Author: Chris Waldmann

News from the President

Happy November Sunnyside! As you read this, darkness has probably already fallen with the change of clocks to standard time. I’m going to say something controversial, so I ask for a little “latitude”. Standard time is better in this part of the country! I’m an early riser and the thought of a nearly 9 a.m. sunrise gives me the S.A.D. I know that some of you agree with me, whether as a morning person, a parent of children whose school day starts at 8 or 8:30 a.m. or maybe just a lover of natural rhythms. The federal administration is pushing HARD for legislation to allow states to implement full-time daylight savings. I hope that doesn’t happen, but if it does, I hope you’ll join me in saying NO to this in these northern latitudes. Fun fact, Portland is just as far north as Montreal, Canada!

On to the (more current) news…

I hear from neighbors all the time that there isn’t enough parking close to their homes. We live in an older, denser neighborhood; many homes were built with either tiny driveways or none at all. I love living a mostly car-free life in our walkable, transit-heavy area, but I know that most of us have at least one car. Parking can be tough, especially with the influx of new neighbors into apartment buildings without garages, and with two major retail and nightlife corridors running through Sunnyside. Unfortunately, this situation is probably not going to get meaningfully better until we move away from car dependency in this city, state and country. Changes are coming that could bring a whole new round of development to the area with the Inner Eastside Zoning Project (more below). Plus, construction costs make it so expensive to build parking for new apartment buildings! So, what can we do now to mitigate the issue?

The city has a program to create Area Parking Permit Zones. The program is a community-driven approach to help neighborhood residents and businesses better deal with the influx of out-of-area drivers using parking spaces for long periods during certain parts of the day. For most of the current zones, this is during the day, however certain zones like around the Moda Center and in Goose Hollow have different or extended times to compensate for the large sports venues in those areas. In Sunnyside, with our evening thoroughfares full of bars and restaurants, rather than office workers, maybe it makes sense to have these restrictions in the evening? Usually, the restriction is 2 hour parking for people without permits. Residents and employees of area businesses can purchase annual permits to park their cars within the neighborhood as they normally would, without a time limit. (Currently permits cost $110 in most zones).

Is this program right for our neighborhood? Do we even qualify per the city rules? Is there will in the neighborhood to pay $100 per year for a permit? We are going to address those questions at our November 11th General Meeting with a presentation from PBOT staff with time for questions and comments, so please join us and learn more!

Big zoning changes may be on the way. The Inner Eastside Zoning Project, if successful, would enable much more in-neighborhood residential development with increased density, provide for a wider variety of housing types, and improve housing affordability in some of Portland’s most desirable close-in neighborhoods (like Sunnyside). The project arose from a campaign by Portland Neighbors Welcome called Inner Eastside for All that had a motto of “4 Floors and a Corner Store” to encourage smaller scale developments within residential areas rather than concentrate all new housing development along commercial corridors. We all know, and I know I love, the various courtyard-style apartment developments in Buckman and Sunnyside that were built in the 1st half of the 20th century and look at this initiative as an updated model, encouraging smaller developers to build 6-10 unit buildings that are integrated into the neighborhood fabric. I have many questions on implementation and whether the right incentives will be in place to make this a success for both new and current residents. As a first step, the city is conducting a survey to better understand Inner Eastside issues and our priorities (tinyurl.com/3a82jc83). We will have more on this in the coming months, so stay tuned and come to our Land Use & Transportation Committee meetings on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. at SE Uplift.

Happy Thanksgiving and I look forward to seeing you around the hood!

October 14th Board Meeting – Sunnyside Environmental School + Peacock Lane

Join us this Wednesday, October 14th for our next board meeting. We will be discussing signing onto a letter from the SES PTSA and faculty in opposition to the proposal to change Sunnyside ES from a K-8 school with an environmental focus to a K-5 elementary-school without a particular focus, as part of the overall school closure (“rightsizing”) plan from Portland Public Schools. We will also be meeting representatives from the Peacock Lane Festival of Lights to discuss ways the SNA can be more involved this year and in the years to come.

As a board meeting, all votes will be limited to members of the Sunnyside NA board. However, time will be given for public comment and questions.

The meeting, which will be held in the upstairs conference room at Southeast Uplift (3534 SE Main St.) and online at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88016449899, will start at 7 p.m. and go until approximately 9:00 p.m.

Click here to see the full agenda.

News from the President

Hi Sunnyside! It’s the most wonderful time of the year! OK, it’s not Christmas or a PNW summer, but it is that time of year where we get to exercise one of our most basic, hallowed rights as U.S., Oregon, and Portland citizens. I always feel a little warm inside as I sit down with my family, talk through the ballot together and make my choices. I know that I’m a nerd, but I do love our mail-in/drop-off ballot system!

At our September meeting, we kicked off election season with guests from Your 2 Cents PDX and Protect Our City Services to debate Measure 26-267, which, if passed, would mandate that an amount equal to a minimum of 2% of the city’s general fund (~$16-17 million next year) be open to the public for ideas and a public vote. Community members and groups would submit ideas—maybe funding an after-school program, refurbishing bathrooms at a city park, or funding more police officers. Ideas would then go to a city-appointed committee to vet for legality and feasibility. Finally, there would be a binding public vote. Your 2 Cents argues that this will promote budgeting transparency, give citizens a more direct voice in how their money is spent, take decisions away from powerful interests, and provide a more equitable process for historically disadvantaged communities. Protect Our City Services counters that we are in a budget crisis and that mandating 2% of our limited general fund would almost certainly harm core city services such as fire, police, and parks. Only about 10% of the Portland budget is in the general fund; the rest is restricted for items like transportation, water, and the Portland Clean Energy Fund. The folks at Protect Our City Services also worry about a process written into the city charter that will provide little flexibility to our elected officials as we try to navigate out of our current budget hole.

