May - Portland Sentinel

THE ST. JOHNS
NEWS FOR GREATER NORTH AND FAR NORTHWEST PORTLAND
SENTINEL
CONTENT
MAY 2007
FREE!
FIRST WEDNESDAY OF EVERY MONTH
FEATURE STORIES
Enviromom Page 2
Taking the LEED Page 3
Potter Page 3
ST. JOHNS
• Newcomer gone
• Playgrounds for all
Page 8
EAST SLOPE
• Linnton development
• Biodiesel
Page 9
NORTH END
• Denver speed bumps
Page 10
INTERSTATE
• Farmers markets
• Swan Garden
Page 11
WEST ALBINA & MISSISSIPPI
• School vouchers
Page 12
THE MAIN EVENT
• St. Johns Parade
Page 17
ARTS & CULTURE
• ‘Broken Word’
• Clarendon Closing Blues
• Iretsu
Page 18-19
Illustration by Bruce Orr
Linnton railroaded?
Railroad may be implicated as community
struggles to get to the bottom of toxic event
By Cornelius Swart
On Friday, April 27, the Linnton
Community Center reopened after
a 21-day closure prompted by a
toxicological incident that landed
six children and two adults at Legacy
Emanuel Hospital for medical
decontamination and observation.
Three state agencies have launched
separate investigations into the
incident, questioning Portland &
Western Railroad’s handling of
chemicals along tracks that run
directly behind the center.
Residents involved with the
center have been left angered
and frustrated as they struggle to
understand exactly what happened
to them. Linnton residents at press
time were unsure if the symptoms
they endured, which included
respiratory problems, rashes,
throat and eye irritation, nausea
and numbness of the mouth, were
caused by an herbicide sprayed
on the rails that day by a railroad
contractor or by a white powder
mysteriously blanketing the center
grounds earlier in the day.
Interviews conducted by the
Sentinel with state, federal and
medical officials point to the white
powder, the fertilizer ammonium
dihydrogen phosphate, as the
most likely cause. In either case, it
appears that a Portland & Western
train may have been the source.
Linnton Community Center employee Susy Kristin helps clean up after a chemical
See Railroaded/ Page 24 accident on April 6 sent 6 children and 2 adults to the hospital.
COMMAND AND CONTROL
North Precinct to retain commander in new police bureau proposal
By Alissa Bohling
Neighborhood activists are
cautiously celebrating a draft
proposal released on April 20 from
the Portland Police Bureau that
would prevent North Precinct
from becoming a substation of
Northeast Precinct. Over the past
four months Police Chief Rosie
Sizer had proposed removing the
commander and a lieutenant from
North Precinct, and transferring
control to Northeast -- creating
what
neighborhood
activists
had called “headless horseman”
precinct.
The Portland Police Bureau’s the
new draft proposal would retain
the commander at North Precinct,
VOLUME 7 ISSUE 5
as well as two lieutenants and six
of 12 sergeants. The preliminary
announcement is the result of four
months of negotiation between the
Bureau and the community.
The negotiations were the result
of an unusual move by Mayor Tom
Potter to override Sizer’s plan to
redistribute personnel among the
bureau’s five precincts. “The mayor
indicated that he wanted to find
common ground that would solve
some of the problems that the chief
has,” said North Portland Business
Association board member Mike
Salvo, who was closely involved in
meetings with the police.
Sizer’s initial proposal included
a move to transfer North Precinct’s
commander and shift command
responsibilities to Northeast Precinct.
While community members
were pleased with the retention of
the command staff, several wished
that the community had been
involved earlier.
“Had the police bureau been
intent on soliciting the community’s
opinions from the start, valuable
community energies would not
have been diverted away from other
critical efforts,” Thomas Ebert, St.
Johns Neighborhood Association
chair, said in an email. “While this
is an ongoing effort that has yet
to be finalized, I am very optimistic
with the recent responses to
the discussions initiated with
the mayor.”
www.stjohnssentinel.com
Six of North Precinct’s 12
sergeants,
its
administrative
supervisor, and its detective
sergeant would be reassigned under
the proposal, which will not be
finalized until July 1 at the earliest.
“My mother raised me not to
whine,” Portland Police Chief Rosie
Sizer told members of the Peninsula
Kiwanis Club a week before the
proposal’s release. When it comes
to staffing, Sizer and the PPB have
plenty to whine about. As 2007
began, PPB officials eyed North
Precinct supervisors to fill gaps at
precincts they say are worse off.
Sizer said the chronically
understaffed PPB has been
“in crisis mode” since late last
See Precinct / Page 20
503.287.3880
Page 2 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
PUBLISHER’S PRELUDE
GREEN IS IN FASHION … AGAIN
It seems like every decade or so
environmentalism becomes fashionable. I
noticed that even Vanity Fair had its second
annual “green issue” last month. It’s no secret
that the public’s view of environmentalism
has changed in the last few years. Global
corporations like British Petroleum, General
Electric, Wal-Mart and Dutch Royal Shell
have started to see sustainable practices as not
only good for their bottom line but necessary
for their own economic survival. As these
powerful giants change their policies, their
shills in conservative government and the
political press have slowly quieted down.
And so it turns. The environmental
movement has gone from revolution to
business as usual. Since our first green issue
three years ago (got you beat, Vanity Fair)
we’ve argued that if we want to stop global
warming, decrease pollution or deforestation,
we shouldn’t blame capitalism but show it
SENTINEL
503-287-3880
By Jennifer Birch
PUBLISHED BY
SydHonda Media, LLC
Simply living in one of the greenest cities in
the country doesn’t automatically shrink the
size of the environmental footprint you and
your family are leaving on the planet every
day. Two Portland moms have launched a
weblog that makes it just a bit easier to learn
how to grow your children green.
Launched in 2006, EnviroMom.com offers
specific, actionable strategies on how to make
lifestyle changes that will reduce your family’s
carbon emissions, conserve water, cut waste
and have some fun while you’re at it.
The co-founders, Heather Hawkins and
Renee Limon, are no strangers to cyberspace.
Their Portland parenting blog ReadySetMom.
com is a popular go-to for local parents for
events, cheap places to take your kids to eat,
preschool guides and meet-ups. They began
EnviroMom.com as a response to the frankly
dire state of the planet.
“There are a lot of ‘green guides’ and
information out there, so it’s easy to get
overwhelmed, panicked and ultimately do
nothing. If we can create a tight support
network, we really believe all this stuff can be
accomplished,” says Hawkins.
If you are already overwhelmed and need
a simple to-do list, the EnviroMoms offer
these three ways to reduce your family’s
carbon emissions:
MANAGING EDITOR
Cornelius Swart
NEWS EDITOR
Will Crow
ARTS & CALENDAR EDITOR
Laura Hutton
COPY EDITOR
Michele Elder
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Brett Olson
ART DIRECTOR
Theresa Rohrer
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Colleen Froehlich
CONTRIBUTORS
Jennifer Birch
Melissa Larabee
Laura Parisi
Brett Olson
j.g. kelly
Tim McLaughlin
J E Boles
Carly Cohen
Melissa Larabee
Christopher J. Miller
Andrew R. Tony
Roger Anthony
Vanessa Harless
James Yeary
Derrk Long
Jennifer Gritt
Vanessa Timmons
Christian Danielsen
Todd Anthony
Laurent L.N. Bonczijk
Christen McCurdy
Jake Thomas
By Melissa Larabee
Charlotte Johnson
503-706-7190
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PHOTO BY JASON KAPLAN
After fire, Morning Star Church is ‘rebuilding, right now’
FOR AD INFORMATION, CALL
DISCRETION.
next to Renee Limon and her kids Madie and Mirabelle.
Alive and well
Jason Kaplan
Dave Sharp
$15.00
- Buy local. “When you shop at a farmers
market or a locally owned grocery store that
carries local organic foods, you are buying
food that traveled a very short distance,” said
Hawkins. “The food will be fresher, healthier,
and will not have contributed to massive
oil use and carbon emissions to get on your
table. Plus, supporting local businesses and
farmers will keep the money you spend in
the community.”
- Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs. “A
CFL uses 1/3 the energy of an incandescent
and reduces carbon emissions by 600 lbs.,”
continued Hawkins. “A lot of progress has
been made in this technology: the light
quality is much better and there are many
different styles from which to choose.”
- Reduce car trips. Think of your car like
butter: use sparingly. Try to cut out at least
two car trips per week by trip-chaining –
combining errands in a single trip.
If you have a little more ambition, you
can start a GreenGroup. There are currently
no GreenGroups in North Portland, but
anyone wanting to start one should check
out www.enviromom.com and email
enviromompdx@gmail.com . “Sharing ideas,”
said Hawkins, “and receiving encouragement
from the members of our GreenGroup has
been the single greatest influence on our own
Mother Earth-loving mothers.
eco-friendly lifestyle changes.”
Heather Hawkins, with her kids Jack and Anna, sits
30
PHOTOGRAPHERS
15TH. ALL
Cornelius Swart
Publisher/Managing Editor
Website offers simple steps to reduce environmental impact
FOR INFORMATION, CALL
AND ARE DUE BY THE
See you in the neighborhood.
Green moms, greener kids
THE ST. JOHNS
ARE DUE BY THE
how to make money using the alternatives.
That day of global enlightenment seems to
get closer each year.
So moving from the global to the local,
we’ve rounded up a whole bushel of organic
free-range journalism for you this month.
We’ve got a profile on how to be a better,
earth-loving mother below and the local
slant on North Portland’s potential as a
biodiesel refining hub (page 9). Page 5 has
a tour of the lesser-known wonders of the
northern stretch of Forest Park. And we have
a quick update on the environmental cleanup
of North Portland’s waterfront (page 4).
As many of you know, there are numerous
career environmentalists living in the area
and on page 4 we give you just a glance at a
few who live in the St. Johns neighborhood.
There’s lots more to read about in this
edition of the Sentinel. Least of all is our
primer on the St. Johns Parade (page
17). This year the Sentinel is sponsoring a
companion event to the parade called the St.
Johns Bizarre. The Bizarre will be a daylong
festival with music, an artisans market, a
beer garden and lots of fun. So please do
come down to the St. Johns Plaza on May 12
before or after the parade and check it out.
So that’s the green issue. And while talking
about the environment in Portland may be
preaching to the choir, as green becomes
more and more mainstream (come on…
Vanity Fair) it may no longer be necessary to
even have a green issue here at the Sentinel. If
that’s the case, we’ll know at last that “green”
is more than just another fashion trend. Until
then, please sit back, relax, pour yourself a
cup of soymilk and let us tell you a story.
FOR
ISSUES). NONE OF THE
CONTENTS MAY BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART
“There’s more to me than what I been
through.” The Rev. Albert Wayne Johnson
stared down the congregation filling his
chapel on April 15. “I want you to turn to
your neighbor and say it: There’s more to
me than what I been through.”
A Feb. 5 fire may have destroyed the
church building, but Morning Star Baptist
Church is alive and well.
Services have continued uninterrupted
since a mysterious conflagration brought
down the 1919 structure at 106 NE Ivy
St., the first week under a tent at “ground
zero” and now donated space at Rose City
Funeral Chapel. In fact, on the last Sunday
in May, the church will celebrate its 60th
anniversary.
Johnson, Morning Star’s pastor, says
people ask him all the time whether the
church will rebuild.
WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE PUBLISHER.
Page 2 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
See Morning Star / Page 12
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 3
LETTERS
I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY
Dear Editor,
Cheers for the last issue of the Sentinel —
humor, indeed. I especially liked the update
on the sale of the St. Johns Bridge. Now if
you could banish “NoPo” from those pages
— what a treat that would be!
Barbara Parmelee
St. Johns
•
•
•
RACQUET CENTER SLANT
Dear Editor,
It sounds to me like the authors of the
Racquet Center in Play article are quite ready
to see this North Portland indoor sports
facility go the way of single family homes in
North Portland and they can’t wait to tell us
why it make sense to them. It sounds a lot
like Parks hasn’t maintained one of its own
facilities even though I’m thinking they have
the money (we voted for it!) And it kinda
sounds like St. Johns, Cathedral Park and the
rest of us are ready to watch Portland Parks
make some big money in a land-for-condos
deal that leaves North Portland residents
with a few more pretty condos and no indoor
public parks facilities. Interested are ya,
Sentinel? Not me.
The racquetball club hasn’t had enough
swing of the racquets since the boom of the
’80s the article says. The ’80s!?! IS St. Johns
ASLEEP!?! Is the city counting on it??? If you
haven’t looked out and noticed lately (like
Saltzman), St. Johns is full of new folks. Many
young, some white, and many more Latino. If
Portland Parks wants to do something for the
people of North Portland (and I include the
ones who want more shoppers and not just
the ones who want to buy and sell condos),
it will keep the Racquet Center up and
running, it will maintain it the way it should
be maintained for North Portland people
who will use it, and it will make it an indoor
sports facility with an emphasis on, no, not
ballroom dancing, but SOCCER and other
sports we want to play!!! (Ever heard of UP
soccer?) Don’t let Parks pull a fast one. We
already paid for the facility. If they sell it, what
do we get in return? If sold, the article says it
would be the first time the Parks Bureau has
liquidated an entire facility in over a decade.
And exactly what does downtown St. Johns
get? More pretty condos???
Regards,
Jeremy Bittner
•
•
•
FUNNY BUT IT WASN’T A JOKE
Dear Editor,
Was the letter from a Ms. “Cherie Sprando”
in the April issue intended as part of the
promised humor? Leaving aside the irony
SALES PITCH
Mayor defends extreme makeover of City Charter
By Roger Anthony
Almost by default, Mayor Tom Potter has
become the face and voice of the campaign
to overhaul Portland’s City Charter.
The charter, last revised in 1913, provides
the outline for the city’s form of government.
Why does Portland have five, basically equal
elected officers? Why don’t city commissioners
represent different parts of the city? All of
that is spelled out in the City Charter.
Early in February, the City Council voted
3-2 to place four charter reform proposals on
a special election ballot for May 15.
An off-year, springtime election may seem
an odd time to consider radical changes to the
structure of Portland’s government. Reform
advocates say the timing was meant to give
voters a chance to focus on a complicated
set of proposals; they added that resolving
the issue early in 2007 would give candidates
running for office in 2008 a firm idea of what
they were running for.
City Commissioners Sam Adams and Dan
Saltzman joined Potter in voting to send the
proposals to voters after a contentious sixhour Council session. Since then, Adams, who
supported charter changes in 1999 as chief
of staff for Mayor Vera Katz, has announced
his opposition to the current proposals.
Saltzman has been running silent since voting
in February, and in mid-April told Willamette
Week he hadn’t yet made up his mind.
Which leaves Potter in the awkward
position of fronting a campaign that pushes
for much greater power in the mayor’s office.
It was in that role that Potter spoke with the
Sentinel about the charter reform proposals
and the campaign:
Q. One thing the charter reform proposal
does is place all of the city bureaus under
the same management team. But actually,
the mayor’s office has the power to do that
at present, and in fact both you and your
predecessor took control of all the bureaus
for brief periods of time. Since that option
Taking the LEED
of a real estate broker attacking someone
else’s fact-fudging — in this case, a few
hundred yards relative to an island the size of
Sauvie — this supposed person, supposedly
concerned about accuracy, goes on to place
the disputed marina “a mile west of Linnton.”
By the calculation of this Linnton resident,
that’s on the BPA road just off Skyline Blvd.
— an odd place for a marina, even if it is
a family business. I’ve little choice but to
offer congratulations to the Sentinel for this
brilliant spoof.
Jeff Winslow
Linnton
•
•
594 Words:
They’ll leave a light on
the ceiling for you
•
By Roger Anthony
GOTCHA!
If The Sentinel was a graphic novel, this story
“On that article [last month’s humor issue] would begin with the classic cartoon image of
about selling the St. Johns Bridge, you got me.” a light bulb flashing over somebody’s head.
But actually, that wouldn’t be quite right.
To
truly depict the beginning of the Twilight
Phone call received at the Sentinel’s office
Room’s
Christmas Light Contest, you’d need
•
•
•
to show the light burning out.
After all, T-Room owner Doug Penner
PO-PO LIKES PRECINCT PRANK
is the first to admit that the contest’s birth
owed more to idle curiosity than a moment
“I liked the precinct article. The one of inspiration. “We started it about 30 years
about McMenamins.”
ago,” he remembers. “It was already after
Christmas, and we still had the lights up.
Police officer, on the corner of Lombard Someone said they’d like to see how long
and Chicago just after arresting a man for they’d last.” Some people, he figured, might
even be interested in taking a sporting chance
assault.
on how long a bulb might burn. “It was just
something to do.”
Thus began what used to be a small holiday
tradition at the North Portland bar and grill.
The concept is simple: A patron buys in for
$10, and is assigned one of 100 bulbs on four
strings of lights hung around the ceiling of
the bar. “Winner takes all,” says Penner.
“Except for $10 we give to the person whose
bulb burns out first.”
There is one other rule: “The pot is to be
given to the charity of the winner’s choice,”
he adds. “We’re not running a lottery here.”
At first, it cost just $5 to enter. But the
contest has evolved over time, much like the
Twilight Room and North Portland itself.
Penner, a University of Portland graduate,
remembers when the tavern located at 5242
N Lombard was a tidy little place known
JEFF D. COOK
as the Green Arrow. In the ’50s and ’60s,
he
says, there were dozens of similar spots
has always been there, why hasn’t it been
along Lombard, serving a clientele that had
used more?
time on its hands. “After the war was over,
A. Well, that is a possibility for any mayor. the shipyards cut back. Back then, bars were
The interesting thing is that since this system predicated on older guys.”
of government was created 94 years ago, not
So when Penner took over the T-Room in
one mayor has done that on a permanent 1961, “I concentrated on younger customers.”
basis. This system pushes away from that. The location, a quick 10 blocks up Portsmouth
When I had the bureaus, we didn’t have all Avenue from the UP campus, complemented
the staff we needed to actually run them. We that strategy to some extent. The Twilight
did it for awhile, but it was very stressful.
Room has for decades been an unofficial UP
See Potter / Page 26 hangout and the location for many and varied
NoPo rites of passage. Penner’s appreciation
of this may or may not be reflected in the
building’s most recent paint job, a dark purple.
The T-Room has expanded eastward three
times, knocking down one wall at a time.
“Twenty-five years ago,” he says, “we had
one beer on tap – Heidelberg. Now, with the
microbrews and all, there’s more than 20.”
