreciated the new dance studio’s shiny wooden floor and wall-to-wall mirrors, school board member Paul Anthony stared at the ceiling. “You can see, like, on the seams here — that’s brand new,” Anthony said.
Project manager Steven Simonson stands in a new air handler at Harriet Tubman Middle School.
“Yeah, all of the duct work in the building is pretty much brand new,” added Steven Simonson, a project manager on the improvements at Tubman, Roseway Heights and Rose City Park. “It’s all part of the new filtration system that we put in.”
Simonson said about $18 million of the $30 million spent at the campuses went to address to air quality and asbestos abatement at Tubman. He was eager to show off the crown jewel of Tubman’s air quality upgrades: the air handler, which sits across a courtyard from the dance studio.
The air handler has two main doors on it. One opens into a chamber with rows of filters on each side, intended to dramatically curtail chemicals and particulates entering Tubman. “This is what you’d have in hospitals,” Simonson said. “There are none of these inside of schools in Oregon, that we know of.”
The second door goes to a room of fans, which draw air through the air handler. They pull air both from the outdoors and from inside the school, so that the air is actually filtered twice before being emitted back outside. “This thing is unreal,” Simonson said. “The only place I’ve seen anything anywhere close to this was an engineering building [in Colorado].”
Harriet Tubman Middle School and poor air quality have a long history. The Tubman building went up in 1952, initially as Eliot Elementary School. Interstate 5 was built next to it several years later.
Tubman’s air quality was closely studied for the first time in 2009, when the Environmental Protection Agency put air monitors nearby. At the time, the Harriet Tubman Young Women’s Academy was operating at the building. The magnet school closed in 2012 due to low enrollment. The air quality was not widely discussed.
Later, Tubman would be the temporary home for staff and students from Faubion K-8, as Faubion’s Northeast Portland campus was rebuilt, through funding from a 2012 bond measure. Again, air quality was not widely discussed as a concern.
Air quality surfaced as a big concern in 2016, when PPS parents were already on edge over the district’s handling of lead in school drinking water. City and state regulators were also wrestling at the time with reports of toxic air emissions from glass manufacturers. One of those implicated glassmakers was in North Portland, not far from Tubman.
At the same time, PPS had proposed reopening Tubman as a neighborhood middle school drawing students from four K-8 school communities that would shrink to elementary schools: majority white Irvington and Sabin schools and more ethnically diverse King and Boise-Eliot-Humboldt schools. A recent story in The Oregonian/OregonLive included Ron Herndon, an African-American civic leader, questioning the lack of outrage over the local air quality when Faubion, a school with a comparatively large population of African-American students, was operating out of Tubman.
Much like with the revelations about lead in school drinking water, PPS leaders stumbled in their handling of the air quality issues at Tubman. School board member Paul Anthony now says he passed along erroneous information to community members based on what he was hearing from district officials.
Anthony said he had been told the air filtration at the school was good. “I and a lot of other people were lied to,” he said. “It was not remotely acceptable.”
Last fall, PPS board members pulled back from opening Tubman and asked for more information. They called on district staff to consider other buildings that could work as a middle school for inner North and Northeast Portland, if Tubman couldn’t be cleaned up adequately.
By spring, PPS had a new air quality study and had committed millions of dollars to a new air system.
After two years fixing hazardous facilities, district leaders are ready to refocus inside the classroom.
Tubman principal Natasha Butler said that on the first day, parents had a simple message: “We made it,” she said.
Butler’s focus is on school culture rather than the quality of the air. She’s excited to help teachers collaborate as “thought partners,” and to get students to adjust from their cozy K-8s to the big, challenging middle school.
But “we made it” doesn’t mean “we’re done” in Butler’s mind, nor for the Tubman parents from whom she’s hearing. After years of limited offerings for middle-grade students at K-8s, Butler said parents want to see the electives and challenging courses.
“I think our parents are ready for the change. They’ve embraced the change. They just want to see if we’re going to deliver,” Butler said.
Butler made the statements alongside Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who both used the phrase “promises delivered,” to describe the first day at Harriet Tubman Middle School.
Butler doesn’t expect to compromise the middle school experience for her students based on her school’s location. PSU researchers recommended limiting the time students spend outside in their recent report. Butler said her middle schoolers will go outdoors.
“The findings didn’t indicate that we should not be able to have students outside to do recess, to have gym outside,” Butler said. “In fact, that is the plan.”
Tubman is far from the only school in Portland along a high-traffic corridor. After spending millions overhauling one school ventilation system, PPS leaders expect to hear from parents at those other schools. But Guerrero said there’s a limit to what the district should do.
“I think it’s a statewide issue, to be frank,” he said. “These aren’t the only schools near freeways here in Portland.”
