News from the President

Happy February Sunnyside! February is always, to me, the ickiest month. Cold and rainy and still dark. But, the first blooms of spring are popping up, too, so it’s a reminder that bright, warm days are just over the horizon!

In January, at the last General Meeting, we heard from members about their priorities for the new city government to tackle in the coming year. We used the SE Uplift District 3 Community Priorities survey as a tool to foster conversation about the issues facing our great city and its most amazing neighborhood, Sunnyside. There’s a lot we want to see, none of which will probably surprise you, from traffic calming to an increase in affordable housing to improved parks and recreation opportunities. Of course, all of these wonderful things will cost the government (us) money. As we recently learned, the projected Portland government shortfall is approaching $100 million for the coming year due to a number of factors, including declining tax revenue, the ending of COVID-related programs from the federal government and increased costs for services. The City Administrator, Michael Jordan, released a memo outlining potential cuts needed to balance the budget. Read the memo at www.portland.gov/mayor/keith-wilson/documents/01172025-budget-memo-0/download.  It is obvious that our new mayor and city council will have to make some tough choices. But they can’t act in a silo and that’s where we, the people, come in. We must make our voices heard by those who control the levers.

So, my column this month is a call to action for everyone in the neighborhood. The council will start budget hearings in the coming weeks and must pass a new, balanced budget by June. Stay informed about potential cuts to programs you rely on. Call and write to our three new council members. The new district-based council should be responsive to citizen voices and remember, District 3 members are all up for re-election in less than two years. Both Tiffany Koyama Lane, as council vice-chair, and Steve Novick, as finance vice-chair, will have real influence over this process. Visit www.portland.gov/council/districts/3 to submit comments to our councillors.

I promise you that the SNA will be participating in this process too. And make sure you join us for our next General Meeting in March, when we hope to have one or more of our councillors on hand to answer your questions and hear from you directly.

January 8, 2025 SNA General Meeting

The SNA’s January General Meeting will be held Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 7:00pm.

This month we will be focusing on neighborhood and District 3 priorities for the coming year with the SE Uplift District 3 Community Priorities survey as our guide. Bring your hopes, dreams and opinions!

Meeting is open to the public, but please note that this is a board meeting and may provide limited opportunity for community input.

Meeting Agenda. Times are approximate. Agenda items are subject to change.

This meeting will be held in person at SE Uplift (3534 SE Main St, Portland, OR 97214) and virtually at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85776168096?pwd=dTU3V0wycWZxTmhSVGNjNjJxdjNldz09

 

News from the President

Happy New Year Sunnyside! I don’t know about you, but I am excited to put 2024 in the rearview mirror and look forward to new challenges in 2025! On that note, the biggest change in Portland is that, after years of preparation, our whole new government structure is in place and getting down to work! The new district-based council should offer many more opportunities to interact with our elected legislators to let them know about the issues we care about and the potential policies that the community think are appropriate to address them. So please continue to join us for our bi-monthly meetings and join our committees on Land Use (LUTC) and the Community Care Committee (SNACC). On to the news….

Continuing the theme of community engagement, the Sunnyside NA has
teamed up with other District 3 neighborhoods and community-based
groups in the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition to gather your input on a range of civic matters related to community safety, housing, transportation, land use, the environment, and economic development. The results of this survey will be shared with our three newly-elected City Council members (Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo and Steve Novick) to inform their policy-making efforts. Take the survey at
tinyurl.com/2uhhaub3 by January 31st. The SNA will  discuss our priorities during our January General Meeting as well!

Here’s some good news– our own Sunnyside Shower Project (SSP) just received a $40,000 grant from the Oregon Community Foundation to help with the work the team does with our homeless community! The SSP is hiring its first two paid staff members – a Project Director and a Volunteer Coordinator. With the new Project Director coming on board, founder (and SNA VP) Hannah Wallace will be taking a step back from the day-to-day SSP leadership. This project has come a long way since Hannah conceived of it during the height of the pandemic in 2021. Congratulations to Hannah, Diana and our entire SSP team!