Back then, there was one small TV over the
cooler by the bar; now there are seven sets
The building will feature parking for
– two big-screens – scattered about.
residents — but not for every unit. TwentyThe Christmas Light contest has changed
three of the 32 condo units will have a parking
a little, too. “For one thing, it lasts like three
space. Jackson says that this is in part because
years now,” explains Jim McKenna, Penner’s
the Lofts project is transit-oriented and is
longtime partner at the T-Room. “They
“intended to inspire more mass transit use.”
make a much better quality of bulb than
But, he is quick to add, “The zoning calls
they used to.” In fact, the current set of 100
for no minimum parking requirement.” In
lights was put up on Dec. 11, 2005. Penner
fact, in order for the Lofts parking strategy to
does his part to hasten the drama: “I buy the
count toward their LEED certification, there
cheapest lights I can find so they’ll burn out
would have to be no parking whatsoever.
quicker.” Still, improved technology means
Some neighbors take issue with this; parking
the contest, which used to coincide with the
is already a problem along the busy Mississippi
Holiday Season, now begins shortly after the
corridor, and adding high-density housing
final bulb finally burns out.
stock and retail outlets without supplying
More than 16 months in, there were still 23
parking spots for at least all of the units will
bulbs a-burning. And if you’re looking to get
likely only make it worse. And this is where
in next time around, here’s a tip: None of the
eco-friendliness head-butts with the existing
remaining 23 are blue.
community: a tall infill development among
rows of century-old Victorians is bound to
Designers, developers seek gold star for green buildings
By Laura Parisi
The common thread between much of the
new development splattering across North
Portland is “green building.” And for good
reason: the U.S. Green Building Council
estimates that buildings count for a third of
the United States’ energy use. According to
a study by the Cascadia Region GBC, green
buildings in the Northwest are 40 percent
more energy efficient than they would be if
they didn’t carry the eco-friendly stamp.
Take the controversial and contentious
Mississippi Avenue Lofts, for example, the
four-story mixed-use development planned
near the southwest corner of Mississippi and
Skidmore. The building’s developers hope
to achieve a gold-level LEED (“Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design”)
certification, a benchmark of green design.
Lofts developer Bill Jackson says that the
“most innovative aspect” of the forthcoming
condominium building is its heating and
cooling system, which will exchange energy
from west to east as the sun sets. He says that
this method of climate control, which has only
recently moved into residential application,
will likely be 50 percent more energy efficient
than traditional HVAC systems.
Other green features of the Lofts include,
among other things, an on-site storm
water management system — which
keeps contaminated storm water out of
the sewers and river — non-toxic paints,
finishes and adhesives; wool carpeting; bike
parking; proximity to public transit; and
a spot for the new hybrid Flex Car that the
Lofts are sponsoring. To qualify for a LEED
certification, buildings must contain a certain
minimum of features like these.
See LEED / Page 26
30
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 3
Page 4 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
EDITORIAL: CHARTER REFORM
STRONG MAYOR WOULD MUSCLE OUT NEIGHBORHOODS
This month, city residents consider the
most radical change in local government
since the Metro Regional Government was
created. At its core, the Charter proposal
would be bad for neighborhoods. Portland
would transform overnight from one of
the most neighborhood-responsive city
governments in the country into one of the
least. But not all the proposals packaged in
this special election are without merit. The
details are broken out for you here.
Portland’s City Charter – the set of rules
that outline the city’s form of government
– has been in effect since 1913. In a special
election, Portland voters will be considering
four ballot measures that would drastically
change the charter – and hence, the city’s
governing structure.
Before looking at the specific proposals,
perhaps it’s best to think back over the
past few years and reflect on what the city
could do better. With that in mind, look
next at the four proposals, and see if they
provide solutions.
Only one of the four proposals – Measure
26-92 – addresses the concerns of the
North Portland community. Measure 2692 would bring the budget of the Portland
Development Commission under intensified
City Council scrutiny. Opponents of Measure
26-92 contend that this would politicize the
PDC, which was originally created to be
independent of city government. However,
in recent years the Commission has shown
little inclination to invest beyond the triangle
of the Pearl District, downtown and the
South Waterfront district. A budgetary
process that is more open to public view and
review would, we hope, push PDC to act as
the citywide agency it should be.
For those reasons, the Sentinel recommends
a Yes vote on Measure 26-92.
Mayor Tom Potter, the foremost advocate
of the Charter Reform package (see our
interview with the mayor on page 4), argues
that the reforms would provide the city
and citizens with more efficiency and more
accountability. Measure 26-91, the so-called
“Strong Mayor” proposal, would place all
of the city’s bureaus under the direction of
an Administrative Officer who would be
appointed by the mayor.
At some levels, governments are like
businesses, and efficiency is a positive value
for businesses. It’s good to be efficient when
you’re buying copy paper or developing a
five-year plan. But when it comes to setting
public policy, efficiency is not necessarily a
positive value – particularly when considering
Portland’s long-established culture of noisy,
messy, vibrant public participation.
Under the current form of government,
average citizens have very little problem
accessing the commissioners. The bureaucracy
is basically five times more accessible to
pressure by residents and five times more
resilient to pressure by special interests. Under
Measure 26-91, city commissioners would
retain their legislative authority – their ability
to set policy for the city. But they would lose
the decentralized command over various city
bureaus that they now have. And citizens
would find just one doorway into City Hall
where now there are five.
But this charter reform would limit citizen
access to City Hall even more than most
“strong mayor” forms of government. Most
‘strong mayor’ cities elect their city councilors
by district. Therefore, neighborhoods elect
one legislator who becomes their advocate in
City Hall. So, for example, in a normal “strong
mayor” scheme, North or North/Northeast
Portland would elect its own city councilor,
who would be accountable to our interests.
This proposal keeps the city councilors
elected citywide. In short, it combines the
worst of both the commissioner system and
the strong mayor system and would shut
neighbors out of access to their government
almost completely.
Therefore, the Sentinel recommends a No
vote on Measure 26-91.
The other two components of the charter
reform package fall into the category of
“housekeeping.” Measure 26-90 would
reduce civil service protections for midlevel city employees and alter policies on
temporary hiring. We feel that civil service
protections would be even more vital for
employees in a centralized, “strong mayor”
bureaucracy.
Measure 26-89 would mandate charter
review hearings every 10 years, and hearings
within two years of any charter changes
passed this spring.
The Sentinel recommends a No vote on
Measure 20-90 and a Yes vote on Measure
26-89.
The city should get in the habit of reviewing
its charter. This is the second time in the last
five years charter reform has surfaced. While
we have not supported either attempt to
restructure the city, we don’t dismiss the idea
that some day one proposal might be spot
on. Just not so far.
The current charter reform, like its
predecessor first floated by Bob Ball, is
a solution without a problem. Portland
enjoys a vibrant economy with a healthy
environment that consistently ranks amongst
the nation’s best places to live and work in. If
we were Detroit it would make good sense to
throw the dice on a new form of government.
But despite the cynics, Portland is still a city
that works. A better case could be made for
reform of the county government or the
Portland School District, than for the current
city government.
We at the Sentinel don’t believe the city is
all smiles and sunshine. We also acknowledge
that some residents and businesses are
frustrated and vexed by the way the city
conducts its business. It may still be possible
to address some of the city’s structural
inefficiencies, centralizing payroll (see Sales
pitch, page 3) through normal channels,
for example. But as far as throwing out our
entire system, we believe, at this time the
baby would go with that bath water.
30
Local and Green Willamette River
By Brett Olson
They say its not easy being green.
But judging by the number of career
enviornmentalists in St Johns maybe its not
so hard after all. Here’s a little sample:
TYSON KEEVER
Sales and
Operations for
SeQuential BioFuels
by organizing people and speaking to civic
groups.
“(The project) was actually not much
different than what I do now,” Bissonnette
says “but now I work on a much larger
scale.”
Bissonnette is the lobbyist for the Citizens
Utility Board, a job in which he fights for
cleaner environmental uses of energy while
also attempting to keep energy rates down
for consumers.
“It’s not low rates at all costs,” he says,
“but it is to try and lower rates by being as
responsible as possible.”
Bissonnette hopes to see the energy options
move away from coal-based resources and
more toward mixing in wind, solar, and other
renewable resources.
“When it comes to the environment, we are
the ones that are responsible,” he says. “The
environment itself cannot hire a lobbyist or
a book person.”
Tyson
Keever
is expanding the
availability
of
biodiesel, one pump
at a time. He works
for SeQuential Fuels, a biodiesel company
with an offices in St. Johns.
“It is a real tangible difference,” Keever
says. “When someone puts biodiesel in their
vehicle it helps clean up the emissions that
come out of the tailpipe.”
Keever’s interest in environmental causes
SALLIE
began when he was young, growing up
SHULLINGERin Eugene. He views his youth there and
KRAUSE
also his time at the University of Oregon
Program Director
studying public planning and policy as being
at the Oregon
instrumental in his passion.
Environmental
After Eugene he moved to Portland and
Council
worked for Green Mountain Energy. After
spending a few years there, he moved on to
Sallie ShullingerSeQuential BioFuels who’s Portland office is
Krause
hit
a
located in downtown St. Johns.
We couldn’t get a photo, roadblock.
In
“It’s rewarding work,” Keever says. “I feel
but she totally looks like this. 2000, she had just
good about coming to work and feel like we
moved to Portland
are making a difference.”
from Alaska, where she had been working
for Greenpeace in the Arctic heading a global
JEFF
warming project.
BISSONNETTE
“When I took a break for a while, it was
Lobbyist for Citizens
out of a general sense of frustration and
Utility Board
not really knowing if what I was doing was
effective,” she says.
Jeff Bissonnette’s
This general sense of frustration came
passion for the
from the fact that during her 15 years of
environment began
global-warming work for Greenpeace, the
when he was a Boy
issue was not taken seriously. Even with all
Scout. For his Eagle
the science that clearly showed the effects
Scout project he made a public education
of global warming, her work didn’t cause
project about protecting the environment
change.
Page 4 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
See Whos Who / Page 26
cleanup continues
By Derek Long
For years the upper Willamette River has
been one of the most polluted in America, even
being ranked as the third most threatened river
in the country in 2006 by the environmental
group American Rivers. And the final stretch
through North Portland has long been scarred
by a legacy of heavy industry, both in the water
and along the shore.
Since being declared a Superfund site
in 2000, the six-mile upper reach of the
Willamette has been the focus of a continuing
joint cleanup effort of public agencies and
private individuals. But while a few successes
have taken place along the banks, the task of
cleaning the harbor still hasn’t begun.
“We’ve spent five years of study and
we’re anxious to complete this and get the
cleanup under way,” said Barbara Smith,
spokesperson for the Lower Willamette
Group, an organization made up of multiple
agencies with the aim of cleaning up the toxic
remnants of Portland Harbor.
So far the group has spent over $45 million
studying the contamination of the harbor,
and while some are eager to begin cleanup in
light of the cost of the research, Smith insists
the eventual dredging process will still be a
long haul.
“Time is important to us,” said Smith.
But the nature of environmental cleanup is
you have to do it the right way. We want to
make the right decision so we only clean it
up once.”
While work on the harbor has been
handled mainly by the Environmental
Protection Agency, it’s been up to the Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality
to lead the onshore efforts. The focus at
sites like Kinder Morgan, Willamette Cove
and Oregon Steel Mills has been on source
control, controlling the contamination
onshore, ranging from storm water drainage
to polluted soil.
Cleanup at the McCormick & Baxter
property finally concluded last year after an
extensive process involving the removal of
polluted soil and implementation of a sediment
cap. After planting over 20,000 trees and
shrubs in February 2006 — in part with the
help of local neighborhood associations and
volunteers — the location has slowly shown
positive signs. Project Manager Kevin Parrett
said about 85 percent of the trees at the site
survived in the last year, a figure the DEQ
found excellent.
Even after cleanup efforts commenced
at the site, however, oil sheens were still
observed in the shallow riverbed just
offshore. The sediment was found to be
contaminated down to 70 feet below the soil
offshore, a situation remedied with caps to
stop further contamination.
Parrett insists that while the site will
continue to be monitored, there shouldn’t be
any further health hazards at the site.
“As scientists we’re concerned about
everything that can happen,” Parrett said.
Starting in 2005, the DEQ began
monitoring the McCormick & Baxter site at
the cost of half a million dollars a year. Parrett
estimates that it probably won’t be until 2011
when the McCormick & Baxter site is finally
decommissioned as a Superfund site.
University of Portland has planned
on purchasing the McCormick & Baxter
property for their long-term expansion plans
and has discussed opportunities for the site
with the DEQ. On Jan. 2, a sale agreement
to purchase the neighboring Triangle Park
property fell through after the owner refused
to close the transaction.
The DEQ plans to continue with operations
at nearby Willamette Cove and other
Superfund sites, studying factors ranging
from bank erosion to overland runoff.
While the onshore source control effort
is related to water quality in the river, the
nature of the harbor cleanup, whenever it
occurs, shouldn’t change those plans.
“It shouldn’t affect it directly,” said Parrett.
“We’re keeping a very close eye on Portland
Harbor. We want to compare our data to
what they find.”
30
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 5
FEATURE STORIES
More forest, less park
Northern Forest Park’s urban wilderness offers solitude
By Christian Danielsen
Portland Recycling Center
60 Years’ Experience
The lush yet sinewy Cannon Trail is a new trail that runs
through the sparely used northern end of Forest Park.
ivy, a non-native species that can strangle
trees and crowd out other plant life.
Apart from hiking, the northern half of the
park is also home to the majority of the roads
where mountain biking is allowed, with steep
climbs (or rapid descents) on Springville,
Newton, Leif Erikson and BPA roads, as well
as Firelanes 10, 12 and 15.
While Forest Park is owned by the city,
Friends of Forest Park’s dedicated army of
volunteers do everything from building trails
to promoting the park and securing land for
its expansion.
Hatfield noted that one of this summer’s
major maintenance projects, held on National
Trails Day on June 2, will focus on the park’s
northern half. Volunteers are welcome, with
no experience required.
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Forest Park is a source of pride for many
Portlanders, who can boast they they have
the largest urban forest in the country
looming right behind downtown. The
sprawling, 5,100-acre park is an easy escape
from the city’s booming urbanization.
But while most residents spend time
exploring the park’s southern section, North
Portlanders are only a bridge walk away from
the wild and underused northern half of
Forest Park.
Stephen Hatfield, program director for the
Friends of Forest Park volunteer organization,
enjoys trail running in the park’s northern
half, where noise and weekend crowds can fade
away to utter solitude. The park’s management
plan specifies that recreation should be deemphasized in the park’s northern half, in
favor of a wilderness setting.
“It’s a very beautiful part of the park
with less noise and sections of old-growth
trees,” says Hatfield. “It has a really different
character than the rest of it.”
A convenient access point from North
Portland is just across the St. Johns bridge
on Germantown Road. Limited parking is
available a short distance up Germantown
near a fire lane on the left that quickly turns
into the Tolinda Trail. A dedicated parking
lot is available further up Germantown, with
access to the park’s 30-mile long, zigzagging
Wildwood Trail, running from the zoo to
Newberry Road, and serving as the main
artery for the park’s many side trails.
Making a customized loop out of
the network of trails and fire lanes can
accommodate almost any desired hiking
distance. Heading up the hillside, the sounds
of industrial northwest Portland soon fade to
a stillness among the old-growth trees and
cool, wet ferns.
Ecologically, the park is part of the Western
Hemlock Zone, supporting Douglas fir,
western hemlock and red cedar trees, as well
as more than 100 species of birds. Forest
Park is also part of a crucial wildlife corridor
extending out to the coast, and frequent
visitors may catch a glimpse of deer, elk, or
even an elusive bobcat.
Some of the park’s lush vegetation is an
unwelcome guest, however. Volunteers from
the local No Ivy League have been waging a
10-year battle against an invasion of English
N. Portland
Friends of Forest Park is also hosting a series
of guided hiking trips this summer called its
Discovery Hike Series, with topics ranging from
berry hunting and banana slugs to the history
of parkside communities like Linnton. More
information and a set of free, printable hiking maps
is available at the Friends of Forest Park’s recently
revamped website, www.friendsofforestpark.org.
For more information, call (503) 223-5449 or
email info@friendsofforestpark.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE
UPPING THE ANTE FOR THE ELUSIVE
ST. JOHNS-PORTLAND COMPACT
In the April Sentinel, this newspaper offered a reward to the first reader who could confirm
the existence of a 1915 deal guaranteeing a police precinct in St. Johns. (See “Can St. Johns
Secede?” p. 8.)
The response to our offer — dinner for two or a date with Our Beloved Publisher, Cornelius
Swart — has been underwhelming.
Even so, my instincts tell me there’s more to learn about the annexation “Compact”
between the city of Portland and the former city of St. Johns. The truth, as it were, is out
there. Therefore, we’re raising the stakes:
In addition to dinner for two or a date with Swart, the first person who can provide documentation
of the 1915 agreement between the cities of St. Johns and Portland concerning police and fire
stations will be our guest for a round of pre-dinner cocktails – well drinks only, please — at
Dad’s. Call (503) 287-3880.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
As publisher and victim of the cruel contest, I would like to say the entire community has
dealt a tremendous blow to my very sensitive, over-inflated ego. Not one response!
I should mention that I am an eligible 34-year-old bachelor with clean teeth, independent
means, two cars and a motorcycle and I’m very romantically generous (wink-wink-knudgeknudge ... know what I mean?).
So come on, people. Let’s dig into the archives out there and try to win a date with
this publisher.
Either that or it’s back to match.com for me.
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 5
Page 6 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
FEATURE STORIES
Landlords, beware
City revitalizes little-used chronic nuisance ordinance
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home & garden
By Jennifer Birch
Have a problem with one of your neighbors?
Late night frat parties and all-hours visitors?
Recently, lottery winners Elizabeth and
Samuel Howard, who won a 2.6 milliondollar lottery jackpot in 2005, bought a house
in Northeast Portland with their “earnings”
and subsequently had police summoned by
neighbors no less than 59 times for fights,
noise, drug and sexual activity. The city
filed suit under the previously little-used
ordinance that aims to relieve neighborhood
residents from, frankly, dreadful neighbors.
The chronic nuisance ordinance has been
on the books for years, but it has been some
time since a case has actually gone to litigation.
Last year the city convened an inner-bureau
task force (IBTF) to address crime concerns
in Portland neighborhoods.
“When we convened,” stated Jeremy
Van Keuren, public advocate for Mayor
Tom Potter’s office and co-chair of the
IBTF, “we began assessing what tools we
had to address persistent crime issues in
neighborhoods. We were aware of the
chronic nuisance ordinance, but we didn’t
feel it was being used effectively.” After
talking to local police officers and the city
attorney’s office the task force found a lack
of resources to pursue the ordinance.