Officials noted that schools such as Lincoln High School and Kellogg Middle School are slated to get robust air filtering systems under plans voters approved in a 2017 bond measure.
“We should be talking about truck emissions standards and other topics,” Guerrero said. “So if we do that kind of work, legislatively, we would have to worry less about the kind of air that our students are breathing.”
The 2018 election may be over, but we’ve barely begun to feel the impact of newly passed measures and newly elected representatives. For those officials who weren’t incumbents, many are just taking office this month. Their work has the potential to support the Eliot neighborhood in a whole host of different ways.
We reelected State Representative Tawna Sanchez to represent us in the Oregon State Legislature. (We’re also represented by State Senator Lew Frederick, though 2018 wasn’t an election year for Frederick). Her initial election to the state legislature was the first time Portlanders chose a Native American representative (and only the second time Oregonians elected a Native American legislator). She’s a long-term resident of the Humboldt neighborhood, just a few blocks north of us here in the Eliot neighborhood, and as such, Sanchez has prioritized issues that are high priorities for local residents, such as the Portland Superfund site along the Willamette River.
The election of Jo Ann Hardesty marked an additional milestone: for the first time ever, Portland’s city commission includes a woman of color. Our city commissioners are elected at large, meaning that they don’t represent just one part of the city. Hardesty has committed to making sure our local government works for all parts of Portland (especially those parts east of the Willamette River). One of Hardesty’s planned initiatives is to hold city commission meetings all over the city, at times that are more accessible for attendees. Right now those meetings are always in Southwest Portland during the work day, so Hardesty’s proposal may make a real difference for our ability to participate in the governance of our own city.
Certain races fly under the radar in most elections; a county auditor election usually doesn’t make the sort of news that a Congressional race will. The election of Jennifer McGuirk has the potential to drive major changes in Multnomah County. McGuirk’s platform includes using audits to not only improve financial governance in the county but also to discover abuses and inequities in local government. One of her top priorities is an audit of the county jail system, focused on the misuse of force. McGuirk also plans to audit homeless and housing services in the county.
Given the housing crisis here in Portland, the 2018 election’s focus on housing wasn’t surprising. Two ballot measures focusing on funding affordable housing passed: state measure 102 and metro measure 26-199. In short, passing 102 means that local governments in Oregon can partner with non-governmental organizations to build affordable housing projects. Prior to this election, municipal governments were required to retain full ownership of any housing projects they helped fund with government bond money. Basically, 102 simplifies the process of building affordable housing in Oregon.
Metro measure 26-199 also looks at funding affordable housing. Passing both 102 and 26-199 at the same time means that 12,000 people may gain access to affordable housing in the Portland metro area. If 26-199 had passed but 102 had failed, 26-199 would have only funded housing for about 7,500 people. Stacking these two successful initiatives will pay off for the Eliot neighborhood in the long run, creating more homes for members of our community.
What does all this mean for 2020? The next election isn’t as far off as it feels. From discussions on which Oregonians might make a presidential bid to announcements of campaigns for Portland’s mayoral race, members of our community are already working on next year’s election. We’ll be voting for state representative again, as well as for state senator. These races, especially the local races, will impact all of us here in the Eliot neighborhood.
It’s winter, a time for holiday cards and, less welcome, property tax bills. This time next year you may look back fondly at your tax bill as the Governor, Speaker of the House, and legislators from Beaverton and Hood River have all indicated they want to revisit our property tax system. Their public justification is that “gentrification” has resulted in “those homeowners” not “paying their fair share.” Of course, “gentrification” is a code word for homeowners in inner N/NE Portland; namely, us. To see how this might affect you and your neighbors, look at the difference between the “assessed value” and “market value” of your home. “Reform” will likely reset assessed value to market value so the difference (currently about 4 times for an older Eliot home), is how much taxes could increase; 400%!
The reason the Governor and Democrats are interested in changes to the property tax system is to increase funding for schools, mostly to pay for pension costs which now consume about a third of school funds and soon will demand about half their budget. Providing more money for teachers, technology, and buildings requires more taxes. Historically, the primary source of school funding was from local property taxes. Paying a “fair share,” especially to fund more teachers, is a reasonable policy. Readjustment of assessed values to market rates seems logical; however, the current rates are where they are for a reason, so a little history is necessary.
This article is expected to be the first of two. It will try to explain how property taxes are set and why so proposed reforms are more understandable. The next article will try to evaluate whatever the Legislature proposes, once it is known. If the Legislature does reform our property tax system, it will need to do so before it ends this summer, so the new system won’t be known until then. I suspect whatever it adopts will be challenged either in court or by ballot because the Democratic majority in the Legislature doesn’t need Republican votes to pass tax measures. Republicans are more focused on public pension reform to free up already available taxes. If the Legislature doesn’t reform both, Republicans will challenge all tax measures. We will see.
