Chris Waldmann, Author at Sunnyside Neighborhood Association

News from the President

Hi Sunnyside! The SNA held its annual meeting in May to review what we worked on this year and to elect new Board members for 2024-25.

This past year saw a lot of action on pressing issues for the neighborhood and the city. We had a number of meetings focusing on environmental issues and voted to sign on to many letters regarding efforts to fight diesel emissions and the dangers of the CEI fuel storage facility on the banks of the Willamette. We learned about the upcoming rebuild of the Belmont Library. We also learned about a proposal to allow for increased density within the neighborhood. We continued to serve the less fortunate members of the community through the ongoing Sunnyside Shower Project and our annual Winter Gear Drive. We focused on public safety through re-engagement with our local police precincts and renewed advocacy for improved traffic safety on Cesar Chavez, following the tragic death of librarian Jeannie Diaz last summer. We had a couple of small victories on SE César Chávez, with PBOT installing a new diverter to prevent left hand turns at SE Taylor and changes to the pedestrian cross signals at Taylor and Main to allow increased time for pedestrians to cross. These were small improvements that will hopefully lead to bigger changes as the city embarks on a new initiative to improve safety on our high-crash corridors.

The main business of the annual meeting was our Board elections. I’m excited to welcome three new Board members to the team. Thank you Crystal, Tim and Dresden for stepping up to serve your community! There are so many ways to help the SNA and Sunnyside, whether on the Board, volunteering at an event, or participating in our committees and General meetings. Come on out and join us however you can!

We will be back in September for our next General meeting, but the Board will continue to work through the summer, including keeping our eyes on the revisions to the city’s Housing Production Master Plan, which is set to be released for public comment soon. In the fall, we look forward to the first elections under the new charter. It’s going to be a big change for everyone and the SNA will be here to help educate everyone not only on the issues, but also on how the process will work.

Until then, we will see you around the neighborhood. Have a great summer!

SNA Annual Meeting & Board Elections – THIS THURSDAY!

The SNA will hold its annual meeting and elections for the board of directors this Thursday, May 9th at 7 PM at SE Uplift (3534 SE Main St.). As our bylaws require voting by paper ballot, this will be an in-person only meeting. We will be electing 5 board members during this election for 2 year terms. Nominees need not be present in order to run, but we hope you can join us.

This is a wonderful opportunity to serve your neighborhood while meeting new people and having some fun too! If you would like to learn more, please reach out to [email protected] or [email protected].

Light refreshments will be provided and it should be a beautiful evening for a stroll over to SE Uplift. The meeting will last about an hour. Find a draft agenda at https://sunnysideportland.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-Annual-Meeting-Agenda.pdf.

News from the President

Hi Sunnyside! Hope you all are doing well and getting outside when you can to enjoy all the beautiful weather, spring flowers and neighborly cheer around in the springtime!

In April, the SNA Board voted to support efforts to fight the CEI Hub, which stores volatile chemicals and fuels along the Willamette River. This energy storage facility presents so many dangers to all of Portland. The trains that bring these chemicals here travel right through the Columbia River Gorge and through many Portland neighborhoods and present the risk of disaster in the event of a derailment, like the incident that occurred last year in tiny East Palestine, Ohio and is still causing hazards to residents’ health. Second, by now you’ve heard about the coming Cascadia earthquake and the other potentially active faults that Portland sits on. Well, the CEI Hub sits on soil along the river that will basically turn to liquid in the event of a major earthquake – a process called liquefaction. Imagine all of those tanks coming crashing down and releasing their contents into our river and our air. Finally, one of the operators in the storage facility, Zenith Energy, has proved an unreliable partner, promising to improve their practices, but never following through to the spirit of the agreement. For all of these reasons, the SNA is proud to partner with the CEI Hub Task Force to fight against the unnecessary and unconscionable risks that the facility holds.

In other news, have you walked by the Sunnyside Piazza at 33rd and Yamhill? If so, you’ve probably thought to yourself that this beloved space could use a little attention. Good news. The SNA, in partnership with nearby residents and area businesses, is planning to repaint the piazza, hopefully later this summer prior to the Belmont Street Fair. We are just gearing up for this project. If you are interested in helping with planning, please email [email protected].

Interested in meeting the candidates for District 3 council seats? SE Uplift will be holding a candidate mixer on Thursday, May 23rd from 6-8 p.m. Find more info and RSVP at shorturl.at/kqA17.

Finally, Thursday, May 9th at 7 p.m. at SE Uplift, we will hold our annual Board elections. If you are interested in joining the Board and would like to learn more, please send an email to me at [email protected]. Everyone is invited to come out and help us vote for new Board members to serve two-year terms. It’s always a fun meeting. It’s pretty short and there are refreshments!

That’s it, I’ll be back next month with a “year” end review of what the SNA has been working on for Sunnyside and Portland!

News from the President

Hi Sunnyside! How are you doing? As I write this, it is one of the first truly gorgeous days of spring (in March) and I find myself starting to dream of the dizzying array of colors and scents that April flowers will bring, the first fresh produce of spring at the farmer’s market, and cool evenings spent on the porch chatting with neighbors. Future me is a happier Sunnysider in April!

Onto the news…The SNA’s March meeting focused on the proposal from Portland: Neighbors Welcome that would add language to the Housing Bureau Strategic Plan (HBSP) for increased density in inner eastside neighborhoods. The HBSP guides zoning and development decisions and sets development priorities. An update is due this summer. The proposal, called Inner Eastside For All, would allow for what they call “four floors and corner stores” to be built anywhere between approximately SE 12th and SE 60th and SE Powell and NE Fremont. We had a nice turnout for the presentation and there were a lot of new faces, which I’m always happy to see! Opinions were varied. Many welcomed the effort to increase housing availability and hopefully make rent more affordable, but there were worries about how this development would actually occur. Would it be the small groups of people building community together through creating shared living spaces in small apartment buildings? Or would it be developers slowly buying up lots and leaving them vacant while they seek to put together large enough parcels to make it profitable? What would the effect be on longtime residents of our neighborhoods? How about the recent Residential Infill Project that already allows for the expansion of ADUs and small multiplexes? You can learn more about the proposal at https://portlandneighborswelcome.org/inner-eastside-for-all.

This summer we are planning on repainting the beloved Sunnyside Piazza at 33rd and Yamhill. The piazza is one of the oldest intersection art installations in Portland and it needs a refresh! We set up a Piazza Working Group to help manage and facilitate the project. If you are interested in helping out, please contact us at [email protected].

Finally, as mentioned below, our annual Board elections will be held on May 9th. I can say from personal experience how rewarding it is to be an active part of the SNA board. You get to meet new people from all over the neighborhood and hopefully make a small difference for all of Sunnyside! Please reach out if you are thinking of joining the Board and want to learn more. You can reach me directly at [email protected].

That’s it for now. At our April 11th Board meeting we will be hearing from the CEI Hub Task Force, which is building awareness around the dangers to all of Portland posed by the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, the bulk fuel storage facility between the Willamette and Hwy 30 in North Portland. See you there, in May for our annual elections, or out on the porch swing!