The mayor’s office stepped up to the
cause, provided the additional manpower to
process, file and potentially follow through
with litigation. Slumlords can no longer
turn a blind eye to their properties being
ill-used as drug houses, prostitution pads or
any number of other “nuisance” crimes that
compromise a neighborhood.
Deputy City Attorney Roland Iparraguirre,
a key part of that additional manpower,
commented, “You have a lot of pretty
dedicated officers who care about the
community and these officers are out there
every day telling these property owners to
clean up this chronic criminal activity. They
even go as far as try to help them install
lighting and other measures that would help
curb the problem.”
If a landlord fails to clean up their property,
for example a motel that continues to rent
by the hour thus encouraging persistent
criminal activity, the district commander
will send a warning letter stating that the
owner is in danger of being considered
a “chronic nuisance.” If the warning is
ignored and the criminal activity persists,
the property will be officially declared a
chronic nuisance. The property owner will be
directed to meet with a police representative
to resolve the problems, evicting problem
tenants, remedying housing/code problems,
implementing better screening procedures
for future tenants. If the letter and subsequent
warnings are ignored, the city will eventually
file suit and the property will be seized and
boarded up at the cost of the property owner,
for six months to a year.
“It really sends a message to property
owners that continue to keep their neighbors
in fear,” continued Iparraguirre. “The goal is
obviously to make people feel safe again in
their neighborhoods.”
30
Charter schools 101
New Harvest of schools bloom like Trillium all over Portland Village
By J.G. KELLY
Design Ideas, Furnishings,
and Accessories
monday - friday 10-6pm
saturday - sunday 9-5pm
Closed Tuesday
Challenges
confronting
today’s
communities in the realm of education,
together with perceived failings of the current
system, increasingly compel educators,
parents and students to explore alternative
approaches to education and experiment
with innovative education techniques for the
future. Many school districts, including the
Portland Public Schools system, are choosing
to try the “charter school” model — a public/
private partnership which would have been
unthinkable throughout much of the 20th
century.
As public schools, they function free
of tuition and provide equal access to all
students. As charter schools, they are allowed
to emulate other models and opt out of some
regulations that govern standard public
school instruction.
North Portland appears well represented
in this local movement, and prepares to meet
the future with as many as three charter
options currently either online, set to flower,
or in the works. The NoPo trio of existing
and proposed public charter schools includes
Trillium School, Portland Village School, and
New Harvest School.
TRILLIUM
The initial North Portland charter
school, Trillium School, on North Interstate
Avenue, hosts a community of learners from
kindergarten through Grade 12.
As is common in alternative schooling,
Trillium ensures students a small-class
environment, but offers a non-typical mixedage class structure to assist learners based on
See Charter Schools / Page 25
Christine: liaison
New North Portland link to Planning Bureau brings unique qualifications
By Laurent L.N. Bonczijk & Will Crow
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seanw@compassrealty.com
On Monday, April 10, Christine Caruso
started her new job as liaison to North
Portland from the Portland Planning Bureau.
On Tuesday, April 11, the architect with 18
years of professional experience had this to
say: “I think that there is a lot to learn.”
Caruso
replaces
both
Marguerite
Feuersanger, who transferred to the Bureau
of Development Services, and Julia Gisler,
who remains in Planning to work on the
Interstate urban renewal district.
“It’s just me,” Caruso said.
Caruso comes to the job with a unique
qualification: she served three and a half
years on the Portland Planning Commission,
leaving the position in March. She said the
experience will be useful in her new job.
“Very much so,” she said. “I understand ...
how everything works together.”
Caruso also served as a volunteer
neighborhood land-use chair for the Roseway
Neighborhood Association and chaired the
LivingSmartPDX design competition.
“I was one of the founding members of that
whole conversation, before it ever became a
competition,” she recalled.
The competition dealt with skinny-lot
infill housing. The city saw a surge in the
building of those and decided to hold an
international competition to bring readyto-use designs that would be both affordable
and sustainable. Caruso participated in the
project as one of the jurors.
Page 6 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
Planning Bureau liaison Christine Caruso knows NoPo’s architectural needs are diverse. PHOTO BY JASON KAPLAN
The result is that new infill constructions
have “a little better design than what had
been going in before,” she said.
According to Caruso, who lives in
Northeast Portland, North Portland is a
complicated neighborhood with a lot going
on. The three biggest issues that readily
came to her mind were the Interstate
Corridor, the St. Johns/Lombard Plan and
the Linnton Community Plan.
An Ohio native, Caruso moved to the area
with her husband six and a half years ago in
search of a lifestyle change. She said that the
couple was attracted to the urban planning
and development as well as the public
transportation.
Caruso said that she was interested in
providing input and working with people
who are intrigued by how their city develops.
“It is an opportunity to lay down a template
on how it develops,” she said.
The template is not citywide, though,
and she does not have one that would fit all
of Portland. She sees planning as finding
solutions that are neighborhood-appropriate.
30
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 7
COLUMINIST
SCHOOLS: As Dudley,
Phillips depart, everyone
needs to own up
By Tim McLaughlin
My children are now grown yet I remember
their dating years, when their mother and I
always, foolishly, became friends with our
children’s serious romantic interests. Foolish,
because there was nothing but loss when
these romances broke up.
I felt something like this last month when
Principal Leon Dudley was removed (or
removed himself) from the principalship
of Jefferson High School. Unlike many in
the Jefferson community, I hold no animus
toward him. Yet even if I hadn’t particularly
cared for the personality of this boyfriend
whom the district brought home to us, he
was here. I didn’t know how long it was going
to last, but the way I see it you at least get to
know the individual and try to support the
couple where you can.
It got ugly toward the end, by all accounts.
Rudeness and hurt feelings on all sides —
students, teachers, Dudley, district. And to
top it off, now Superintendent Vicki Phillips
is leaving.
In the wake of it all, I’m left puzzled…
With 10 principals in as many years at
Jefferson (including interims), has anyone
considered that it’s not the leadership that’s
the problem? Could the district’s hiring record
for Jefferson’s administrative leadership be
that consistently bad? Could all five of the last
school superintendents (including Phillips)
been so utterly incompetent when it came to
tapping a principal for Jefferson? Why does
the Jefferson principal’s office have a revolving
door when Portland’s other high schools have
a tad more stability ?
I can’t help but think that the answer lies
not in conspiracy theories (the board wants
Jefferson to fail so they can unload it to PCC
across the street), but rather in a hairball
of distasteful realities: Jefferson has little
functional parent constituency to advocate
for the school in meaningful ways. With the
smallest high school enrollment in the district,
yet with one of the highest teacher-to-student
ratios, the academic performance levels at
Jefferson are still generally dismal; steep
absence rates are no doubt one cause. On a
bad day, nostalgia seems like the only reason
to keep the school open and operating.
There are qualifiers galore. Parents with the
savvy and the time to advocate for their school
are typically in the more educated and higherincome demographic. This is not Jefferson’s
demographic (or hasn’t been, although the
neighborhood is changing). Low academic
scores might be expected when nearly a third
of Jefferson’s students are classified as special
ed students. Or when many teachers are
forced to spend an inexcusable proportion
of class time trying to keep classroom order
instead of teaching students. Then there was
the good news a couple years ago, when a
deliberate curricular regime produced some
of the highest rates of academic improvement
in the district.
If Jefferson High School is to recover
from its slow burn, it should begin with the
assumption that all parties want the best for
Jefferson and its students — that the principal
(whoever it is), superintendent (ditto), school
board, teachers, parents, neighbors and
activists all agree that we may see different
Schools / Page 25
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 7
Page 8 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
CATHEDRAL PARK . RIVERGATE
ST. JOHNS
NARRATIVE NONFICTION
Newcomer gone
Homeless Guy Ted survives bout with NIMBY
By Cornelius Swart & J E Boles
Old-time residents 1, Newcomers 0, and
Homeless Guy Ted is in for surgery.
So matters stand in a solid little pocket
at the north end of North Clarendon Street
above North Columbia Boulevard.
Below it, really. You walk down a few steps
to reach this unpaved stretch of Clarendon,
cut off when Old Columbia Road was rebuilt
to make North Columbia Boulevard. Nobody
cares much about where the property lines are,
says one resident. This is where the newcomer
and the old-time residents clashed.
The newcomer lived in a house with his
girlfriend at the end of the street. He called the
Sentinel a month ago. There was a homeless
guy, Homeless Guy Ted, living in a bunch
of old trucks on the side of the road. The
newcomer wanted him out. The newcomer
wanted to sell his home. The newcomer was
worried about his property values. But the
old-timers on the block didn’t seem to mind
Homeless Guy Ted, and that was the way it
was going to be.
A month later the Sentinel showed up on
North Clarendon at two separate times, like
cops at a crime scene that had long gone cold.
Ted was gone. The newcomer was gone. And
no one would give their names.
That is, except Ted. We know Ted’s name.
Ted is 84.
Ted was a shipbuilder and boilermaker. He
is a rusting piece of the machine age. His skin
sweats axle grease. His hair is wire bristle.
His breath is smoke and soot. His name is
Homeless Guy Ted.
Ted and he was nowhere to be seen the first
time the Sentinel came to call.
The street has more old vehicles and overfilled Dumpsters than people, and the oldtime residents appear to like it that way. At
the north end of the street, a large number
of untagged trucks and recreational vehicles,
none less than 10 years old, surround the last
house, occupied by a neighbor who won’t
give his name.
The neighbor is unreasonably tall. He
wears a mustache. He threatens the Sentinel
at first. But he warms quickly.
“Sure, we have lots of cars,” says the
neighbor. “We have big families.”
The newcomer had a collection of vehicles
too. He seemed to be an artist. On the phone
he said he was a computer programmer.
When the Sentinel visited, a young man
dropped an old golf cart off at the newcomer’s
house. He unloaded it at the end of the street
in front of a locked gate with the sign that
read “Art Vehicles Only.”
Behind the gate there was an ambulance
and what the newcomer described as
“a hovercraft.”
See Newcomer / Page 26
Stepping up to the playground
Community groups replace outdated equipment for kids
By Melissa Larabee
Until recently, the kids at Chief Joseph
Elementary played on the same galvanized
steel play structures their grandparents used
when the school opened 57 years ago.
On March 17, however, a group comprising
mostly community volunteers spent six
hours putting together a new play structure,
complete with slides and monkey bars.
Chief Joseph is one of a number of North
Portland schools to have installed new
playground equipment in the past year and a
half, and as with many of the others, it did so
with minimal assistance from the district.
While the district is still able to help fund
equipment for new schools such as Rosa Parks
and newly elementarized middle schools like
Ockley Green, in most cases the impetus and
the money has come from the community.
After the funding cuts of Measure 5 in 1990,
much of the burden of maintenance and
replacement of playground equipment has
fallen onto PTAs and community groups
— so much so that the district has published
a handbook for volunteers on how to fund,
choose and install a play structure.
For Astor Elementary, that meant taking
a piecemeal approach to replacing outdated
structures. Some new equipment was
installed in October 2006, and now the PTA
is raising money to complete the job.
“It’s more motivating to get part of the
equipment in for the kids when you can,”
said Astor Principal John Walden, “rather
than waiting year after year after year for a
playground that’s still not there.”
Beach and James John Elementary
schools were luckier, receiving over
$100,000 in grants that enabled them to
build their playgrounds all at once. Phil
Engle, who wrote the grants through the
Page 8 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
Mom, I said I needed a Phillips head! Kids and parent assemble new playground equipment at Astor
Elementary School last fall.
Injury Free Coalition for Kids, says that
the level of community and administrative
responsiveness was an important factor in
his decision to write the grants.
“Playgrounds are all about community,” he
says, “about people coming together to create
a healthy place for children.”
The playground at Ockley Green Middle
School, which recently added grades K-5, was
underwritten by the district so the kids would
have a place to play. However, any maintenance
or improvement — a roof for rainy-day play,
for instance — falls to the PTA.
At Chief Joseph, the PTA was only one
part of the playground-installation team.
Chris Duffy is the chair of the Arbor Lodge
Neighborhood Association, which meets
at the school. When the need for new
equipment came up, she knew right away she
wanted to help.
She points out that though obesity is rising,
many schools are unable to fund a physical
education program, and playgrounds are
vital in providing much needed exercise.
“Especially with the younger kids,” she
said. “By starting that early in life, we’re
hoping that it will become a habit for kids to
play and be active.”
Beginning with $10,000 from the merger
with Kenton Elementary and some money
from the PTA and the school itself, Duffy
helped raise an additional $10,000, mostly
through grants; a year and a half later, the
kids have their playground.
“They are so excited,” she said. “Now if
you drive past the school in the afternoon,
there are always a bunch of kids using (the
equipment). It’s more of a gathering spot for
kids in the community to play.”
Second-grader Reagan Slater loves the
new slides.
“We’re really thankful for people,” she says,
“because they worked really hard to make
the play structure as good as they can.”
30
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 9
EAST SLOPE
SAUVIE ISLAND . LINNTON
Linnton begins
development talks
Working group plans community redevelopment
By Carly Cohen
It has been a long overdue process,
but Linnton has begun planning its
redevelopment. The community has been
struggling to create a more village-like feel
to its industrial waterfront by adding more
businesses and residences. Last August, after
a 3-2 City Council vote shattered a plan
to re-zone some of the industrial areas of
Linnton, the community was left in shambles.
Linnton resident Edward Jones said that the
decision was “a great disappointment for
the neighborhood.”
After the redevelopment plan was killed,
Portland Mayor Tom Potter came to Linnton
in December and pledged to put together a
group to discuss the issues that Linnton has.
The Linnton Working Group has since been
formed, comprising six Linnton residents,
including Jones, as well as members of the
Portland Development Commission and a
representative from Potter’s office.
“They have come up with some broad
goals,” said Veronica Valenzuela, Planning
Policy Manager at Potter’s office. “Basically
their charge was to come up with some
recommendations for Linnton and what kind
of development the city could help spur in
their community.”
The main dilemma in the Linnton
redevelopment conflict lies in the strained
relationship between residents and the
industrial businesses along the waterfront. “By
getting enough people in Linnton, we could
revitalize Linnton,” hoped Jones. “Is it going
to be 20 years or five years before they build
condos? They’re fighting for 20, we’re fighting
for five.” But the planning committee has been
put together to fight the smaller battles.
Since being proposed in December, the
group has met once and tensions are still
strong. “It’s not like we’re all going to get
together and sing ‘Kumbaya,’” said Jones
about the committee. “There are some
real differences.”
The community issues being discussed by
the committee include improving the safety
of Hwy. 30, providing community access to
the river along 107th Avenue, and creating a
safe greenway for bicycles that currently must
ride on Hwy. 30. “For the next meeting they’ve
agreed to focus on Hwy. 30,” said Valenzuela,
“which is an issue everyone agrees we need
to focus on.”
Group members are hopeful that their
meetings will help create a positive change in
the community. “If we can get two out three
of these issues resolved, I would consider this
a success,” said Jones.
The committee has six months to address
these issues and come to conclusions on
whether the changes are feasible. Their next
meeting is at 6 p.m. on May 8 at City Hall.
Demand for biofuel puts Linnton in the crosshairs
In keeping with its goal of increasing
biofuel production and use in Portland, the
City Council has given a $40,000 grant to
Portland Biofuels. The grant will be used to
establish a biofuel refinery in the Linnton
neighborhood, which will begin churning
out 300,000 gallons annually with the
ultimate goal of producing up to a million.
Vegetable grease from local restaurants will
be a key ingredient to the fuel produced at
the refinery.
The establishment of the refinery has
drawn stern remonstrations from the
Linnton Neighborhood Association at a time
when the area’s future is up in the air (see
“Linnton begins development talks,” above).
In an open letter to Mayor Tom Potter the
association declares its opposition to “any
and all types of refinery or other hazardous
industries being placed in our community,
especially directly adjacent to our existing
day care center.”
Pat Wagner, the Linnton Community
Center Director, fears the potential hazards
of toxic fumes from the methanol used to
distill biofuels, in addition to explosions.
“Neighborhoods where there are homes
are not where they belong,” says Wagner,
who adds, “Fumes would go straight to our
homes.”
Michele Crim, a Senior Resource
Conservation Specialist in the Bureau of
Development Services, says that all the
tanks will be double-walled and points out
that biofuel has a very high flash point,
meaning that it only ignites under very
high temperatures.
Consultations are 1/2 hour long. Spaces limited.
After consultation, further representation only by mutual agreement.
KOHLHOFF & WELCH Attorneys at Law A Mother Daughter Partnership
5828 North Lombard • Portland, OR 97203 • 503.286.7178
www.northportlandlawyer.com
30
Booms and fumes
By Jake Thomas
Free Legal Clinic, Friday, May 11, 2007 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Leland Tong, an advisor to the National
Biodiesel Board, says that if local regulations
are carefully followed, biofuel can be
safely produced near a residential area. Of
particular importance, according to Leland,
is the methanol recovery system. Methanol
is a toxic, flammable chemical. Too much of
the chemical in the finished product makes
the fuel more volatile. A recovery system is
needed to keep methanol at a safe level. Also
important is the suppressant systems, which
are key in preventing an explosion.
Leland adds, however, “refineries are not
generally in a residential area. This is not the
norm.” Plans to build refineries in residential
areas in Indiana and Virginia have brought
similar ire from residents.
Charles Auch, Process Manager for the
Bureau of Development Services, says that
most of the regulations and permits that
will oversee the new plant concern how
the chemicals are contained. Tanks need to
be double-walled and anchored into the
foundation of the building in order to prevent
a leak in the event of seismic activity. The
walls need to be fire-rated and the building is
required to have a slab foundation, which will
prevent any spilled chemicals from seeping
into ground.
“We don’t regulate fumes,” Auch added.
Those are under the purview of the Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality.
According to Auch, the city does not
have any regulations governing processing
of biofuel. “We don’t issue permits for the
process or equipment,” says Auch.
30
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May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 9
Page 10 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
NORTH END
Speed bumps won’t
slow downtown Kenton
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By Carly Cohen
When the Interstate MAX line opened, it was
hoped that traffic in surrounding areas would
be reduced, and for the most part it was.
But when you reduce a four-lane street
to a two-lane street, the cars have to
go somewhere.
“We did see two streets that showed a
marked increase,” said Will Stevens, program
manager at the Portland Department of
Transportation, “Denver Avenue being the
most dramatic.”