Take a Ride on the Wayback Machine
Funding local government and schools using property taxes, which are set at the county level, puts control over those expenses in the hands of local taxpayers rather than the State (as is the case in Washington). Historically, this was done by tying property taxes to “market” value as determined by each county tax assessor. When market value increased, so did taxable value and tax collections. The budget for local governments and schools established a baseline for calculating tax rates. Projected budgets were divided by the “tax base” or market value of all properties and each property was assessed a proportionate share. If projected budgets didn’t change, but property values increased, tax rates would go down. During recessions, property values tended to decrease and so did taxes (and funds for schools and government). So long as market values changed slowly this process was generally acceptable to the public. An exception was in rural counties, especially in Southern Oregon, hard hit by the shrinking forest products industry and falling farm prices.
The 1980s saw a rapid increase in property values and taxes. Anticipating more taxes to spend, government and school budgets increased to absorb the new funds. Unfortunately, back to back recessions hit Oregon’s economy particularly hard, squeezing household incomes. The newly increased property tax rates forced some homeowners out of their homes. A rise in anti-tax politicians resulted in a ballot initiative, Measure 5, to “cut and cap” property tax rates. Measure 5 was adopted by voters in 1990 as an amendment to the State Constitution, so it can only be changed by voters, not the Legislature. Measure 5 cut the maximum tax rate to $15 per $1,000 dollars of property value. (In the metro area that resulted in a tax cut of roughly 50%, forms a rate of $31.) It also split that amount into two pots, one specifically for schools ($5/$1,000) the other for governments. Ballot measures tend to be simplistic solutions to complex problems, and Measure 5 is an example.
One of the major flaws in Measure 5 was the tax rate cap was a maximum of $15/$100,00. The Metro area’s tax rate at the time was over $30/$1,000 so the “cut” forces a 50% reduction in tax revenues and pushed Metro area school budgets against the “cap.” Additional funding was needed. While there was general agreement continued escalation in property value and tax collections presented a hardship to homeowners, and an unneeded windfall to schools and governments, it was expected the Legislature would supplement any lost revenue with more progressive (read “income”) taxes. The Legislature was unable to agree on a new basis to fund schools and governments due to gridlock and the threat of additional anti-tax initiatives. Instead, it (and Portland City Council) voted for a series of annual supplemental funds for non-property tax sources. The property tax issue returned to the voters as Measure 47 in 1996. That measure was also flawed, and the Legislature referred fixes to the voters as Measure 50 in 1997. It limited property tax increases to 3% of assessed value based on Measure 5’s initial rate cap. These laws are the basis for our current property tax system.
Today’s Reality vs History
Essentially, property taxes for existing properties are based on an assessed value dating to the 1990s, and may only increase 3% per year over that rate. In other words, if you live in a house that hasn’t been improved since 1995, your property taxes are based on its value in 1995 plus 3% per year since. For a house with a market value of $100,000 in 1995, taxes after Measure 50 would have been $1,500. Today, twenty years later, the rate would be around $2,900. If your home value increased at our long-term average of 5% a year, it would be valued today at $280,000 and Measure 50 taxes, without the original cap on value, would be $4,200. The difference of $1,300 is the “gentrification savings” legislators are concerned about. This isn’t a huge amount, and these “savings” apply to all homes, including those that cost far more than $100,000 in 1995. For example, using the same calculations, a home in the West Hills (or even Beaverton) valued at $500,000 in 1995 would realize a “savings” of $7,500! In other words, those legislators are wrong to blame our neighborhood (and “gentrification”) for the current inequity in property taxes!
It’s Complicated
The previous discussion has been simplified. For one thing, if there were any improvements requiring permits to your house since 1995, that would allow the County Assessor to increase the value from the Measure 50 “cap” to current market value, so the “savings” would be significantly reduced. In addition, the discussion assumed only “average” market value increases. Properties in Inner N/NE aren’t valued for their homes, but for the land under them. That $100,000 property is probably worth $450,000, $200,000 for the house and $250,000 for the land. If the market value is $450,000, the “uncapped” taxes would be closer to $7,000 and “gentrification savings” over $4,000. Another thing, actual property tax bills include tax-based fees outside the limits of Measure 50, including bonds for schools, parks, housing, and economic development. Although those add to the tax bill, were not the focus of Measure 50, in fact, they were specifically exempted. It isn’t clear how a “fix” to Measure 50 would affect those fees. For example, a bond tax goes toward repayment of a fixed cost. If the tax rate is increased, more taxes are collected and the bond is simply repaid sooner.
