Category: Neighborhood Newsletter

Getting to Know Your Neighbors

When she became the principal of Sunnyside Environmental School (SES) last year, Dr. Eryn Berg says it felt like a homecoming. “I was born on Southeast 53rd St,” says Berg. “And my grandma used to have chickens. So last year when I moved my stuff over to the school and and heard the chickens, I was like, ‘I feel like I’m home.’” A former high school English teacher who also writes poetry, Berg is a huge fan of Sunnyside, the neighborhood, as well (though she currently lives in Roseway). With school starting on August 30th, she has her hands full with meetings and welcoming teachers back to SES but she took the time to speak to us in mid-August. 

What did you do before being principal at SES? 

I’ve been an administrator at PPS for 15 years. Before that I was a high school English teacher at the High School of Telecommunication Arts & Technology in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I used to live in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.  

Continue reading our full Q&A with Dr. Eryn Berg

Charter Commission Update

Recently, the Portland Charter Commission approved a plan to be voted on in the November election. This will be an opportunity for Portlanders to vote on the form we want our government to take and how our elections will work in the future. The Charter Commission has approved the following items in the measure:

  • City Councilors will no longer manage City Bureaus.
  • The mayor will no longer sit as a member of the City Council, but will have a vote to break ties.
  • The mayor will appoint a City Manager with day-to-day management responsibilities over the city bureaus. The City Manager appointment will be approved by a majority of the Council.
  • The mayor will not have veto authority over the City Council.
  • The City Council will include 12 members elected from four geographic districts, each having three members.
  • A ranked-choice-voting system will be put in place where voters may select multiple candidates running in their home district and order their choices. The top three vote getters will be elected.

The commission, arguing that these reforms work as a whole to increase representation, accountability, and improved governance, decided to place all of these measures into a single Yes/No ballot question.

We will have a member of the Charter Review Commission at our September 8th meeting to present the plan and answer questions from the community. This is an important and complex topic. Please bring your questions! The meeting will take place at SE Uplift, 3534 SE Main St. at 7 p.m.

You can read more at the Charter Commission website, https://www.portland.gov/omf/charter-review-commission.

Last Month’s News. This Month’s Plans.

Happy Summer! As I write this in mid-July, the weather is sunny and there’s not a cloud in the sky. These are the Oregon summers we look forward to all year long. Hopefully you’ve been getting outside, spending time getting your hands dirty in the garden, or spending time at the Coast or river(s) for some kayaking or swimming! 

At our board retreat in July we came up with a new schedule for the SNA General Meetings. We’re going to have them every other month, starting in September. Board meetings will continue to happen on a monthly basis. Our next General Meeting will be on September 8th at 7 p.m. We are hoping to transition to in-person meetings, but we know that the option to attend virtually may be better for many people so we plan to maintain that as well. Check the SNA website in early September for details. 

Continue reading Vice President Hannah Wallace’s update