This increase in traffic has caused an influx
of cars into downtown Kenton. Due to the
increased congestion, Kenton has begun a
new streetscape project through the Portland
Development Commission. The project goals
include slowing down cars and creating a
safer area for pedestrians.
“The PDC committee is recommending to
the city to widen sidewalks, remove the middle
lane, keep the bike path and keep parallel
parking along Denver in downtown Kenton,”
said Echo Leighton, Kenton resident and
president of the Kenton Business Association.
“Hopefully, if that plan is followed through,
traffic will slow down and obey the stop signs
and, in turn, draw more attention to the local
businesses of Kenton ... without the use of
speed bumps.”
Separate from the streetscape project
is the North Denver speed bump project,
which will put in eight speed bumps south of
Kenton. “I don’t think there is a huge impact
on Kenton — rather, a positive one,” said
Mark Lear, traffic investigations program
manager at PDOT. Lear believes the speed
bumps will “improve neighborhood livability
and bring a more visual awareness that this is
a pedestrian area.”
Phase One of the project was to construct
eight pedestrian islands along North Denver,
giving people on foot a refuge while crossing
the street. Upon approval, Phase Two will
install speed bumps along North Denver:
four between North Killingsworth St. and
North Portland Blvd., and four more between
North Portland Blvd. and Lombard St. The
original plan was intended to provide more
speed bumps, which would have greatly
reduced the amount of street parking for
residents of North Denver. The use of both
pedestrian islands and speed bumps will
enhance the pedestrian environment without
significantly reducing parking.
According to Stevens, the project came
about in an atypical way. “We generally
take projects to neighborhoods that request
speed bumps,” said Stevens. “This one
came out of our Interstate traffic analysis.”
A public meeting was held on March 22 to
propose the speed bump project. After the
meeting, petitions circulated around the
neighborhood, giving residents 30 days to
green-light the proposal. “We identified the
project,” said Stevens “but it is ultimately up
to the neighborhoods to approve or deny.”
Once approved, construction will begin
before June 30 and would take no more than
a full business week to complete. The street
will not be closed during construction.
30
WHEELING THROUGH THE WELLS
Guided tour of groundwater facility for cyclists
Bicyclists can get an up-close, guided tour
of Portland’s Groundwater Protection Area
well field in a June 10 ride sponsored by the
Portland Water Bureau and the Columbia
Slough Watershed Council.
City staff will be available at stops along
the 16-mile ride to discuss the importance
of groundwater and ways to protect it.
The route is over fairly flat terrain; it’s
deemed suitable for advanced beginners
and intermediate riders age 12 and over.
Helmets are required.
The well field can produce about
100 million gallons a day. It serves as
Page 10 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
an emergency backup for the Bull Run
Reservoirs and also chips in during the
summer when water demand rises.
The three-hour tour begins at 9 a.m.
at the Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center
parking lot, across the bridge from the MAX
Red Line stop at NE Sandy Boulevard and
95th Avenue. Preregistration is required
and space is limited to 25 riders.
To register, contact Jill Wall at jill.
wall@columbiaslough.org or (503) 281-1132.
INTERSTATE
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 11
OVERLOOK . ARBOR LODGE
To market, to market
Farmers markets blossom like spring flowers
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Hippie Honey at last year’s Interstate Farmers Market.
By Christen McCurdy & Will Crow
Rows of fresh produce beckoning from
packed stands, snack wagons, exotic local
cheeses and the occasional free sample: It’s
time for farmers markets. Without even
mentioning the vast u-pick options on
Sauvie Island, here’s a quick look at North
Portland options.
INTERSTATE FARMERS MARKET
The Interstate Farmers Market, founded
by Kaiser Permanente and the Overlook
Neighborhood Association, is set to begin its
third season in mid-May.
“We’re looking forward to starting on the
16th,” said Kent Hoddick, a representative
of the Overlook Neighborhood Association
who has served on the market’s steering
committee. The market will still be in the
same location, on Fremont Street adjacent to
Overlook Park.
The market is in transition, according
to Tom Griffin-Valade, director of North
Portland Neighborhood Services, which
also co-sponsors the market, writing in the
March-April edition of Overlook View.
“A new community board will be taking
over the direction of the market,” GriffinValade wrote. “This board will strive to
ensure the continued success that the market
has had in recruiting volunteers, promoting
the market to North Portland residents and
improving its financial health.”
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PHOTO BY DAVE SHARP (SENTINEL ARCHIVES)
Hoddick added that Kaiser is not pulling
its support for the market.
“Kaiser will still be supporting us, but not
to the same extent,” he said. “The market is
in transition going from Kaiser-sponsored to
neighborhood-sponsored.”
The market will be open from 3 to 7 p.m.
Wednesdays through Sept. 27.
ALBERTA FARMERS MARKET
Just beyond the eastern edge of North
Portland, the Alberta Farmers Market will
begin Thursday, May 31, at Northeast 15th
and Alberta. Hours are 3 to 7 p.m.
Jumnah Rau, a cashier at the sponsoring
Alberta Co-op, said the cooperative has held
a farmers market “every year since we opened,
except for one summer when we didn’t.”
Rau said the market includes crafts booths
and is not restricted to vendors who sell
through the co-op.
“Anyone who grows produce can come sell
it at the Farmers Market.”
ST. JOHNS BIZARRE
It’s not quite a farmers market, but the St.
Johns Bizarre on May 12 — the day of the
St. Johns Parade — is a great opportunity for
that last-minute Mother’s Day gift.
Local vendors, artisans, a variety of foods, music
and a beer garden are planned. The Sentinel is a
sponsor of the event; for vendor applications or
more information call (503) 287-3880 or email
info@stjohnssentinel.com.
Same Swan, bigger garden
Restaurant to add lounge, over
neighborhood’s concerns
By Jake Thomas
Swan Garden, a Chinese restaurant located
on North Interstate and Holman, has recently
initiated plans to expand its operation to
include a lounge on its existing property.
Swan Garden initially applied for a land use
review on June 30, 2005, to construct a 1,740square-foot addition to its existing property
in order to add a bar to the restaurant. This
drew the ire of the Arbor Lodge Neighborhood
Association. Among the concerns expressed by
residents were increased noise, parking issues,
potential vandalism, litter and loitering.
Seven written complaints were filed,
according to Arbor Lodge Neighborhood
Association Chair Chris Duffy, who expressed
misgivings about the need and ability of the
antiquated physical structure of the restaurant
to handle the addition.
After registering the complaints, a
revised proposal was issued on October
31, 2005, taking neighbor concerns into
consideration. The revisions reduced the
addition to 1,560 square feet and placed it
See Swan Garden / Page 22
Arbor Lodge residents feel a proposed Swan
Garden expanison would be an ugly duckling in the
neighborhood. PHOTO BY DAVE SHARP
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 11
Page 12 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
PIEDMONT . HUMBOLDT . BOISE . ELIOT
WEST ALBINA & MISSISSIPPI
Cheers, jeers for school voucher bill
proposed for low income kids
By Laura Parisi
Oddly Elegant
Antiques for Your Home
7400 N Lombard St. Portland 97203
503-285-4959
www.TheGrayGardens.com
-Located in Historic St. Johns-
Here are a few of our
favorite Light Bulb Jokes to
help brighten your day.
Q How many telemarketers does it
take to change a light bulb.
A Only one, but he has to do it while
you are eating.
Every year, a “school choice” bill tries to
make its way through the legislative session.
This year is no exception. At press time, a
bill that would create a pilot program for
school vouchers sat in the House Education
Committee, which had until April 30 to move
it forward to the House floor for a vote.
If approved, House Bill 3010, sponsored by
State Reps. Jerry Krummel (R-Wilsonville)
and John H. Dallum (R-The Dalles), would
give 1,000 low-income Portland students
a scholarship to use toward attending the
school of their choice — including private,
public, charter and religious schools.
Officially dubbed the “Freedom to Choose
My School Grant” program, it would be
available only to students eligible for the
federal free lunch program and who reside
in low-income neighborhoods, primarily
affecting students in North Portland.
“The idea that a student has the choice
irrespective of their station in life is a good
public policy,” says Krummel. Right now,
he adds, only wealthier students can go to
private schools. “Why not open that (option)
up for anybody?”
Critics of this bill, and of voucher bills in
general, do not like the idea of using public
money to fund private institutions, citing
better ways to improve failing schools.
“(Vouchers are) opening the door of
opportunity up for low-income students,
which I think is cool. But then you’re taking
that actual income away from that school,”
“THE IDEA THAT A STUDENT
HAS THE CHOICE IRRESPECTIVE
OF THEIR STATION IN LIFE IS A
GOOD PUBLIC POLICY,”
-STATE REP. JERRY KRUMMEL
says Calvin Kyles, co-chair of the ParentTeacher Organization at Boise-Eliot
Elementary and father of a fifth-grade
student there. Boise-Eliot would likely be
a district that would qualify for this pilot
program.
“I don’t believe that you should take
$7,000 from a school that really needs it,”
Kyles says.
See Voucher / Page 22
Q How many maintenance staff does
it take to change a light bulb?
A Only one after all the bulbs are out.
If you are looking for a little sunshine on
a cloudy day be sure to stop in and see
Kay the Light Bulb Lady and ask her how
she can help light up your world.
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But according to Matt Wingard of
the School Choice Working Group, the
organization that drafted the bill, the pilot
wouldn’t draw funding away from Portland
Public Schools. He says that schools would
continue to receive the per-pupil funding
they would’ve received if the student hadn’t
chosen to go elsewhere.
If the pilot program were to expand,
however, this funding mechanism would
likely need to change, instead redirecting the
per-pupil funding away from schools that
lose the students. Laurie Wimmer Whelan,
government relations consultant for the
Oregon Education Association, doesn’t
like this: “Any dollar that gets re-routed to
another purpose comes at an expense,” she
says. “(Vouchers) benefit a few students at
the expense of the many.”
For the North Portlanders who would
benefit from the test program the most —
mainly low-income and minority students
— a voucher to go to a better school is a very
real opportunity, especially given the low
graduation rates at Jefferson and Roosevelt
High Schools and the troubles facing the
school districts in the area.
“Most minority students are slipping
through the cracks,” says Damon Miller,
community project director for the Police
MORNING STAR
From page 2
“If your house burns down, are you going
to stop living?” he asked. “We are rebuilding,
right now.”
Part of that rebuilding includes cleaning
up the church site for safety and so
neighborhood people can park. But another
part is happening within the church itself.
“We ain’t going to no new building the way
we left the old one,” Johnson said.
Society’s needs are different than they
were even 30 years ago, he says, so the
church’s mission needs to be social in its
scope. He says that Morning Star has always
run a soup kitchen, donated to shelters and
brought lotions and warm socks to people in
retirement homes, but now it’s time to take it
to a new level.
And, he says, it’s already happening. Just
two months after they lost their building,
Morning Star had a special collection during
their Easter offering – but the beneficiary
was not the rebuilding fund. The church sent
over $700 to the AIDS Orphan Education
Trust, and then a week later presented their
first-ever $1,000 scholarship to one of their
high school seniors.
“The church is understanding how vital it
is to do more than just feed the hungry as we
Page 12 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
have done in the past,” he said. “We need to
help people’s need wherever those needs lie.”
One of those needs is education. And with
dollars for schools running short, he says, it is
up to the church to step in and fill that gap.
Morning Star would like to build a school,
Johnson says, a school for kids of all races,
one that will “strengthen and mold the inner
city community that Morning Star is a part
of into something strong and vital.”
“We want to be givers; we don’t just want
to be takers,” he said.
Since the fire, the community has been
giving too.
Safeway donated thousands of dollars
shortly after the disaster, and on April 20,
local grocery chain New Seasons presented
a $7,500 check. Wells Fargo has established
a relief fund to make it easy for people to
continue to donate.
Johnson says that it has been encouraging
to see the people reaching out, from Interstate
Rentals, who provided the tents and chairs
for the service that first week (“I just can’t
say enough for them”) to Mayor Tom Potter
and Commissioner Erik Sten, who Johnson
says have been of great assistance following
the disaster.
But Johnson feels that the real disaster
would be if the fire were the only thing
anyone knew about Morning Star.
“If people look at you and all they see is
tragedy,” he told his congregation, “you got
to rethink the way you’re presenting yourself
to the world.”
Within the tragedy itself, he says, there
is great opportunity: “Out of destruction
comes construction, and out of disaster
comes development.”
The local plumbers’ and electrical
workers’ unions have stepped in with offers
to assist in the rebuilding process, using
the project as a training tool for apprentice
tradesmen, and a local stained glass artisan
is also using the church as an opportunity
to teach others his craft.
Johnson says this means that the
disaster can provide a new beginning for
the community as well as the church. By
partnering with the church to teach people
a trade, these craftsmen are providing
the opportunity to be independent and
therefore building not only a church but
also a stronger community.
This way, Johnson hopes, people will
someday be able to look at the positive direction
their lives have taken and say, “This all started
in the tragedy of a burning church.”
If you are interested in making a donation or
in participating in an apprenticeship with the
plumbers’ or electrical workers’ unions, please
call the Morning Star Baptist Church office at
(503) 284-0200. Office hours are Monday-Friday,
9 a.m.-5 p.m.
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 13
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May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 13
Page 14 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
art&community CALENDAR
OUR PICKS
Send us a press release or info about
your June event (by May 17) to:
calendar@stjohnssentinel.com
Calendar compiled by Laura Hutton
May 2-9
CocoRosie
May 3—Sister duo Bianca (Coco) and Sierra
(Rosie) Cassady combine beat-box with opera, hiphop with harp strings. The freak-folk band, now
based in Paris, France, has released four albums
since 2003, and are touring to promote their new
record, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (2007), which hit the streets April 10, 2007.
Wonder Ballroom (128 NE Russell St., 503-284-8686,
www.wonderballroom.com) $15, 8:30pm.
Natural Gardening Seminar
May 5—Learn the diverse and tropical plants
that thrive in Portland’s summer climate. Observe
extensive demonstration gardens and learn designs to model for your own garden. Limited to 60
participants, to register call (503) 234-3000.
Cistus Nursery on Sauvie Island (22711 NW Gillihan Rd.,
503-621-2233, www.cistus.com) Free, 10-11:30am.
May 10-16
St. Johns Parade
May 12—Celebrate St. Johns with a parade and
festival. The event features local food vendors,
artisans, crafts, live music, and last but certainly
not least, a beer garden. This year, Portland’s third
largest parade expects to attract more than 2000
people. For more information, contact
info@stjohnssentinel.com.
St. Johns Plaza, 10am-6pm.
Interstate Farmers Market
May 16—Running high on food mileage? Come
buy farm-fresh produce and goods and help
support local farmers and low-mileage foods. The
market is located at North Fremont at Overlook
Park and runs through September 26.
Interstate Farmers Market, www.interstatefarmersmarket.com,
503-267-7371, 3-7 pm.
May 17-23
ville, 8 pm. May 18—DJ Night: The Lost Weekend,
featuring DJ Ghost Dad and DJ Stereoface, 8 pm.
May 19—Gejius, masmöd, Bumtech, 8 pm. May
25—DJ Night: Like Like The The The Death, 8 pm.
May 26—John Vecchiarelli, Ali Ippolito, 8 pm. June
2—The Golden Year, The Walking, Jay Hinton of
Former Form, 7 pm.
May 24-30
Good Work Sister
May 24—Screening of Good Work Sister: Women
Shipyard Workers of World War II, an oral history
documentary that focuses on the rise of women
in trade in Portland and Vancouver during World
War II. Featuring speakers Laurie Mercier and
members of TradesWomen.
In Other Words Books (8b NE Killingsworth St.,
503-232-6003, www.inotherwords.org) Free, 6:30pm.
P:ear Benefit
May 18—thisNik Photography presents “Looking Forward: A Benefit for P:ear” at In Other
Words Books and Resources. The event features
music by Lily-Rygh Glen, The Crash and Betty
Show, Bob’s Sister, and more. Also featuring
a silent auction, including small prints from
thisNik Photography. All profits go to benefit P:
ear and In Other Words Bookstore.
In Other Words Books (8b NE Killingsworth St., 503-2326003, www.inotherwords.org) Free with donation, 6pm.
Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival
May 18-20— Portland’s Second Annual Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival presents an
arts festival celebrating disability pride. The event
features dance, lectures, performances, musicians, visual arts, and two days of film screenings.
The Disability Art and Culture Project is a nonprofit
organization founded by Kathy Coleman.
Central Lutheran Church (1820 NE 21st Ave.)
Electronic Music Night
May 19—Dance, brood, play video games, and
get jiggy, in that order. Portland holds claim to
electro-prodigies Gejius, masmöd, Bumtech, and
DJ Ghost Dad. Highlights include masmöd, Portland-native and ambience master Michael John.
Bumtech, bass/guitar duo Sharon Schloss and
John Walterscheid, add a harmonizing punk note
to their beats.
May 31-June 6
Greg Pahl: Citizen Powered
Energy Handbook
May 30—Greg Pahl reads from his work, The
Citizen Powered Energy Handbook: Community Solutions to a Global Crisis. Pahl discusses
individual solutions to curbing energy consumption
and seeking more sustainable forms of energy.
St. Johns Booksellers (8622 N Lombard St., 503-2830032, www.stjohnsbooks.com, info@stjohnsbooks.com)
Free, 7:30pm.
May 31—Charlottesville-based Devon Sproule and
Myshkin’s Ruby Warblers (NOLA to NoPo transplants) combine elements of old-time jazz, folk,
and Appalachian. Sproule, returning from her UK
tour, is promoting her new album, Keep Your Silver
Shined. Myshkin’s Ruby Warblers, jazzy-folk-punk
bandista, released their third full-band album, Sigh
Semaphore, in 2006.
Mississippi Studios (3939 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895,
www.mississippistudios.com) 21+, $10, 8pm.
The Waypost (3120 N Williams Ave., 503-367-3182,
www.thewaypost.com) 21+, free, 8pm.
MUSIC
May 4—Synesthe Ensemble, 9pm. Armadillo
Speedbump, 7pm. May 5—Jake Legg Trio, 7pm.
May 6—Dancers Northwest Belly Dance Performance, an event for the whole family, 4:30-8pm.
Bill Gibson, 8pm. May 11—Hanna, 7pm. Stumptown Jug Thumpers, 9pm. May 12—Armadillo
Speedbump, Smoke n Mirrors, Bonanza City, 7pm.
May 13—Oz Street Fossils, 3-5:30pm. George
Veech, 6pm. May 18—Slowly Rising, 7pm. May
19—Matt Meighan, 7pm. May 20—Hawkins &
Megan, 8pm. May 25—Steve Ulrich, 7pm. May
26—Organic Athlete, 5pm. Kate Mann, 7pm. Cells,
10pm. May 27—Steve Cheeseborough, 2-5pm.