Policy Issues
The comparison of “gentrification savings” to a West Hills home was provided to indicate how “tax reform” will affect homes outside Inner N/NE in ways legislators lusting after additional tax revenue may not fully appreciate. In addition, the reasons for Measure 5’s tax rate limits are still applicable to residents who have lived in their homes for many years, and that includes many N/NE residents; homeowners and renters alike. As noted, increasing taxes to current market values will increase taxes on many Eliot homes by thousands of dollars. Many long-time residents may be unable to pay that additional amount, once again forcing people on limited or fixed incomes out of their homes. It is no secret that the City Council would like to see Eliot and other Inner N/NE neighborhoods converted from single family to dense, multi-family neighborhoods. Increasing property taxes serves their purpose by forcing existing property owners to sell to developers and reaping much higher taxes on those new buildings. The unfortunate side effect will be to displace existing residents with limited or fixed incomes, adding to the current housing crisis. It will be interesting to see how the Legislature, especially our local representatives, trades off new housing units against further displacement of established residents. That trade-off is almost certain to be a topic in the second installment of this article.
I’m writing to thank all those adopt-a-blockers who kept up the good fight and did their best to keep Eliot’s streets clean this past spring. Not easy dealing with the cold and wet, plus all the maneuvering between construction equipment that many of you are still enduring via our on-going sewer work. But you did your neighborhood proud!
Alas, there are still streets awaiting their loving adoption families… (so many still needed!) and we’d love to have you on board. If you’re willing to spend a few minutes a day, or a bit longer once or twice a week to improve the area you call home, please contact Jody at jodyguth at gmail dot com. I’ll get you set up with trash bags, gloves, pickers, and lots of encouragement. The added bonus is the drawing we hold every 3 months to determine who wins a $100.00 New Seasons gift certificate. Who doesn’t like to shop at New Seasons?!
I had the pleasure of recently drawing our current winner with my trusty pal, Adrian. The latest number was lucky 16, and the recipient none other than Sue Stringer, a gal who does so much for our community… congratulations, Sue!! Besides being the editor of our Eliot News newspaper, Sue finds time to be a member of the Friends of NE 7th Avenue Greenway committee, is on the Eliot neighborhood board and is one of the fabulous organizers the 7th Avenue block party fame (between Russell and Brazee). Sue is eager to join whatever she can to help make Eliot thrive. While also working a full-time job, I’m never sure how she finds the time to get it all done. We’re just so glad she lives here!
Wow, there’s so much to report on for this issue we barely had room! I have to be brief, but a couple things of note. First, air quality in Eliot is a serious issue and a common theme in a lot of our articles. Check out the causes, the ways to help prevent pollution and how you can help.
Also, don’t forget our board elections are coming up this month, October 21, at our general assembly meeting . Our neighborhood grew by almost 400 addresses in the last year to a total of 3382 business and residences so welcome to Eliot and join us because we’d love to have some new faces, ideas, and people passionate to keep Eliot a great place to live.
Lastly, we spotlight some special people, businesses and events so be sure to read this fall issue cover to cover.
Have you gotten your New Year’s resolutions set for 2020? Hopefully, the first year of the decade will be filled with interesting activities and events.
There are a lot of good ideas in this issue if you still haven’t honed in on your goals for this year. From getting healthy in a new exercise class, making new friends, and trying some new restaurants or taking a class, we have it all in the Eliot neighborhood.
Still lacking ideas? Stop by a neighborhood association meeting and listen to what we have in store this year. We are in the midst of goal planning for the year so if you have any events you’d like to suggest or want to volunteer for one of our committees or to help out with an event we’d love to talk to you.
Also we are always looking for additional reporters to write articles for our newspaper as well as businesses who want to advertise in a super local platform.
And if it’s history you’re looking for, in honor of Martin Luther King, Junior’s birthday we have a couple of article and a photo montage of then and now of our bustling street, MLK Jr. Boulevard.
So buckle up and get ready for an exciting year. I know, I am looking forward starting a new decade and all it will bring.
In an effort to strengthen more positive community relations, Portland Police are stepping up their game for the security of package shipments via online shopping venues. Officer Schmerber of the Portland Police Bureau reports that during the holiday season there are higher rates of thefts. Portland Police are working with the United States Postal Services and Amazon to help mitigate the “Porch Pirate” thefts that occur more often during the holiday season, but also during the rest of the year as well. Shopping Centers are no exception to the higher risks of theft, and Portland Police are working with stores on the prevention of thefts there, as well.
The Portland Police Bureau is also working on camp abatement while offering services and resources to the homeless communities.
