Category: Neighborhood Newsletter

SNA Safety & Livability Update

At the November SNA meeting we discussed the ongoing crisis on Oak Street by Laurelhurst Park, deciding that we need to ask the city what their plans are for services to the camp. At this point there is a discussion of a sweep rather than an effort to provide assistance and sanitation. While the City claims there is a public health issue with the manner in which people are living, the CDC is crystal clear on not moving people regardless of ability to social distance. The City secondarily claims a “verified nexus of criminal activity.”

We proposed getting a written commitment from the City of their intention to do a deep clean, allowing people to return. The City has been doing that throughout COVID19. We believe that the City’s messaging isn’t successful enough in making it clear how these sweeps benefit the houseless campers in Laurelhurst Park.

My personal perspective is that if there’s criminal activity, then the Portland police should do law enforcement and leave the rest of the camp alone. The logic behind the “sweep because crime” narrative baffles me. Using this logic, if I went on a crime spree the city, in the form of its various agencies, would show up, and rather than arrest me they would evict not only me but all my neighbors and bulldoze our building. The loss of human life is unacceptable and the enormous expense has to outweigh the cost of law enforcement. If this is because of the “catch and release” program alleged to be happening at the County level, then we need to start addressing that.

We discussed the existence of disconnected “information silos” being an issue between city agencies, NAs, residents, activists, and service providers. A motion was unanimously approved for the following action items:

  • Liaise with the Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association to understand their plan of action and feelings, and
  • Reach out to the City to ask for a mediator to begin a conversation with campers and surrounding neighbors

We welcomed Vahid Brown, a founder of Agape Village (https://www.agapevillagepdx.org/) and Hazelnut Grove, whose expertise and experience with managed service providers and shelters is invaluable. We continued discussing various possibilities including sanctioned tent camps, parking spaces for community members who are vehicle camping, more permanent structures such as tiny houses, and services. Vahid noted that there was a statement released by the Village Coalition (https://www.pdxvillagecoalition.org/) underscoring the harmfulness of sweeps.

We are working to have the Sunnyside Methodist Church Emergency Warming Shelter available for freezing nights, and we discussed how to get an inspection. The church can provide 10 beds and has lists of potential volunteers. For a properly managed service, the shelter would need two volunteers per shift; there would be two to three shifts of four to six hours each. Emergency shelters usually operate from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

At our November 17th Safety and Livability meeting we welcomed a member of HUCIRP (Homelessness/Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program) to get some answers and learn what policies are in effect during the COVID19 pandemic.

Getting to Know Your Neighbors

Q&A with Vahid Brown

As one of the founders of Hazelnut Grove, the houseless village at N. Interstate and N. Greeley, Vahid Brown knows a thing or two about advocating for Portland’s houseless population. For the past five years, he has worked as the Housing Policy Coordinator for Clackamas County’s Department of Health, Housing & Human Services. Recently, he has transitioned into a role leading the Clackamas implementation team for funds raised by Metro Measure 26-210. The measure, which passed by a sizable margin in May, is expected to raise $250 million a year for homeless services in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. “It’s the largest per capita investment in homeless services the U.S. has ever seen,” Brown says.

How long have you lived in Sunnyside? Since the beginning of the year. I was in Raleigh Hills before this and I did not like living in outer Southwest. There were no sidewalks where I lived! No coffee shops! If my partner and I wanted to eat a vegan brunch, we’d come to Southeast.

Do you rent or own? Rent. I have a friend who told me the other side of the duplex he lives in was vacating.  

What do you love about Sunnyside—besides the vegan brunches? I love the walkability and the trees. It’s been a balm during COVID to walk so much. 

What’s one thing you would love to see change about Sunnyside?  I’m already seeing it: making the folks experiencing homelessness more welcome and having their needs better served. I was introduced to the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association’s Community Safety & Livability committee recently and I was happy to see they are working on this. 

Many housed Portlanders think that all we need to solve the homeless “problem” are more shelters. Can you explain why this may be shortsighted? While it does make sense to invest in expanding access to shelters, it should be a place where they can be for more than one night and where they can keep their things—a shelter that will allow them to stabilize. While an emergency shelter that’s a night out of the cold is a necessary intervention to save lives, it’s not the be-all-end-all. We also need alternative outdoor shelters and accommodations with community, with friends, and with family. There are some people experiencing homelessness who are seriously traumatized and are choosing their community where they live—people who they trust and feel safe with. They may have a mistrust of government systems and homeless services. A shelter may not seem a safe option to them.

There’s something that we’re missing. If someone gets a long term rental assistance voucher and moves into an apartment, it’s not uncommon that their street community will come over, hang out, use the shower. These are communities. We have to grapple with ways to treat them as communities.