Oranton Star Cause, 7pm.
8638 N Lombard St., 503-445-2007, www.propereats.org,
propereats@yahoo.com. All shows all ages, free unless
otherwise noted.
Waypost
May 5—Eliza Jayne, Adopted Highway, 8 pm.
May 11—DJ Night, featuring Jesse, 8 pm. May
12—Chris Buckingham, 8 pm. May 15—Shatter-
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May 3—CocoRosie, $15, 8:30pm. May 8—Yard
Dogs Road Show Cabaret Blitz, featuring MarchFourth Marching Band, $15, 8pm. May 12—
Girl4Girl Seattle: Portland Launch Party, featuring DJ
Ricki Leigh, Go-GO Dancers, G4G’s single bracelets
and more. 21+, $10, 9pm. May 14—Aqualung,
$14, 8pm. May 15—The Bravery, $15, 8pm. May
16—EL-P with Hangar 18, $17.50, 8pm. May
17—RJD2 with Pigeon John & Happy Chichester,
$16, 8pm. May 18—Meat Puppets, $15, 8pm. May
28—Marianne Faithfull, $27, 8pm. May 29—Citizen Cope, 8pm.
128 NE Russell St., 503-284-8686, www.wonderballroom.com.
All shows advanced ticket prices, show times, all ages unless
otherwise noted.
Twilight Room
May 4—Tyler Stenson. May 11—Jess Lageson.
May 18—TBA. May 28—J*Malem. June 1—Dannie Vickers.
5242 N Lombard St., 503-289-5091, www.myspace.com/
thetwilightroom. All shows 21+, 9pm.
Family Art Show
May 5—Art from a whole family. Featuring multimedia art by Marie Fleischmann, photography by
Trina Mac, and original artwork by Trina’s children
Emma and Caitlin. Refreshments and children’s
activities provided.
In Other Words Books (8b NE Killingsworth St., 503-2326003, www.inotherwords.org) Free, 5pm.
IFCC Call to Artists
2007 marks the Interstate Firehouse Cultural
Center’s 25th Anniversary. Submit work for group
or solo shows. All mediums and artists are welcome to submit. Deadline is May 15, 5pm. For
more information, visit www.ifcc-arts.org or email
adrienne@ifcc-arts.org.
5340 N Interstate Ave., 503-823-4322, info@ifcc-arts.org,
www.ifcc-arts.org.
Proper Eats Market & Café
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Wonder Ballroom
VISUAL ARTS
Devon Sproule, Myshkin’s
Ruby Warblers
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3120 N. Williams Ave., 503-367-3182, www.thewaypost.com.
PERFORMANCE
A Lesson From Aloes
May 4-June 2—Interstate Firehouse Cultural
Center hosts a local production of Athol Fugard’s
award-winning play about three lives shattered by
the horrors of a police state. Fugard, author of the
acclaimed drama Tsotsi, has been involved in South
African drama since the late 1950s. His plays and
works have addressed the effects of apartheid and
post-apartheid South Africa on the individual.
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (5340 N Interstate Ave.,
503-823-4322, info@ifcc-arts.org, www.ifcc-arts.org) $15$24, Thurs-Sun 2pm & 8pm.
READINGS, LECTURES, SPOKEN WORD
Brian Manning: Spring Bicycle
Maintenance
May 3—Clean out that winter rust on your chain.
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Page 14 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 15
art&community CALENDAR
Brian Manning presents, “Bicycles in Bloom: Spring
Maintenance.”
The Waypost (3120 N Williams Ave., 503-367-3182,
www.thewaypost.com) 7pm.
Sara Ryan: Rules of the Heart
May 8—Sara Ryan reads from her new work, Rules
of the Heart. Ryan, a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan,
won the ALA Best Book for Young Adults for her first
novel, Empress of the World.
In Other Words Books (8b NE Killingsworth St., 503-2326003, www.inotherwords.org) Free, 6:30pm.
Barbara Blossom Ashmun:
Married To My Garden
May 10— Local gardening columnist and expert on
all things seedy reads from her dirty memoir, Married To My Garden.
St. Johns Booksellers (8622 N. Lombard St., 503-283-0032,
www.stjohnsbooks.com, info@stjohnsbooks.com) Free, 7:30pm.
Don Nelson: Historic Photos of Portland
May 12—Following the St. Johns Parade, Don
Nelson signs his Historic Photos of Portland at St.
Johns Booksellers.
St. Johns Booksellers (8622 N Lombard St., 503-283-0032,
www.stjohnsbooks.com, info@stjohnsbooks.com) Free, 2:30pm.
Aaron Olson: Multicultural
Law Enforcement
May 15—Aaron Olson, criminal justice instructor
at Portland Community College and retired Oregon
State Police patrol sergeant, hosts a book signing at
PCC Cascade for his new book, Multicultural Law
Enforcement. In 2001, Olson designed PCC’s first
cultural diversity course. Olson also leads public
safety workshops at the Immigrant Refugee Community Organization (IRCO). For more information, call
503-978-5236.
PCC Cascade (705 N Killingsworth St., www.pcc.edu)
Free, 12:30pm.
Ruth King: Healing Rage
May 15—Your anger is a gift? Ruth King shares
spiritual tips for those wishing to harness the healing
power of rage. King, president of Bridges, Branches
& Braids and author of Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible, combines elements of
Western and Eastern philosophy and psychology to
form patterns of healing.
In Other Words Books (8b NE Killingsworth St., 503-2326003, www.inotherwords.org) Free, 6:30pm.
Lisa Wells: Writing a Pantoum
May 17—Lisa Wells presents “Writing in Poetic
Forms” or “Composing a Pantoum, booya!”
The Waypost (3120 N Williams Ave., 503-367-3182,
www.thewaypost.com) 7 pm.
FILM
Deadly Bugs and Spiders
May 6—Film School’s springtime film series
features “Deadly Bugs and Spiders,” a discussion
of Northwest deadly spiders with a screening of
Arachnophobia.
(3939 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895,
www.mississippistudios.com) Free, 7pm.
Monday Movie Madness
May 7—From Russia with Love (1963) features
James Bond vs. the Commies. May 14—Dr.
Now
Stranglove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and
Love the Bomb (1964) features the paranoid U.S.
Air Force vs. the Commies. May 21—Everything Is
Illuminated (2005) explores a young man’s search
for his Holocaust-survivor grandfather’s past. May
28—Goonies (1985), the classic ’80s teen adventure, tracks the quest of kids from the boondocks in
Astoria, Oregon.
5300 N Marine Dr. 10+, 9-11:30am.
Pix Patisserie (3901D N Williams Ave., 503-282-6539,
www.pixpatisserie.com) Free, 7:30pm.
5300 N Marine Drive. $25-$50, 1-4pm.
Tuesday First Amendment Films
May 8—This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006) exposes
the censorship of the American movie ratings board.
May 15—The Road to Guantanamo (2006) explores
the detention of the “Tipton Three,” three British
Muslims held without charge for two years at Guantanamo. May 22—An Islamic History of Europe
(2005) discusses the roots of Islam in many European customs. May 29—The U.S. vs. John Lennon
(2005) documents the life of John Lennon and his
legendary transformation into an anti-war activist.
Proper Eats Market & Café (8638 N Lombard St., 503-445-2007,
www.propereats.org, propereats@yahoo.com) Free, 7pm.
The Trap
Canoe and Kayak Rental Trip
May 6—Explore the off-trail wonders of Smith and
Bybee Wetlands from a canoe or kayak with naturalist James Davis. For the first time, Metro offers the
trip to those without access to canoes. Pre-registration required, call 503-797-1715.
Animal Tracking at Smith and Bybee
May 12—John Halsell, naturalist and tracker, leads
a tracking group through the sand, mud, trees and
trails of Smith and Bybee Wetlands. Learn to track
beaver, coyote, raccoon, deer and rabbits, as well as
the history and art of tracking.
5300 N Marine Drive. Free, 9:30am-noon.
May 18—Portland vs. Pepperdine, 3pm. May
19—Portland vs. Pepperdine, 1pm. May 20—Portland vs. Pepperdine, 1pm.
Joe Etzel Field at UP (5000 N Willamette, 503-943-7911,
www.up.edu)
May 20—Bring your canoe or kayak and paddle the
wetlands of Smith and Bybee with naturalist Troy
Clark. Pre-registration required, please call 503249-0482 or email brillobrain@ureach.com.
St. Johns Booksellers (8622 N Lombard St., 503-283-0032,
www.stjohnsbooks.com, info@stjohnsbooks.com) Free, 7pm.
COMMUNITY
May 25—St. Johns Library hosts a Teen Movie
Matinee for teens grades 6-12. Space limited, arrive
30 minutes early.
St. Johns Library (7510 N Charleston Ave., 503-988-5397,
www.multcolib.org) Free, 3-5:30pm.
OUTDOOR AND RECREATION
Arbor Lodge Work Party
May 5—Keep Arbor Lodge pesticide-free. Join Saturday morning work parties to weed and restore the
park. Snacks, gloves and tools provided. For more
information, call Megan at 503-423-7549.
North Bryant and Greeley Ave. 9 am-noon.
Painted Turtle Walk
May 5, 19—Explore the painted turtle populations
of Smith and Bybee Wetlands with Metro naturalist
James Davis. For adults and children five and older.
Advance registration required, call 503-797-1715.
Smith and Bybee Wetlands (5300 N Marine Dr.) Free, 1-2:30pm.
Columbia Slough Stewardship Saturday
May 5—Help restore habitat at Columbia Slough.
Plant native species and remove invasive species
and help keep trails maintained. Advance registration required.
For more information, contact Melissa at 503-281-1132.
9 am-noon.
Spring Bird Walk at Smith and Bybee
May 5, 19—James Davis leads a group through
the wetlands to identify more than 25 different
songbirds that come to roost in Smith and Bybee
Wetlands. Advance registration required, call
Knitting Party
May 8, 15, 22, 29—Knitting party at The Waypost
every Tuesday evening.
The Waypost (3120 N Williams Ave., 503-367-3182, www.
thewaypost.com) Free, 5-7pm.
Baseball at UP
May 18—James Wrathall of First Amendment Films
screens The Trap: What Happened to Our Dreams
of Freedom? (2006) at St. Johns Booksellers. The
BBC television series, brainchild of Adam Curtis,
explores the concepts behind Western freedom. The
owners of the bookstore provide refreshments and
popcorn for the film.
Teen Movie Matinee
St. Johns Parade, May 12, noon. See page 17.
Smith and Bybee Paddle Trip
5300 N Marine Drive. Noon-4pm.
Linocut Workshop
May 12—Print small images using linoleum blocks.
Bring a small, simple design with you. Limited to five
people, pre-registration required.
School and Community Reuse Action Project (3901A N Williams Ave., 503-294-0769, www.scrapaction.org) 18+, $20,
1-4pm.
Free Skin Cancer Screening
May 12—Local dermatologists provide free skin
cancer screenings for local residents. Exam takes
only five minutes. Please pre-register at 503-4942301 or 888-482-7546 ext. 2301.
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital (1040 NW 22nd Ave., 503413-8792) Free, 8 am-noon.
Flight Night
May 3—Eau de Vie: Koenig Pear Williams, Clear
Creek Mirabelle, Clear Creek Douglas Fir. May
10—Armagnc: De Montal XO, Francis Darroze
Reserve Speciale, Francis Darroze Domaine de
Rieston, ’74. May 17—Port: Warre’s White Port,
Taylor Fladgate 10yr Tawny, Quinta Vale D. Maria
LBV. May 24—Single Malt Scotch: Highland Park,
Glenmorangie, Glenfarclas. May 31—Rum: 10
Cane, Zaya 12, Angostura 1824.
Pix Patisserie (3901D N Williams Ave., 503-282-6539, www.
pixpatisserie.com) $10, 5 pm-close.
Mat Cutting
May 5—Dave MalcolmLearn leads a workshop on
mat cutting at School and Community Reuse Action
Project (SCRAP). Please bring a flat piece of artwork
5”x8” max. Limited to five people, pre-registration
required.
School and Community Reuse Action Project (3901A N Williams Ave., 503-294-0769, www.scrapaction.org) 18+, $20,
1-4 pm.
Family Drum Class
May 5-June 23—Caton Lyles leads a family drum
class, focusing on West African rhythms.
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (5340 N Interstate Ave.,
503-823-4322, info@ifcc-arts.org, www.ifcc-arts.org) $75,
11+, $12 drop in, Saturdays 4:30-5:45pm.
African Dance
May 7-June 23—Portland’s African dance teacher,
Habiba, leads a class on West African Dance.
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (5340 N Interstate Ave.,
503-823-4322, info@ifcc-arts.org, www.ifcc-arts.org) $75 or
14+, $12 drop in, Mondays 7-8:30pm.
503-797-1715.
Mother’s Day Concoct Yo’ Own Dessert
May 13—Pix Patisserie’s chef leads participants
through a custom-made Mother’s Day dessert for
the mama. Adults and kids 5+ welcome to participate.
Pix Patisserie (3901D N Williams Ave., 503-282-6539, www.
pixpatisserie.com)
OLIN Study Group
May 14—Meet and discuss issues relating to the
uprising in Oaxaca and other forms of Mexican
resistance. OLIN is a working group of Portland Sin
Fronteras.
In Other Words Books (8b NE Killingsworth St., 503-2326003, www.inotherwords.org) 6pm.
Childbirth Education Classes
May 21—A workshop to focus on natural childbirth
and pregnancy therapy through art. To register or for
more information, contact saratrettter@gmail.com.
In Other Words Books (8b NE Killingsworth St., 503-2326003, www.inotherwords.org)
Self-Employed Creative Professionals
May 23—Self-Employed Creative Professionals
(SECP) lead a workshop on how to develop your
career as a freelancer. For more information and to
register, contact Barbara@newsletterassociates.com.
Oregon Building (800 NE Oregon, Room 1B) $5, 11:30am-1pm.
Encaustic Workshop
May 26—Molly Jochem leads a workshop on
encaustic (hot wax) painting. Limited to six people,
pre-registration required.
School and Community Reuse Action Project (3901A N. Williams Ave., 503-294-0769, www.scrapaction.org) 12+, $20,
1-4pm.
n!
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O
The Cup & Saucer Café
8237 N. Denver
503-247-6011
Hours: 7 days a week, 8am-3pm
(503) 283-2116
2104 N. Willis
Coupon $$ Savings
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May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 15
Page 16 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
FOR ADVERTISING CALL: 503.706.7190
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“Quality You Can Depend On”
503.577.3382
Page 16 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
—
1.800.891.8001
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 17
THE MAIN EVENT
St. Johns Parade
ON SATURDAY, MAY 12,
North Portland will welcome its 45th St. Johns Parade. The event is an impressive, volunteer-fueled
function that brings the community together every year for a colorful procession of bands, floats (well,
mostly flatbed trucks with people standing on them), dignitaries, random acts of street theater and
one of the most incredible collections of classic cars you will see this side of an auto show.
While not directly affiliated with the Rose Festival, the parade is usually the first time the
Ambassador Court, comprised of one Rose Princess representing each of the city’s high
schools, is seen together and typically kicks off the festival season with a bang.
ROUTE
Parade runs along North Lombard from North Buchanan to North New York.
From approximately 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
DIGNITARIES (annotated by the Sentinel)
This year, like every year, the parade offers up a prolific
procession of pointy-headed politicians for your parading
pleasure. (Residents must supply their own
rotten vegetables.)
DIGNITARIES INCLUDE
City Commissioner Sam Adams, Fire Chief Dave Sprando
(hope he brings one of those spotty dogs), County Chair
Ted Wheeler, City Commissioner Dan Saltzman (boooring),
County Commissioner Jeff Cogan, State Senator Margaret
Carter (yougogirl!), Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder (well,
slightly more animated than Saltzman but not as much of
a party animal as Portland City Auditor Gary Blackmer),
State Treasurer Randall Edwards (Yes! How did we manage to score the State Treasurer? This guy totally rocks!)
Police Chief Rosie Sizer (hmmm, well…okay…grumble,
grumble…mess with my precinct, will ya?), State Rep Tina
Kotek (love that spiky hair thing she does), Mrs. Oregon,
Miss Oregon USA 2007, Miss Portland (no offense, Mr.
Mayor, but I hope these are all girls).
HULA DANCING
Big Kahuna’s 2nd Annual BBQ Competition,
from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Local hula dance troupe Uluwehi Hula Halua O Kapukui
will perform at 2:30 p.m. –3:30 p.m. There will also be
Hawaiian gifts and treats for sale throughout the day. 8221
N Lombard, 503-522-4012
ST. JOHNS BIZARRE
The St. Johns Bizarre hopes to “Keep Portland Weird”
by hosting an assortment of stunningly strange distractions for residents and visitors. A gaggle of artisans,
crafts people and other merchants will be on hand at
the Bizarre Bazaar. Musical acts and performers will
entertain before and after the parade, and a beer garden
sponsored by Signal Station Pizza and Sierra Nevada will
be open at noon.
10 a.m. – 6 p.m. rain (gulp) or shine, St. Johns Plaza,
Burlington and Philadelphia. For information call 503287-3880, or info@stjohnssentinel.com.
PARADE PINS
St. Johns Parade commemorative pins are available
throughout the Peninsula. The pins are a nifty little
tradition that sell for just $3.50 each. Just like those
little American Flag pins, the parade pin is a great way to
show your fanatical-like devotion to your community.
Pins available at: The Perch, Big Kahuna, New Portland
Rose, Blue Balls Pub, Portway Tavern, Deli Express, Our
Daily Bread, Pattie’s Home Plate Café, Albina Community
Bank, St. Johns Booksellers, Tulip Pastry Shop, Peninsula Station, The Man’s Shop, Burgerville, Paul Bunyan’s
Restaurant, Orleans Candle Company, U.S. Bank, St.
Johns Liquor Store, Anna Banana’s, Slim’s Restaurant
and Bar, Dad’s Restaurant, Cookie’s Hair Salon, and the
James John Café.
Still time to get in the parade.
For information contact Sharil Griffin at 503-286-5979 or
sharillgriffin@msn.com.
FROM THE ST. JOHNS PARADE COMMITTEE:
Appreciating Volunteers on the North Portland Peninsula
The theme for the May 12, 2007, St. Johns Parade
is Celebrate Community Volunteers. On the Peninsula, where volunteers influence neighborhood livability, education, business and almost every phase
of the way we live.