Looking for a way to get involved with the SNA? Interested in helping us manage our meager budget? Have some basic math skills? We’re looking for a new treasurer! We are currently transitioning to a new model to take much of the burden off this important position, but we still need help to keep track of balances, request reimbursements and create our state filings. It is about a 1-2 hour per week commitment plus attendance at monthly board meetings, with the term up for reappointment this summer. It’s a great opportunity to meet new friends and be involved in your neighborhood! If you’re interested, please reach out to me at [email protected].

Finally, if you don’t want to help manage our budget, how about contributing to it? You can make your tax-deductible contribution today to the SNA at secure.givelively.org/donate/southeast-uplift-neighborhood-program-inc/sunnyside-neighborhood-association!

December 11, 2024 SNA Board Meeting

The SNA’s December Board Meeting will be held Wednesday, December 11, 2024, at 7:00pm.

We will be discussing a number of topics this month.
– Planning for 2025 at the SNA
– Voting on support of the board for the proposed pedestrian plaza pilot project on 37th at Hawthorne
– Looking at a proposal from Metro that could affect funding for permanent supportive housing
– And much more….

Meeting is open to the public, but please note that this is a board meeting and may provide limited opportunity for community input.

Meeting Agenda. Times are approximate. Agenda items are subject to change.

This meeting will be held in person at SE Uplift (3534 SE Main St, Portland, OR 97214) and virtually at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85776168096?pwd=dTU3V0wycWZxTmhSVGNjNjJxdjNldz09

 

News from the President

Happy Holidays Sunnyside! I know that we are always so busy this time of year, buying gifts for loved ones, attending festive parties with friends and family, and generally feeling the spirit of the season. I’m so happy that you are taking a little bit of your time to spend with the SNA either in person at our meetings or just keeping up with the neighborhood news right here. I’ve said it before, but I feel lucky and am so thankful to be a member of this community.

Onto the news…

In November we were joined by our newly re-elected state representative, Rob Nosse, for a freewheeling conversation on the 2025 legislative session. Rob hopes to spend much of the coming session working on one of his priority issues – strengthening the arts community in Oregon. As the health committee chair, though, I’m sure his plate will also be filled with many of the weighty topics on so many minds in Oregon – mental health care, the homelessness crisis and trying to insulate the state from potential conflicts with the newly-elected President and Congress. On health care, Rob is determined to find more money to continue the much needed expansion of mental health services in this state, where we rank 48th in the country in the availability of care. He hopes to find excellent working relationships with our new city and county leaders to move the region forward, together with a common vision for continued recovery. On transportation, Rob is not deeply involved in the discussion of the renewal of our transportation funding system yet, but he hopes that new mechanisms can provide the funds needed to modernize our transportation system and provide climate resiliency to our network. It was a really wonderful conversation and I hope you can all join us the next time Rob comes to an SNA meeting, hopefully in the spring in the midst of the session.

There are plenty of holiday activities around Sunnyside and I want to highlight a few here:

Sunnyside Environmental School will be holding its Winter Craft Fair on December 13th. For more details see Valerie Kahn’s News From SES on page 3.

The annual Peacock Lane Christmas Street celebration will be December 15th-31st. Pedestrian-only nights are the 15th and 16th. Parking is very limited in the area, so I suggest putting on warm, dry clothes and either walking over or taking the #15 or #75 bus.

The Sunnyside Shower Project’s annual Winter Clothing Drive will be held on Sunday, December 8th from 1-5 p.m. The Drive helps our less fortunate neighbors stay dry and warm through the dreary winter months. Please drop off adult-sized winter clothing and other cold-and-wet-weather gear to the Sunnyside Community Center at 3520 SE Yamhill St. on the morning of December 8th. Volunteers will be on hand from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the basement of the Center to collect clothes. (Drop-off at the basement entrance on 35th St.) 

Finally, if you are planning any end of year donations, please don’t forget your local neighborhood association! Your donation to the SNA is fully tax-deductible and helps us do all the projects that I have talked about in this space, including the Shower Project, upcoming work around the Sunnyside Piazza, the bike garden we hope to install at 4511 SE Hawthorne, not to mention printing this newsletter every month! You can make your donation by clicking this LINK

Happy holidays from the SNA Board to all of your families and we will see
you in 2025!