In our last issue of the Eliot News, we featured an article about Vera Warren, a woman of color and aspiring, student attorney.
Vera has passed the bar exam and it is now official, she is an Attorney at Law and is well on her way to continue doing great things for justice in our society.
Diesel particulates are a problem in the Eliot neighborhood. There are several organizations, both inside and outside of the neighborhood working to change legislation and business practices, including the Eliot Neighborhood Association’s eACT group and Portland Clean Air. While activists are working to limit pollution in the future, we need to reduce the impact of diesel particulates we currently face to the greatest extent possible. Because Portland Public Schools commissioned research into the air quality at Harriet Tubman, we have data on what sort of changes can make a difference in the air we breathe here in Eliot, especially indoors. Harriet Tubman Middle School relies on an $18 million air filtration system. Most Eliot neighbors aren’t in a position to spend millions of dollars on air filtration systems, but there are air filtering options available at a variety of price points.
Adding an additional filter or two to your home can make sense, but there are several factors to consider. Not all air filtration systems are capable of catching diesel particulates. Air filters are graded the MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) scale, which runs from 1 to 20. MERV ratings are based on the size of the particles that can pass through the filter, with a filter with a rating of 1 stopping relatively large particles like pollen or spray paint dust and a filter with a rating of 20 stopping viruses and smoke particles. Filters rated MERV 16 or higher are typically needed to stop diesel particulates. MERV-rated filters may also be HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters. HEPA filters must pass a test on their ability to stop particles the size of bacteria and paint pigments, corresponding roughly to a MERV rating of 16. That’s also about the size of the diesel particulates we’re trying to stop.
If you have an existing HVAC or furnace system with a built-in filter, make sure you replace filters regularly, as well as clean any prefilter system. They’ll help improve air quality, although they may not be entirely effective on diesel particulates. Many residential systems aren’t equipped to use filters with a MERV above 10, though some homeowners choose to use filters with higher MERV ratings with minimal issues.
Consider adding a portable air filter to your space. The most effective air filters, like the Coway AP1512HH Mighty and the Austin Air HealthMate HM400, range from $125 to $600. There are options at every price point, however: you can even build your own air filter with a box fan and two replacement filters. Popular Mechanics provides a tutorial at https://bit.ly/2Ldtmt1.
Limiting time spent outdoors can be helpful, especially for folks closer to the interstate. For those with health concerns, using a respirator mask (look for an N95 or a P2 rating) will limit exposure to diesel particulates while outside. Increasing the greenery within Eliot is one of the most effective options we have. In the PSU study on Harriet Tubman’s air quality, researchers recommended increasing vegetation around the school by 50 percent. (The full report is available as a PDF at https://bit.ly/2Y6gBG8.) A similar increase throughout the neighborhood could help reduce diesel particulates somewhat.
Plants can help mitigate pollution in the air, without the replacement costs that go along with filters. Trees are particularly helpful — and organizations like Friends of Trees make the process of planting trees simple. Certain plants are especially effective at filtering air indoors: during a NASA study on which plants filtered air most effectively, these plants removed the most particulates from the air.
There’s a new place to hang out in Eliot. Whether or not you are into motorcycles, Legion Motorcycle Company has something for everyone. Need to repair your motorcycle? Legion can help with that. Want a place to hang out, drink a beer or grab a snack with your friends? Legion can help with that. Want to take a class or hold an event? Legion can help with that. Or maybe you need a haircut? Legion can help with that… well, actually the barber that is located in Legion Motorcycle Company’s shop can help with that.
Gabriel Court and Alex Glover opened Legion Motorcycle Company last August. The two, who met while working with homeless veterans, wanted to open a shop that supported the motorcycle community but with less of a cliquey and exclusive feel and making it comfortable and accessible to anyone interested in cycling. After settling on their current location at 2145 NE MLK Jr Blvd across from Billy Ray’s Tavern and next to Jayne dispensary, the two envisioned a DIY motorcycle repair shop, but it has morphed into a full service motorcycle repair shop/bar/barber shop complete with events, classes and a relaxed space to hang out. This is not a motorcycle club but is open to the public and is a place for anyone to come check out, hang out, and enjoy.
Gabriel and Alex were both combat veterans. Alex was a master of arms in the Navy and Gabriel was an airborne medic in the Army. After their military service, both ended up working with homeless veterans in Portland which is how their paths crossed. Alex worked for Transition Projects and was the director of housing. Gabriel worked for Multnomah County as an Emergency Operations Manager. They worked together and ended up opening several homeless shelters across the city. Spending time together and becoming friends they discovered that they both liked motorcycles and were getting burned out on social work. Thus, when they talked about their futures, combining what they loved about motorcycles and their skills with motorcycle repair seemed to lead to creating a business that is unique in Portland especially with all the additional services that Legion Motorcycle Company offers. The name is a nod to their military service which they credit with their meeting each other and fulfilling their future adventures.