The Peninsula has seven neighborhood organizations. Each has volunteer board members who
work for better land use decisions, sponsoring
cleanup projects, working with crime prevention
specialists, working with and/or fighting with City
Hall, and as resource to Neighborhood Watch
residents.
At every school on the Peninsula there are special
programs and volunteer mentors who work to
enhance the education experience for every child,
chaperoning on field trips, being a teacher’s aide in
the classroom, or supporting the annual fundraising projects.
All along the main street, North Lombard and
beyond, there are business organizations, associations and alliances working for better traffic flow,
improving communication, and seeking ways to
encourage new businesses to locate on the Peninsula.
A Celebration
of the Strange
Parade Day, May 12th 10am to 6pm
Vendors • Music • Food • Fun
At the grassroots of volunteer organizations with
many years of community service there are the
American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the
Eagles, Elks, Optimists, Rotarians, Kiwanians and
the Lions. As the older generation of fraternal organizations, most have been active for more than fifty
years. Their activities have been social, patriotic and
charitable, all the result of volunteer efforts.
In the St. Johns Plaza, N. Lombard and Philadelphia
And then there are the friends of — Friends of the
Library, Friends of Columbia Park, Friends of Cathedral
Park, Friends of Trees, Friends of Pier Park, and other
volunteer groups supporting projects that interest them
or that need visibility or funding to achieve success.
For more information about the event go to www.stjohnssentinel.com or
call 503-287-3880. Event sponsored by Sierra Nevada, Mount Hood
Beverage Company, Signal Station Pizza, St. Johns Sentinel, Proper Eats,
St. Johns Neighborhood Association, St. Johns Booksellers and Super Sarah.
A Day Long Festival with Artisan Crafts and Gifts
Live Music Stage • Bizarre Acts Beer Garden
(sponsored by Sierra Nevada) Food & More!
All volunteer groups were invited to share their
vision and successes by designing an entry for the
St. Johns Parade. Even the parade is an
all-volunteer project!
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 17
Page 18 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
‘Broken Word’ hits the streets
Portland street poets publish second anthology
By Christopher J. Miller
It’s hard to keep a family together, especially
if they’re not blood-related. But the Broken
Word poets that call Alberta St. Pub home
have successfully finished out their second
year, and their second published book,
“Broken Word: the Alberta Street Anthology,
Volume Two.”
“Two years in the same place without
people dying,” says poet and “Broken Word”
editor John Hogl. “We’ve definitely drawn a
family of a weird mother.”
Alberta St. Pub plays host to a group of
Portland street poets that come together
once a week on Tuesday night to share their
broken words, frustrations and outlooks
on life with a group of always-recognizable
faces. Remember the all-too-familiar cliche
that begins “the early bird…?” Yeah, that one.
Well, keep it in mind before meandering into
the Broken Word nest after 7 p.m. with any
intention of reading, because chances are
your worm has already been taken. The signup list, which usually holds around twenty
names, has been jamming up at a more rapid
pace each Tuesday.
“The list is full every night,” explains Chris
Ridenour, Broken Word’s emcee, during an
editors meeting at his Southeast Portland
home. “It’s the greatest reading in town, with
the greatest people … trust me, I know, I’m
an ‘open mic’ whore.”
“He’s right,” says Michael Shay. “What keeps
me, as well as everyone else, coming back is
the quality of the work that’s read here.”
One by one the poets stand atop a dimly lit
stage for an allotted amount of time, typically
reading two to four pieces of original work.
Often they are referred to by a nickname, or
a fake name, but rarely just their first name.
Their prose, poetry, ramblings and odes to
this or that, are always met with a generous
applause and a few off-the-cuff remarks — it
is indeed the family of a weird mother.
But Hogl, Ridenour and Shay are just
three of the names responsible for steady
attendance and the editing of the anthology.
Elizabeth Archers, Doug Spangle and
Moira McAuliffe make up the second half
of the editing crew. All six are contributing
poets, as well.
“We’re just freaks for the written and
spoken word,” says Archers.
“Spoken word is so powerful and greatly
entertaining, especially if you listen to Chris
[Ridenour] read,” responds Hogl.
“And so many ‘open mics’ cater to
performance poetry rather than street
poetry, but Broken Word does both. Street
poetry has to retain its audience’s attention
from second to second.”
Archers is not only a contributing editor
to the annual anthologies, but is also the
creator of The Church of Poetry, a brunch
held the last Sunday of every month. It also
spawned her small publishing company of
the same name. Though she occupies a small
apartment, her love of entertaining couldn’t
keep Archers from inviting well over a dozen
people into her home to partake in an event
she says often lasts all day.
“We laugh our asses off!” says Archers,
her enthusiasm exuding from her face and
all appendages. “We eat, we drink, we read
poetry … it’s gorgeous stuff.”
The first anthology, financed from the
poets’ own pocketbooks, has recently just
turned a profit, becoming a local novelty
after regularly selling off the shelves at
Powell’s City of Books and other local book
stores. The first anthology consisted of 26
poets, whereas volume two will include 51 of
the street poets that have frequented Alberta
St. Pub throughout the past year, providing
us with a snapshot of a great number of
experiences over a period of time.
“It’s really something to see how remarkable
it always is,” explains Archers.
“Like any family, we do have our
dysfunctionalities,” says Hogl.
“They’re ‘squabbles’,” Shay adds.
“Yeah, I know, but that’s what keeps the
pressure on me to keep writing — the level
of talent.”
“Broken Word: the Alberta Street Anthology,
Volume Two,” will hit Portland streets on May 8.
Broken Word open mic poetry night is held every
Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Alberta St. Pub
(1036 NE Alberta St.).
Clarendon Closing Blues
(or Pint-Sized Pavarotti) Student Opera Tackles Tough Issues
By Andrew R Tonry
FAMILY LAW
TRUSTS
WILLS
EXPUNGEMENTS
The Law Offices of Randolph J. Stevens
503-285-4523
2918 N. Lombard Street • Portland, OR 97217
* Next door to King Burrito
When the fifth-grade class at Clarendon
Elementary found out their school was
closing they decided to do something about
it – sing.
“Time is Ticking for Clarendon” marks the
third consecutive year the school’s students
have written, produced and performed an
original opera.
Clarendon teacher Donna Murphy, who
oversees the student productions, attempts to
honor the students’ original vision as closely
as possible. She got the idea from attending
an opera workshop in New York City.
“It’s a New York Metropolitan Opera
program,” explains Murphy, who spent two
summer workshops training in the Big Apple.
“All three operas have been pretty much the
standard model that the Metropolitan Opera
has devised – helping kids decide a theme, a
thesis and then creating a story.”
This year, the opera’s theme focuses on
friendship and change, which are both
poignant and important ideas for the 10- and
11-year-olds to explore as their school prepares
to relocate to the Portsmouth Middle School
building and re-establish itself as a K-8 when
the next school year begins in September.
Clarendon Elementary is a unique school
in itself. Built in the 1970s during the “open
school” fad, Clarendon was constructed
without walls. Teachers say the design fosters
a stronger sense of community between the
staff and students.
But an aging, leaky roof requiring costly
renovation now spells the end of Clarendon’s
unique environment.
Murphy, like many of the students, doesn’t
want to see the school go.
“It’s breaking my heart,” she said.
And while she is not sure the opera
program will continue at the new location,
Murphy has her fingers crossed.
Page 18 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
The school
doesn’t close
until the fat lady
sings. Opera
rehearsal (from
left to right)
Jasmin Ruiz
Hernandez,
Idaya Mohamed,
Lulu CastilloRomero, Isaac
Vang, Carlos
Hernandez.
While working on the opera, Murphy says,
the students “learn so much about themselves
and what they’re capable of.”
The production has been especially
beneficial for the students at Clarendon for
whom English is a second language, currently
over half of the school’s population.
“It’s very deep language work as well as all
the other performance issues – the wonderful
things the musicians learn when they get to
play and create music,” Murphy says.
Peg Von Dreele, a volunteer who has
helped with costume production, sees the
same thing.
“Any kind of project like this can be
extremely beneficial,” Von Dreele explains.
“They are getting intellectual things, social
things – all kinds of stuff.”
Many students, including some who have
trouble in the traditional classroom setting,
have excelled in the opera program.
“I have seen kids come out of their shell,”
says Murphy. “They love opera because it’s
hands on, it’s constructive, and it’s building
something
and
it’s
performing – it’s a tangible result that they
can be proud of.”
And indeed the children should be proud
of their production.
Armed with a rhyming dictionary and
a thesaurus, the fifth-grade students have
written some impressive lyrics. The opera’s
finale ends as such:
Change is coming
Metamorphosis calls
It’s there all around
In the road that winds
From Clarendon on
To Portsmouth
In the school
And all points beyond.
“Time is Ticking for Clarendon” will be performed
May 3 at 7:00 p.m. and May 4 at 1:30 p.m., at
Clarendon School (9325 N Van Houten Ave.).
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 19
You Can Relax...
Knowing I Won’t!
Creativity, democracy and
the musically gifted
Lean on me....
I’ve been helping folks in
North Portland buy and
sell homes for 3 decades!
Do-it-yourself method works for NoPo band
“Iretsu is an ancient Japanese valuation
method created by the Honami family at
the end of the Muromachi Period,” explains
the band’s website. Good revelation, because
there’s nothing worse than a band name I
can’t comprehend.
Ryan Cross, Joel Holly, Kate O’BrienClarke and Glen Schiedt — the quartet that
is Iretsu — may be our city’s most talented
unsigned and self-produced band. Yes, I said
it. And I say this because when trying to count
how many instruments they’re able to play
I lose track. Iretsu is a band that provides
Stumptown music snobs with something
more than music, even more than a good
show — they give you a full-on deliberate
cabaret of “avant-everything.”
Sometimes it’s sound that evokes feeling.
Other times it is, in fact, feeling that calls to
mind a sound. But we usually can differentiate
between the two. Yet, when I listen to Iretsu,
it’s a game of “which came first, the chicken
or the egg?”
“There’s a strong humor aspect to Iretsu,”
lead singer/guitarist/jack-of-all-instruments
Cross says. “And we’re just really creative
with all of our influences.”
For now, Cross is the only songwriter,
though all four members compose, “and it’ll
probably stay that way for awhile,” explains
master violinist Kate O’Brien-Clarke. “He’s
just very, very good.” Indeed.
I agree when guitarist Joel Holly, Cross
and O’Brien-Clarke explain that Iretsu is a
democratic, creative ensemble, as opposed to
having a front man or the singer/songwriter
types. The journey that is generated from
Iretsu’s songs is a colorful one, with peaks of
golden yellow and smoldering desert valleys
of neutral beige. With many influences
of world music, and the modern pop and
experimental sounds found in their two
albums, it’s no wonder I feel like a captain
minding his ship while using the sun as a
guide when I listen to them.
Did I mention they often wear costumes
while playing live? They’ve been seen in
everything from plastic wrap to ninja suits.
For more information and upcoming shows, visit
www.myspace.com/iretsu or www.iretsu.com.
1/20/09
I was handed Proper Beats when I was
downtown, at Valentine’s watching a band
from North Portland play a mix of folk, soul,
blues and maritime references. I forgot about
the CD for several days. Then I put it in my
CD player.
Proper Beats, assembled by Dexter Gauntlett
and set to be released May 12 at the St. Johns
Parade, is music from the 5th Quadrant. The
opening track, “St. Johns Street,” begins with
the line, “Things have never been the same/
Since JFK got blown away,” and continues as
a juxtaposition of world events and daily life
of everyday folks. The track, by Lew Jones,
is one of the highlights of the CD, with great
production and a full band, reminiscent,
somehow positively, of John Cougar
Mellencamp.
Another great moment is a rendition of
legendary country-blues figure Leadbelly’s
“Titanic” by Steve Ulrich’s band, which
includes the brilliant and poignant line “Jack
Johnson wanted to get on board/ Captain said
we don’t haul no coal/ Fare thee, Titanic, Fare
thee well.” The track is performed in what
sounds like a jug-band style, joyfully sung in
humble chorus.
By far most of the recordings on this
compilation are acoustic-driven, and many
of the artists perform solo, the squeak of
fingers along the strings heard on several
tracks. The tracks aren’t necessarily timeless
in authorship, but nonetheless some sound
like they could have been penned by Joe Hill,
Woody Guthrie, or Peter, Paul and Mary, in
the plainspoken lyrics and energy.
I’m sure there are musicians in North
Portland who use electronic dance beats,
ferocious amounts of distortion, and/or
squeal feedback loops through mountains
of delay and effects, and the North Portland
band I was watching when I was handed
Proper Beats certainly has a sound that would
be more acceptable to the “kids” in tattered
vintage Lycra with expensive haircuts who
flock downtown to clubs seven nights a week.
If Proper Beats is supposed to be representative
of all the music happening in NoPo, then
it falls short. However, the compilation
does capture my grandfather’s St. Johns. It
captures the music he heard here sixty years
ago, music that is still being played, and is,
hopefully, somehow, interchangeable within
its history.
Proper Beats captures the spirit of the
culture of the Other Portland, distinct
from the four quadrants, in its indifference
for contemporaneousness. St. Johns is for
the folks.
North Portland’s got soul.
1/20/09
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Direct 503.349.6478
1/20/09
8716 N Lombard St.
Hours:
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Fri & Sat ’til 11pm
Sun ’til 9pm
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DETAILS, DETAILS. CORRECTIONS FROM LAST MONTH’S EDITION:
In the article Third Bride Goes Nowhere, the Columbia River Crossing group’s fourth alternative
subcommittee was incorrectly referred to as the third bridge subcommittee. In the story How ‘bout that
smile the following errors were made. Dr. Michael Biermann is a pediatric dentist, not an orthodontist.
He attended University of Oregon’s School of Dentistry, not School of Medicine.
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 19
Page 20 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Purple Tooth, something
to sink your teeth into
By Vanessa Harless
North Portland
Redefined
Daily Lunch Specials • Nightly Drink Specials
Fast, Affordable Lunches
2824 N. Lombard
503.283.0274
7am - 2:30am Daily
DAD’s
Family Restaurant
World Cuisine and Supper Club
New Management, Newly Renovated, New Expanded Menu
Prime Rib
International Fare
German
Chinese
Italian
French
RENOWNED ENTERTAINER
“Jim Chan” as your Host
(once voted Best Host in the city by Willamette Week)
Dance to Live Cabaret-Style Performances
Friday & Saturday Nights 6:30pm - 9:30pm
The Only Buffet in St. Johns
Special Mother’s Day Brunch
$16.95
Seafood, Prime Rib, Eggs Benedict and Many Others
All You Can Eat
Breakfast Buffet $6.95
Sat-Sun, 8:30am-3pm
Starting May 14th
All You Can Eat
Lunch Buffet $6.95
Mon-Fri, 11am-3pm
Starting May 14th
All You Can Eat
Dinner Buffet $7.95
Mon-Thurs, 5pm-8pm
Call To Inquire About Parking
503-285-9489
8608 N Lombard in Historic St. Johns
Page 20 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
Kelly Stewart hopes to fill
another void in NoPo — that
of a great cocktail lounge
with late night food. Her
new restaurant, the Purple
Tooth, occupies the peptopink building left vacant by
Mississippi staple Lovely Hula
Hands, which moved up the
street to its new digs in 2006.
The Purple Tooth is plushly
decorated. Zebra prints adorn
the cushions of barstools.
Upstairs, in what regulars are
already calling the “Top of
the Tooth,” a smaller bar with
modern minimalist decor, low
lighting and ottoman seating
gives the upscale feeling of
This is just like sharing a milkshake, only I’m wasted. Purple Tooth
being at an intimate party of
Owner Kelly Steward behind the bar (center), with Heather Timmerman
movers and shakers.
But the best thing about (slurping on the left) and Alana Argersinger (slurping right).
the Purple Tooth is the drink PHOTO BY DAVE SHARP
breadcrumb topping ($7, you can add sliced
menu. The signature cocktail
of the Tooth is the Purple Nurple, a luscious grilled chicken or sausage for $3 more.)
concoction of muddled mint, blueberry Finish it all off with desserts that perfectly
puree, marionberry-infused vodka, triple sec compliment the bar’s signature drinks: the
and a splash of soda with a mint-sugar rim. Marionberry Sorbetini (marionberry sorbet,
It’s wickedly delicious and packs a sneaky mint and white chocolate syrups served in
a martini glass with mint-sugar rim) pairs
wallop.
Although Stewart says her haven is tailored delightfully with the Purple Nurple and the
to be a “Third Place”, the food here is nothing PTP beer float foams up with the smooth
to pass by. Serving food until 2:30 a.m., the taste of homemade vanilla bean ice cream.
Ultimately what makes the Purple Tooth
Tooth aims to bring NoPo a little late night
dining. Favorites here include the pesto and great is the attitude of Stewart and her staff.
gorgonzola stuffed mushrooms ($8), as well On a weeknight I stumbled upon the Tooth. It
as Fancy Nachos, which are comprised of was after 11 p.m. and they were down to their
flour tortilla chips with crumbled sausage, limited menu. I told them I was just coming
tomato caper salsa and an asiago cheese back from an event up the street and starving,
sauce ($8). Nachos never knew they could they took pity on me and cheerfully offered to
be so uptown yet tasty. The mixed green fire up the grill to make me and my companion
salad with gorgonzola, candied walnuts and a “real meal.” But as the bartender brought me
POMaigrette ($6) is another winner. The my Purple Nurple and Fancy Nachos with a
entrees, though simple, shine with a little side of friendly banter, I felt like I had stopped
flair and quality ingredients. They range by an old friend’s house for a drink and a
from the solidly yummy Tillamook burger snack. And that’s a great quality in a bar, that
(a patty with melted Tillamook cheddar third place — a home away from home.
served with a fresh mixed green salad, $6.50),
to chicken pot pie ($8), to a creamy mac-n- The Purple Tooth (938 N Cook St.,
cheese topped with bleu cheese and a crunchy www.purpletoothlounge.com, 503-517-9931).
PRECINCT
From page 1
fall, and relief doesn’t seem to be coming
anytime soon. According to the chief, City
Council derailed the Bureau’s proposal to
free up sworn officers by civilianizing some
administrative positions.
Hundreds of
retirements are anticipated in the next five
years, but Sizer lamented that so far, she has
been unable to convince the bureau to ease its
recruiting process by lowering its education
requirements.
Sizer compared Portland to Seattle, which
has about 300 more police officers on its
force, “given a population that is roughly
equivalent,” with about 40,000 more residents
than Portland.
