Author: Chris Waldmann

Happy New Year Sunnyside! 

The big news out of the SNA this month is the success of our annual clothing and gear drive to help our houseless neighbors in this cold and wet season. The event was held indoors this year on December 10th at SE Uplift (SEUL). Thank you to SEUL for providing a warm and inviting space for everyone, a big change from the wet, cold outdoors of past years! Also thank you to New Seasons, Grand Central Bakery and Fried Egg I’m in Love for your generous donations of food for our guests and volunteers. Thanks, too, to Crossroads Trading, Mix Tape, the Mountain Shop, and Next Adventure—all of which donated boxes of warm clothes or gift certificates. The biggest thanks of all goes out to our volunteers for taking the time during this busy holiday season to connect with neighbors living outside. Kudos to the SNACC team for putting together such a wonderful event!

The SNA board met on December 8th for our monthly board meeting. Emily stepped up to take over as the presiding officer for the next few months. She will be coordinating agendas and running our meetings through February. This new arrangement allows board members to share some of the responsibilities and decision-making power of the president, gain valuable experience and distribute some of the administrative burden. We talked about filling vacant, and soon-to-be vacant, positions on the board and committees as well as ways that the SNA can work to improve our diversity and equity lens in the work we do for the neighborhood. More on those topics to come!

Our next general meeting will be on January 12th. We will be talking about a proposed expansion to the greenways system in Sunnyside and a potential endorsement of Quiet Clean PDX’s quest to limit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers (see The Scourge of Gas-powered Leaf Blowers).

The SNA is searching for neighbors to volunteer for a number of openings on our board and committees. Volunteering with the SNA is a great way to bring about positive change in our neighborhood and city, gain new skills, and meet new friends! We are looking for volunteers for the following positions:

Treasurer

The Treasurer is the board officer responsible for managing the finances of the SNA. They create and certify required financial reports and give updates to the board on the financial health of the organization. They are also a board member, with all of the duties and responsibilities that entails. They may be assisted by a bookkeeper (or perform that role themself), who would be responsible for the day-to-day accounting duties like balancing the accounts, producing financial reports, preparing payments and processing donation receipts. Our current Treasurer, Vincent, will be leaving us after his term expires. The position will be up for election by the membership during our annual elections this spring.

At-Large Board Members (x2)

Board members help the SNA set a direction for the association. They participate and vote in board meetings, may be assigned to chair committees and may represent the interests of the SNA in front of the city and regional governments. 

Land-Use & Transportation Committee Chair

The chair of the Land-Use & Transportation Committee (LUTC) is responsible for representing the SNA’s interests regarding development and transportation in the neighborhood. They may coordinate with developers regarding planned buildings, testify to the city about zoning issues and variances, or work with PBOT to make our neighborhood easier to navigate on foot, bike, bus or car. The LUTC chair will give occasional reports to the board, but they do not need to be a board member or officer.

If you (or someone you know) live or work in Sunnyside and are interested in any of these positions, please reach out to [email protected] to learn more.

In a historical piece about the Sunnyside neighborhood that we published in our November issue, we referred to Dr. Perry Prettyman as “one of the first settlers” to the neighborhood. By telling the history of this area only from the perspective of white Europeans we erase the rich cultural history of Indigenous Peoples of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other Native American tribes who made their homes here. We apologize for the error and are taking action to implement an equity lens in our editorial process so that future publications will be more accurate and inclusive.

For 25 years, Portland Tillamook Cooperative Preschool has called the Presbyterian Church of Laurelhurst home. That history is about to change. Last October, the Tillamook Preschool board of directors received notice that the school must vacate its classroom at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. The preschool is seeking help to find a new space to lease.  

“We are saddened and truly grieving the loss of our amazing location,” said Tillamook Preschool’s board president, Anne Lagasse. “As a small nonprofit, we are now looking to build a strong relationship with an organization that has a space well suited to support the needs and minds of young children.” Started in 1973 in a house on NE Tillamook Street, the preschool has evolved into a mixed-age, play-based preschool enrolling 38 children and families each year. 

Please visit TillamookPreschool.org to learn more and contact Anne Lagasse, Tillamook Preschool Board President at [email protected] if you have any leads!

Is your quality of life enhanced by the sound of gas leaf blowers or the fumes those blowers emit?

Quiet Clean PDX (QCPDX) is a coalition of concerned Portlanders working to eliminate gas leaf blowers locally and beyond. We have over 1,800 subscribers to our monthly newsletter and you can find the organizations that endorse us—including 15 Portland neighborhood associations at www.quietcleanpdx.org. 

Gas leaf blowers:

•  Create high-intensity intrusive noise    that disturbs neighborhood residents, passersby, and shoppers and can lead to permanent hearing loss for the operator

•  Create health risks with the emissions of toxic substances that can cause cancer, heart and lung disease

•  Cause air pollution with the emission of smog-forming chemicals

•  Require fossil fuels (gas and oil) for operation and thereby emit carbon dioxide, which contributes to climate change.

QCPDX is hopeful that the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association will endorse our goal of transitioning to alternatives including battery-operated leaf blowers and manual tools like rakes. We hope to encourage a healthier and simpler approach to lawn and garden care that reduces the need for gas-powered equipment.  

Thank you for your consideration- The Quiet Clean PDX Steering Committee

Note: The SNA will be voting at our General Meeting on January 12th about whether or not to endorse Quiet Clean PDX’s mission.