The business started as a DIY motorcycle shop where one could work on their bike using Legion’s tools and getting advice or assistance they needed with repairs. However, the DIY only format was not sustainable so Legion has developed into a full service shop while still offering a small segment of their business devoted to do it yourself repairs as well as membership opportunities. Legion purchased Portland Moto Collective and also some machining equipment for metal fabrication from the onsite scooter rental that recently went out of business. Add a barber and a bar and you have a unique new business in Eliot. The barber, Fabian Redondo, already had his station in this location with a prior barbershop onsite. Fabian has 11 years of experience and is available to make you look sharp Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm.
The addition of the bar makes the business even more sustainable and of course, a more entertaining place to hang out. What started as a few cans of beer and a tip jar has jumped to a whole new level with fellow veteran Lucas Plant, the bartender and , pouring beer from Labrewatory, serving up vegetarian/vegan snacks, and mixing up reasonably priced, creative, low ABV wine and beer cocktails such as the Misunderstood Genius (red wine and Coca Cola) and Paradise City (champagne with elder flower and bitters).
Besides motorcycle repair and libations, Alex and Gabriel want to focus on education and events. They teach classes on motorcycle maintenance and electrical work, sell parts and jackets and are starting to offer themed parties. On Valentine’s Day they projected a movie on the wall, served heart shaped pizza and had a tattoo artist giving Valentine themed tattoos. Another event was a makers market with crafts for sale by local crafters and artists.
The next event is a restaurant pop up on March 15. The event is called Atomic Pickles and they will be serving spicy food items.
Legion currently hosts a women’s motorcycle group and offer a women specific motorcycle maintenance class. They also hope to bring in veterans who are looking for a different career path such as working in a bar or working on bikes.
It is important to Alex and Gabriel to support local nonprofits. They particularly focus on homeless services for homeless veterans and will soon offer a motorcycle tour of all the affordable housing facilities in the city. Also, they will be offering classes like earthquake preparedness, first aid, and CPR.
The Legion bar space can be rented for events. For pricing and availability email to luckyyou@legionmoto.co or call 503-954-1546.
Starting any new business can be both frustratingly challenging and pleasantly surprising. Alex and Gabriel say that the permitting process for food service was particularly challenging because there is not one specific place that the requirements can be found. However, the biggest surprise was how welcoming the neighborhood has been and how active the neighborhood is. Many residents have come by and said how glad they are that Legion is here and what great neighbors they have been so far. Keeping the noise down at night and respecting the neighbors is important to the motorcycle company owners.
So when looking for a place to spend an afternoon or evening, waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant, or want to explore the world of motorcycle maintenance, stop by Legion Motorcycle Company and join your neighbors in welcoming Alex and Gabriel to Eliot. I know I’m glad they chose our neighborhood to make their dream a reality.
Legion Motorcycle Co. 2145 NE MLK Jr Blvd Wednesday – Sunday 10 am-8 pm 503-954-1546 http://www.legionmoto.co
Legacy Health today announced Gretchen Nichols BSN, MBA, as president for the Columbia Region. Her responsibilities will include leadership of Legacy Emanuel and Legacy Mount Hood medical centers. Legacy’s new regional president role combines leadership of two hospitals to better focus on meeting the health needs of the community and providing patients with an integrated health care experience across its array of services in the region.
“Gretchen brings a strong track record of developing new services and programs and a deep experience in East County to the regional president role,” said Trent Green, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Legacy Health. “Her leadership will help Legacy Emanuel and Legacy Mount Hood continue to grow and innovate while providing outstanding patient care.”
“Legacy Emanuel and Legacy Mount Hood both play critical roles in meeting the health needs of the region,” said Nichols. “I look forward to collaborating with the physicians and staff at both hospitals on how we work together to best care for our patients and this growing community.”
A registered nurse, Nichols came to Legacy in 2007 as Legacy Mount Hood’s chief nursing officer. She served as president of Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center from 2009 to 2019. Most recently, Nichols served as interim president of Unity Center for Behavioral Health. During her tenure at Legacy Mount Hood, Nichols oversaw a significant expansion of services, including the addition of advanced cardiac care, a fast-growing robotic surgery practice, and the launch of a regional gastroenterology and endoscopy center, and led the hospital in achieving high marks in quality and service.