“I think it’s a reasonable approach to
meeting our need of more supervision in the
rest of the organization and still maintaining
good supervisory oversight” at North
Precinct, said Assistant Chief Lynnae Berg.
The remaining command staff at
North would face a significant increase in
administrative duties on top of their current
workload. “It will be a step up in work in
some degree, but I don’t think it’s going to be
overwhelming,” said Berg.
Under the proposal, North Precinct
would be expected to share resources with
Northeast. With no night duty sergeants at
North Precinct, night relief officers would be
supervised by sergeants out of Northeast.
The proposal would run for one year before
the outcome and future needs would be
reassessed. In the meantime, the fate of the
embattled cop shop may hinge largely on the
dialogue between the PPB and community
advocates.
Community leaders have also suggested
reconfiguring precinct boundaries to even
out call loads as a long-term solution to
the imbalance in calls for service amongst
Portland’s five precincts. The last time
boundaries were redrawn was in 1994.
The PPB says it will schedule a meeting
with community members in the one to
two weeks following the proposal’s release.
Doretta Schrock of the Kenton Neighborhood
Association is already rallying fellow activists,
advising that the April 20 proposal is “not the
final compromise at all. That it is just the
starting point for discussions. This thing is
not over yet, and won’t be until we have all
the details worked out and down on paper...”
“I think that this meeting should be
attended by as many of you as can make it
and anyone else from your organizations
or neighborhoods who are particularly
interested in this subject,” Schrock wrote in a
widely circulated email. “I hope we can come
out of this meeting with a compromise that
we can all live with and that we will be willing
to promote in the wider community.”
The turnout could be considerable. After
24 years with the PPB, Jim Ferraris has
learned, “I think people know their voices
will be heard in North Portland.”
Meeting on North Precinct, Thursday, May 3, at
5 p.m., at the Historic Kenton Firehouse, 8105 N
Brandon St.
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 21
HEALTH FOCUS
Obesity conference to look
for root of the problem
By Vanessa Timmons
Most of us give more than a passing
thought to our weight. It is safe to say that for
many, weight and weight loss have become
an obsession. Yet with all our diet concerns
and related health information, obesity is still
on the rise with an estimated 65 percent of
American adults overweight.
“In the last 20 years, obesity rates have
doubled in adults and tripled in teenagers”
says Dr. Keith Bachman organizer for Kaiser
Permanente’s annual conference, “Roots to a
Healthier Weight.”
The conference will bring together
nutritionists, genetic experts, health
practitioners, community health advocates
and lay people to address the root causes
of obesity and provide a forum for
exploring some of the barriers to living
a healthy lifestyle.
It is a challenge with no simple answers.
Even with the wealth of information
available, many of us still feel lost and
overwhelmed when we try to understand the
issues surrounding our weight. It is difficult
to balance the conflicting information and
find solutions to the barriers we face.
“Obesity is a complex disorder consisting
of environmental, genetic, and timing
factors,” says Kaiser Permanente Genetic
Counselor Kate Crow. “You can’t blame it all
on your genes. Neither can you blame it all
on your environment.”
Obesity is a combination of factors that
converge to create a serious health concern.
Experts, however, attribute much of the
responsibility for our growing waistlines to
our increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Jobs that
permit only enough time for fast food because
of long hours at the computer and extensive
commutes create a difficult environment for
someone trying to lose weight. “What’s easy
and inexpensive is high in fat and high in
sugar,” says Bachman.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the
response to obesity will have to be a holistic
one. It will need to include everyone in the
community and approach the challenges
from many perspectives. We need healthy
food, safe walking trails, and better models
for healthy stress management; Obesity
is a community concern that takes a
community approach.
“We are not going to doctor ourselves out
of this,” says Bachman.
The Roots to a Healthier Weight Conference will
be held Thursday, May 17, from 7:30 a.m.-4:35
p.m. at the Oregon Convention Center 777 NE
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. To register, contact
Fran E. Jackson at (503) 813-2661.
Survival of the fitness
Local gym threatened by national competitor
By Christopher J. Miller
Terri Chadney, owner of two small
businesses in the flourishing North and
Northeast Portland neighborhoods, has had
enough of the city of Portland’s shenanigans.
She’s one of the little guys in the big debate
over what private developers may do with
the purchase of Portland Development
Commission (PDC)-owned property. As
someone who’s invested both time and
money into her community, she’s wondering
why city officials are not protecting small
businesses, in some cases even appearing to
protect the chains from local competition.
“There’s a complete double standard
here,” explains Chadney. “Why is the city of
Portland courting these big chains?”
Chadney owns three locations of both West
Coast Health and Fitness and Videorama, but
it’s her fitness center on Northeast Alberta that
may soon have a monster of a competitor. She
says she first realized this after an impromptu
visit from a stranger representing Gold’s
Gym. He approached her with information
regarding 24 Hour Fitness, one of the nation’s
largest fitness center chains, developing in
the third phase of PDC’s Vanport Square
Redevelopment Project on Northeast MLK.
Gold’s idea was to “get the jump on 24 Hour
Fitness,” a distraught Chadney states. “They
were thinking, if they could get in first, then
24 Hour (Fitness) would back out, but they
were dreaming.”
When word came that this national giant
was moving into a 35,000-square-foot
space just blocks from her gym, Chadney
set up a meeting with the PDC but felt it
accomplished nothing. The PDC’s project
manager for Vanport Square, Bernie Kerosky,
explained to Chadney there was very little
they could do — and that perhaps it is
Mayor Tom Potter’s legacy standing in her
way. Like his predecessor, Vera Katz, Mayor
Potter would love nothing more than to be
“remembered for big development,” Chadney
recalls Kerosky saying.
Mayor Potter’s office did not return the
Sentinel’s phone calls.
“We’re not trying to run them out,” says
Kerosky. “Ms. Chadney even mentioned
to me during the meeting that she didn’t
think she’d be affected by this, because her
client demographic is much different. …
West Coast’s niche is more focused on the
surrounding neighborhood.”
‘DEAR MR. MAYOR’
Chadney’s frustration produced a letter
to Mayor Potter. In this attempt, Chadney
questions the mayor: “Since the city is
protecting Blockbuster from us, shouldn’t
we have the same protection from 24 Hour
Fitness?” she asks in her letter. This is the
question that raises the issue of double
standards. Chadney is referring to an
incident that arose during the first phase of
the Vanport Square Redevelopment Project.
When looking to open a Videorama store
there, Chadney was denied by the PDC
because Blockbuster already occupied a space
nearby on Northeast Killingsworth.
Potter never responded directly to the
letter. Public Advocate Jeremy Van Keuren
offered few answers in his email reply to
Chadney, citing only that the opening of
another movie store would be a concern
because of the changing movie rental market
introduced by Netflix and On Demand, two
subscription-based movie rental services:
Netflix allows the movies to be sent directly
to your home after being ordered online; and
On Demand is easier than the pay-per-view
of the 1990s, operating with just the click of
your television remote.
ETHICS AND INTEREST RATES
This is not just a competition-based
situation. Below the surface lies an even
more complicated question: Why would
the city allow big business to move into a
space that could be extremely profitable to
a local business?
The property in Vanport Square is being
sold by the city at its appraised value, much
less than what it would sell for in an open
market. This is simply because it is an urban
See Fitness / Page 22
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 21
Page 22 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
COMMUNITY NEWS
CAN I QUOTE YOU ON THAT?
Snap Shot of What North Portland Thinks
By Brett Olson
When the news of Superintendent Vicki Phillips resigning from the Portland Public
Schools for a position with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hit the St. Johns Sentinel’s
newsroom, staff headed out on the streets to inquire from the residents what they thought
on the resignation. The Sentinel received a variety of comments, ranging from “Who is Vicki THE TAVERN
Jo Rasmussen
Phillips?” to “No, you can’t quote me” and “Can you loan me $140,000 at 7 percent interest?”
Marie’s Bistro, playing video poker with
Besides that, we did receive comments from people who did have an opinion.
friend Jeanne Albrecht
“It’s good for the school district because
she closed all the schools. I can’t blame her
for advancing her career.”
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THE BUS STOP
Chris Robinson
North Burlington and North Lombard,
waiting for the number 44
“I am going to miss her input. She
improved the school district greatly, making
monumental changes and increasing
some funding.”
THE BURRITO PLACE
Rudolfo Ceserna
Las Nayaritas, North Lombard
“She was supposed to be Latina…I think. THE COFFEE SHOP
Rachel Cooper
But she hasn’t really been connected with the
Outside of Anna Bannanas
community. It’s going to affect a lot of things
“If she left for the money then it’s
whether she was a great leader or not. But in
the end it doesn’t matter, the kids are still going “F@#$%ed up. But if it’s for a better job, then
I’m fine with it.”
to have to deal with the same problems.”
FITNESS
SWAN GARDEN
From page 21
From page 11
renewal area, which the PDC controls. With
an interest rate floating around one percent,
profits could be huge and the turnaround
much quicker than usual.
“24 Hour Fitness will be a significant
improvement
to
this
commercial
environment,” Kerosky clarifies. “It will bring
in people from outside the area.” Kerosky also
explains that the PDC has helped Chadney by
providing her with names of people within
Portland’s Small Business Administration
who can help with business loans in order to
expand West Coast’s facility. “Unfortunately,
West Coast is located outside of the Urban
Renewal area, so the PDC cannot help
directly,” he added.
The property in question has not yet been
sold. The interested party is Dorn-Platz
Co., a developer from Pasadena, Calif., who
partners with 24 Hour Fitness to build their
fitness centers. For an idea of what to expect,
take a quick pass by the Hollywood area’s
24 Hour Fitness — he built this one, too.
Spokespersons for 24 Hour Fitness were not
available for comment.
“Alberta and Mississippi are coming back
to life because of locally owned and operated
business, not chains that suck money out of
our communities,” explains Chadney. “Do we
have a city that cares about the little guy?”
30
on the western side of the building in order
to insulate the neighborhood to the east
from potential turbulence.
“That difference alone will act as a buffer
to the residential area,” explains Sterling
Bennett, Section Manager from the Bureau
of Development Services. Additionally, Swan
Garden has agreed to add 14 parking spaces,
close the bar at 10 p.m., clean up litter and
display signs discouraging noise.
Duffy says she was not made aware of the
revised plan and adds, “It’s better than the
original but far from the concept that most
residents envision for the development of our
neighborhood.”
Swan Garden declined comment.
The restaurant secured its liquor license
with virtually no contention. Although
approved in April 2006, Swan Garden has
opted not to use it “pending the completion
of their lounge,” according to Dan McNeal,
Oregon Liquor Control Commission Metro
Licensing Manager.
In addition to being near a residential
district, Swan Garden is also in an urban
renewal area, making it eligible for the largesse
of the Portland Development Commission.
While Swan Garden did receive a $2,200 grant
in 2002 from the PDC, it is not currently using
any resources for the expansion, according to
Kate Deane, PDC Development Manager.
30
Page 22 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
VOUCHER
From page 12
Activities League. Miller traveled to Salem
with a group of school choice activists from
Portland to testify in favor of the bill in
early April. He says that because of another
education bill that stole the show, the
delegation only had about 15 minutes to
make their case.
Miller likes the voucher program because
it would open up education options to lowincome and minority students, giving them
access to the smaller classrooms of private
schools. “There are some kids that really need
that extra push.”
He adds, “Kids need to have a chance to
have an education.”
“My son gets teased for having gay parents,”
says Marcia Andrews, whose sixth-grader
attends Ockley Green School. “Last week
he got assaulted at a bus stop by one of his
classmates.” She and her partner cannot afford
private school for their son, who doesn’t fit
in at Ockley Green and has been struggling
because of it.
“I would love the voucher process,” she
says. “We could put him somewhere where we
know he’d be safe, with smaller classrooms.”
State Representative Tina Kotek (D-North/
Northeast Portland) says that she’s not
supportive of the bill. “I am a strong believer
in adequately funding all of our schools. I
understand the intent, but really the solution
is to support our schools in the neighborhoods
where children live,” she says.
30
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 23
COMMUNITY NEWS
CALMER TRAFFIC
Changes on Willamette Blvd offset years of inaction
By Todd Anthony
After two years of battle with the city of
Portland and over a decade of disruption,
Arbor Lodge resident John Thompson
and his neighbors could be sleeping easier
since the new traffic island and crosswalk
at the intersection of North Portland and
Willamette boulevards was completed.
The source of countless traffic violations
(most notably illegal left and right turns)
and multiple accidents, this tricky 90degree curvature proved dangerous for
motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and local
residents before the Portland Department
of Transportation (PDOT) stepped in last
month to alleviate the problem.
Thompson, who has resided on Willamette
just south of the intersection for 14 years,
first became aware of the issue in 1994. “On
New Year’s morning I was sleeping on the
couch and the house started rattling. I got up
to see what was wrong and noticed my car
was up against the house and another car was
parked by the door. That was my initiation to
the problem here,” he said.
Willamette, a main artery for University
of Portland students as well as a designated
bike route, runs north and south along the
Willamette Bluffs. At the point southbound
where it intersects with North Portland,
Willamette continues for bicycle traffic but
not for motorists.
According to the signage, car traffic must
veer left onto Portland Blvd. Although a
concrete diverter was built to prevent traffic
from continuing southbound on Willamette,
motorists persisted (at least up until the
time of the new island) on making illegal
right turns, endangering themselves as
well as pedestrians struggling to cross the
street. Although most of the perpetrators
intentionally violate the traffic sign in order
to take a shortcut, drunk drivers unwittingly
miss the turn, crashing into houses, parked
cars and power poles. And that is only one
problem spot at the intersection.
Since the initial incident in 1994,
several more accidents have occurred in
Thompson’s front yard, prompting him to
document the activity at the intersection.
In June 2006, around graduation time at
the University of Portland, Thompson
videotaped 409 traffic violations in 23
hours spread across nine days.
Beginning in 2005, Thompson wrote to
Mayor Tom Potter, the city commissioners
and PDOT requesting help with the
problem. The city rejected speed bumps
because the intersection must remain free of
impediments for emergency vehicles. PDOT
instead installed a digital speedometer,
or “readerboard,” on Willamette to warn
southbound cars of their speed as they
approach the turn.
Some residents were displeased. One
anonymous neighbor referred to the device
on North Portland Online’s “Back Fence”
forum as “that fancy flashing sign that says
15 mph when the actual speed limit is 35.
Even the cops don’t know how fast to go
through there.”
The Arbor
Lodge
Neighborhood
Association became involved. For months, the
situation seemed at a standstill. In May 2006,
Craig Goodroad of PDOT told the North
Portland Public Safety Action Committee
(PSAC) that the intersection was not among
the city’s more dangerous locations. The
department, he said, had looked at every
imaginable option for the intersection —
crosswalks, speed bumps, pedestrian lights,
a restyled guardrail, concrete-filled pipes
— and found none suitable.
“Everything’s been addressed, and
everything’s been closed,” Goodroad said at
the time.
(Note: PSAC at the time was facilitated by
Our Esteemed News Editor, Will Crow.)
In April 2007, Chris Duffy, Arbor Lodge
Neighborhood Association chair, said it was
PDOT traffic engineer Rob Burchfield who at
last set the wheels in motion. Construction
supervisors and Craig Goodroad declined to
answer questions about what is happening
at Willamette and North Portland. Trafficcalming projects manager Will Stevens did
not return repeated phone calls for comment
on the department’s change of heart.
In addition to the new island and crosswalk,
two slender cutaway paths through the island
(one for bicyclists, one for pedestrians) allows
for safer passage.
Feelings remain mixed throughout the
community regarding the new island at the
intersection. Duffy expectantly awaits the
results. “For what (PDOT) had to work with,
I think they did a great job and created a
wonderful solution. I think it will go a long
way towards solving the problems,” she said.
Thompson remains reticent but optimistic.
“I don’t know if they can ever eliminate all
the problems. Hopefully this will improve
things,” he said.
Still, some neighbors remain not only
doubtful but combative, if unwilling to speak
on the record. “Note to the ambulancechasing lawyers: Want to retire early? Get
yourself a lawn-chair and a pocketful of
business cards and park it at Willamette and
Portland,” wrote one irate neighbor on the
“Back Fence” forum.
30
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 23
Page 24 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
NEWS CONTINUED
RAILROADED
From page 1
THE INCIDENT
The morning of Friday, April 6, was
bright, clear and balmy. A rare east wind
was blowing. At 8 a.m., Linnton Community
Center board member and handyman Dan
Dishongh found a white substance up to 3/4inch deep inside the gym and covering the
outside playground. A set of railroad tracks
owned by the Beaverton-based Portland &
Western Railroad runs about 25 feet away,
directly to the west of the center. The railbed
was also covered in white powder.
Dishongh did not immediately clean the
substance but did instruct teachers not to
allow children outside to play. However,
the center reported that some children did
go outside into the playground during the
course of the day.
Then, between 10 and 11 a.m., a railroad
contractor sprayed herbicide up and down
the railbed running through Linnton.
At around noon, Community Center
director Pat Wagner began to experience
nausea, a headache, irritated eyes and
numbness in her mouth. Around 1 p.m.,
several children in afternoon day care began
to complain of the same symptoms, with
some breaking out in a “sunburn-like” rash.
“I asked Suzie what was wrong with her,”
said Wagner of one of the children. “She
said, ‘I don’t know but my eyes have been
burning all day.’”
At this point Wagner suspected that perhaps
the herbicide spraying had something to do
with the symptoms.
Wagner went home and first called the
railroad to confirm that spraying had
occurred. She then called 9-1-1 and poison
control. A hazardous-materials team arrived
moments later and almost immediately
closed off the area.
ONE MOTHER’S EXPERIENCE
“It was really scary,” said Silvia Franks,
mother of three, whose 5-year-old son
Christian has suffered from a recurring
rash since the incident. “ I’m really kind of
struggling with it.”
Franks was meeting with her 13-year-old
son Cameron’s teachers at Pioneer Middle
School in Southeast Portland when she
received a call from Wagner. Franks recalls,
“She said, ‘Silvia, we had an accident at the
center and we had to evacuate the school.’”
Fire department vehicles, ambulances and
television news crews had traffic backed up
on Hwy. 30 all the way past the St. Johns
Bridge. When Franks finally arrived, she
was told that all the children had been taken
to the emergency room at Legacy Emanuel
Hospital.
“The doctor explained that they had to
decontaminate them,” said Franks. “They
had to give them ice-cold showers and scrub
them down. His little body was still frozen
from that shower when I got there. He just
kept saying ‘Mommy, I’m cold. I’m cold.’”
Christian stayed at the hospital for
monitoring for three hours.