There was a spirited Q&A. I would say that the tone of the questioners was fairly skeptical. Personally, I would chalk some of that skepticism up to worries about this proposal, and wariness about how the city, county, and state have implemented well-intentioned citizen initiatives in the past. There’s a lot to think about. Learn more from the sponsors at your2centspdx.org and from the opposition at protectourcityservices.org. 

Switching to the local election, all three of our District 3 City Councilors are up for re-election. We’ll also need to elect a new Multnomah County chair. Not only can you vote for multiple candidates for city council but also for county commission. That’s right, ranked-choice-voting (RCV) has gone Multnomah-county wide this year! You may vote for as many as six candidates in each race; only three candidates are running for county chair vs. 20 for city council. We aren’t here to endorse any particular candidate(s), but I do have some advice:

• DO rank candidates who you are ok with winning. You can’t hurt your top choices by voting for another candidate further down.

• DO NOT vote for candidates you don’t want at all, even if you rank them last. Those votes could come into play!

• DO NOT rank more than one candidate with the same ranking! This may result in none of your votes in that race counting.

• DO read the city’s guide to RCV at portland.gov/vote/ranked-choice-voting-rcv.

• DO talk through your ballot with friends and family! It’s a complicated ballot with many choices. Help others out. Don’t tell them how to vote, but help them understand the still-new RCV system.

• DO get your ballot in the mail early or use a ballot drop box. There’s a list of ballot drop sites here: multco.us/info/official-ballot-drop-sites. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s plan to restrict mail-in voting, but he is still trying to mess with the system by not prioritizing
election mail. You want your vote to count!

Finally, thanks to everyone who helped make the 1st Annual Sunnyside Yard Sale a success. It was great fun and we look forward to doing it again next year!

The board will meet in October to hear a presentation from the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association about their  program to support seniors in their neighborhood. I’m looking forward to hearing about ideas that we can implement in Sunnyside!

September 9th General Meeting – Debating the Community Budgeting For All Initiative

Join us this Wednesday, September 9th for our next general meeting. We will have representatives from both the primary driver of the initiative, My 2 Cents PDX, and the opposition group Protect Our City Services to discuss this initiative, which will require the city to award 2% of the city’s discretionary funds each year to projects proposed by and voted on by Portlanders.

The meeting, which will be held in the upstairs conference room at Southeast Uplift (3534 SE Main St.) and online at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85776168096?pwd=dTU3V0wycWZxTmhSVGNjNjJxdjNldz09, will start at 7 p.m. and go until approximately 8:30 p.m.

The full agenda is available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tuNUIdPvv4b1k_kvVonbhDKhRS5p3MewGvUR_bO27kE/view

News from the President

Hi neighbors! It’s that time of year where many of you have sent your kids back to school for another year of learning, enrichment and not bugging you during the day. Maybe some have sent their last child to college and are feeling a little of the ennui of a new empty nester.

We here at the SNA are having a bit of that feeling ourselves! In August, we said goodbye to one of our flagship projects, the Sunnyside Shower Project (SSP) as they moved to become an independent nonprofit. Founded in 2021 by our vice president Hannah Wallace, the SSP has served our most in-need neighbors for the last 5+ years with hygiene services, clothing, supplies, and community. It started off small with just a few volunteers offering approximately 12 showers per week during two days at the former Sunnyside Methodist Church. We didn’t really know what we were doing back then, but with perseverance, support from like-minded groups, and a ton of heart we got off the ground in helping the community. Over the years, we’ve grown—offering an annual winter gear drive, coffee and snacks, laundry cards from Belmont Eco Laundry, and even free acupuncture.

At the end of 2024, the growth of the SSP really began to ramp up with the hire of Lindsay Cogan Sant as shower project’s first director. Under their compassionate and strong leadership, the SSP has more than doubled the number of guests and offers new amenities like free phone services provided by Futel and a “whimsy committee” dedicated to bringing moments of unexpected joy to a marginalized community. Lindsay has also done an incredible job with fundraising.

The SSP is an amazing example of the good that can be done when we talk to our neighbors, find out what they need, and have a willingness to meet them where they are. I’m so proud to have been an SSP volunteer since the beginning and I am especially proud to be part of an NA that seeks to look out for everyone in the neighborhood. The good news is that the SSP will not be going far! Lindsay is an SNA Board member and the leader of our Community Cares group. They are so full of ideas and enthusiasm to help people that I know we will have new projects, on our own and with the SSP, soon.

September is also the real kickoff for Portland’s election season. This year we will be voting on all three of our city council seats and one citizen initiative. SE Uplift (3534 SE Main St.) will be hosting a candidate mixer on September 26th from 1–4 p.m. You can find details at seuplift.org/event/district-3-candidate-mixer-2026. Rather than focus on the wide-ranging group of candidates for council, at our September meeting the SNA will focus on the initiative, “Community Budgeting for All.” If passed, this would require 2% of the city’s annual budget, approximately $17 million, be set aside for citizen-proposed projects. Projects would be vetted by a group within city government and then finalists would be voted on by all of us in a TBD process. Versions of this “participatory budgeting” are in use in cities across the country. Come out to our September 9th meeting to learn about how this proposal would work in Portland. What are the benefits? What are the costs? Get your questions answered!

That’s it for now. We’ll see you at the next meeting, at the Belmont Street Fair, and maybe browsing for new-to-you treasures at the Sunnyside Yard Sale!