Microcosm, a publisher and retailer located on North Williams, drew national attention last fall for their principled stance on working with companies with anti-union practices. Microcosm routinely uses Kickstarter’s crowdfunding platform to offer pre-orders on upcoming titles. Joe Biel, the founder of Microcosm, explained that the publisher “…uses Kickstarter to promote our books to new audiences who may never walk into a bookstore and discover them. Essentially, it widens the reach and hits a different readership that doesn’t compete with our regular retailers. We have used other platforms, but Kickstarter truly has the best politics, metrics, and success rate.” During a crowdfunding campaign last summer, Kickstarter’s leadership announced that they would not voluntarily recognize a union organized by their employees. In September, when Microcosm was running another crowdfunding campaign, Kickstarter’s leadership fired two employees who had been organizing the internal unionization effort.
For Biel, supporting unionization efforts is an obvious step, based on his own experiences: “My grandparents were immigrants who came to the U.S. in the 1890s and were able to establish what we saw as middle-class lifestyles as a result of unions. Obviously, economics are different today and even more in favor of the wealthy with a rapidly disappearing middle class.”
When Microcosm discovered that Kickstarter’s employees had asked for union recognition, their first step was to check with the union:
“We checked in with union organizers who told us to carry on and that they would let us know when different actions would be helpful.” Those actions included sharing an open letter to Kickstarter on Microcosm’s website and advocating for Kickstarter’s employees on other platforms.
Running a crowdfunding campaign on a platform undergoing such turmoil is not ideal. Perhaps more difficult, though, is deciding whether a refusal to recognize a union merits public response. Biel notes, “It’s hard to trust a company that doesn’t respect its own values and precedent. The vast majority of employees that we work with there are phenomenally smart and committed so it seems that there is a growing rift between management and the company itself.” Kickstarter’s CEO, Aziz Hasan, argued that unionization would inherently damage Kickstarter as a company, but that position is difficult to justify.
Objectively, unionized organizations tend to do better, both increasing earning capacity and improving employees’ lives: Unionized workers can be up to twice as
productive as their non-unionized workers, which should please most Microcosm Supports Kickstarter’s Union employers. Marginalized employees also see smaller wage gaps with unionized employers. Objectively, communities benefit when our local employers work with unions. Employees (who may both live and work in a given community) are better equipped to participate in the community, from both social and financial perspectives.
The process of organizing a new union, however, can be difficult. Many of the strikes we’ve seen recently, especially here in Portland, are the result of employers
refusing to recognize new unions.
Given that unions are good for the communities they serve, what are our responsibilities here in Eliot when we see efforts to unionize companies here in the neighborhood?
First, we have a responsibility to respect requests made by the union: just as Microcosm respected requests by Kickstarter United to continue using the crowdfunding
platform as discussions with management continued, we should follow the lead of the people actually doing the organizing. Sometimes, that may mean respecting a strike
and changing your spending habits to avoid an organization that won’t work with its own employees. Sometimes, that may mean continuing to work with the company in
question while reminding them you that you support their union. Support can look different depending on the organizations involved.
Second, we have an obligation to stay informed about organizing efforts both here and elsewhere. Portland saw numerous union actions in 2019, only a few of which were covered by most of Portland’s media. Fred Meyer’s union went on strike, as did Burgerville. Employees at companies like Little Big Burger and Grand Central Bakery organized and asked for official recognition. Nationwide strikes, like that of Instacart workers in November, also impacted Portlanders. Staying informed can be tough but a few local organizations offer good reporting on labor news: KBOO and NW Labor Press. Microcosm also has several publications that are relevant reading: How to Boycott shares the history of American unions, while Labor Law for the Rank and Filer highlights the rights each employee has.
This is an issue that will continue to impact the Eliot community throughout 2020. There’s at least one company serving the neighborhood whose employees have asked to form a union: New Seasons. While New Seasons’ website states the company is not antiunion, it has opposed internal efforts to unionize. In October, New Seasons Workers United shared that the National Labor Relations Board had ruled that New Seasons’ managers were required to post reminders that unionizing is legal and that employees would not face repercussions for joining a union.
The board of directors of Black Parent Initiative is pleased to announce they have selected Bahia Overton to lead and champion its community-driven programs and to steer its strategic goals and objectives into the future. Bahia Overton holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Social Work. She is completing her Ph.D. in Social Work Research, focusing on the experiences of African American female adolescents in foster care.
Ms. Overton most recently served as the Director of Equity and Partnerships at the Chalkboard Project. She is also the Executive Consultant for Joy DeGruy Publications. She assists Dr. DeGruy in researching historical trauma and developing new models and methods for culturally responsive service delivery. Ms. Overton has also assisted with training and development for government agencies in creating and sustaining equitable policies and practices.