“It was traumatic for him,” said Franks.
“He’s been screaming in his sleep since then.
He doesn’t even know why.”
FALLOUT
Two children have returned to the hospital
for further examination but at press time
most of those affected have not reported
lasting conditions. Multiple residents along
the railroad tracks complained of similar
symptoms as well.
“I was damned near comatose,” stated
Beowulf Blitzenwulf of his symptoms on
April 6. Blitzenwulf, a welder and U.S. Special
Forces veteran, lives in the 10800 block of
Northwest Front Street, on the eastern side
of the railroad tracks half a mile north of the
community center. He said he suffered from
extreme fatigue throughout that weekend.
“I’m a diabetic, so my immune system isn’t
so good,” Blitzenwulf remarked. He also stated
that his chickens laid abnormal shell-less, or
Beowulf Blitzenwulf is a diabetic and lives right next to the railroad tracks. He claims that he felt extreme
“inside-out,” eggs for several days afterward.
The community center was closed for fatigue on April 6, “I was damned near comatose.” PHOTO BY CORNELIUS SWART
20 days while independent testing of the Analytical Response Center (PARC) will also “trying to confirm railroad shipments” for
be issued. If the Department of Agriculture that day.
site was done.
The railroad has not been forthcoming with
At an April 21 meeting of Linnton finds neglect in the use or handling of either
Community Center board members, Linnton substance, they can refer the case to the state evidence, according to state officials. One
source said, “They’re circling the wagons.”
Neighborhood Association Environmental Department of Justice.
However, Brian Hauck, industrial hygienist
OSHA’s Hauck said, “A potential for a
Chair Janice Secunda estimated that it would
cost the non-profit center $10,000 to test and for OSHA, did say, “All evidence indicates that citation could be forthcoming.”
herbicide never left the railroad easement.”
But at the moment no actions by the state
clean the facility.
“The center doesn’t have this kind of Hauck added that “trace amounts” of diuron and federal agencies or lawsuits by residents
money,” said an exasperated Wagner. “We were found on the playground, but not have been announced.
“I’ve spoken with an attorney,” said
need to pressure the DEQ (Department of enough to cause toxicological symptoms.
If all that is true, it leaves the white powder, community center director Pat Wagner on
Environmental Quality) and Department of
the day the center reopened. “How do you
Agriculture to get the railroad to clean this up.” the fertilizer ADP, as the most likely culprit.
The symptoms suffered by residents were sue with no money? I don’t know.”
Secunda laughed sardonically. “Did you
The incident has exasperated community
notice that I’m a little pissed off right now?” congruent to exposure to ADP, according to
Dishongh, an electrical engineer, was Dr. Fred Berman, director of the Toxicology leaders who are already rankled by
more concerned with getting conclusive test Information Center at the Center for Research tensions with neighboring industry due to
results back and getting the center cleaned on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology Linnton’s land-use campaign involving a
at Oregon Health and Science University.
Neighborhood Plan the residents have been
up and reopened.
“If the ADP got on them, it would act like fighting for since 1993 (see “Linnton begins
“We can point fingers later,” said Dishongh.
“Point fingers!, I want to slap faces,” a mild corrosive, like lye,” stated Berman who development talks,” p. 9).
is also a consultant for the PARC. Berman
Industry has fought community efforts
said Wagner.
also dismissed the herbicide as a likely cause. to zone parts of the industrial area for
“Pesticides are of low mammalian toxicity,” residential use, shops and parks. Rezoning
INVESTIGATION: WHITE POWDER MOST LIKELY CAUSE
The State of Oregon’s reaction to the said Berman. “You’d have to spray it directly was rejected by the city last year (see
editorial in September 2006 Sentinel, p. 9),
incident has been swift. Three separate on the skin to get a reaction.”
Berman
stated
that
the
strange
chicken
in part because officials felt the area was too
investigations are currently under way by the
state’s Department of Agriculture (DOA) and eggs reported by Blitzenwulf sounded more dangerous for residential development.
The incident, however, has left resident
the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health like reactions to herbicides like DDT.
Stan Rogers, CEO of Reforestation Services advocates unmoved.
Administration (OSHA).
“We’re not unsafe because we are in Linnton
The DOA, which regulates the use Inc. of Salem, the company that applied
of pesticides in Oregon, identified the the herbicide, would not say if the state — we’re unsafe because the railroad is not
herbicide sprayed by Reforestation Services, investigations had exonerated his company. sticking to the regulations,” said Secunda.
Residents are looking for the railroad to
the railroad’s contractor, as a mixture of He did say, “I’m perfectly content with the
way
things
are
moving
forward.”
own
up to their culpability in the incident,
Karmex KW, Oust, Telar 75pk, Glyphosate
Photographs of a white powder scattered but past experiences with industry have left
4 (the active ingredient in Roundup), and
between the railroad and the community them cynical.
Amine 4.
“I’m so mad at them (the railroad),” said
They further determined that the two center, the lack of industries in the area that
substances found on the site were ammonium would use fertilizer, and the lack of vehicular Franks, who lives about 100 feet from the
dihydrogen phosphate, a common fertilizer, access to the site all point to the possibility tracks. “They need to admit that it’s their
and traces of diuron, a compound found in that an uncovered shipment of fertilizer was fault. And they aren’t willing to do that.”
carried on a train when the substance was
the herbicide Karmex KW.
State officials are tight-lipped about their blown into the center by an east wind.
The state of Oregon has planned a meeting of the
Community Awareness and Emergency Response
findings thus far. The DOA expects to
Group to discuss the issue at 10 a.m. on Thursday,
release information in approximately one to WILL RAILROAD BE BROUGHT TO ACCOUNT?
Dale Mitchell, assistant administrator of May 10 at 3950 NW Yeon. For information, call
two months. A report by the state Pesticide
ODA’s pesticides division, said that they were Russ Palmer at (503) 222-6279.
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Page 24 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
April 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 25
February
NEWS CONTINUED
SCHOOLS
CHARTER SCHOOLS
From page 7
From page 6
roads to a thriving campus, but it’s still that thriving campus
we all want.
In any case, the breakup with Dudley after only eight
months makes us parental types feel guarded about supporting
The Next Principal. How much relational energy should
we invest? How long will TNP be around? For the sake of
stability at Jefferson, everyone could stand to acknowledge the
complexities, then start to repair their share of the problems.
Vicki Phillips will soon depart Portland Public Schools for
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Fixing Jefferson was
no small detail on her to-do list. And Jefferson won’t wait
a year or two while the school board finds a new super: the
school’s many needs are right-now things. Give us an interim
superintendent who is as collaborative as she is steely (the
ability to levitate and to turn lead into gold are pluses), and let
us plow ahead at Jefferson. Let us also hope that the Jefferson
Design Team — community members who deliberated,
researched and recommended the reform plan — regroup
themselves, if only to be a vocal reminder to the school board
and the Jefferson community of the spirit, aims and necessity
of the reforms.
30
interest and ability rather than age or grade level, as these
democratic world citizens explore and encounter life from
local, regional and global perspectives.
Trillium Public Charter School, Grades K-12, 5420 N Interstate
Ave.; (503) 285-3833; email info@trilliumcharterschool.org;
online at www.trilliumcharterschool.org.
PORTLAND VILLAGE
Portland Public Schools’ newest charter school, Portland
Village School, recently landed at the former site of the De La
Salle North Catholic High School, on North Delaware Ave.,
and launches its learning adventure in September.
Currently set to welcome students from kindergarten through
Grade 4, the project will add one grade per year through Grade 8
to expand its adaptation of the Waldorf method.
The Portland Village Public Charter School, Grades K-4 (eventually
K-8), 7654 N Delaware Ave.; (503) 490-7362; email info@portlandvi
llageschool.org; online at www.portlandvillageschool.org.
NEW HARVEST
New Harvest School is the youngest member of the area’s
charter school trio, currently in the organizing, planning and
permitting stage for possible opening in 2008.
The organizers’ explorations are funded by an Oregon
Department of Education startup grant for charter
development, and the New Harvest group will apply for charter
status with Portland Public Schools in July. If successful in that
pursuit, New Harvest School hopes to open in St. Johns in fall
of the 2008 academic year, with K-7 multi-age blended classes
and expanding yearly to ultimately educate through Grade 12
by 2013.
New Harvest Charter School; email newharvestcommunity@ya
hoo.com; online at www.newharvestschool.org. “Healthy Kids,
Healthy Schools,” an open problem-solving forum for educators,
parents and health care workers, will be held from 10 a.m. to
noon May 12 at the New Columbia Community Education Room.
Call Heather at (503) 232-7971.
For more information, contact Portland Public Schools’ Public
Information Department: (503) 916-3304; email pubinfo@pps.
k12.or.us; online at www.pps.k12.or.us.
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2007• St.
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JohnsSentinel
Sentinel• Page
• Page2525
February
Page 26 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
NEWS CONTINUED
NEWCOMER
From page 8
The neighbor says the old-time residents of
the block and the newcomer didn’t get along.
The neighbor says when the newcomer
started messing with Homeless Guy Ted,
he broke the “St. Johns Code of Mind Your
Own Business.”
The newcomer stirred things up. The cops
were called. The city was called. Dreaded
animal-control officers were called. Zoning
enforcement was called. The abandoned-auto
people were called. The Sentinel was called.
But it did him no good. The newcomer has
moved. He has rented out his house because
he couldn’t sell the place. His girlfriend was
afraid, he claimed.
The neighbor knows everyone. He says
these people over here “are real quiet.” Those
people over there, “that’s where the Corn
Killers used to live.”
Police know the neighbor and his family.
“I’d be wary myself of (them),” says Off. Eric
Zajac. He will say no more.
The newcomer is afraid as well. Now he is
3,000 miles away and he feels he can’t protect
his property or his tenant.
POTTER
From page 3
So invariably, all the bureaus go back to
the commissioners because it’s too difficult
to maintain all the bureaus without a
centralized structure to support them. The
new charter provides that.
Q. If the reform package is defeated,
would you bring all the bureaus back into
your office after the election?
A. No.
Q. The current system would seem to have
a grassroots advantage in that the average
citizen with an issue or concern has five
points of entry into City Hall – five people
who can be held accountable at the ballot
box. But with everything consolidated into
one office, won’t the average citizen’s voice
get lost?
A. Why don’t we start with the premise that
the average citizen has five choices? That’s
true, but realistically the average citizen
doesn’t know who to call. If someone’s got
a problem, they don’t know who to present
their issues to. Actually, right now you have
more choices than you need if you’re trying
to get your issue addressed.
Now, if you’re part of a union or run
a big business, of course you have the
commissioners’ phone numbers. But that’s
inside baseball as far as I’m concerned.
LEED
From page 3
cause a stir regardless of how green it may
or may not be, of course, but make parking
worse and you’ve got yourself a problem.
Parking, or lack thereof, has also been a
stitch in the side of the Arbor Lodge New
Seasons. The building that houses the green
grocer features an eco-roof over its vestibule
and bio-swells in the parking lot to mitigate
storm-water run-off, and the store has taken
great effort recently to reduce its trash output
and increase its compostable waste. But
the ever popular market attracts far more
customers than its parking lot can handle,
especially on weekends.
“We have a constant parking problem,”
says a neighbor who lives adjacent to the
building and spoke under the condition of
anonymity to avoid causing unnecessary
conflict between himself and the market. He
The day after a visit from the Sentinel,
the newcomer claims someone turned on
his outside hose spigot. The water flooded
his basement.
“Don’t write the story,” the newcomer says
over the phone. “I feel I made a big mistake
in calling you.”
The newcomer says the neighbor is part of
a group of four “untouchable families” in St.
Johns. He fears someone will retaliate against
him when the article comes out.
“The police told me they know where the
line is,” says the newcomer. “They will never
cross it.”
What that means is not clear … exactly.
There is a discussion at the Sentinel not to
talk about the neighbor.
On the Sentinel’s second visit, a month and
a half after the newcomer called the paper,
Ted appears.
The neighbor conjured him up using a cell
phone and a loud voice.
He introduces himself: “Ted Wheelock:
White man.”
Ted is a rusting heap of a man. He lives in
trucks and storage units.
“I don’t need money, I have good looks,”
says Ted.
He lived on North Clarendon for six
months after being evicted from his last
storage unit. Now he has a new one. Now he
has moved off the street. Now the vehicles he
So when you have a single manager, that
very clearly delineates the accountability
and responsibility.
Politicians are not elected based on
their management skills.
They don’t
have background and education to run a
large business, and some of these bureaus
have 1,000 people in them. That’s a large
number for someone to manage without
having those skills. So do you want folks
who are professionally trained running
these bureaus ... or politicians without that
kind of background?
Right now, five “mini-mayors” run the
bureaus. They all have the authority to hire
and fire and dispose of property. You’ve
heard us use the term “siloing.” It’s because
the bureaus don’t talk or work together and
there’s a lot of duplication of effort. I’ll give
you an example: Even though there is a
citywide payroll system, four of the bureaus
have their own payroll system.
Q. In the current system, at least
theoretically, commissioners have their
performances reviewed at the ballot box.
But voters wouldn’t have a say over a
Chief Administrator.
A. But the Chief Administrative Officer
reports to an elected official, the mayor.
And elections aren’t performance reviews
of bureau management. In theory, maybe that
is how it should work. Can you remember a
commissioner or mayor who was defeated
because of a decision they made? I can’t. And
one reason for that might be our system. It
says that shoppers who cannot find a parking
spot overflow onto Maryland — right in
front of his house.
“The feel of the whole neighborhood has
been ruined, as far as I’m concerned,” he says.
He and his wife have been living in their
house for 30 years. He remembers a Safeway
that used to be in the lot where the New
Seasons is now, but it never bothered him.
Now, between the parking issue and the noise
from the market — which he says often lasts
past midnight as employees close it down
— has become intolerable for him.
“We would have preferred more parking,”
says Patrick Slabe, operations manager for
New Seasons, who says that the small parking
lot was not an intentional green-design
feature. Instead, city zoning codes wouldn’t
allow for another lot, and an underground
lot wasn’t an option because New Seasons
doesn’t own the building.
Since opening, New Seasons has dealt with
other complaints from neighbors, including
Page 26 • St. Johns Sentinel • May 2007
lived in have moved, except for one still on
the side of the road.
“She was kind of haywire,” Ted says of the
newcomer’s girlfriend. “He wasn’t haywire,”
Ted says of the newcomer. “He was just a
contemporary 2007 kind of guy.”
Ted is a little haywire. At first he recalls
the newcomers with indifference. Then Ted
explains that he suffers from colon cancer.
He will go under the knife April 19.
Then Ted seems frightened. Then Ted
remembers the newcomers. Then Ted seems
angry. “And these people are f---ing with me!”
makes accountability hard to place. A good
example is the tram, with the costs going
from $15 million to $57 million. During that
time, we had four different transportation
commissioners.
That makes it almost
impossible to track back.
Q. The City Council has occasionally
commented on the labor practices of certain
businesses wanting to come to Portland,
criticizing them for not having family-wage
jobs. Yet the Charter Reform proposals
seem to nibble away at public employees’
union rights and civil service protections.
A. Actually, it doesn’t whittle away at union
rights. It strengthens the right of employees
to bargain collectively. That’s in the new
charter; it wasn’t in the old charter.
Q. Have you been surprised by the issues
that have come through the campaigns for
and against this? I thought we’d hear a
lot more about the proposal involving the
Portland Development Commission.
A. Most of the controversy has been around
the form of government proposal.
The proposal with PDC basically clarifies
the relationship. The charter language we
have is vague; PDC is semi-autonomous,
but how do you define that? Everybody
understands that we are to set policies and
directions, and they are to implement it.
Some of the discussions lately have been
about our role in making sure those policies
are carried out.
Ted shouts for a while. He hates the
newcomers, this and that. He swears at the
newcomers. He swears at his friend, the
neighbor. He swears at the Sentinel.
Ted does not scare anyone. He is just crude
and temperamental, like an old car.
The neighbor looks over Ted with
affection. Ted seems to be under the
protection of the neighbor.
“People need to mind their own business,”
says the neighbor. “End of story.”
Old-time residents, you have won.
30
What the new charter does is clarify that
role. They develop a budget, but the council
approves it.
Q. You’ve put in a ton of time campaigning
for this. Two of your colleagues on the
council also voted to send this to the ballot,
but have since backed away from it. Are
you disappointed that they seem to have
voted for charter reform before they voted
against it?
A. Of course I would like to have them
support it. But I’ve felt all along that good
people can disagree. That was their decision.
They’re elected officials, and that’s OK. I’d
have preferred that they stay and support it,
but it doesn’t really go to the issue of whether
charter changes have a beneficial impact on
the public that lives or works in Portland.
Q. Do you have a closing argument?
A. The one we keep saying: This plan
provides more citizen oversight in that
periodic charter review is brought forth
and goes to voters every 10 years. The first
one will be in two years, and then every 10
years after that. They understood that we
may find changes or revisions are needed,
so they provided for charter review within
the first two years.
You know, there’s an old architectural
saying that “form follows function.” Here we
are in the 21st century, constantly working
around the form in order to function.
30
issues with headlights and litter, as well as
noise from the compressor on the roof, says
Slabe. The compressor, which is a necessary
unit for refrigeration in a grocery store, is
loud, and Slabe says the store added insulation
to help mitigate the problem. In general, New
Seasons has tried to respond to neighbors’
complaints — including coordinating with
the city to paint “no parking” striping for
some neighbors and not allowing employees
to park in the lot or on the adjacent streets.
In the end, these battles have no clear
solution. Much green building theory — and
the city of Portland’s development strategy
— calls for higher-density living, and it is
this push to grow “up” instead of “out” that
keeps this city on the cutting edge of urban
planning. But in North Portland, where the
possibilities for infill growth are seemingly
endless, there may be no avoiding the conflict
that comes with the clash of large buildings
sprouting out of low-density housing.
30
WHO’S WHO
From page 4
Then came a change in public opinion.
“It seems like there is a change taking
place on a much higher level than had been
happening back in 2000, or even 2003, or
2005,” Schullinger-Krause says. “The weather
vane was pointing in a different direction,
and to me that was very encouraging.”
She accepted a position in 2006 with the
Oregon Environmental Council as program
director to reduce statewide global-warming
emissions from cars and trucks.
Schullinger-Krause sees great potential
for people to understand the importance of
environmental values.
“I think that more and more people are going
to understand that and incorporate those values
into what they do across all sectors of life,” she
says. “I do have hope for that.”
30
May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 27
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May 2007 • St. Johns Sentinel • Page 27
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