Emergency Preparedness and the SNA Board

Save the date for the virtual SNA Board meeting on January 14, 2021, 7–8:30 p.m. 

Part of this meeting will be dedicated to SNA Board members’ sharing their preparedness efforts. I will be moderating this meeting and I will ask board members to share where they are on the preparedness continuum. Also, other members of the Sunnyside NET (Neighborhood Emergency Team) will attend. If time allows, other Sunnyside residents may share their preparedness efforts. I hope that you will be there.

November SNA Notes and December Plans

At the November Sunnyside Neighborhood Association’s General Meeting we hosted Oregon House Representative Rob Nosse. Rob not only won reelection but he will be the House Majority Whip in the upcoming House session. He briefly presented his thoughts about the election and expectations for legislation, then he fielded questions. Some key points in the discussion were:

  • Democrats are likely to emerge with supermajorities in both the Oregon House and Senate, enabling them to pass legislation increasing services during the pandemic.
  • Contrary to controversies that make news, Republicans and Democrats in the Oregon House agree 90 percent of the time. They can work together if shown mutual respect.
  • The Oregon legislature is keenly aware of the concerns about forest fires and will make that problem a priority.
  • Many tax increases, for example on beer or breweries, face strong headwinds.

SNA also heard from TJ Browning, Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association Safety Chair, about the camp in Laurelhurst Park and LNA’s recommendations on houselessness to the city. The LNA recommendations largely align with the Community First Strategy to Address Houselessness in Portland which can be found on the SNA website at https://sunnysideportland.org/comfirst-draft. SNA voted to endorse the Community First Strategy and to encourage SE Uplift (https://www.seuplift.org) and other Neighborhood Associations to join in that endorsement. At the risk of oversimplification, there seems to be broad agreement that the current policies are not working, that we need short, medium, and long term solutions, and that the cost of these solutions is less than the cost of inaction. Specific plans, especially in cooperation with LNA, will be discussed at SNA’s General Meeting on December 10th. Stay safe.

Getting to Know Your Neighbors – Gordon Lee

Q&A with Gordon Lee 

Pianist and composer Gordon Lee’s first musical gig was in a rock ’n’ roll band in Westchester County, New York. He was just 14. He went on to earn a bachelor’s in music from Indiana University, where he met Portlander Richard Burdell, a trumpet player and composer. “He painted Portland as the promised land for gigs!” Lee recalls. So in 1977, Lee moved to Portland. Sure enough, gigs were plentiful. He performed with saxophonist/singer/composer Jim Pepper and traveled all over the states and Europe with him. After a hiatus in Brooklyn, New York, where he had a regular gig at a glitzy Village restaurant, he returned to Portland where he played at Jimmy Mak’s, Clyde’s, The 1905, and Arrivederci in Milwaukie. This May, he launched “Front Porch Jazz” on his front porch at 32nd and Alder Street. These free concerts have been one of the bright spots of the pandemic for Sunnyside residents, most of whom found out about them via word of mouth or just by walking by. 

How long have you lived in Sunnyside? I’ve lived here for 18 years now and in the same house! Amy Rose, my wife, bought the house before I moved in.

Do you rent or own? We own.  

What do you love about Sunnyside? It is a diverse neighborhood—and it’s becoming more diverse, which is great. That’s been the goal of jazz music for 100 years—it pulls in people from all different ethnic backgrounds and countries. It’s the universal language. 

What’s one thing you would love to see change about Sunnyside? There’s been a lot of homeless people and it’s difficult. If I’m giving a concert and less than a block away there’s a huge pile of garbage in the street from a homeless camp—that is not healthy. It’s personally not healthy, and it’s not healthy for the homeless people. 

Tell me how Front Porch Jazz got started. 

My wife Amy, who is a piano teacher — we’re a two piano family — was encouraging me to do house concerts for some time, even before the pandemic. Then my neighbors also started to say, “You should play a concert on your front porch!”  When several different people tell you the same thing, you should listen to what they’re saying. I first had a duo with Renato Caranto on sax. Then I had a trio — adding Tim Gilson on bass. Then finally I added Carlton Jackson on drums. I also had James Powers — he’s a trombonist. And John Nastos plays alto sax. There’s a long tradition of summer jazz festivals. So we were able to attach to that kind of energy. There’s a bunch of seniors out there and they’re all having fun! They bring chairs, a bottle of wine.

I’ve had 7 concerts and look forward to having more next Spring 2021. I want to thank my neighbors and the community for being so supportive and encouraging. It’s been my only opportunity to perform during COVID. It’s given me so much focus and direction.