With over 14 years of practical experience as a professional in the field of social work, she has served as Child and Family Therapist, Curriculum Developer and Culturally-Specific Treatment Specialist in several states, with various community-based organizations and government entities.
Ms. Overton serves on the following Boards and Councils:
• College Possible
• Oregon Student Voice
• Organic Oneness
• Oregon Educator Equity Advisory Group
Ms. Overton is also an active member of the Bahài’ Faith which espouses the oneness of the human family.
As always, the staff and board of directors at BPI are grateful for our community’s support as we continue to deliver high-quality programs and services to families of Black and multi-racial children to break generational cycles, achieving financial, educational, health and spiritual success and well-being.
For more information or to donate contact ann.beckett@thebpi.org.
As we all know, the Covid 19 virus situation is changing daily. As of the printing of this issue, the events listed in the newspaper were still planned. However, many businesses may need to be closed and events may need to be cancelled or postponed. Please check the websites or contact the businesses or events for the latest status.
Stay safe, check on your neighbors, and remember our neighborhood businesses would appreciate your patronage whenever possible. We need to work together as a community to get through these tough times.
If you are elderly, disabled, or part of the defined vulnerable population, or know someone who needs help, please contact the neighborhood association. If we can help you with delivery of groceries, prescriptions, or supplies, contact us at info@eliotneighborhood.org.
With the shut down of most businesses we wanted to make sure that Eliot residents knew which businesses are still open for business and specifically take out for meal options, coffee shops to keep you caffeinated and more importantly to show these businesses appreciation for keeping us fed and that we want to keep them viable during these tough times. Below is a list of open businesses which will get updated as needed:
Here are two websites and links to previous articles in the Eliot News and on OPB for you to read before the discussion at the Eliot Neighborhood Association General Assembly Meeting
Let’s get educated and join the fight for cleaner air!
Neighbors for Clean Air—www.whatsinourair.org
Portland Clean Air—www.portlandcleanair.org
What You Need to Know About Diesel Particulates and Air Filters—
Boise Eliot Native Grove as seen from Google Satellite
Hello from Andrine and Howard,
How’s your Covid-19 Staycation / Artist-in-Residence going? As you are likely aware, everything involving being close to people is cancelled, including all EarthDay events, so we’re not hosting one on April 18 after all.
Good News:It’s still okay to take a walk, either by yourself or with members of your own household, and the Grove is a very lovely place to do that! We just finished installing our last few signs (funded by Kay at Sunlan Lighting on Mississippi) around the hexagonal bench & the salmon sculpture, a couple of new species signs, and one other. Come take a look!
As always, you’re welcome anytime to bring a trash bag/gloves and pick up any garbage you find on site. Say hi from a distance if we’re out there or on the front porch. We have a lot of time on our hands, so we will be out there weeding and grooming the plants, putting out more Mason Bees, weaving the willow dome as we are able…If you’re itching to do some real work in the Grove, email us at NativeGrovePDX@gmail.com and we can send you specific instructions with photos about what things need to be weeded, etc.
For now, we’re going to postpone our EarthDay projects to the Fall, when we will likely have a September or October clean-up, refresh & planting party. Until then, stay home, stay safe & healthy, and come take your isolation walk in the lovely Grove you’ve planted. Tell your friends and family about it too. Since we have the time to slow down, let’s enjoy the spaces near home and introduce them to our loved ones.
Meanwhile, here’s some more good news from the past month or so:
· We were GIFTED $150 from Kay, owner of Sunlan Lighting to finish our signs for a few more plants, the bench, and our salmon sculpture in time for Earth Day. Thank you, Kay and Sunlan for your generosity and commitment to community! (Next time you’re buying light bulbs on Mississippi Ave, be sure to let her know you appreciate her support of the Grove!)
· Students at The Ivy School took time last week to process our Mason Bee straws from last summer and have delivered dozens of bee cocoons to be released soon at the ‘Let Bees Inn’ Mason bee hotel in the Grove. Just in time, as the Osoberry/Indian Plum and Red Flowering Currant begin to blossom.
· We were granted a $500 Native Plant Grant from the Bureau of Environmental Services through the Neighborhood to River Program, so we can go to Bosky Dell and buy plants to replace some that died over the winter and bolster our rain forest ground covers for the coming spring.
· SOLVE IT for Earth Day has also granted us $100 to purchase mulch and even more native plants for our Earth Day event. We’ll be getting a load of wood chips for everyone to help refresh our paths on Saturday, April 18 (postponed til Fall).
· We’re in the final stages of permitting and stewardship arrangements with PBOT, and will hopefully be ‘on the map’ sometime soon! Stay tuned!
We’re excited to share another year with you Restoring Habitat, Cultivating Education and Growing Community!
